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wouldn’t thank him if he turned away a senior judge from the door. And, at the very least, it would give him a legitimate reason to fob her off on to someone more senior. “I think I probably need to get someone to talk to you,” he said at last.
    She paused, as if some thought had struck her. “You said the Serious Crimes Team was here? It’s just that I think I know the Chief.”
    â€œDoripalam?”
    There had been a look in her eye which Sangajav—experienced as he was in the appraisal of women—couldn’t quite read. But as he spoke, the look vanished with the suddenness of a light being extinguished. “Doripalam?” she said. “No, I don’t know him. I was thinking of someone else.”
    â€œPerhaps his predecessor,” Sangajav said, intrigued despite himself. “Doripalam’s not been in the job all that long. His predecessor was a man called Nergui.”
    The same look, or something very close to it, reappeared in her expression. “Nergui,” she said. “Yes. It was Nergui I knew.” She hesitated. “We had some dealings—oh, years ago. He has—moved on?” She asked the last question hesitantly, as though concerned about the possible nature of Sangajav’s response.
    â€œPromoted,” Sangajav said, bluntly. “To the Ministry of Security.”
    She nodded. “That’s good,” she said. “Though hardly surprising, I guess. I’m sorry not to have been able to meet him, though.”
    Sangajav had begun to see a way in which he might extricate himself from this increasingly insane conversation. She had expressed a desire to see Nergui, and that was good enough for Sangajav. “Well, actually, you probably can,” he said. “He’s here at the moment, as it happens, carrying out some assignment.” Like most of the team, Sangajav was as yet unclear precisely why it was that Nergui had reappeared, though experience suggested that the impact of his return was unlikely to be straightforward or comfortable. “I can try to track him down for you, if you like.”
    She smiled fully for the first time, and Sangajav was forced to revise his original judgment. She was indeeda striking woman, but she was also, he realized, actually very beautiful.
    â€œI would like that,” she said. “I would like that very much.”

CHAPTER 5
    â€œI still don’t understand what exactly it is you’re up to, Nergui. But I do know that I don’t feel very comfortable about it.”
    They were sitting in Nergui’s temporary office. It was much smaller than Doripalam’s, tucked away somewhere at the end of the corridor. When he had first received the request from the Ministry to provide some temporary accommodation for Nergui, Doripalam had been tempted to find him a broom cupboard, if only on the accurate grounds that they were already severely pressed for space. In the end, by reorganizing some of the administrative staff, they had managed to vacate this room, which was an improvement on the proposed broom cupboard in that it at least had a window. In fact, it had a window which, unlike those in Doripalam’s office, actually had a partial view, sandwiched between two adjoining office buildings, out over Sukh Bataar Square.
    Doripalam was currently standing staring out at this view, trying to avoid catching Nergui’s eye. He was getting better at standing up to him. At least now he felt comfortable saying what he thought. But he still felt faintly patronized, as though Nergui were patientlytolerating his comments rather than paying them any serious attention.
    â€œI’ve explained,” Nergui said. “I’m conducting the inquiry as instituted by the Minister. You know that we have to go through this.”
    Doripalam was watching the traffic swirling slowly around the square in the chilly morning sunshine. There was the usual procession of battered