“Some rice mixed with that will be good enough.”
“Good, what about your friend?”
“Give him a steak or two. And some beer.”
The sergeant barked orders to the soldiers, then took out a bottle from his private refrigerator. Cognac.
“How about a drink of this, eh?”
“Can’t.”
“Can’t, my ass. Hey, this stuff does wonders for a soldier’s lips. The aftertaste is great.”
They each had a glass. Yong Kyu spoke.
“Actually, there’s something I need to find out. Have you seen a tall Korean woman with a prominent mole on her forehead?”
“Shit. You slimy bastard, I should’ve known. You came all the way back here just to ask me that, didn’t you?”
“Just tell me if you’ve seen her or not. And let’s finish off the bottle while we’re at it. My duty for the day is a lost cause.”
“Wait a minute. . mole on the forehead, you say?” Sergeant Yun hesitated. “You’re not going to send an innocent bystander to the dungeons, are you?”
“Nothing like that. It’s just to keep up appearances. Looks like those American bastards are trying to measure our job performance.”
“Is that a fact?” Sergeant Yun hurriedly poured himself a drink and gulped it down. “I’ve seen her once.”
Toi sat staring out at the beach, unaware of the ongoing conversation. Yong Kyu deliberately waited, letting the sergeant do all the talking.
“It was last month, I think. I went downtown with Sax Pak to have a little fun.”
“With who?”
“Mr. Pak, with the army band. There’s a club called the Da Nang Sports Club. Incredible. That’s where I saw her. Pak knew her pretty well. I asked him to introduce her and he called her over. But I could tell she thought soldiers were no good, know what I mean?”
“Bar girl?”
“No, but quite a looker, that one. I was told she wasn’t an entertainer. . but, hell. Hey, you, go tell Mr. Pak I want to see him.”
As soon as Sergeant Pak showed up, Yun called to him in a loud voice. “Mr. Pak, remember at that club, the Sports Club I think it was, when we went downtown, eh? That woman.”
Pak, a little puzzled, stared at Yong Kyu and at Toi in his mirrored sunglasses.
“Don’t worry, it’s all right. I mean that bitch with the big mole on her forehead.”
“Oh. . you mean Hae Jong?”
Yong Kyu jumped in. “Where is she now?”
Pak smoothed back his hair. “I don’t know. May have gone home, or back to Saigon.”
“Was she an entertainer?”
“No, she used to work at the PX, the navy PX.”
“What did she do there?”
“She’s no ordinary woman. Back home she used to work at the base at Uijeongbu, chief accountant at the PX there. There’s nothing she doesn’t know about the American accounts. She was so good that they put her in charge of all the records when they did inventory.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, eh. . while touring on performances, I eh. . heard she was living with some American officer. She’s about thirty years old now.”
Sergeant Yun broke in. “Hey, her looks are killer. Back home she’d make a first-rate actress.”
Yong Kyu didn’t ask any more questions. Sergeant Yun kept on running his mouth. “I mean, you’ve got to speak their language to get it up. Can’t understand a word they’re chirping underneath.”
“Is that all?” asked Pak cautiously. Yong Kyu smiled as he replied. “We’re through with that, but I understand you’ve had four performances over at Monkey Mountain.”
“What. .?”
“Thank you.”
Sergeant Yun interrupted again. “Hey, you’re not a lifer. Soon enough you’ll take off your uniform and go back to real life, huh? Just take it easy, kill some time here, and then get lost without ever looking back.”
“That’s the same for everybody,” Yong Kyu said, “so hurry up and give me my lunch.”
“I spent four months crawling, too. I got my medal. Want to see it?” Sergeant Yun pulled up one pant leg. A large scar from a grenade wound.
“I was laid up in the hospital for two months. They could’ve sent me home, but didn’t. So, out of spite, I extended my stay.”
They ate lunch. Leaving behind Yun, who tried to get them to stay for more drinking, Toi and Yong Kyu crossed the bridge and headed through the airbase. It was already after three. They passed Dong Dao and went into the navy PX. The manager was a middle-aged civilian, neatly dressed in a short-sleeve shirt and tie and wearing gold-rimmed glasses. Yong Kyu showed his ID card and described the woman he was looking for.
“Ah, you mean Mimi. We do have a personnel card on her.”
At the mention of the woman’s distinguishing mark, the mole on her forehead, the manager had immediately recognized her and used her American name. He got on an intercom and asked for the personnel card to be brought to him.
“What’s this all about?”
“We’re conducting an investigation. When did she quit working here?”
“Two months ago. She was fired. Considering her experience and skills we tried to work it out but. .”
“And the reason for her dismissal?”
“It’s a bit delicate. . let me get you the security officer.”
While he was on the phone, the personnel card came. There was even a photograph attached. Her weight, height, hair and eye color, and other details including her hobbies were recorded on the card.
“When you go out through the back, there’s a Quonset hut directly facing you. The security officer will be waiting in there.”
“Can you lend this card to the joint investigation team for a few days?”
“Ask the security officer.”
Yong Kyu passed around the manager’s desk and opened the back door. When he went into the Quonset hut, a tall American soldier with short-cropped hair turned around. Once more Yong Kyu presented his ID and told him the purpose of his visit. The American listened and then spoke briefly.
“When we fired her, we reported it to your embassy right away.”
“And the reason for her dismissal?”
“We found her inappropriate to serve as an employee for this organization.”
Judging from the frozen expression on his face, Yong Kyu could tell that this corporal was the one who had fired her. He was probably dispatched from the investigation division headquarters.
“Can we borrow her personnel card?”
“I’ll make a copy for you.”
He gave the card to a clerk and a copy was soon brought back.
“Thank you.”
Yong Kyu came up close to him, and said in a tone mimicking the American’s, “Mimi is the key to our investigation, so CID is sparing no efforts to locate her. What was the exact reason for her dismissal?”
The security officer seemed reluctant at first to open his mouth, but then shrugged his shoulders and said, “She was fired for possession of heroin.”
Back outside, the weather was stifling hot. Toi was perched on the Land Rover, sucking a cigarette. “Find anything out?”
Yong Kyu waved the card at him.
“Let me have a look.”
Yong Kyu thought twice and then handed it over. Toi glanced through it.
“A real beauty. Thirty, that’s thirty-one the way we count age.”
“Read it later, let’s just get out of here.”
“Where to?”
“Back to the office.”
Yong Kyu decided that he should get a pair of sunglasses, too. Normally, Madame Butterfly and heroin didn’t go together. But in Vietnam, Madame Butterfly, heroin, and the black market — now those went together beautifully. A grand poetic connection. Nothing more to add.