We left the capital before dawn.
The express coach to the southern coast departed at four-thirty in the morning, which meant that Kaien and I had arranged to meet at the coach station at four-fifteen, which meant that neither of us had slept more than two hours. I knew this not because he said so but because I recognized, when we met on the station platform in the blue-grey dark of the pre-dawn capital, the particular quality of someone who had spent the night thinking rather than resting.
Inspector Gwon was already on the platform when we arrived. She had the authorization paperwork in a document case tucked under her arm and the expression of someone who was already, in her mind, in Tongyeong.
"Six hours," she said, by way of greeting. "We'll arrive before eleven. The team will be in position by then."
