Yun shifted uncomfortably in his chair, tilting his head to one side as the cloud of smoke dissipated in front of him. In an even voice, he said, "Let me try to tie it together for you."
The prosecutor leaned back in his chair. "Please do."
"You will probably remember most of these incidents. The first two on the list were killed in a single-engine light plane crash last January. Chi was the editor of Koryo Ilbo who strongly supported the American presence in Korea. The pilot was a Colonel Kim of the ROK Air Force. Both men were conservationists. They had planned to fly over the area between Mt. Soraksan and Mt. Odaesan, looking for illegal logging activities they had received reports about. Naturally, they were flying at very low altitude. About the time they reached the mountains, Colonel Kim reported a drop in oil pressure. There were no good landing sites to the west, so he decided to try making it to the east coast. His next report, a few minutes later, said the engine had failed and he was looking for a place to crash-land in the mountains. When a search party found the plane, it had been strictly a crash, not a landing. Both men dead."
"I trust you're going to tell me what caused the oil pressure drop?" Park sniffed derisively, reaching for his pack of Turtle Ships.
"The investigators' report said an oil line had severed, letting the oil leak out. They speculated that a connection might have been loosened by vibration and finally came apart. But maintenance records showed the engine had undergone a complete inspection only a week before. The mechanics who did the inspection told me they tightened every connection. I asked if it was possible someone could have tampered with the engine. They said anything was possible."
"So you assumed foul play, naturally?"
Yun cleared his throat. "I accepted the possibility of foul play." He hurried on as Park lit another cigarette. "Toward the end of January, an influential member of the National Assembly disappeared while on a business trip to Pusan. He was seen arriving there on Korean Air. His business appointment was at a petroleum refinery, but he took a taxi to a shopping center on Chungmu Street. At that point, his trail becomes blurred. One report said he was seen entering a car near the shopping center. Another claimed he was seen going into the Hotel Commodore. Whatever move he made, he disappeared as completely as the flame from a candle. He hasn't been heard from since."
Park breathed out a small smoke ring and punctured it with the cigarette. "Wasn't he involved in some kind of scandal? What about his family, his associates? No one has any idea?"
Yun shook his head. "There were rumors of a scandal, but no charges were ever filed. Again, no evidence of foul play. Also no evidence that there was no foul play."
Park was fast exhausting his patience. He had better things to do than listen to Yun Yu-sop spin tales of woe all afternoon. "Are you telling me then that all of these men died, mysteriously, as you put it, but with no sign of a crime committed?"
"Please, Prosecutor Park," Yun said, palms spread open, "bear with me a little longer."
"Only a little," he said.
"In February, a ROK Army colonel from Seoul was killed when his automobile plunged into the sea off the end of a deserted dock late at night in Inchon. A fishing boat nearby heard the impact and investigated immediately. They found a most peculiar thing, the car's lights were not turned on. The end of the dock was well marked with warning signs, but there were no skid marks. Later that month, two prominent doctors with medical training in the United States disappeared while in Hong Kong to attend a meeting of physicians. As with the Assemblyman, they left no trace."
"I'm familiar with that case," said Park, stubbing out his cigarette. "Dr. No had been treating my mother. He was a good physician, but a bit too cozy with the Americans, I thought. And what about the Japanese? Wasn't there speculation the Yakuza had kidnapped them over a narcotics deal?"
The Yakuza were Japanese mobsters, heavy into running narcotics.
"Rumor," said Yun. "Possibly spread to confuse people. The Metropolitan Police Bureau had no indication whatsoever that either of the doctors was involved with drugs. They were both widely respected in the medical community. As you are well aware, Yang Jong-koo was slain in March on arriving home from his hotel late one night."
"Quite aware. I believe I adequately expressed my concern at the outset, concern that you haven't found the robbers who murdered the owner of one of our major hotels."
"As I've stated before," Yun persisted, "I have never accepted the robbery theory. True, his billfold with a considerable amount of cash and his expensive watch were taken. But robbers don't normally knock their victims to the ground beside their cars, then shoot them through the temple, execution style."
Park screwed his round face into a distasteful frown. "I regret to say that our criminal element has learned too much from American gangster movies and TV shows. It's ironic that such a fate should strike the chairman of the Korean-American Cooperation Association, don't you think?"
"I find it too coincidental that Yang's driver came down with food poisoning just before time for him to drive his boss home."
"You think the driver was involved?"
"No. We checked him out thoroughly. He ate a bowl of kimchi a little earlier. Something could have been slipped into it."
Park shook his head. "Is that all you have to go on?"
"There's more," Yun said. "I've just learned of a possible suspect. But I need to determine if he was in Seoul at the time of the murder."
Park glared at him. "If not a robber, then what?"
"A professional assassin."
"Assassin? Ridiculous. What did Yang ever do to deserve the punishment of a paid killer?"
"I'm not sure. But I believe the same man visited the home of Yi In-wha the day he was murdered last month."
A well-known businessman, Yi headed a large firm that was the central component of one of the top chaebol business groups.
"What are you getting at, Captain Yun?" The prosecutor's face turned a dangerous shade of red.
Yun spoke hurriedly. "That list contains the names of nine men who have been murdered, killed in questionable accidents or disappeared under strange circumstances. Six of them, including Chairman Yang, were directors of the Korean-American Cooperation Association. The other three — Editor Chi, the Assemblyman, and Dr. No — were the most prominent voices calling for continued close relations with the United States."
For a moment, Park looked clearly shocked. Then the old venom came rising back to the surface. "Are you telling me there is a conspiracy afoot, a conspiracy to elminate people who advocate that we remain cozied up to the Americans?"
"That's certainly the way it looks to me," Yun said, nodding.
Park's thoughts were churning. He didn't really consider himself anti-American, or anti-Western. He resented the condescending way many of them tended to treat Koreans, but, on the other hand, he had picked up a lot of useful ideas from his American contacts. There was no question that America had saved South Korea during the Civil War. Still, the leaders of the new government were strongly opposed to outside influences, American or otherwise. How would his superiors react if he should confront them with such an alleged conspiracy as this? Who could be behind it, the communists? Maybe it had been directed from the North. Everything had happened prior to the startling assassination of Kim Il-sung and his son. If Kim was behind a conspiracy, shouldn't that be the end of it? But what if he wasn't? Could others be targeted for elimination? Now that he thought about it, he had to admit there were only a few small voices raised in opposition to the pull-out of the remaining U.S. troops, or to the apparent decision to downgrade American economic relationships. The emphasis on exports was being shifted to Europe, and there was that effort to create a replacement trading partner in Israel. Finally he calmed himself with the thought that Yun still had no concrete proof that a conspiracy actually existed. He couldn't ignore the Captain's reputation, but why the hell did he have to keep coming up with such outrageous theories? Then he remembered something else. Yun spoke excellent English and had attended the FBI National Academy in the United States. Could that be influencing his judgement?