The Mandarin Cypher

I tried again twice during the hour, ten rings each time, the cover line being I missed her and was she sure she couldn't make it tonight, oh well, have fun. If she answered, I was going to take the Taunus along Caroline Hill Road and work north and find somewhere convenient for starting the tag when the Jensen showed at the gates. She didn't answer.

I was still drawing blank at 18.00 hours. Now that they'd been here again and Mr Chou had started breathing down my neck I didn't feel like opening the shutters wide enough to take the 7 X 50's because they might have put a man on the peep down there or in a building nearby, and just the glint on the glasses could be fatal.

The maids could come in any time now to turn down the bed and things wouldn't be easy for them so I took one of the suitcases and went down and checked out at the desk, very pleasant, yes, and what a wonderful view, but my office had called me back, another strike, yes, wouldn't it be excellent if they could only run things in England as they ran them in Hong Kong.

Crossing the road to the hospital car park I felt the nape of my neck tingling. It was normal but uncomfortable and there was nothing I could do about it. They hadn't rigged anything for me but it didn't mean they might not use some other method when they were ready. The thing is, as soon as you start working in a sensitive field you're going to attract attention and as often as not you're going to be put on the opposition list, right at the top, if they think you look like getting in their way. The deeper you go into the tu

Cerebrate: start worrying over something real, the way they'd switched tactics. As soon as I'd arrived on the island they'd got on to me and moved straight in for the kill, failing with me and succeeding with Flower and taking not the slightest interest in asking questions. Suddenly they'd decided to ask a whole lot of questions up there in Room 39, without even leaving anything terminal for me to walk into. I knew it wasn't from consideration for i

The Taunus was all right: I'd left traps. There wasn't any need to look under the facia but I looked just the same, from habit. The face was at the window as I straightened up.

'Are you visiting the hospital?'

A Chinese, nobody I knew.

'No.'

He wagged his head. 'Would you please not park here unless you are visiting hospital.'

'All right.'

'We have sometimes many people park here, and no room for — '

'I won't do it again.'

'Thank you. Hospital is for emergency, and if people park here, we ca

'Oh, use a bloody shoe horn.'

Start up and back out and turn, not at all polite, but it was begi

It was in Telegraph Bay and there were some hill roads to it but I took the major route through Victoria and down past the university, peeling off along the meandering drive that led to the beach. The Golden Sands was long, low, exotic and recently built, with vines and creeper still trying to cover the pagodas and terrace walls. A small group of people were down on the private beach, playing with a dog; the only others I could see outside the place were a man and a woman stowing the sail of their boat at the jetty. Two or three motor-launches were throbbing in the cha

'D'you have a room facing the beach?'

At the Golden Sands the focus of social life would be on the beach, at the poolside and along the two lower terraces.

'I will see,' he said, looking a little worried that he might have to disappoint me, but with only half a dozen cars down there and the terraces deserted I had an idea things might turn out all right. 'We can offer you this one, sir, if it's just for one night.'

Room 27, second floor, view taking in the jetty. The Hong Kong life-style was maritime and there could be as much traffic to and from the hotel by sea as by road. I stayed in the room for less than half a minute to check security points and then went across to the terrace bar at the front, because you could watch the road from here and anyone arriving by boat would take the lantern-lit magnolia walk past the end of the building, coming around to the entrance.

Small girls in glowing cheongsams, their feet making no sound.

'No,' I said. 'Indian tonic.'

There was a phone and I started work: ten rings for Jade Imperial Mansion and then the rounds, begi

Even from the front of the building you could hear the noise of the power boats, and I kept one ear open in case any of them came across to the jetty. Two cars arrived: two couples, their voices floating up through the dusk, way to come, I know, but Felicity said it was a simply fabulous place for fish, headlights moving along the main road through Pok Fu Lam.

'Yes, I think table reserved in name Tewson.'

The Harbour Room. A hit and a miss, because I was here, not there.

'For tonight?'

'Yes, sir.'

'What time?'

'I think — excuse me. Lady cancel table.'

'She what?'

'Lady cancel table. Not come tonight.'

Hugo's, the Man Wha, the Tai Pan Grill, trying Kowloon now as well as the Island, no go, every time a negative, trying the Miramar as the low grey Jensen came round the curve of the drive and parked under the row of lanterns.

She was alone.

19.07.

Small neat steps that would have left footprints in a dead straight line, not turning her head as she came towards the doors, not looking upwards. I had a cover line if she saw me here but it might be dangerous, better she didn't see me, turquoise tonight, a discreet shower of sequins, her midriff bare, where the mole was, though I couldn't see it from here. The Honda arrived within ninety seconds and although the driver didn't get out I could see it was the short Chinese, the one I'd taken to the Mauritius Hotel. A whiff of exhaust gas came on the air.

I went to the top of the double staircase and looked down. Not every word was distinct but there wasn't any delay at the desk: the room had been reserved. The boy was taking her to the lift, her short hair bright as she passed below the lamps. It stopped at this floor and I was in my room when they came past, a breath of something by Faberge, she'd told me she always seemed to go for the expensive ones, she didn't know why.