"At the time I knew nothing except that heavy water had appeared in
Singapore. I continued investigations at top speed. I managed to locate
the house which was headquarters for the heavy-water dealers, again with
the aid of an informant. At first I thought the stuff was coming
overland, down the Malay Peninsula. Then I learned it was being shipped
in by boat from Hong Kong."

Customers were starting to come into the Golden Mouse. Bradley lowered
his voice so as not to be overheard. "At the same time, the dealers
spotted Chahda and me. It wasn't hard to do for an expert such as we
were up against. I walked into our hotel room and was jumped by
Worthington Ko and some Chinese thugs. We had it hot and heavy for a
while and some blood was shed." He grinned. "Not mine, I'm happy to say.
I managed to get clear and decided I'd better drop out of sight. So I
became a Eurasian seaman. It's a disguise I've used before, and it's
quite safe."

Rick studied Bradley's face. He had a bone-deep tan, and his face,
although pleasant, had no really distinguishing features. It was easy to
see how he could become a Eurasian. Disguise, after all, was just
putting yourself into a part. It wasn't a matter of make-up.

"I hurried to Hong Kong," Bradley went on, "sure that Chahda would piece
together the story enough to follow me. I stopped at Saigon on the way
and contacted our legation there. The minister had received the cable
sent to all missions in the Far East giving your names, descriptions,
and time of arrival in Hong Kong."

"The timing must have been close," Scotty said.

"It was. The legation had received the cable only hours before my
arrival. It probably was the day you left New York."

"Also I think it was day I left Singapore," Chahda said.

"I got to Hong Kong and contacted Charlie," Bradley continued. "Tell us
what you found out, Charlie."

Charlie shrugged. "No trouble. I got in touch with a pal in the Chinese
Beggar's Guild. He checked up and found out that a lot of coolies
carrying goatskin water bags were crossing from China to Kowloon and
from Kowloon to the island. Of course a lot of that goes on, anyway. But
some of the coolies weren't selling their water. I got my hands on one
of the coolies and we sort of told him he ought to sing us a song about
where the water came from." Charlie grinned. "He sang all right. He
yodeled real good, about Korse Lenken. He also said Long Shadow had been
at the monastery."