Dr. Nam sat silent for a moment. "Perhaps it could be arranged. We would want someone escorting them at all times. We would have to approve the photographs prior to their use."
Miss Pickerel smiled. "No problem, Dr. Nam. When could our people go down?"
"I will have someone contact you. Probably early next week."
As they were preparing to leave, Elliston posed a few questions on whether Dr. Nam had visited any nuclear plants in the U.S. He had, several years ago. And did he have a chance to do much traveling otherwise? He had not been able to do any traveling for the past several months due to the press of business.
As Duane and Brittany passed through the secretary's office. After Dr. Nam had closed his door, Brittany thanked the prim, doll-like woman for her help. As an afterthought, she asked, "By the way, we're looking for a good travel agency to handle our needs. Does Dr. Nam use a local agency?"
"Yes, we use East Asia Travel Service. Dr. Nam has been quite pleased with them. I'll give you the number if you would like it."
They took a taxi back to the office. Brittany immediately went to her desk and called East Asia Travel. She explained that Dr. Nam U-je of Kepco had recommended their service. She asked to speak with the person who handled his arrangements.
"I have to make a trip to Israel," she told the woman who came on the line, explaining again about the recommendation. "Can you tell me about the arrangements you made for Dr. Nam? I think I'd like the same thing."
"Which trip?" the travel agent asked.
"Oh, I didn't know he had been more than once."
"Yes, let's see… three times in the past year, I think. As a matter of fact, I believe he took the same flight each time. That's probably why he didn't mention more than one trip."
"When did he go?"
"Oh dear. May, the first time. That's when he went on to France. Then August, with the trade delegation, and the last time at the end of September."
Brittany was smiling as she hung up the phone. Shortly afterward, she and Duane met with Burke to report on the day's developments.
Burke occupied a small office he would turn over to Duane when he headed back to Washington. Currently he was embroiled in discussions with government agencies over the status of Worldwide's Seoul office. They had opened initially as a "liaison office," which permitted only limited activities. It required no payment of corporate taxes, but technically it gave the company no legal standing. Burke was pursuing a change to the "branch office" form of business. This would permit the generation of income in Korea. It also required registration with the court and approval of operations by the Bank of Korea. As Jerry had warned earlier, the process was tedious. He felt he had been moving in slow motion, like something he might have experienced in a dream, or perhaps swimming in a pool of molasses.
Burke leaned back in his chair and listened with growing interest as Duane covered the conversation with the head of Korea Electric Power, particularly his reply about travel. When Brittany related what she had learned from the travel agent, Burke's face took on the glow of a lottery winner.
"Great work, Brittany," he said.
She smiled. "Sounds like our man who doesn't travel much has been on the Israeli shuttle, doesn't it?"
"And on to France. Wonder if that was a visit to the Riviera, or something more sinister?"
Duane frowned and said, "I'd suggest we ask Washington if they can dig up some additional information on him."
"Right," Burke said. "Do it."
He thought back to the conversation with Ben Shallit in Budapest. The Israeli had said the Korean nuclear expert was coming to Israel the following week. Dr. Nam's trip the end of September would be right on target. The May visit could have been an earlier follow-up on the secret agreement. That was about the best circumstantial evidence he could come up with to verify Shallit's words. The question of how far along the Koreans had gotten with their project would no doubt be a much tougher one to fathom. Maybe Duane could shed some light on it after his trip to Taesong.
The private investigator, Yoo Hak-sil, smiled broadly as he presented his report to Jerry Chan. Noting the expression, Jerry mused that he had found little middle ground among Koreans. Most appeared either gloriously happy or virtually without feeling, based on their smiles or deadpan expressions. Yoo's devil-may-care attire matched his outward demeanor. He wore a jacket with large brown and yellow checks, a pastel green shirt and a mud-colored tie almost thin enough to qualify for the shoestring designation. Beneath that smile, Jerry thought, should lie the reckless soul of a gambler. He would have looked right at home with a racing form stuck in the pocket of his jacket.
Jerry read the written report, pausing at the section on conclusions. After a few moments, he looked up. "Basically, you saw no drawbacks to hiring her?"
"That is correct, Mr. Chan." Yoo was short and built as solid as a Brink's truck. He had a deep voice that seemed all out of proportion to his size. "The young lady has no shortcomings I could detect."
Jerry's major concerns were a reputation for honesty and integrity and a lack of any ties, family or otherwise, to the South Korean government. He had explained to Mr. Yoo that because of the government's apparent antagonism toward things American, he did not want any employee who might feel a compulsion to compromise Worldwide's plans for countering any bias against U.S. products and Americans in general.
"Certainly looks like everyone gave her high marks," Jerry said as he skimmed the pages. "No relatives connected with the government?"
"None. Her father worked on some government buildings, but, of course, he's dead now. Anything else you'd like me to check on?"
"Not at the moment. I may need you again, though. I expect to hire another local employee or two. Thanks for your help."
Yoo handed him an envelope with his bill for services and left. Jerry sat at his desk and read through the report again. He had been impressed with Miss Song initially. Now he was convinced. He picked up the phone and dialed her number.
Yoo Hak-sil did indeed possess the soul of a gambler. And, as any gambler, he preferred to bet on sure things. This situtation, he thought, had the earmarks of certain profit. During his tenure with the police bureau, he had earned a reputation for competence and enterprise. He had turned his back on that career, however, feeling the role of private investigator offered the promise of much greater economic reward. In the course of pursuing that goal, he had discovered some cases could provide a windfall, double compensation. He saw Jerry Chan's peculiar concern about hiring people with no connection to the government offering just such a possibility. He stopped at the first pay telephone after leaving Worldwide Communications Consultants and called the man who provided excellent compensation for details of political, social or economic aberrations.
By the following week, Jerry Chan's office was as busy as a CPA operation in the days before April 15th. Song Ji-young had fit into the scene as smoothly as Miss Universe slipping into her swimsuit. Arms waving like a traffic cop, a big smile on her face, she moved skillfully to keep the phone calls and the paperwork properly sorted out. The guys had a field day with her name. Duane went around crooning "With a Song in My Heart," while Travis Tolliver insisted on calling her Miss Melody. As for the bright-eyed young secretary, she took them all in stride.
On Wednesday morning, Jerry closeted himself in Burke's office to review the status of the operation as a whole, both "blue" side and "amber." He had been pleasantly surprised when Nate Highsmith picked him for this job. Getting a management post this early in his Amber Group career was more than he had dared hope for. He was determined to make the most of the opportunity, and that meant working closely with his operational boss to see that everything proceeded according to plan. And while he wasn't directly responsible to Burke for the public relations end of the business, he knew the financial officer would make a full report to the Chief on his return to Washington.