This is bad, but it is good, precisely because it is bad. Things are less dangerous, and that means they’re more dangerous. That sort of thing.”

I continued. “This morning, on my way to the office, I stopped at District Headquarters. After my trip, I figured I should look in and say hello. I saw a lot of nervous people running around covering their hindquarters, erasing signs that they were ever in the same room with this defector person. I barely got over here and settled with my feet on my desk when I started receiving a lot of nervous phone calls from people who wouldn’t tell me why they wanted to know what they wanted to know. The question that naturally occurs to me is, what does it have to do with us? I never saw the man.”

“A party secretary who defects,” Pak said, “cannot but have something to do with us. How can you be so sure you never saw him? Did he ever drive through your sector?”

“I’d guess he probably did. It’s hard to get anywhere in the city without going through my sector.”

“Did he ever meet with anyone, talk to anyone, smile at anyone, nod to anyone while he was passing through your sector?”

“How should I know? I don’t follow people at his level. That’s State Security’s job, if they ever wake up long enough to look at their daily operational packet. It’s not my worry.”

“Well, of course, these things are beneath you, O. By no means should you worry about them. Keep on not worrying until someone comes a-knockin’ to find out what you know, or don’t know. And someone will. Soon. They always do. This … situation … has rattled a lot of expensive teeth. At the Ministry last night I heard most of the special squad was sent in a hurry to Beijing. Of course, they made things worse. Bunch of thugs standing around the streets. Did they think he’d change his mind and come back home after he looked out the window and saw their ugly faces? Speaking of ugly, I wonder if your friend Mun tagged along with them. Maybe he’ll be back to question you.”

I thought of the man at the Foreign Ministry whose ambassador had disappeared. “So what? He’ll find nothing, because there’s nothing to find.”

“Really? Mun already knows we recently entertained a visitor of dubious credentials.”

“We didn’t entertain him. He was assigned to us.”

“And you didn’t go out walking with him?”

“What has this got to do with anything?”

“Sometimes, Inspector, I think you must have been hatched in another galaxy.”

“No, I meant, what does all of this have to do with being snatched by Sohn and sent away on another airplane? If I fly into Beijing, I’ll be landing in the middle of this mess. You don’t want that, do you?”

Pak went into statue mode: no response, not even any sign of comprehension.

“For the record, the chief inspector declines to answer.”

“Ask Sohn.”

“Do you actually think he will tell me anything?” I already knew what Pak would say, but I let him say it.

“Probably not.”

4

The next day was the coldest on record. I read once that people in some countries get accustomed to the cold. Iceland, maybe. Not someplace I needed to go. I’d never convince myself to crawl out from under the quilt to go in to work in Iceland.

“Get something hot to drink,” I heard Pak say as I passed by. He didn’t complain that I was later than usual. He left me alone until afternoon, when he walked quietly down the hall and stood at my door. He must have been waiting for a few minutes for me to look up from the plans I was studying. The plans were for a built-in bookcase, which appealed to my sense of fantasy. Built into what?

“You’ll want to keep those in the bottom drawer for the next few months. I think we’re going to be busy.”

I looked up. “What?”

“Sohn is coming back in a few hours with a more complete set of orders. The Minister personally rejected what he tried to push on us the other day. The Minister doesn’t want to dip into his special fund anymore.” Pak stepped inside. He leaned against the wall in an effort to appear nonchalant. “Try not to antagonize the man again. I know that’s what I said before, but apparently I wasn’t clear. Just listen to what he has to say, even if he raises something near and dear.” Pak paused to