Mike Dixon

„You said it was a most unusual face. You said the chance
of those three points lying so close together was minuscule.‟
278
He sounded further notes of caution but Kirstin was in no
mood to listen. Alan always added an escape clause to eve-
rything he said. It was a mindset he had developed from too
many court appearances.
he minder went into the living room to watch TV and
T Kirstin went upstairs to her study with Samantha. „I
do believe the end is in sight,‟ she told the young police of-
ficer. „We just have to nudge it along a bit.‟
She took an envelope from her desk and addressed it to
Sir George and Mrs. Grace Paget. Then, on a piece of handmade
paper, she wrote the Chinese characters which Tong
Yee had used when referring to his granddaughter (Magnolia
Blossom – otherwise known as Rosie) and her roguish com-
panion (The Knave).
Below this she wrote a short sentence in Chinese, saying
it was in the interests of their two grandchildren that they
tell everything they knew to the appropriate authorities. She
signed with the Chinese character for Cherry Blossom, which
was the name she had used when reporting to George as a
raw recruit in his Intelligence Unit.
Kirstin placed the note in the envelope and gave it to Sa-
mantha to deliver. The police officer wished her goodnight
and Kirstin sank back in her chair. Things had fallen into
place. She had long suspected that the Chinese character for
Knave could also be rendered as Little Page or Paget. It was
a pun that Tong Yee would have enjoyed.
She pictured the two together in the Island View Hotel.
Handsome George and Rosie with her striking features. The
Americans had arrived and, to quote a popular saying of the
day, they were „overpaid, oversexed and over here.‟ It was a