Shadows of Li Yu-ke

The hesitation was evident on the Colonel's face. He said nothing.

"Alright, wait!" Imran said after a while. "Li Yu-ke's men only engage in such activities under certain conditions. They are a group involved in the illegal drug trade!... No one knows who Li Yu-ke is, but all the profits from the trade go to him. Sometimes some of his agents are tempted to be dishonest. They don't fulfill Li Yu-ke's demands. In that case, they receive such warnings... the first threat is a monkey, the second threat is a snake... and the third threat is a rooster. If they still don't meet the demands after the last threat, they are eliminated."

"So you think I'm Li Yu-ke's agent," the Colonel cleared his throat and spoke.

"In such a case, what else can I think?"

"No, that's wrong."

"Then?"

"I believe I have a clue about Li Yu-ke...." the Colonel muttered.

"A clue! How so?"

"There are some papers! Which in some way could prove dangerous for Li Yu-ke."

"Being dangerous is one thing... but a clue!" Imran shook his head in disbelief.

"This is my own belief!..."

"On what basis did you form this opinion?" Imran asked.

"It's hard to explain! Besides, I couldn't understand some of those papers at all!"

"But where did you get those papers from?"

"In a very astonishing way," the Colonel said while lighting a cigar. "During the last World War, I was in Hong Kong... that's where I got these papers... and the fact is that the person from whom I got the papers misunderstood me.... What happened was that one night I was having dinner at a hotel in Hong Kong!... A thin Chinese man came and sat in front of me!... I noticed that he was very scared. His whole body was trembling! He took out a large envelope from his pocket and placed it under the table on my knees and said softly, 'I am in danger. Deliver this to B-14.' Then, before I could say anything, he quickly left.... It was astonishing. I quietly put the envelope in my pocket.... I thought it was possible that the Chinese man belonged to the military secret service and wanted to deliver some important documents through me to a section named B-14!... I was in full uniform at the time. After returning to my quarters from the hotel, I took the envelope out of my pocket. It was sealed! I kept it as it was. The next day I started inquiring about "B-14" but there was no such institution in the military secret service!.... There was no trace of B-14 in all of Hong Kong! Finally, out of frustration, I opened the envelope."

"So, was it a complete report on Li Yu-ke?" Imran asked.

"No.... They were some kind of commercial papers! But the nature of the trade was quite clear. Li Yu-ke's name was mentioned in them several times. Some papers were in Chinese and Japanese languages, which I couldn't understand."

"Then how did you find out about Li Yu-ke's history?"

"Oh! That was when I investigated about Li Yu-ke in Hong Kong. I found out everything, but I couldn't discover who or where Li Yu-ke is. His agents have been arrested frequently, but none of them have been able to reveal Li Yu-ke's whereabouts. The name has been around for two hundred years."

Imran thought for a while and then said, "How long have they been after you?"

"Not just today!" the Colonel said, lighting his extinguished cigar. "They started chasing me six months after I got the documents, but I didn't return them! They tried breaking into my residence several times, but they couldn't get a whiff of the documents. Now, they have used their last resort, which is sending symbols of death. This means they won't leave me alive."

"Alright, did that Chinese man ever appear again, the one from whom you got the documents?"

"Never... he never appeared again."

There was silence for a while, and then Imran muttered, "You are alive only as long as the documents are in your possession."

"Absolutely right!" the Colonel exclaimed. "You are really very clever! That's precisely why I don't want to return the documents. Otherwise, I have no interest in them at all! Just understand that I have caught the head of a snake. If I let go, it will surely bite me."

"Can I see those documents?"

"Absolutely not. You are asking me to loosen my grip on the snake."

Imran started laughing and then said, "Why did you involve Captain Fayyaz?"

"He doesn't know the real facts. He only knows that some people are a threat to me, but for some reason, I cannot directly involve the police in this matter!"

"Then you shouldn't have told me all these things either," Imran said.

"That's exactly it! But you seem to have the devil's spirit in you."

"Imran's!" Imran said seriously, nodding his head. "Anyway, you called me here as a bodyguard!"

"I wouldn't have called anyone! It was all arranged by Sophia! She knows the situation."

"And your nephews?"

"They don't know anything!"

"You must have told them something."

"Only that some enemies are after me, and the monkey is their symbol."

"But what's the meaning of staying up all night with loaded rifles? Do you think they will come and attack you head-on?"

"I do that to amuse the children."

"Well, let it be!" Imran said, shrugging carelessly. "I like to have sugar cubes and lemon drops with my morning tea."