orders were to keep the sorcerer under surveillance and report on

everything he did. So far, he had done nothing, but they knew

better than to question Don Kobayashi’s orders.

The heat was on and all of Kobayashi’s operations on the Ginza

were suffering as a result. The “Ginza Monster, ” as the media had

dubbed the serial killer, had everybody nervous. This sorcerer,

Kanno, was supposed to be assisting the authorities in their

investigation, but so far, it seemed he had done nothing. He hadn’t

even left his shop.

At closing time, the apprentices left and locked up. The sorcerer

remained inside. They waited. Four hours passed and he did not

come out.

“What the hell is he doing in there?” said Kawashima irritably.

“Who knows?” replied Hattori, “Maybe he’s working.”

“I’m getting tired of this. I’m hungry. When are Kiyoshi and Yuro

supposed to relieve us?”

“Nine o’clock.”

Kawashima glanced at his watch. “They’re over an hour late, the

bastards.”

“I know. They’d better have a damn good reason.”

“Shit, ” said Kawashima. “That’s him. He’s leaving.”

“Great.”

“What do we do?”

“We follow him. What else is there to do?”

“He’s probably just going to go home.”

“Yeah? And what if he doesn’t?” said Hattori. “What if he does

something Don Kobayashi wants to know about? You want to

explain to him that we weren’t there to see it because we decided to

have supper?”

“Wait till I get my hands on those two.”

“We’ll follow him, ” said Hattori. “He’ll probably go home and

then I’ll keep watch while you call Takeo and tell him Kiyoshi and

Yuro never showed up to relieve us. Let them explain it to Takeo.”