him, ” said Tanaka. “Hattori and Kawashima had been watching
his shop since noon. He did not leave all day. At closing time, his
apprentices locked up the shop and left. Kanno remained inside.
That was not unusual. He apparently often worked late into the
night. Hattori and Kawashima were due to be relieved, but the two
men who were supposed to take over for them did not show up,
fortunately for them, as it turns out. So they were about to call in
to report that and ask that someone come to relieve them. But
before they could make the call, Kanno left the shop on foot and
they had no choice but to follow him. This would have been shortly
after ten o’clock. They followed him to an apartment building
several blocks away and watched him go inside. Here is the
address.”
Takeo handed him a slip of paper.
“Kawashima then called in to report. I told him that I would send
someone out to that address to relieve them in approximately half
an hour. But apparently moments after he made that call, Kanno
came out again and they were forced to follow him once more. He
had changed his clothes. A snappy black suit, very chic, the sort of
thing the customers here at the club wear, and a hat, with his long
hair tucked up underneath it. They followed him to the train
station, where he got on a crosstown subway. He got off at the
Ginza. They followed him for several blocks, until he came to a
place called The Honey Pot, a nude show club…”
“I know it, ” Fugisawa said.
“He went inside and took a booth. He ordered a drink and sat
watching the dancers. It appeared that he was going to stay awhile,
so Kawashima called in once again from a phone in the club and
reported everything that had occurred up to that point. He asked to
be relieved once more, but since I had no idea how long Kanno
would remain in one place, I gave instructions that he and Hattori
should stick with him. And that was the last I heard from them.”
“So you don’t actually know for sure that Kanno killed them?”
said Fugisawa.
“If you mean do I have proof, no, ” said Takeo, “but unlike the
police, I do not require proof. I knew those men. If I gave them