Michael Walters - The Shadow Walker

“All kinds. Major robberies, homicide, corruption. Anything that doesn’t fall into the norms of day to day policing.”

“But you’ve moved back to the Ministry now?” Drew prompted.

Nergui nodded. “Six months ago, yes. Not particularly of my own choosing. There were those who thought my talents were-underutilized as a policeman. The police force does not have a particularly good reputation in this country-justifiably in many cases I think. We have invested insufficiently in its development and it does not attract the highest caliber of employees. These days, there are more opportunities for our graduates in the private sector. But there has also been growing concern about national security, so I was-how do you say it? — poached by the Ministry. It was one of those offers I could not refuse.”

“And what was your role in the Ministry?”

Nergui shrugged. “In general, dealing with cases that are perceived to pose a threat, in some way, to national security or stability. Not terrorism-we have a separate unit to deal with that, though it has not to date been a major problem for us, even with the breakup of the USSR. But things like major commercial fraud, corruption-anything that might pose a threat to, say, our economy, social stability or whatever.”

None of this made much sense to Drew. It sounded very different from any concept of policing that he was used to. “And murder?” he asked.

“Not usually,” he said. “But then we don’t usually encounter murders quite like these.”

“You really see these murders as a threat to national security? Is that why you’ve returned?”

“I have returned only because the Minister asked me to. It is embarrassing. Doripalam is a very capable officer, despite his youth. There’s nothing I can teach him, I think. But the Minister is anxious. He is protecting his back. As for security-well, who knows? If we are simply dealing with a psychopath, then of course the answer is no. If there is something more rational behind the killings-like a vendetta or whether at least some of the victims were targeted-then, well, yes, it’s possible. And there is also our concern for the stability of our country. Compared with many other parts of the old Eastern bloc, we have survived the changes remarkably well. We have been through very difficult times, but our society has stayed remarkably stable. This is quite a safe country. But the kind of fear that could be stirred up by these killings-well, so far we have managed to keep the full details from being published and we have not indicated any linkage between the killings. But we can’t keep this up for long. The press have been used to doing what the government tells them, but that is changing. I do not know, for example, how long we can prevent them from reporting that a police officer has been killed.”

Drew nodded. “And what do you think will happen when people find out?”

“I do not know. There are many things that people fear. There are many interpretations they could put on these deaths.” He stopped, enigmatically, as though unwilling to put his anxieties into plain words.

“And what about today’s killing?” Drew asked. “Where does that fit into this?”

“It is intriguing, is it not? Horrific, but intriguing. As with your Mr. Ransom, the question is whether there is any significance in the choice of this particular individual?”

“You mean, other than the simple fact that he was a police officer?”

“Quite so.” Nergui finished eating, and placed his fork and spoon neatly across the bowl. “I do not like to say so, but today’s murder may give us a little hope.”

“Hope?”

“Or at least somewhere to start in our investigations. To date, we have had nothing. No leads. We thought Mr. Ransom might start to lead us somewhere, but it appeared not. Perhaps Delgerbayar might.”

“Delgerbayar?”

“Our unfortunate colleague.”

“So you think there might have been some significance to his death? Some reason why he specifically was chosen as the victim?”

Nergui leaned forward across the table, placing his fingertips together. “I do not know,” he said. “But I do know, having asked some brief questions of his fellow officers today, that Delgerbayar had been acting oddly in recent weeks.”

“Oddly in what way?”

“In a number of ways, apparently. Delgerbayar was not a particularly sociable person, I understand. People differ, of course. Our officers tend to be a gregarious bunch. You will generally find them after work throwing back the vodkas in one of our city bars. But there are exceptions to that, and Delgerbayar was one of them. He might join his colleagues briefly, but he would leave early in the evening. Nobody could ever recall seeing him at a party or a social gathering. I hope I’m not speaking ill of the dead, but he was generally seen as a rather-enigmatic character. He wasn’t married, had no close family as far as anyone was aware. No one really knew what he did with his time. He had risen through the ranks largely because he was seen as a hard worker, I think, rather than through any great talent.”

It was an interesting enough character sketch, but Drew wasn’t sure where this was leading. “How had he been behaving oddly?”

“Well, out of character, let us say.” Nergui smiled. “From what I hear, he had always behaved a little oddly. The first thing was that a couple of his fellow officers came across him one night in the bar in the Ulan Baatar hotel-another of our more upmarket places.

It was only a coincidence that they were in there-the police don’t tend to drink in the tourist hotels, as you might imagine. But they were there on duty, following up some petty thefts that had taken place in the hotel. And Delgerbayar was in the bar, sitting with a mixed group of Westerners and locals, apparently having a good enough time.”

“Do you know who was with him?”

Nergui shook his head. “No, the officers didn’t recognize any of them. They just thought it was an odd group to find with Delgerbayar-the Westerners looked well-off, business types. The locals also looked relatively prosperous-perhaps not the type you would normally expect to find associating with a police officer.”

“Criminals?”

Nergui shrugged. “The term is a broad one,” he said. “Maybe criminals. More likely those who have done well for themselves in our economy by-what is your phrase? — sailing close to the wind.”

“But wouldn’t you recognize those types?” Drew asked. “Surely they’d be well known.”

“I would probably recognize them,” Nergui said. “But in many cases-except for one or two larger celebrities-these kinds of people would not be well known to an ordinary police officer. Though our officers would probably be well acquainted with some of their employees.”

“I understand. So, as you say, not the sort one would expect to find consorting with a senior police officer.”

“No, but the two officers didn’t really think much of it-it’s not uncommon for officers to maintain some dubious contacts, particularly if they think they might extract some information from them.” He smiled. “I’ve been known to do it myself. So it’s quite possible that Delgerbayar’s contacts were-well, if not exactly innocent, still quite legitimate.”

“Do you believe that?”

“Who knows? With most officers, I would think it possible, though I might still be suspicious. From what I hear of Delgerbayar, it doesn’t sound likely.”

“And was there other strange behavior?”

“Yes, and a more significant issue. Delgerbayar had been involved in an investigation into some illegal gold prospecting-”

“Gold prospecting?”

Nergui nodded. “Our country is rich in many minerals, including gold. The gold is, officially, being mined by a small number of companies which have acquired the appropriate rights. It is one of the ways you become wealthy quickly in this country.”