James Chase - A Lotus for Miss Quon

“Get out!” the Colonel snarled.

“You must leave immediately, sir,” Lam-Than said, speaking distinctly and quickly. “A warrant for your arrest was signed half an hour ago. You are being charged with the murder of the woman, My-Lang-To. The driver of the jeep who killed her has confessed he did so on your instructions.”

The Colonel leaned forward and peered at Lam-Than. The muscles in his heavy face suddenly went slack.

“They can’t arrest me,” he snarled. “No one can arrest me!”

“The warrant has been signed by the President,” Lam-Than said. Did she tell you where the American is hiding?”

The Colonel leaned against the wall. He seemed crushed and defeated.

“I cannot understand it,” he said, and there was dazed wonder in his voice. “Nothing I did to her would make her speak. A woman like that… perhaps after all she really didn’t know.”

Lam-Than shrugged his shoulders.

If you can reach the Bien Hoa airport you have a chance of reaching Phnom-Penh,” he said. “They may not have thought of alerting the airport. You must go at once.”

Even as he spoke there came the sound of tramping feet down the passage and the two men looked at each other.

Lam-Than shrugged his shoulders. He moved away from the Colonel as if disassociating himself from him.

The door opened and Inspector Ngoc-Linh appeared in the doorway. Behind him were four policemen armed with rifles.

The Inspector looked from the Colonel to the body on the table. He felt the wall of his stomach tighten with horror. Then he turned and signalled to the policemen who filed into the room. He pointed to the Colonel.

“Arrest this man.”

As the police formed a group around the Colonel, the Inspector said to him, “In the name of the Republic, I arrest you for the murder of My-Lang-To. You will also be charged with the murder of this woman, Nhan Lee Quon.” He turned to Lam-Than. “You too are under arrest as an accessory to both murders.” He nodded to the policemen. Take them away.”

Colonel On-dinh-Khuc straightened himself and squared his shoulders. He marched out of the room at the head of his escort. Lam-Than limped after him.

The Inspector beckoned to one of the executioners who was standing in the doorway, staring.

“Get a blanket and cover this woman,” he said.

When the executioner had gone, the Inspector moved closer to the table. Because he was a devout Catholic and still had some pity left in him, he made the sign of the cross over Nhan’s body, then turning, he went out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Charlie Lee stood in the doorway of his brother’s office and stared unbelievingly at Blackie’s dead body lying before the open safe.

It was some minutes before he forced himself to move into the room. He closed the door and locked it, then he went over to his brother and made sure he was dead.

The shock made him feel weak and old. He went to the desk and sat down. He wept for a little while, his face buried in his hands. Blackie had been part of his life. He felt lonely and defenceless now. He could not imagine what his future would be like without his brother.

But after a while, he got over the shock. He suddenly realized now that Blackie was dead, there would be no need to share the two million American dollars, and with that sum of money, he should be able to face life without his brother.

Getting to his feet he went to the safe and peered into it. He saw the gun and took it from the safe. A quick glance told him the million piastres were missing. Some sneak-thief must have killed Blackie and taken the money, he thought, but there was no point in wasting regrets on this loss.

Everything was now going wrong. He had spoken to Nhan’s uncle who had told him Nhan had been arrested and had been taken to Security Police Headquarters for questioning. This information had alarmed him and he had hurried back to warn his brother that not only Jaffe’s hiding place was in danger but Blackie might expect to be arrested at any moment. Charlie had no doubt that when submitted to torture, the girl would betray them all.

There was still a slim chance of getting his hands on the diamonds if he acted quickly. He would take Blackie’s car and go immediately to Thudaumot. He would take Jaffe to the agreed landing place. They would wait there until the helicopter arrived. He was sure it would be fatal to tell Jaffe that Nhan had been arrested. He would say that Blackie was bringing her later. When the helicopter arrived, he would try to persuade Jaffe to leave. If he wouldn’t leave without the girl, then he would have to kill him.

Charlie put the gun in his briefcase: the long silencer made it impossible for him to carry the gun in his pocket.

He paused to look at his brother’s body. He was distressed to think that Yu-Ian would find Blackie, but he didn’t dare wait for her return. He would write to her from Hong Kong, he told himself, trying to ease his pricking conscience. He would invite her to come and live with him.

Carrying the briefcase under his arm, he left the club and went over to where Blackie’s car was parked. He glanced at the police car up the road. The two detectives looked at him indifferently and then returned to reading their newspapers. He wondered if they would follow him, but as he drove away, he saw the black Citroen hadn’t moved. “He reached Thudaumot after five o’clock. He parked the car by the lacquer factory and then walked over to the little wooden villa.

From his window, Jaffe saw him coming. Charlie was sufficiently like his brother for Jaffe to recognize him.

What was he doing here at this hour? Jaffe wondered. Had something gone wrong? Was there to be a new arrangement?

Nhan’s grandfather had gone out and Jaffe was alone in the villa. He hurried down the stairs and opened the front door.

Charlie entered, giving Jaffe a little bow.

“I am Charlie Lee,” he said. “Blackie has told you about me?”

“Yes. Why are you here? Has something gone wrong?”

“Not badly wrong,” Charlie said. During the drive to Thudaumot, he had carefully rehearsed his lies. “But it is necessary for you to leave here immediately. Blackie has heard from a friend at Police Headquarters that your hiding place is now known. The police are already on their way to arrest you.”

Jaffe stiffened.

“How did they find out?”

“I will explain everything later,” Charlie said. “You must leave immediately. There is not a minute to lose.”

“Where’s Nhan?” Jaffe asked.

“She is quite safe. Blackie is looking after her. She will join us in a few hours. If you have anything you want to take with you, please get it. I have the car here. We must leave at once.”

“You are sure she is safe?”

“Of course. Please hurry.”

Jaffe hesitated, then he mounted the stairs two at a time, went into his bedroom and threw his few possessions into his canvas hold-all. He put the police gun inside his shirt. He made sure he had the tin containing the diamonds in his hip pocket, then he picked up his hold-all and moved to the door. He paused for a final look round.

On the bedside table stood Nhan’s little ivory Buddha. Jaffe grinned as he went over to it and picked it up.

She said as long as I have it, no harm will come to me, he thought. I’d better take it along with me. Funny superstitious kid, but she means well.

He dropped the Buddha into his shirt pocket, then joined Charlie in the hall.

“Wait here,” Charlie said. “I’ll bring the car to the door. Get in the back and lie on the floor. You mustn’t be seen.”

While he waited for Charlie to bring the car, Jaffe tried to steady his alarmed mind and to assess the consequences of his hiding place now being known.