Crossing The East Sea

23 The Bowibu Chief

Shinsou considered taking the stairs to get down from the hotel rooftop, but opted for the elevator in the end. He had not detected any surveillance cameras in there, and he decided to conserve his energy for whatever else he might encounter that night. For he had the feeling that if he was to fulfil his promise to Kaneshiro, he was going to have to do it soon, at least before the night was over. Once the escape of the abductees had been discovered and it had become entrenched in the North Koreans' minds that Japan had had a hand in tonight's activities, it was going to be impossible to convince them otherwise.

The hotel lobby seemed to be full of people, and the streets outside were even more crowded. The thousands of people who had descended upon the city for the Air Festival did not seem to have retired for the night; and they were gawking at the warehouse building, which was still engulfed in flames.

Several fire trucks had arrived by this time. Burning debris was falling from the building, and the onlookers were keeping a respectful distance from it.

Shinsou squeezed his way through the crowd, and then went around to inspect, from a distance, the rear of the building as well. As far as he could see, no one on the ground appeared to have been injured by the explosion. It mattered to him because of his hero training, not to injure or take a life unnecessarily.

He made his way to the building where they had closeted the drug dealers. Fortunately, Nakajima had anticipated the crowd, and had been shrewd enough to choose a place far away enough that the area around there was still fairly deserted of people.

Shinsou slipped inside the building and freed the drug dealers, ordering them to go back home still in their brainwashed states. He had to release them, for the authorities were sure to search the area, and he didn't want the dealers to be discovered and interrogated, giving clues as to who might have blown up the warehouse.

He eventually came out of the building, and watched the last of the dealers disappear into the distant crowd. Although he was reasonably far from the warehouse building, the heat from the inferno seemed palpable. He stood for a while, just looking at the blaze, and wondering what to do next.

At this moment, a sleek black Audi with tinted windows pulled up nearby, and a man got out. The light was dim, but Shinsou thought that he looked familiar. It took him a while to figure out who it was: Ri Wonhong, the Bowibu Chief. He was not dressed in his Party Cadre uniform, but in civilian clothes, and Shinsou guessed that he must have come from his residence when notified about the blaze, and wanted to observe it discreetly.

Ri was scowling, and Shinsou knew why. There were thousands of people in the city at the moment, including numerous foreign journalists. It was an embarrassment for North Korea for an explosion like this to occur at this time, especially for him, as Head of the State Security Department.

He had his mobile phone in his hand, and Shinsou guessed that he had dispatched his men to find out what was happening. Shinsou was about to slip away when Ri spotted him. Holding a handkerchief to his face so that he wouldn't be recognised, he gestured at Shinsou to come over to him.

Shinsou's first impulse was to beat a hasty retreat, but after all, this was the Bowibu Chief. It would be foolish to try to run away from someone like him. A more prudent measure would be to brainwash him first, and then make a swift escape.

He made his way over to Ri, and was quick to speak before the Bowibu Chief did.

"Yes, sir?" he said respectfully, as he stopped in front of Ri.

"Were you here when this happened?" Ri asked, in a muffled voice from behind his handkerchief; but then his face went blank.

Shinsou was about to leave, when an idea suddenly occurred to him. He looked around; there was no one else in the immediate vicinity, except for Ri's driver in the front seat of the Audi.