Mallory was standing by the open window that led to the verandah. He wore his red beret and the swagger stick in his right hand beat restlessly against his thigh. It was the eyes which told Li his fate, those strange, unfathomable eyes like holes in the white face, staring through and beyond him.
There was nothing to say, nothing at all. He stood there, a slight, careful smile on his face, hands thrust into the pockets of his silk-dressing-gown, and Mallory made a slight gesture with his hand that brought Tewak and his men into the room.
Mr. Li moved to a small coffee table, selected a cigarette from a jade box and lit it. “Who told you?”
Mallory shook his head. “Suwon was a mistake. Girls like her value their looks too much. They haven’t got anything else to trade with.”
The bookcase against the far wall came down with a splin-tering crash and three of the soldiers rammed the butt ends of their rifles against the wooden panelling. A moment later a large segment fell out, revealing a cupboard, perhaps three feet square, containing a wireless transmitter and several files.
Mallory examined the find, nodded and turned quickly. “So far, so good. Now let’s get down to business. According to our intelligence reports you have between sixty and seventy guerrillas operating in Perak. I’d like to know where they are.”
“You’re wasting your time, my dear Mallory,” Li said. “And that’s something you can’t really spare, isn’t it? When is it they’re coming for you – Friday? Thirty-six hours, that’s all.”
He started to laugh and Tewak raised a hand. Mallory shook his head. “No sense in wasting time on the pre-liminaries. Bring him into the living-room, there’s a fire there.”
Li was aware of a coldness clutching at his inside. The stories he had heard about this man Mallory, of his Tigers and the way they operated. No one really believed it because the English didn’t fight in this way. Didn’t use such methods, which was their greatest weakness. Brainwashing and psychological pressures he had been prepared for, but this…!
They hustled him into the other room and across to thewide stone fireplace in which he had ordered the servants to light a log fire against the dampness of the rains. Mallory nodded and Li’s dressing-gown and pyjama jacket were ripped away, baring him to the waist. His hands were jerked roughly behind his back and lashed with a length of rope.
There was a disturbance outside the door and Mallory heard Mary Hume’s voice raised shrilly. He crossed the room and moved past his men into the corridor. The dark circles under her eyes accentuated the paleness of her face and she had obviously been crying.
“What’s going on in there?” she said. “I demand to know.”
Tm questioning Mr. Li,” Mallory told her. “We’ve just discovered that he’s not quite what he seems to be.”
“I don’t believe you,” she said.
“Well, that’s just too bad. At a later date I’ll be happy to show you the transmitting set he had hidden in his room, but right now I’m busy.” He turned to the corporal on his left. “Escort Mrs. Hume to her room and see that she doesn’t leave it.”
He went back into the living-room, slamming the door on her sudden, indignant outburst, and crossed to the fire. He sat down in the chair opposite Li, took out a cigarette and lit it.
“Have you ever been tortured?” Li made no reply and Mallory continued: “In 1943 I was working under cover in France. I was only twenty. The Gestapo got hold of me. The first two days I didn’t do too bad, but by the end of the week I was telling them everything they wanted to know. Of course, by that time London had changed everything round, so it didn’t really matter.”
“How very interesting,” Li said.
“I thought you might say that.” Mallory picked up a poker and inserted it into the fire. Tm afraid I can’t wait for a week, you understand that, but I don’t think I’ll have to. I’ve had the extra advantage of two years in a Communist prison camp. They taught me a lot, those friends of yours.”