the police were not really concerned about the vice and gambling

operations there. Technically, such things were illegal, but in the

Ginza, they were cheerfully ignored by both the population and the

authorities alike. But murder was something else again. A serial

killer could not be ignored, especially when he was a necromancer.

Necromancy was a capital offense in every country in the world and

it was so rare, and the nature of the murders so grisly, that it had

become the biggest story in the country.

The media was crawling all over the Ginza, as were the police

and the agents of the Bureau. The latest word had it that a special

I. T. C. investigator was going to be brought in and all this resulted

in a giant headache for Kobayashi. The police could not be seen to

be looking the other way with so much attention directed at them.

The whores, already suffering from fewer customers and fear of

being the next victim of the killer, ·ere being swept off the streets

and taken away in large vans, 10 that the media could at least see

that the police were doing something. The drug emporiums were

being shut down and the gambling casinos were being raided.

Lacking the ability to apprehend the killer, the police were doing

everything they could to appear busy and conscientious. And

Kobayashi was coming in for some severe criticism from his

superiors in the organization for not being able to take care of “the

problem” on his turf.

In an effort to save face, he had confided to the council that he

had already taken steps to remedy the situation by putting out a

contract on the killer. He had his people pursuing their own

investigation and he had gone to great trouble and expense

- convince the legendary Morpheus to come out of retirement and

take on the job. That had impressed the council favorably and

bought him some more time, but if he did not achieve some results

soon, his position would be very precarious indeed. Nishikawa was

determined to make it as precarious as possible.

To that end, much as he detested the young man, Nishikawa

found Shiro Kobayashi a godsend. For a price, he was willing to

help bring down his father. It was a high price, but it was well

worth it. Nishikawa sorted through the photographs he had just

taken from the manila envelope that Shiro passed across the table.