Warren Murphy: Midnight Man

"Are you finished?" Remo asked.

"Show respect," Chiun scolded him. "This is your Emperor." He turned to Smith with a nod. "Continue, Emperor."

"I'm finished," Smith said. Both he and Chiun looked at Remo.

"I didn't kill Romeo," Remo said.

"No? Then who did? Chiun?" said Smith.

"Not me," Chiun said. "I have learned in many years that you only want me to remove those you want me to remove. I no longer try to guess who they are. Anyway, this was probably sloppy and you

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know that an execution by a Master of Sinanju is a work of art. A thing of beauty. A ..."

"Excuse me, Little Father," Remo interrupted, "but I don't think Smitty really suspects you, so please let me defend myseLE."

Chiun glared at Remo for the interruption but remained silent.

"Why do you think it was me?" Remo said.

"Who else? Who else could get to that house through two dozen guards and enough guard dogs for a breeding kennel. Who else could have crushed his skull into pieces? Pieces all over the room?"

"Well, first of all, it wasn't me. Second of all, those hospital people are dead. If they haven't reported it yet to the police, have them check the clothes closet in the orderlies' room on the third floor."

Smith paused, as if considering Remo's statements. He sat back down, made a phone call, spoke a few moments, and then hung up.

He stared at the receiver in his hand.

"They found the bodies in the hospital," he said.

"Am I off the hook?" Remo said.

"The telephone is off the hook," Chiun said. He pointed a long fingernail at the receiver and Smith hung it back up.

"If not you, who? Who else could have that kind of power?" Smith asked.

"We know it wasn't me. That's a start," Remo said.

"I never suspected you for a moment," Chiun

said.

"I appreciate your faith, Little Father.' 35

anju," Chiun said.

So does greed, thought Remo, remembering the shipload of gold that went to Chiun's village of Sin-anju every year, as payment for training Remo. But he kept the observation to himself.

Inside Smith's desk, Remo could hear machinery whirring. Smith touched a button and a computer console lifted up from the desk. It flickered on and as Remo watched, Smith's face was bathed in a green glow as he read the information that the CURE computer was sending him.

Finally, he sighed, pressed another button and the console receded into the desk.

He looked at Remo. "Police in Brooklyn have found the bodies of two men on a pier there. They were killed the same way as the federal witness, Romeo."

"And now there are three," said Remo. "And now there is trouble," Smith said. "There is some sort of strange power at work here. Capable of moving around without being seen. Capable of crushing a man's skull. And we better find out who it is."

"The two guys in Brooklyn?" Remo asked. "Anything there for a lead?"

"Just some drunk on the pier. He said he was sleeping behind boxes and he peeked out when he heard voices and he saw two men talking to a man who wasn't there. And the man he couldn't see was answering them."

"Two people. Three voices," Remo said. "One of them probably belonged to the drunk's pink ele-

Í

"Faith comes naturally to a great Master of Sin- I "Then we'd better find that pink elephant," Smith

said caustically, "because he's got a way to crush people's skulls."

"Who were the victims in Brooklyn?" Remo asked.

"Two small-time hoods. But members of the Mafia family that had put out the contract on Romeo."

"You think they're connected?" Remo asked.

"It certainly seems that way," Smith said. "Three people with skulls shattered like walnut shells. It's no coincidence."

"Good," Remo said. "Let all the gang guys get killed off. It saves us work."

"We can't assume that that's what is going on," Smith said.

"Of course, we cannot assume that," Chiun chided Remo. "What a dopey assumption." He looked pleased that he had finally been able to slip "dopey" into the conversation.

Smith nodded. "Considering our present situation—the nation's situation—we can't afford to make any assumptions at all."

"What situation?" Remo asked suspiciously.

"The presence of the former Emir of Bislami."

"Oh, him," Remo said.

"He comes from a good family," Chiun said. "Bislami was always one of the favorites of our house. Did I ever tell you about the time during the year of the great wind when ... ?"

Smith interrupted and was rewarded with a glare. "The new rulers of Bislami have placed a ten-million-dollar price tag on his head."

phant." I "Where is he now?" Remo said.

36 1 37

"He's on an island off the coast of New Jersey were he's hoping to stay until he dies a natural death. Privately, his doctors say that shouldn't be too long. But that isn't all. There are left-wing groups in America who want to kill him. The Russians want to prove to the world that the United States can't protect its own friends. The total price on his head might be twenty million dollars."

"What has this got to do with our skull-crusher?" Remo said.

"Well, suppose this. Suppose the man who killed Romeo was a contract killer, hired by those thugs in Brooklyn. And suppose he killed them afterwards to guard his identity."

"Yeah? So what?"

"Well, if he is a contract killer, how long do you think it's going to be before he takes a contract on the Emir?"

"I know what this is leading up to," Remo said.

"Yes, you do."

"We have to keep the Emir alive until he dies," Remo said.

"Exactly," Smith said.

"That makes marvelous sense," Remo said disgustedly. "You know . . . twenty million dollars could hire a Kamikaze squad, who'd sacrifice themselves to get the Emir. An attack like that couldn't miss."

"Maybe," said Smith.

"You want Chiun and me to protect him?"

"Not exactly," Smith said. "First, I want you to go and check his security."

"I hope it's better than the security on Romeo, or the Emir's probably already dead."

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Smith winced. "Don't even joke about that. The President wants the Emir of Bislami kept alive at all costs."

"Until he dies," Remo said.

"That's correct," said Smith.

"Remo," said Chiun. "I don't understand why you have such trouble following even simple things. The Emperor is being perfectly clear."

"Thank you, Chiun," said Smith. He turned back to Remo. "Go check the Emir's security. See if you can find any holes. And then I want you to get this skull-crusher killer. We can't wait for him to come to take his shot at the Emir. Find him first."

"It shall be as you wish, Emperor," said Chiun.

Remo nodded. "But if he's dead when we get there, it's not our fault."

"Just go," said Smith, wincing again.

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CHAPTER FIVE

They sat in the open cockpit of a Coast Guard launch carrying them from Sandy Hook to the Emir's island hideaway. Remo said, "You're very quiet, Chiun."

"I see," Chiun said. "When I am speaking, you interrupt me. Then, when I am quiet, you wish me to speak. So you may interrupt me again?"

"Don't bicker," Remo said. "Something's nibbling at you. What is it?"

"You are correct. Something is bothering me. It is an unpaid debt, owed to my village by the ancestors of this Emir of Bislami. His ancestors were among the most frugal . . ."

"They were cheap? With all their wealth?" "Interrupting me is getting to be a way of life with you," Chiun said.

"I'm sorry, Little Father. Please continue." "Thank you. It is a simple story. One I tried to tell back in Emperor Smith's office. But no one would listen."

"I'm listening already," Remo said. 'This happened many years ago, by your reckoning, when the Greekling ruled much of the East." "The Greekling?"

"Yes. Alexander, I believe his name was. Anyway, Master Ding of Sinanju was commissioned by the Bislamic throne to remove its most dangerous of