"Third eye? That's New Age mumbo jumbo."
Chiun ignored him. He shifted his massaging fingers to Smith's waxy forehead. He closed his eyes in concentrations.
"What is he doing?" Dr. Kimble asked Remo.
"Search me."
"I thought you were his assistant."
"Mostly I watch and keep people like you from getting in his way."
"I am testing the kotdi," said Chiun, opening his eyes. He withdrew his hands from Smith's head.
"What's that?"
"The kotdi is like your television on-and-off switch. When it is correctly pressed, a person is shut off. Like Smith."
"Shut off! That's preposterous," sputtered Dr. Kimble.
"Remo will demonstrate for you."
Remo reached up and tapped Dr. Kimble's forehead in its exact geometrical center. Dr. Kimble's eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed like a sack of kitty litter. Remo caught him under the arms and asked Chiun, "What do I do with him?"
"Turn him back on, if you wish."
Remo felt for his forehead and tapped once. The doctor struggled to his feet and smoothed his doctor's smock. "Was I out?"
"Actually, you were off," Chiun told him absently.
Dr. Kimble said, "I don't believe it."
Remo shrugged. "Then don't." He joined Chiun. "How is he?"
"This is terrible. His inner harmony is totally gone. I fear permanent damage. "
"We can't let Smith die. You've got to do something."
"I am not talking about Smith," said Chiun, pulling an intravenous tube out of Smith's arm and unplugging electrodes from his head. "Smith will be fine. I was referring to the Dutchman. Look at the force he used to press the kotdi. "
"Too hard?"
"Not hard enough. He intended a death blow, merciful but final. I saw signs of this in Sinanju. Now I am certain. The blow with which he stole Mah-Li's life was also flawed. Remember the red tear? The Dutchman is losing control and this clumsy blow is the surest sign of it."
"Oh," said Remo. "What about Smith?"
Chiun set one finger so that it covered the purple bruise on Smith's brow and pressed lightly. As if triggered by rubber bands, Smith's eyes snapped open.
"Master of Sinanju?" he said clearly. He tried to sit up. Chiun pushed him back. "You are well, Emperor. Thanks to your faithful servant."
"The Dutchman!"
"We know, Smitty," Remo put in. "He was behind everything."
"Quiet!" Smith barked, indicating Dr. Kimble with his eyes.
In a corner, Dr. Kimble was feeling his forehead with both hands, pressing different spots experimentally.
"I think I understand," he said. "By disrupting a nerve center hitherto unknown to medical science, you shut off all electrical activity in the brain. The result is suspended animation with no tissue deterioration. But I can't seem to find the nerve."
"I'll help you," said Remo, taking the doctor's hand and making a fist. He straightened the index finger and placed it over the doctor's eyes, which rolled up in a ridiculous effort to watch his own forehead.
"You press there," Remo suggested, stepping back.
The doctor did. And fell onto the floor. "Works every time." Remo whistled airily.
"So the Dutchman was the mastermind behind the assassination attempts," said Smith, sitting up in bed. Color flooded back to his face like pale wine filling a glass. "Adonis and the ninja master were impostors."
"Had you listened carefully to my story of the thieving ninja," Chiun scolded, "this would not surprise you. Only Sinanju is true."
"He followed us to Sinanju," Remo said grimly. "But he got away. I've got a score to settle with him."
"Where is he now?"
"We don't know."
"What about the presidential candidates? Are they safe?"
"Yes," said Remo.
"No," said Chiun.
"No?" asked Remo.
"No," repeated Chiun in a firm voice. "His reason is fleeing. His purpose in attacking those politicians was to embarrass Remo and me and force us to return to my village in disgrace, where he intended to complete his vengeance. Now that he has failed, he has returned to America to finish the killings he did not complete. "
"Why would he do that?" asked Remo. "He doesn't give a hang about the election."
"He is a wounded scorpion who is lashing out in his pain. He has always been driven to kill. He fears you, desires to be my pupil, and thinks that he has killed Smith. He will strike at those we were once hired to protect. It is the only way he can cause us pain without risking another confrontation he knows he cannot win."
"I don't buy it," disagreed Remo.
"But I do," said Smith. "Or at least I can't take the chance that Chiun is wrong. I need your help, both of you. "
"I have a personal thing to settle with the Dutchman," Remo assured him. "You can count on us."
"But I do not," said Chiun, surreptitiously kicking Remo in the shin.