Free Buddha's Money by Martin Limon Page B

everyone concerned."
    Ernie chomped on his gum. "Especially her."
    We strode down the long hallway toward the CID Admin Office. All I could think about was the deadline Ragyapa had given us. Until the full moon. I shook it off and shoved Ernie's shoulder.
    "Why are you always messing with the First Sergeant? You're going to give him a heart attack one of these days."
    "Not possible."
    "But his blood pressure's high."
    "When that old lifer had his guts issued, the supply sergeant was fresh out of one important internal organ."
    "Let me guess."
    "That's right," Ernie said. "The source of all tender emotion. The human heart."
    Back in the Admin Office, Miss Kim, the fine-looking Korean secretary, was pecking away at her Remington electric. Staff Sergeant Riley, the Admin NCO, sat hunched over a stack of paperwork.
    "How's it hanging?" Ernie asked.
    "Okay," Riley growled. "You found that jade skull yet?"
    At the mention of the jade skull, Miss Kim stopped her typing and swiveled in her chair. She nodded to me and smiled at Ernie.
    Ernie sat on the edge of her desk and offered her a stick of ginseng gum, which she accepted. As they chomped happily, Ernie reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a felt purse, and flopped it down on top of Miss Kim's typewriter.
    I recognized the purse. The Buddhist nun had given it to Ernie last night at the Itaewon Police Station. Ernie pointed to the embroidered Korean lettering.
    "What's it say?" he asked Miss Kim.
    Miss Kim picked up the little felt pouch in both hands, holding it as if it were a sacred artifact.
    "It say, 'Choi So-lan,'" she answered. "Everybody talk about her. Last night some GI knuckle-sandwich with her."
    Miss Kim balled her small fist and swung it sharply through the air.
    "That's right," Ernie said. "And me and my partner here, George Sueño, we were just about to kick his ass when he ran away."
    I knew what Ernie was doing. Gathering brownie points. To help him in his long-standing campaign to invade Miss Kim's panties.
    Miss Kim looked up at him. "May I open?"
    "Sure. Why not?" Ernie answered. "All that's in there is Buddha's money."
    Ernie studied Miss Kim's red-tipped fingers as she fumbled with the leather drawstring of the purse. A bubble of saliva formed on his lips. Ernie has two fetishes: manicured hands and unshaven armpits. Both drive him to distraction.
    Miss Kim turned the purse upside down and a handful of bronze coins and wads of crinkled bills clattered atop her desk. The last thing out was a jade amulet. While Miss Kim fondled the amulet, Ernie counted the money.
    "Three thousand five hundred and eighty won," he said. "About seven dollars U.S. This is what that little nun risked her life over?"
    Miss Kim nodded vehemently. "Oh, yes," she replied. "It is Buddha's money."
    She held the jade amulet up to the light. A calm-looking Buddha, his eyes half closed, sat on a floating cloud. One leg was folded beneath him in the lotus position and the other leg pointed down. The lowered foot held back a snarling demon who was trying to claw his way up toward heaven.
    The workmanship seemed exquisite to me. This amulet had to be worth a lot more than the three thousand five hundred and eighty won that the little nun had collected from the business girls in Itaewon.
    "What is it?" I asked Miss Kim.
    She cooed softly while fondling the pale green amulet in her long fingers. "The Buddhist nun who give this to Ernie, she really like Ernie."
    "How do you know?"
    "If she no like, she no give him this." Miss Kim pointed to the figure at the top of the amulet. "This is Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future. Below is Mahakala, the Lord of the Demons. This jade amulet, it will protect Ernie. Make sure nobody hurt him."
    Ernie snapped his gum. "Good. I could use a little protection."
    Reluctantly, Miss Kim handed the amulet back to Ernie.
    "You take very good care of this," she said.
    "Are you kidding?" Ernie said. "I take good care of everything."
    WE WALKED UP ITAEWON'S MAIN