Hidden Moon

5

The two men at the next table were loud, laughing at jokes that were not funny. Even they didn’t think they were funny, but they were drinking and getting into the mood where every third word gets a laugh, no matter what it is. One of them belched, they both laughed. It didn’t seem anything out of the ordinary to me. I got up to leave, but Miss Pyon came up behind me and put her hand on my shoulder. “Stay, Inspector. Things are already calmer, believe me.”

“Actually, I don’t think you have much to worry about.” I nodded at the two men. “Who are they?”

“I don’t know. They don’t come here regular, and I’m not looking for them to start. That bad, I don’t need the money. The short one is a pig, and if he grabs for me one more time, I’ll cut off his-”

“Never mind that. I’ll just sit awhile. How about noodles and some tea, if it’s not too late.”

“Late? We stay open past midnight. And if we need more noodles, we send the boy down.”

“Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know where the noodles come from. It will spoil the mystery. All these years I imagined they sprang from somewhere magical.”

The men at the next table started laughing again, until the taller one had a coughing fit and knocked his glass off the table. “Hey, girlie, get us another, and one for your friend, too.” The short one pointed at me in a way that told me he was not drunk, not even close.

I pushed back my chair and moved to their table. “Wonderful, this restaurant. Stays open late, you know that?”

The one who had been coughing looked up at me with angry eyes. “Go away. No one likes you. Your type is a cloud covering the sun, there’s always one of you around.”

He struggled to his feet, but his friend grabbed his arm. “No clouds but it rains, eh, Kim? Let it go. Sit down, let’s have another drink.” Kim took a sip, sat back with an expression of surprise on his face, then fell off his chair. I knew he was dead before he hit the ground.

The other customers looked startled at the sound. A few put down their chopsticks right away and drifted out; the rest waited a moment longer before deciding not to stay. None of them said a word. They moved quietly across the room, not even glancing at the body on the floor. When they had all left, I searched my pockets, looking for my mobile. It was in the backseat of the car. I turned to Miss Pyon. “You must have a phone in this place, you called me.”

“Not up here.” She was staring at the body. “It’s on the ground level. We only use it sometimes.”

“Time to use it.” I spoke carefully, because she looked like she was getting hysterical, and when women like her get that way, they freeze up, or they start screaming. “Why don’t you walk down the stairs one at a time, no need to run, find the phone, and dial this number.” I handed her a card that had my office number on it. “Tell whoever answers that Inspector O needs a couple of friends to visit him. They know where I am. Can you do that for me?” I smiled a slow, comfortable smile, but it was too late. She was already screaming.