Volume 2, Chapter 11

It is morning, not yet 6 am. Inka is lying naked next to me, still asleep. She is such a special person, sometimes so soft and sometimes so passionate. And then she is so intelligent. I don’t have to hide my thinking and she can be so quick. As an SIS operative, she still does not have the experience or all the right instincts as yet. But she is bold and resourceful. I hope we get some answers from Smithers this morning while Inka is still with me. I’ll call him a bit later, if he hasn't contacted me.

I can easily get by on five hours sleep most nights but Inka probably needs more sleep. I’ll try not to disturb her.

I must have dozed off; it is nearly a quarter to 7. I’ll get up and have a shower. Ink stirs. “Good morning, beautiful,” she says and turns over and goes back to sleep.

It is just after 8 o’clock. Inka is showered and dressed and so we go down to the restaurant for some breakfast. Inka has a good appetite. She seems perfectly relaxed and comfortable with me even though last night’s sleep-over and sex came about unexpectedly. She is not a romantic. I think last night was just what she needed after a surprising and stressful day. Or am I flattering myself? Anyway, it is convenient that she is with me this morning.

WIth breakfast over, I suggest we go for a walk. It is a pleasant day, warm with intermittent cloud and a light breeze. But my motive is to talk over the little we know about Suu Maung and Merrick. Walking about in a random way escapes any remote possibility of surveillance and suits my preference for talking about these things in an informal and relaxed way. Teasingly, I tell Inka I have things to talk over with her and that if we pretend to be lovers I can whisper in her ear. She bursts out laughing, and puts her arm around me. She is about half a head taller than me and grasps me firmly with her left hand just under my left breast.

“I can pretend that,” she says with a gorgeous smile. For a moment, I see her how she must have been when she was twenty. I go with the spirit of it and lean my head into her neck. This posture is inconsistent with my requirement to talk to her as her superior officer but it will do and, well, is very pleasant.

I need to cover some ground carefully with Inka, as our intelligence data is tentative and incomplete.

“When I asked you to take an interest in Suu Maung and Eldon Merrick it was because we suspected that they were both foreign agents. We have repeatedly asked US intelligence about Merrick and eventually they confirmed that he was a former agent but offered nothing more, so he is a bit of a puzzle. Suu Maung is also an unknown quantity. Various red flags have been raised about the authenticity of her origins and credentials but we have yet to identify which intelligence service she works for, if any. It is possible she is working for China but we have no confirmation of that hypothesis. When you told me she was at the scene of the death, that was extremely surprising, as we weren’t aware of any connection between them. Tell me again how she behaved following the discovery of the body.”

Inka pauses a moment to think. “I think she behaved very naturally. She made a little involuntary noise when she saw the body slumped over the desk. I think she was genuinely surprised.”

I butt in, “But was she surprised at the body or at your presence in the room?”

“Now you ask, I can’t be sure,” Inka replies. “Do you think she may be responsible for the death?”

“It’s a possibility. I wouldn’t want to rule it out at this stage. In fact, for all we know the death could have been a result of natural causes. That’s not my bet, though, given that two persons of interest were involved.”

“But why would Suu return to the scene of the crime if she were responsible?” Inka asks.

“Good question, but maybe she needed to check he was really dead. This is all very speculative. I think you said she helped you initially.”

“Yes, she took us to a nearby administrator. She was helpful. But she did say she had to leave soon afterwards. I didn’t think anything of it at the time.”

“If her life story has been falsified, as we believe, then she wouldn’t want to attract the attention of the police even if she had nothing to do with the death,” I respond.

We carry on talking over some more details until my phone rings. It is Smithers.

“Just a quick call to say we have located the professor. I am tied up most of the morning but if you can call in about twelveish we could talk it over and maybe go and talk to him together if you want and if you are available.”

I quickly agree. I want to ask if he has any more information, such as about the identity of the the deceased and the cause of death but he is keeping it brief and I can ask him later. I think he is being cooperative and is just being discreet. Also he is clearly busy. I pass on the very little I have learned to Inka and mention meeting him late morning. She says that she should be getting back to work but wants me to contact her when I know more.

To be honest, I am relieved she has decided to leave. It feels a bit as if I am being disloyal to Inka but the truth is that I would like to interact with Smithers by myself and, in an interview with Merrick, Inka, who had already made herself known to him, would have to be excluded.

We walk some more and then stop for another coffee before Inka catches her train to South Auckland.