He replied, “I told you. I want to know what business you have with the hill people.”
“None.”
“Then why did you go into the hills?”
This guy was dense, or paranoid. Probably both. I said, “I went to the A Shau Valley and to Khe Sanh to see where I fought. I thought we understood that.”
He thought about that and replied, “Perhaps the lie is that you were never stationed in those places, but now you go there to make contact with the hill people on behalf of your government, and you use the excuse of visiting your battlefields when, in fact, these were not your battlefields. It is the hill tribes you are interested in.”
I needed a second to follow this logic. Apparently, Colonel Mang already had it in his mind that I was up to no good, so he had to make what he knew fit with what he suspected. In fact, I was up to no good, but he wasn’t even close to the truth. Actually, he didn’t have to be; any criminal charge would do in this country.
I applied some logic of my own and said, “If I needed an excuse to go into the hills, why wouldn’t I tell you at Tan Son Nhat that I had an interest in, perhaps, trees and wildlife? Follow?”
He thought about my counterlogic and replied, “In fact, you told me you were not even sure you were going to your base camp at An Khe, which is in the highlands, and where there are many tribespeople. Why were you hiding that?”
“Hiding what? I never went to An Khe.”
“But you went to other hill areas.”
This guy was giving me a headache, and I saw that Susan, too, was getting impatient with Mang’s paranoia and silliness regarding the hill people.
He said to me, “You have, of course, heard of the FULRO?”
I knew that was coming. I replied, “I learned about them at the American War Crimes Museum. I saw the photographs of the mass executions of tribespeople. That upsets the tourists, by the way.”
“Yes? It is intended as a lesson.”
“Why couldn’t you just put the hill people in re-education camps and teach them to be happy citizens? Why did you have to shoot them?”
He looked at me and informed me, “Enemies of the state, who lay down their arms, are given the opportunity to reform themselves in special schools. Enemies who are captured with weapons are shot.” He added, “Anyone, armed or not, who makes contact with armed insurgents is also shot.” He looked at me, then at Susan, and asked, “Do you understand?”
Of course I understood. We did the same thing in 1968, so I couldn’t give Colonel Mang a lecture on due process, guilt by association, or the right to bear arms. It was time, however, to bring this to a head. I looked Mang in the eye and said to him, “Colonel, are you accusing me of being a spy?”
He stared at me, and choosing his words carefully, replied, “I am attempting to discover the true purpose of your visit to my country.”
Well, so was I. But Colonel Mang couldn’t help me on that. I said to him, “Surely you have better things to do during the Tet holiday. Perhaps your family would like to see you.”
He didn’t like that remark at all and said, “It is none of your business, Mr. Brenner, what I do. But for your information, I have been home, and now I have come to speak to you.”
“I’m sorry that you’ve come a long way for nothing, Colonel.”
“I would not come a long way for nothing, Mr. Brenner.”
That sounded like there was more unpleasantness coming. I said, “Colonel, I don’t respond well to subtle threats. You may find this unbelievable, but in my country, as I told you, a citizen can refuse to answer the questions of a policeman, and the citizen has the right to remain silent. The policeman then has his choice of arresting the suspect or releasing him. So, if you’ve come here to arrest me, then do it now. Otherwise, I’m leaving.”
Colonel Mang had probably not been lectured on the limits of police power before, so he chose his own option, which was none of the above. He said to me, “If you answer my questions truthfully, you and your companion can be on your way.”
I looked at Susan, who nodded to me. Having her along, as I’ve said, had its pluses and minuses, and right now was a minus. If I wound up in the slammer under interrogation, I could handle it. But if Mang decided to throw Susan in the clink, too, I’d have a problem.
Colonel Mang said, “Mr. Brenner? I have a few more questions for you. May I?”
I nodded.
He smiled and said to me, “Please describe for me the relationship between you and this lady.”
I saw that one coming, too, and replied, “We met for the first time in Saigon — Ho Chi Minh City — and are now traveling together.”
“Yes? To where?”
“To Hanoi.”
“Oh, yes. To Hanoi, and where are you going between Hue and Hanoi?”
“I think I told you, Colonel. Up the coast.”
“Ah, yes. You wanted to see how the people of the former North Vietnam, as you call it, live and work.”
“That is what I said.”
“And how do you propose to get to Hanoi?”
“I don’t know. Any suggestions?”
He smiled and said, “You could come with me. I have a car and driver.”
“That’s very good of you to offer, but I don’t want you to go out of your way.”
“I am going that way. My family home is near Hanoi.”
“I see. So, I suppose I’ll be seeing you again in Hanoi.”
“You can be sure of that, Mr. Brenner.”
“I’m looking forward to it. Perhaps we can meet at my embassy.”
“Perhaps not.” He took out a cigarette and lit it.
Susan took out her cigarettes and said to Colonel Mang, with a bit of sarcasm, “Would you like a cigarette?”
He ignored her, which was a big improvement over a screaming match. He learned fast.
He drew on his cigarette and said to me, “So, you are traveling along the coast to Hanoi?”
“How else can I get to Hanoi?”
“Well, one could take the long route through the hills, toward Laos, then come back to Hanoi via the Red River. It is very scenic.”
“Are there any hill people there?”
He smiled and didn’t reply.
This was too much fun for one day. It was cold and almost dark, I needed a Scotch, and I’m playing cat and mouse with Sherlock Holmes’s evil East Asian twin, standing in a place where a murder had been committed while soldiers and civilians died by the thousands all around the murder scene. That was why I was here, and this guy is trying to pin a capital offense on me. I couldn’t wait to see Karl and have a good laugh over this.
Colonel Mang returned to the subject of my love life and said to me, “So, you and Miss Weber are traveling as friends. Correct?”
I replied, “As you already know, we share the same bed.”
He put on an expression of mock surprise. This guy needed an acting coach. He said, “But you had separate rooms in Nha Trang and now Hue. And you share the same bed. What an extravagance.”
I replied, “Americans are extravagant in their attempts at propriety and good taste.”
“In fact, you indulge yourselves in whatever you like or want, then attempt to pretend you are simple, virtuous people. I believe the word in English is hypocrisy. Correct?”
“That’s a very good observation, Colonel. Now can I tell you about the Vietnamese? They are the only people I’ve ever met who worship the American dollar more than the Americans.”
“You are insulting me and my country, Mr. Brenner.”
“You have insulted me and my country, Colonel Mang.”
He drew on his cigarette and said, “Perhaps we should get back to our business.” He looked at Susan and said something to her in Vietnamese. She didn’t look happy with the question and replied curtly.