James Church - The Man with the Baltic Stare

“More threats. That’s the sum total of what you have in your fancy knapsack.” Kim’s eyes dared me to keep going down that path. I decided it was time to try a new tack. I didn’t have a lot of options at the moment; I might as well try purring. “You’ll keep Zhao off my back?”

“He won’t come near you.” The response was automatic, almost as if he was hypnotized. Zhao was a fixation. It was clear to me that nothing worried Kim as much as, nothing blotted out more light or consumed more oxygen than, his fear of Zhao. He didn’t control the gangster, and it scared the hell out of him.

“You’re going to protect me sort of like you protected Captain Sim.”

“Sim was working against me, Inspector. I let Pang have him. In fact, I told Pang where he’d be.”

“Don’t try that with me. There’s a key difference. Sim was one of yours. He didn’t know which way was up around here. I do.”

“Are you bargaining with me? Because you don’t have any leverage, Inspector. None. Not a tiny bit, not a sliver. None.”

“Keep believing in angels if it makes you sleep any better.” Purring was hard work. I’d have to practice.

The next day, I stayed in my hotel. The phone rang; I didn’t answer it. A note came under the door; I didn’t open it. When the maid came to make up the room around ten o’clock, I went downstairs and stopped at the front desk. The man of a thousand stares was waiting in the lobby. He had on a striped shirt. It accentuated his thinness. He made Luís look like a water buffalo.

The desk clerk looked annoyed. “Who is that guy? He won’t talk to anyone. He just stands around, staring at nothing. I’ve put up with him long enough. I’ve had it. End of the line.”

“It only looks like he’s staring at nothing. Actually, he has wide-angle vision, sort of like a walleye pike. If you pay attention, you’ll see his eyes move independently.”

“Yeah, sure. And my fingers dance the rumba on Thursdays. He looks like a friend of yours. He only showed up when you did, as I recall. When you go away, so does he. He’s like a wart. Get rid of him before I call security.”

The only person I liked less than the staring man was this clerk. “That probably won’t do any good. He works for them, or somebody like them. What harm is he doing, standing there?”

“It makes the guests nervous.”

“I’m your only guest. Do I look nervous?”

“Why did you come down here? You’re not the chatty type.”

“It gets lonely up there in the room. Besides, I thought you might give me some help.”

“You, I don’t help. The word is out to keep a healthy distance from you for now.”

“Why’s that?”

He looked at his watch. “Listen, I’m busy. I’ve got to call a girl. Two girls, actually. You don’t mind? Come down again sometime, we’ll talk more.” He turned away.

The man in the lobby stared at him. “That’s it,” said the clerk. “I don’t care if his eyes are diamond studs, I’m calling the security boys.”

It was a little past eleven o’clock when I arrived at Kim’s compound. My name must have been put on an approved list, because the tanks ignored me as I hurried up the walk.

“I’ve been away from home for weeks already.” I was at the window looking into the courtyard. “If I’m going to stay here any longer, I’ve got to go home to pick up some stuff.”

“Why?” Major Kim was half-listening. “We can supply you with whatever you need. We’ve got more shirts if you need them.”

“I’m not talking clothing.”

“What then?”

“Wood. I didn’t think I’d be here so long, so I didn’t take more than a few pieces with me. It’s autumn. Things get melancholy sometimes in the evening when I’m out walking. All these lights you’ve installed, they make it worse.”

“Light makes it worse?”

“You’re a creature of the wrong civilization, Major. The sun goes up; the sun goes down. That’s natural. Light blazing at midnight is abnormal. It’s unhealthy.”

“So close your curtains. Get yourself some eyeshades. Put your head under your pillow. Think happy thoughts.”

“Let me go home for a day, I’ll pick up some wood, and then I’ll be back.”

“I don’t think I can spare a driver. We’re having some people coming in for inspections.”

“I can drive myself. I still have a license. Or have you voided all of them?”

“It’s for your safety. I don’t want you on a mountain road by yourself.”

“Afraid I’ll decide to end it all?”

“No, afraid Zhao will decide to do it for you.”

“Ah. I get it. Well, I can wait a day or two. Am I going to need a pass to get around my own country?”

Kim’s phone rang. He stared at the button that had lit up and gave me a funny look. “Can I take this, Inspector?”

I stepped into the hall and closed the door, almost the whole way.

“Again?” Kim said. “I don’t like it.” A pause. “Then take care of it yourself.” I closed the door completely. When Kim opened it, I was looking at the photographs on the wall.

“These look like plane trees in summer,” I said. “See how they droop? It’s a form of anger-passive resistance, isn’t that what people call it? My grandfather used to say that lumber from plane trees should never be used to make a wedding chest.”

“When can you be ready to leave?” Kim blocked the door. He wanted to get rid of me.

“How about in an hour? You found a driver?”

“Just wait in your hotel room. Someone will call. They’ll ask if your TV is working or if the sound needs adjusting. Don’t go with anyone else.”

“You are one scared rabbit, Major. One day you’re telling me you are about to take over; the next day you’re peeking out from behind the curtains. Which is it?”

“Cautious, Inspector, cautious. No one ever lost a lung being cautious.”

The call came at noon. The voice said, “I heard there was something wrong with the TV. The volume control or something.”

“Yeah, something.”

“Well, get it fixed, why don’t you?”

“I’ll be right down.”

I was surprised to see who was waiting in the car. “You have more sage advice for me, Li?”

“Get in and close the door. We’re going to have to drive like a house on fire to get there and back before dinner.”

“Where have I heard that before? Never happen. I can cook something at my place. It won’t be anything elaborate.”

As soon as I closed the door, we were moving. Once we were out of the city, the colors of the harvest took over. “If you’ve got to die, autumn is best, my grandfather used to say.” I thought about that as we sped past a checkpoint. “He was probably right.”

“When did he die?”

“Summer.”

“Can’t exactly set the date, I guess. When it comes, it comes. Any season it wants. What do you think your grandfather meant?”

“What did he mean about anything? He used to talk about rhythms, about how things had to be aligned. He thought trees understood that better than any other living being. Not embodied it, understood it. On summer nights, when he was making benches for the village, he’d grumble at me, ‘You’ve got to look at a tree, listen to it, see how it grew, before you know how to use the wood. These people just chop them down and cut them up. What sense is that? No wonder everything is ugly these days. And I’m not talking about just ugly to look at, you know what I mean, boy?’ ”

We drove for a while. I opened the window and let the wind rush in.

“Nice drive,” I said. “The fields look pleased with themselves. The harvest must have been good this year, though I haven’t heard anything.”