A Lotus for Miss Quon

1

Just after midnight, Jaffe left his room and groped his way down the stairs to the front door. Behind a closed door nearby, he could hear Nhan’s grandfather snoring. He stood for a moment listening, making sure he hadn’t disturbed the old man, then he groped for the bolt, and slid it back.

The door made a faint creaking sound as he opened it. He peered out into the darkness. The moon was behind a haze of cloud. He could only see the dim outline of trees, and in the distance, the roof of the lacquer factory against the night sky.

He moved cautiously along the path that led to the shed where the old man kept his bicycle. Nhan had given him careful instructions. He had no difficulty in finding the bicycle which he wheeled onto the road, and mounting it, set off for his rendezvous with Blackie Lee.

When Nhan had left him, Jaffe had remembered to clean his gun. The gun gave him a strong feeling of security to know he had it and that it worked.

He had taken two of the smaller diamonds from the tin box and had screwed them up in a scrap of newspaper, putting the screw of paper in his shirt pocket. He hesitated whether to leave the other diamonds in the room, but decided it was too risky, so he put the box back into his hip pocket.

As he pedalled along the main road to Bien Hoa, he rehearsed the story he planned to tell Blackie. He was sure that there would be no mention in the papers of the diamonds. He wished he knew just what the story would be, and how much the police had already found out or had guessed. He would have to be careful with Blackie. He mustn’t let him think he didn’t trust him, but at the same time, he couldn’t tell him the truth.

For the first quarter of a mile, he had the road to himself. He kept a look out for any approaching car and any movement in the forest either side of him.

He had one bad scare when a buffalo, lying in the swamp mud, snorted and struggled to its feet at his approach. And later, he had seen the headlights of a car and had quickly jumped off his machine and had got off the road, lying down in the damp grass until the car had rattled past him.

Apart from the buffalo and the car, the ride to the temple was uneventful, and he arrived there at twenty minutes to one o’clock.

The temple stood in a courtyard, surrounded by high ruined walls. It was some two hundred yards from the main road. The narrow road that led to the temple was full of potholes and partly concealed by weeds and grass. It was a convenient meeting place, for Blackie Lee could drive his car into the courtyard and it would be concealed from the main road.

Jaffe walked his bicycle up the narrow road and when he was close to the temple gates, he laid the machine in the long grass where it was safely concealed. He walked to the temple and peered into the courtyard. It was too dark in there to see anything. He decided he would wait outside for Blackie. He had no wish to go into that hot darkness and possibly tread on a snake.

He found a clump of shrubs behind which he could hide and yet have an uninterrupted view of the main road and the road to the temple.

Punctually at one o’clock, he saw the headlights of a car coming. Blackie Lee’s big American car jolted and bounced slowly up the narrow road.

Jaffe could see he was alone and he relaxed, suddenly aware that as the car had been approaching, his hand had been gripping the butt of his gun.

He watched the car drive through the gateway into the courtyard, then he got to his feet and walked across the grass and joined Blackie as he was getting out of the car.

“We’ll talk in the car,” Jaffe said and walking around to the far side, he got into the passenger’s seat while Blackie, after a moment’s hesitation, got back under the driving wheel.

Blackie had decided to listen and not talk too much. He wouldn’t let the American know he already had some knowledge of this affair. It would be more interesting and possibly more profitable to hear what the American had to say and to find out if he was going to lie or not.

He said, “Mr. Jaffe I don’t understand what is happening. Nhan came to me this evening and said you wanted to talk to me here. Why could we not have met at the club or at your villa? This is all very mysterious and puzzling. I would be glad if you would explain.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” Jaffe returned. “I’m in trouble. I’m the guy who wants a false passport. I have to get out of the country, and fast.”

“I hope I am not a stupid man,” Blackie said smoothly. “I guessed the passport was for you. I think I can help you. It will cost money, but providing you haven’t committed a capital or a political crime, the matter won’t be difficult to range.”

Jaffe took out a crumpled pack of cigarettes. He offered a cigarette to Blackie who shook his head. He lit one for him-elf and Blackie who was watching him saw his hand was steady as he held the match flame to his cigarette.

“I have accidentally killed my houseboy,” Jaffe said.

This came as a shock to Blackie. It was the last thing he had expected to hear.

He remembered what Tung Whu had told him. Both the Vietnam and the American police believed the houseboy had been murdered by bandits. Now here was the American saying he had killed the boy.

He managed to say calmly, “I don’t understand, Mr. Jaffe. What you are telling me is very serious. How does anyone accidentally kill a man?”

“I caught him stealing from my wallet. He tried to get away. He was in panic. I guess I don’t know my own strength. While he was struggling, I somehow broke his damn neck.”

Blackie looked directly at Jaffe, his eyes running over his muscular frame.

“You are a very powerful man,” he said, a note of respect in his voice. “Yes, it could easily have happened.”

“Well, there I was with a body on my hands,” Jaffe said, relaxing slightly as Blackie seemed to be accepting his story. “A tricky set-up. I decided to clear out. You know what the police here are like. I could get a jail sentence. I’m relying on you to get me to Hong Kong.”

Blackie couldn’t accept such a story. It didn’t make sense.

“You considered going to the police and explaining the situation, Mr. Jaffe? Houseboys are notorious thieves. If you had told them…”

“I thought of all that,” Jaffe said curtly. “These Vietnamese don’t like Americans. They might have shoved me in jail. I wasn’t taking the risk.”

This still didn’t make sense to Blackie, but he decided to go along with the American.

“And the body?” he asked: “What happened to it?”

“I left it in a closet in my villa,” Jaffe said. “The police have been to see you, haven’t they?”

Blackie nodded. He was intrigued and puzzled. If Jaffe had left the body in the villa, how had it turned up in the ditch with the dead bandits? Who had moved it from the villa to the ditch? The police? Why had they given out to the newspapers that Haum had been killed by the bandits?

“They called on me,” he said. “They told me you had been kidnapped by Viet Minh bandits. They wanted to know if you had any particular girl. Naturally I said I knew of no girl.”

“Nhan had nothing to do with this. It happened before we met last night. She has nothing whatsoever to do with it.”

Blackie didn’t say anything. This was an acceptable lie. He was sure Nhan knew a great deal about this business. He couldn’t understand why the police had moved Haum’s body. There was no point in keeping this secret from Jaffe. He would read about it in the morning’s paper. He decided to tell him.

“I spoke to a newspaper reporter this afternoon,” he said. “He tells me the police are saying Haum was killed by the bandits. His body was found near the wrecked car you were driving.”

For a long moment Jaffe sat motionless, not quite sure if he had heard correctly. Then he suddenly realized that if this were true he had put himself into Blackie’s hands by prematurely admitting he had killed Haum. He cursed himself for not waiting to read the papers before seeing Blackie. He realized at once why the police had moved Haum’s body. Someone in authority wanted the diamonds!

They found the hole in the wall, he thought, and they knew the villa once belonged to the general’s woman. They have guessed I found the diamonds and I killed Haum to shut his mouth. They are setting the stage so when they catch me, they can shut my mouth and grab the diamonds.

Blackie was saying, “This is a puzzling business, Mr. Jaffe. How do you explain that Haum’s body was found in a ditch?”

“Maybe they don’t want to make an international incident out of it. After all I am an American,” Jaffe said cautiously.

“I don’t think that explanation is likely,” Blackie said. “A few months ago an American sailor murdered a prostitute in Cholon. The police didn’t hesitate to arrest him. Why should they hesitate to arrest you? Why should they arrange matters to look like a Viet Minh outrage?”

“Maybe they didn’t move the body. Maybe the girl and my cook moved it.”

“If you mean My-Lang-To,” Blackie said, “that suggestion is quite out of the question. How could they take the body so far? It may interest you to know your cook and the girl were taken to headquarters for questioning. As she was leaving headquarters she was knocked down and killed by a hit-and-run driver. This has happened before from time to time to people arrested for questioning. It is an efficient method of getting rid of people who could be embarrassing.”

Jaffe felt a drop of sweat fall onto his hand. He realized he was suddenly scared.

“Nothing has been seen of Dong Ham,” Blackie went on. “It would not surprise me if he too was dead by now.”

And if they catch me, Jaffe thought, they’ll kill me too.

“I don’t understand anything of this,” he said. “The thing is as much a mystery to me as it is to you.”

That, my friend, is a lie, Blackie thought. Is this thing political? Could this American be working with an opposition group to overthrow the regime? Did Haum find this out and the American killed him to silence him. No, it couldn’t be that. He wouldn’t be asking me for help if he had been working for a group. They would get him out of the country. Then what was the explanation?

“I don’t like mysteries,” he said. “I like to know all the facts before committing myself. When you took your friend’s car, Mr. Jaffe, you were planning to escape?”

“That’s right. I thought I might bluff my way into Cambodia with C.D. plates. As I arrived at the police post, the attack started and the car was put out of action.”

“Was Nhan with you?”

“No.” Jaffe paused, then went on, his voice hardening, “We’re wasting time. Can you or can’t you get me out?”

“As much as it would please me to help you,” Blackie said, “what you ask is an impossibility. There is no way to get you out of the country:

every exit by now has been sealed off. Security police are extremely efficient. Apart from the impossibility, Mr. Jaffe, I have myself to consider. I have a wife and a very good business. If it were discovered that I have even talked to you, they would close down my club. If it were found out I had helped you escape, I would go to jail.”

Jaffe knew the Chinese character well enough to know this wasn’t the final word.

“That I understand,” he said, “but nothing is ever impossible providing there is a big enough incentive. I have got to get out. I’m willing to pay.”

Blackie shook his head.

“Even if I could think of some method of getting you out, Mr. Jaffe, the cost would be prohibitive.”

“That’s for me to decide. Suppose you had unlimited funds, could you fix it?”

“Unlimited funds? I suppose something could be arranged, but we are wasting time. Who has unlimited funds these days?”

“I put a pretty high price on my life,” Jaffe went on. “I admit I’m not wealthy, but I have funds in America. I could stretch to ten thousand American dollars.”

Blackie remained slumped behind the steering wheel, but his mind alerted. This was the kind of money he was hoping to lay his hands on.

“I could get you out for half that sum, Mr. Jaffe,” he said, “if this wasn’t a capital charge, but unfortunately it is. I’m afraid it would cost a lot more than that.”

“How much more?” Jaffe asked who expected to haggle with Blackie.

“Twenty thousand would be closer to the mark.”

“I haven’t got it, but maybe I could borrow a little more from a friend. Twelve thousand would be the best I could manage.”

“For me, twelve thousand would be satisfactory, but I would have to ask my brother to help and he would have to be considered.”

“That’s up to you. You must make your own arrangements with him.”

Blackie shook his head sadly.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Jaffe. For twelve thousand I would be prepared to risk my business, but not for less. My brother would want five thousand. Without him, it would be impossible to get you out of the country.”

“But with him, you could?”

Blackie hedged.

“It is something I would have to think about and discuss with my brother.”

Jaffe pretended to think for some moments, then he said, “I will pay your brother four thousand: a total of sixteen thousand and that’s final.”

“Seventeen thousand,” Blackie said, sure now that he would get it and wondering how much Charlie, his brother, would take.

Jaffe was deliberately bargaining for the next move in the haggle.

“Well, okay,” He said, with a gesture of defeat. “Seventeen thousand, but Nhan comes with me for free.”

This surprised Blackie.

“You want the girl?”

“Yeah. Is it a deal?”

Blackie hesitated.

“She could complicate things, Mr. Jaffe.”

“Is it a deal?”

Blackie shrugged.

“It’s a deal, but I can’t promise anything. For seventeen thousand American dollars I will do my best for you, but I can’t guarantee anything.”

“You won’t get the money until I reach Hong Kong,” Jaffe pointed out. “I haven’t got it here. So if you don’t get me out, you won’t get the money.”

Blackie had expected that.

“There will be some preliminary expenses. I shall need some money now. Frankly, I don’t intend to advance any money myself for such a risky proposition. Unless you can supply me with a thousand American dollars immediately to take care of incidental expenses and my brother’s air passage, then I very much regret I can’t consider helping you.”

“But if I gave you this sum,” Jaffe pointed out, “And you can’t find a way to get me out, I will be the loser.”

“That is to be regretted,” Blackie said, “but we should be realistic. If we can’t get you out, you won’t need the money -you won’t ever need any money. Have you thought of that?”

Jaffe moved uneasily. He had thought of that.

“I haven’t got a thousand American dollars, but I have got a couple of diamonds here. I bought them in Hong Kong some years ago. I was going to have them made up as a ring for a girl I once knew. They are worth at least a thousand.”

Blackie looked surprised.

“I would prefer cash.”

Jaffe took out the screw of paper and handed it to Blackie. “I haven’t got cash. You can sell these anywhere.”

Blackie turned on the dashboard light and leaning forward, he carefully undid the paper and examined the diamonds. He didn’t know a great deal about precious stones, but he could see these were good diamonds: whether or not they would be worth a thousand American dollars, only Charlie could tell him.

This was a tense moment for Jaffe. He could tell nothing from Blackie’s bland, fat face. Had he believed the story about the diamonds? He seemed to have. Was he going to accept them?

Blackie looked up.

“Very well, Mr. Jaffe. I will return now and I will send a cable to my brother. Nothing can be done until I have talked to him.”

“How long will that take?”

“I suggest we meet here at this time on Wednesday. By then I shall know if we can help you or not.”

“I’ll be here.”

Jaffe got out of the car.

“I’m relying on you,” he said and extended his hand through the open window.

“I will do my best,” Blackie said and shook hands.

He watched Jaffe disappear into the darkness, then he again leaned forward to the light to examine the diamonds, a thoughtful expression clouding his face.

2

During the past twelve hours there had been ceaseless activity in the search for the missing Jaffe.

While Jaffe was cycling to his rendezvous with Blackie Lee, a meeting was breaking up at Security Police Headquarters. Colonel On-dinh-Khuc and Inspector Ngoc-Linh sat on one side of the table and Lieutenant Harry Hambley of the U.S. Military Police on the other.

The meeting had lasted an hour and the three men were no nearer to finding Jaffe than they had been when they had sat down.

In a long, wordy speech, the Colonel had explained what steps had been taken to find the missing American. Over five hundred troops were still combing the countryside. Six suspected Viet Minh sympathizers had been arrested and questioned, but without results. Notices had been printed offering a substantial reward for the return of the American. These had been nailed to trees at the known places where bandits often entered Vietnam. An offer of a large reward to anyone who had any kind of information concerning the kidnapping would appear in the press tomorrow.

Lieutenant Hambley had listened with undisguised impatience. This young man caused the Colonel slight uneasiness. He was a little disconcerted that the Lieutenant returned his stare with one as hard and as unflinching as his own.

Finally, the Colonel paused and Hambley took the opportunity to make a speech which disconcerted the Colonel still further.

“We don’t know for certain,” Hambley said, “that Jaffe has been kidnapped. It seems to me there is something mysterious and sinister going on. I’ll tell you why. We know Jaffe told Sam Wade he wanted to borrow his car to go to the airport with a girl, but the car was found miles from the airport and there was no girl, instead there was Jaffe’s house-boy, and he was dead. Jaffe had a.45 revolver. It’s missing; so is his passport. Before he disappeared, he drew all his money from the bank. Why did he do that? I wanted to talk to Haum’s girl-friend, but as soon as your people had talked to her, she gets killed by a mysterious hit-and-run driver. I wanted to talk to Dong Ham, the cook, but he’s completely disappeared. See what I mean? It’s all mysterious and sinister.”

The Colonel pushed back his chair. He said all these points raised by the Lieutenant would have his attention. Further inquiries would be made. A report would be submitted. The American Ambassador could rest assured that no stone would be left unturned to find Jaffe.

The Colonel then got to his feet, indicating the meeting was ended. After hesitating, Hambley shook hands. Ile said he hoped to hear from the Colonel by tomorrow and left.

Colonel Khuc looked at Inspector Ngoc-Linh with cold, angry eyes.

“You still have no idea whether the American has been kidnapped or is in hiding?” he asked.

“No, sir,” the Inspector admitted. “I am still trying to trace this girl who used to visit the American. She may be able to help us.”

“This Lieutenant is a trouble-maker,” the Colonel said. “Be careful how you deal with him. Now go and find this woman.

When the Inspector had gone, the Colonel rang for Lam-Than.

“Lieutenant Hambley will probably ask to visit Jaffe’s villa tomorrow for another look around. He is suspicious,” the Colonel said. “It is essential of course that he doesn’t come across the hole in the wall.”

Lam-Than permitted himself a smile.

“Three hours ago, sir,” he said, “the wall was repaired. It was done by my brother who is skilled in such matters, and can be trusted.”

The Colonel grunted.

“Ngoc-Linh hasn’t found the woman yet,” he said. “Have you any ideas how we can trace her?”

“If there is anyone who knows who she is it is the owner of the Paradise Club. He knows all the women who consort with Americans,” Lam-Than said. “We could arrest and question him.”

“The Inspector has already questioned him.”

Lam-Than’s eyes lit up viciously.

“If we had him here, no doubt we could persuade him to talk.”

The Colonel hesitated, then reluctantly shook his head.

“This man is well known to the Americans. It would be dangerous to arrest him - yet. We must be careful. If we have to, then we will do so, but we’ll see if Ngoc-Linh can find her first.” He stroked his flat nose. “Are you sure the American can’t slip out of the country?”

“Every exit is being watched,” Lam-Than said.

The Colonel rubbed his bald head.

“He is armed.”

“Our men have been warned. He will be shot at sight.”

“But if the diamonds are found on him?”

Lam-Than smiled.

“I will recover them,” he said.