Child's Play

After witness Robert Calder is killed by a bomb hidden in a froobie, Remo and Chiun investigate a breach in CURE’s witness-protection system. Witness Martin Kaufmann is shot inside Fort Bragg; Detroit crime figure Salvatore Polastro points Remo toward Warner Pell, who is found murdered. Chiun deduces children are being used as killers, and Remo traces a child, Alvin Dewar, to school official Sashur Kaufperson. Alvin shoots at Remo and gives conflicting accounts of Pell’s death. Sashur’s stories shift: she says Pell led the operation, then says an unnamed superior directed her, while the narrative shows her managing and arming children at a closed school.

Smith finds Pell’s finances inconsistent with leadership. Sashur identifies General Haupt as the caller, but Haupt denies knowing her and Remo believes him; the ultimate organizer remains unknown. A Fort Bragg guard identifies Sashur’s companion George Watkins as a Justice Department employee. Remo suspects a witness-location leak, though Watkins does not confirm the accusation before Remo kills him. Smith later says Sashur is cooperating in custody, but Remo learns her protected location and kills her; the final narrator identifies the killer as the youngest Master of Sinanju without naming him directly.