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