The door opened and in walked a ranking officer of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, accompanied by half a dozen heavily armed policemen in riot gear. The officer approached the NSP director.
"Colonel Han," he said, "I am Superintendent General Choi. I have a warrant for your arrest signed by the Seoul Chief Prosecutor. You are charged with murder and conspiracy in connection with several homicides, including Yi In-wha, Dr. Lee Yo-ku, and Captain Yun Yu-sop."
Recovering quickly from the shock of Choi's appearance, Burke looked at his watch, then down at Kwak Sung-kyo, who seemed to have lost all capacity for speech. "Sixty seconds, Mr. President."
Kwak lowered his head and began to sign his name.
"I'd better call Mr. Kang," Burke said. "Then you need to get the Minister of Defense and alert him to the change in plans." He lifted the phone on the president's desk and punched in the number for the editor's private line. When Kang answered, he said, "Kill the story, Mr. Kang. Mission accomplished."
As the policemen were snapping handcuffs on the still-bewildered Colonel, Burke turned to Lieutenant Yun, a puzzled look on his face. "This wasn't part of the plan."
Yun smiled. "I know. But after I left your office last night with the tape, I got to thinking about what might go wrong. I decided to invite Superintendent General Choi to the Blue House for a little insurance. When he heard the tape of Hwang, he decided it was time to do something about Colonel Han."
"I figured it was the least I could do for Captain Yun," said Choi. "He would have really enjoyed this."
Burke looked back at President Kwak, who was quietly hanging up the phone. "Did you reach the minister?" he asked.
"Yes. He will notify the various international agencies that the test is being cancelled."
"What about Chuwangsan?"
"He is notifying them to cease operations. I suggested they issue Christmas leaves for everyone."
Burke nodded. "I'll notify Washington that you've complied with the agreement."
"It is a bit late for me to change, Mr. Hill. I'm an old man. I've lived all these years for a chance to get back at the Japanese for what they did to us, particularly to my father. My real plan for vengeance began thirty years ago. The man my mother married was the founder of Reijeo. He died after the economy really begun to boom and my stepbrother took over. Because of my position in the army and close friends in the government, I was able to make suggestions that fit in with my plan. During one troublesome period with the North, I convinced my stepbrother to launch Operation Pok Su." He shook his head, a pained look on his face. "I have let my countrymen down. Please complete your mission, gentlemen, and let me gather my thoughts."
Should he be left alone, Burke wondered? But this was not Japan, which had a tradition of suicide in cases of dishonor. He followed the others through the door.
Two burly policemen led a handcuffed Colonel Han into the outer office. Burke set his briefcase on the table where he and Se-jin had waited and looked over the signed documents. Everything seemed to be in order. He turned to Superintendent General Choi and asked how he managed to get his armed band past the Blue House security.
"It took quite a bit of talking. I finally convinced them that it was our responsibility to go after one of our own. I told them that Lieutenant Yun was unstable and had committed some serious breeches of bureau policy. I said we were shocked to learn that he had come to see the president." He gave a brief chuckle. "They said they were somewhat concerned about you in the first place."
They were still talking several minutes later when President Kwak's secretary looked up with a worried frown and spoke to Superintendent General Choi. After exchanging a few words with her, Choi turned to Burke.
"She can't get him to answer his intercom."
The officer knocked on Kwak's door and listened. Apparently hearing nothing, he knocked again, then opened the door slightly. He rushed inside.
Burke followed to see what was going on. He saw Kwak slumped over with his head resting on his desk. When Choi walked over to check on him, he exclaimed, "Eom-ma-ya!"
Burke frowned. "What's wrong?"
Choi pushed the president's shoulders back against the chair and Burke stared in alarm. His earlier fear had proved correct. A short sword, the ceremonial type used by the Japanese samurai for hara kiri, had been plunged into Kwak's stomach and cut to the side. His clothes were covered with blood.
Choi shouted something to his subordinates that caused a clamor in the outer office.
"They will call for a doctor and an ambulance," he said to Burke. "He may have lost too much blood already. Apparently the defeat was more than he could take. But as much as he hated the Japanese, it's odd that he would choose this way to go."
Burke recalled reading in Dr. Lee's book a story, thought to be legend, of Lee Horangi-chelmun taking the sword of a Japanese official who had committed suicide after several failures to capture the Poksu group. Could this be the trophy he had kept all these years?
Chapter 71
Burke arrived back in Falls Church three days before Christmas. He made it with only a couple of hours to spare before time for Duane Elliston's funeral. The lady who had been helping Lori had gone home to Florida for the holidays, but Maggie Arnold volunteered to babysit so Lori could accompany him. The service was held at a large, formal-looking church that appeared as sterile as a hospital, except for the massive bank of flowers arrayed about the sanctuary. It reminded Burke of Lori's room on the obstetrics floor. He made a habit of avoiding funerals like the plague, except where attendance was mandatory, as in this case. He thought the Irish had probably put the best face on it with their wakes. Make it a celebration.
At the cemetery, Nate introduced them to Joshua Elliston, Duane's father. Though a contemporary of the Chief, he looked at least fifteen years older. Burke wished he could offer some sort of comforting words, such as the fact that Duane gave his life in an effort to protect one of his fellow men. But he couldn't even hint that they had been involved in anything other than a public relations campaign. The cover story they had come up with to satisfy the needs of officialdom was that Hwang Sang-sol — they used his real name, Suh Tae-hung — had attempted to rob the two Americans, assaulting Burke with a knife. Lieutenant Yun had intervened and shot Suh, but in the scuffle Suh's gun had accidentally discharged and hit Duane.
After the elaborate bronze casket had been lowered into the waiting chasm, Nate walked back to the car with Burke and Lori. "I talked to General Thatcher this morning," he said. "Prime Minister Hong Oh-san has taken control of the government after Kwak's death and sacked those involved in the Pok Su operation. He sent a message to President Giles inviting American nuclear experts to help safely dismantle the Reijeo facility at Chuwangsan. He thanked the President for making no public outcry about the affair."
"I presume they won't mention any of that at Colonel Han's trial," Burke said.
"That would be a safe assumption."
"I don't think I told you, but I'll have to go back to Seoul to testify against him," Burke added.
Lori stopped dead in her tracks. "You what?"
"Don't worry." He took her hand and squeezed it. "It won't be anytime soon. I underwent a long interrogation after we left President Kwak's office the day before yesterday, or whenever it was. My timing is all screwed up. Anyway, I had to tell everything I knew about Captain Yun's cases and Hwang's activities. I was told I would be needed to testify in Han's trial, to corroborate the story on Hwang's tape, among other things. The prosecutor didn't want to let me leave the country, but Superintendent General Choi came to my rescue. He personally guaranteed my appearance and said it would be criminal not to allow me to return home to my family for Christmas."