"I didn't know killer bees got this far north," Remo said casually.
Just then a door popped open.
"Is there a problem?" a lilting voice asked.
The woman was slim and the color of a walnut. Her eyes were startlingly large, and so black they might have been constructed of shards of sunglass lenses.
She wore a vivid green sari that shimmered as she approached, topped by a shawl that framed her oval face like a cameo, and all but concealed her lustrous black hair.
The taller guard got control of himself and said, "I don't know who these people are, Miss Nalini, but I told them they can't get close to the cars."
"What is the matter with your fingers?" she asked.
"They sting," the short guard said tightly.
"Killer bees," said Remo. "Maybe they're what's causing HELP. If I were you two, I'd see a doctor."
The two guards just glared. They suspected Remo, but not having seen his hands move, could not accuse him. They recovered their weapons in silence.
"Who are you two, please?" the woman asked.
"It is none of your business," Chiun hissed.
"Little Father," warned Remo. "Let me handle this." He addressed the dusky woman.
"We're with the FDA. We've just been investigating the HELP thing and now we just want to find a decent hotel."
The woman named Nalini looked Remo up and down curiously. Her limpid eyes shone. Then they went to the Master of Sinanju. Their gazes met and locked and a tightness came over each of their faces.
"Allow me to escort you both to your vehicle," she said coolly. She gestured, and the guards lowered their Uzis slightly. They kept their fingers on the triggers.
"Thanks," said Remo.
"It is my pleasure," said the woman. "My name is Nalini."
"We do not care," said Chiun.
"He speaks for himself," said Remo. "I care."
Smiling, the woman lifted slim fingers to take Remo's lean, hard forearm. Remo decided he liked her touch. And her perfume. It was an exotic, musky scent. Usually Remo hated perfume, but this one was both subtle and pleasant. There was none of the flowery excess of manufactured American scents. This had a fruity undersmell to it that reminded Remo of something faraway and unattainable.
"And what is your name?"
"Call me Remo."
Chiun followed with his hands tucked into the sleeves of his kimono and his bearded chin in the air.
"I am the private nurse to Senator Clancy's mother, Pearl," Nalini told Remo.
"I'm surprised she's still alive, after all these years."
"She clings to life. She is a strong woman. Would you like to see her?"
"No," said Chiun.
"We're in a rush," said Remo. "Honest. Another time. "
"Another time then."
"How old is she anyway?"
"One hundred and three years old."
Remo called back, "Hear that, Chiun? She's older than even you!"
"I am only eighty." snapped the Master of Sinanju, "and you are embarrassing me in front of my ancestors."
"Your ancestors are lying in the ground and Nalini is just being polite. What's the matter with you?"
Chiun hurried on, skirts flapping, his hands fists.
The sound of a car window humming down caught Remo's attention. He turned his head and a face appeared in the rear window of the limousine from which Nalini had come.
The face was twisted, as if from paralytic stroke, but Remo recognized Pearl Clancy, matriarch of the Clancy clan. Her mouth hung slack-jawed and a tendril of drool leaked out and flowed into one of the webby wrinkle clusters around her mouth, which was grotesque with red lipstick.
"That's her, huh?" asked Remo.
"I will be just a moment, Adji," Nalini called. "That means Grandmother," she whispered to Remo.
Pearl Clancy seemed not to understand a single word. Staring so hard her eyes seemed to bug out of her head, she brought pale clawlike hands up to her clenched face.
As Remo watched, she made bony fists on either side of her mouth and popped her forefingers out. Then she began wriggling them angrily, as if pointing at Remo. She was bouncing up and down in her seat.
"Come on," said Nalini quickly.
"What was that all about?" Remo asked.
"She's easily upset when left alone. Alzheimer's."
"That's tough. It really is. Bad enough she had to suffer through two of her sons ending up dead and the third a public drunk."
"What did you say your business was, Remo?"
"We're here to look into HELP."
Nalini touched a finger to her mouth. "A terrible thing, all these deaths and no one knows why."