"Well, that's her. The minister of tourism."
"Where? In the bikini?"
"It's a commercial," Howard said.
"That's the one Remo ran into?" Smith asked incredulously. "Dawn Summens?"
"Yeah. Lucky SOB."
Smith stared at the image for a moment and then turned away with a sort of painted-on shock. "I'll wait for your profile."
Mark grinned. The profile was just about complete, and he sent the batch of electronic files across the network to Smith's office.
He included the commercial.
"WHAT DID YOU MAKE of her," Smith asked Remo.
"Huh? Oh, Summens?"
"That is who we were discussing," Smith reminded him. "Are you sure you are feeling well, Remo?"
"I'm fine," Remo said, pulling his thoughts away from the strange behavior of Chiun, who was still standing on the balcony and was abnormally alert. Something had spooked him. That worried Remo. Chiun was his mentor, his father, his friend. Remo loved the old man more than any human being on this Earth.
Chiun was also one of the most powerful human beings on the planet by virtually any measure. He was a Master of Sinanju, for crying out loud. Masters of Sinanju don't spook easy.
So what just happened out on the balcony? What had Chiun heard, or thought he heard?
"So?" Smitty asked.
"Huh?"
"Minister Summens?" Mark Howard prodded.
"Where'd you come from?" Remo asked.
"I've been on the line since you called back," Howard said. "Remember, about ninety seconds ago when you said, 'Hiya Beav.' You were just now telling us about Minister Summens."
"Yeah. She's a strange one. You know she started as a bikini model?"
"We know," Smith said icily.
"We found some of the commercials that are traded on-line," Mark Howard announced. "She has her own fan clubs."
"I'd believe it," Remo said. "But she may be a part of whatever badness is going on. I don't know yet. She's about the most guarded person I've ever talked to. I had lunch with her and got nowhere."
Silence.
"I mean I learned nothing," Remo clarified.
"So what leads you to think she could be tied into the mainland troubles?" Smith asked. "She was not on the U.S. bus tour."
"My background checks show she does have strong ties to President Grom," Howard said. "They were romantically linked at one time. She's heavily involved in the proindependence lobbying effort, and with an uncanny degree of success. Senator Sam Switzer visited Union a few days ago, and today he came out in favor of granting the island independence and providing it an aid package to help it start a national government."
"Brainwashed?" Remo asked.
"I doubt that," Smith said.
"So he was already in favor of this little hot rock getting a free ride?"
"Actually, he was on record as being opposed to it," Smith admitted.
"There's more to it than that," Mark added. "Switzer was calling for federal corruption charges to be brought against President Grom. He flip-flopped on that issue, as well."
"So why do you think he's not brainwashed?" Remo asked.
"The newspapers have charged the senator with caving into the womanly wiles of the minister of tourism," Howard said.
"He was on the island for less than twenty-four hours," Smith added. "It takes quite a bit longer than that to brainwash someone."
"Depends on how you go about it," Remo replied. "I do think that's what's going on around here, Smitty. I think that's the key to all of it."
"Are we back to the poison smell again?"
"Yeah. I thought you were coming around to my way of thinking on the subject."
"Only to a point," Smith protested. "Remo, we know the substance is responsible for the acts of violence and the ensuing degradation of mental dynamics."
"You also know that there was somebody on the UI tour bus that was doing the poisoning," Remo added.
"Maybe somebody wanted us to think that," Smith said. "Even more important is the lack of motivation. Why would somebody on the tour bus set out to cause that kind of havoc?"
"Why would anybody do any of this?" Remo demanded.
"I do not know."
"So we can't rule out the UI president," Remo declared flatly. "We can't rule out brainwashing of visitors."
Smith sighed. "I fail to see the causal link between the poisoning and the ambitions of the Union Island leaders."
"So how long was Senator Shitzer here? A day?" Remo observed. "I bet he's just the latest victim. I'll bet there have been others. In fact, I have a feeling that just about everybody who comes to this place gets a quick cranial fix."
Smith made a sound then stopped. "Remo, I will not believe Union Island is brainwashing public officials and visiting tourists. It's outlandish."
"Yeah," Remo said. "Maybe."
Chapter 33