“You may, but I may not, is that the position?”
I shrugged. “I’m running no risk at all.”
“That’s not true. In the course of time, one way or another, I’ll find out everything Wentworth told you. Are we in agreement so far?”
“We are.”
“All right. And when I do, what is the problem? I get rid of the men whose names he mentioned. I change the meeting place he spoke of. I divest myself, so to speak, of all my compromised holdings.” He shrugged. “A few names might have to be changed, a few passports purchased, a few sites abandoned. He knows of perhaps three poppy fields, four at the most. I control more than thirty, did he tell you that too?”
I said: “Among other things. But the figure wasn’t thirty, precisely.”
“Of how many did he give you the location?”
I brushed it aside. “We were talking mostly about Laos.” I could see now the twitch to his face; he didn’t like the sound of Laos a bit; it was a shot in the dark that found a target and hurt him.
He said: “Tell me...tell me how much persuasion you had to use to get him to talk so much? A great deal? Or none at all?” He knew his man well.
I said: “None at all. How did a weakling like that ever get so close to you?”
“Personal loyalty, Mr. Cain. I was once greatly indebted to him. You see, I do have my virtues. And you see also that virtue is a luxury I can ill afford. Have you wondered how long it will take me to find out the extent of your information?”
“A few days.”
“And after that?”
“After that, my life is once again in jeopardy. But for the moment it is not.”
“You’re very sure of yourself.”
“I can afford to be, under the circumstances. What about Sally Hyde?”
He shook his head slowly, smiling at me.
I said: “You don’t believe my threat?”
He was on top of the meeting now, the Chairman of the Board in full control. He said slowly: “If she’s even run over by a street car? Yes, I believe you. I believe that if she turns up dead, whatever information you may have will be handed over to the people who can hurt me the most.” He shrugged. “A limited hurt, but serious, none the less. To avoid that hurt, I will keep my hands off you, Mr. Cain. All right? Does that make you happy? But in the case of Sally Hyde, I am dealing with an old enemy, not just an arrogant upstart who thinks he can get in my way. To satisfy that vendetta—and that means the destruction of Sally Hyde for her father to see—not even the danger of that hurt will stand in the way.” He shrugged that careless shrug again. “So I go down too. It will be worth it.”
I said: “I could understand your hatred if it were more passionate and less calculated.”
“I am an Oriental, Mr. Cain.” He said it with the greatest dignity in the world; and as though it answered all the questions. Somehow, I almost began to admire him a trifle.
He said again, insisting: “Believe me, Mr. Cain. If I find Sally Hyde tomorrow, and do with her what I plan to do with her, then I’m quite prepared to take the risk of exposure, to the full extent of your knowledge. In your own case, I’ll hold back, because frankly you’re not worth the risk. But she is. I’m an American. Mr. Cain, but my spiritual home is with my people, in Kirin. And there, we do not take our vendettas lightly. I have a debt to pay Ben Stirani, to pay in my own way. And I’m going to pay it, and be damned to you.”
“Even if it costs you your freedom? Or your life?”
“First they’ll have to catch me.” He said, frowning: “No, I have no worries on that score. A dozen police forces all over the world are looking for me, have been looking for me for a long time quite hopelessly. Your threat is that I might have to break up my organization and start again from scratch, and that I’m not prepared to do unless it becomes necessary to the satisfaction of my vendetta. Killing you merely because you had the impertinence to try to unseat me—no, you are right, it’s not worth it, not at the moment. But only for the moment, Cain. As soon as I find out the extent of your knowledge, the position will change radically.” He smiled, a dry little smile, and said “I have no way of insisting that you keep your word, have I?”
I said: “About Wentworth?”
“You did promise to return him to me if I’d see you. Am I to rely only on your good will? On that conscience you spoke of?”
I said casually: “You can have him. He’s of no further use to me.”
He was watching me carefully, wondering why it didn’t seem to matter to me one way or the other. I knew that at this very minute his minions were out there somewhere trying to pick up Wentworth themselves. All this was just a game, o jeito. And it behooved me not to stay there too long, not to push my luck.
The sun was coming up over the water, throwing its pale yellow light into the big room. The lights were going off automatically, one by one, on a daylight-sensitive switch somewhere. As they blinked out and little pools of shadow fell in the corners, it gave the impression that somewhere someone was controlling all that we two were doing there, as though what was happening was not of my own volition or even of Ming’s. It was an eerie feeling.
I stood up, and Ming stopped me. He said, a hand raised: “Let us understand each other, Mr. Cain. I’m getting Wentworth back?”
I shrugged. “Of course. I’ve nothing further to say to him.”
“Even though you realize that our armistice is over when he’s elucidated a few matters for me?”
“Even so.”
“To undo the damage he’s done will take a day or two, no more. And as for Sally Hyde, you’d better find her before I do. Or all your trouble will have been for absolutely nothing.”
I went to the door and turned back. The other men scattered about the room were more alert than ever; they too were waiting. I said: “As a point of purely academic interest, what would happen if I went straight to the police and told them you were here?”
He laughed. “As long as it’s only academic, I’ll tell you. First of all, they wouldn’t believe you. One of their most trusted informers has just told them that I am in Manila, and they’ve sent a telegram so advising the Philippine police. Secondly, if you happened to tell the wrong man—one of the wrong men—he would promptly throw you in jail on a trumped-up charge while he warned me that a raid was coming. And if by chance you found the right man, and he believed you, and he in turn spoke to the right man, then they’d send a squad of their best men round to arrest me, maybe twenty or thirty of them armed to the teeth with rifles and pistols and maybe even some tear gas. But I’ve got forty-eight men on these grounds, and one of my junks is standing offshore with another twelve men aboard. We’re armed with heavy caliber machine-guns, recoilless rifles, and grenades; there’s even a mortar for emergencies. There’d be a massacre, is that what you want? Even in Macao, Mr. Cain, a slaughter of such proportion is not liked at all.” He said with an amused smile: “And, on top of all this, five minutes after you’ve left the grounds I’ll be gone too. So don’t waste your time.”
I said mildly: “I just wondered.”
In the corridor, armed men were prowling. Ming came with me to the front door; more armed men. He said simply:
“You see? It’s essential you realize the size and scope of this organization. It’s not a question of a gang of street hoodlums any more. We’re as big as General Motors and as deadly as the Marines, so don’t add to this poor colony’s tragedies by senseless obstinacy. The police indeed!” His great frame shook with his laughter.
I said: “I won’t. You’re sure you don’t know where Sally Hyde is?”
