office, it would be best if the case were reassigned, a fresh

perspective, no reflection upon him, etc., etc. He had tuned out

halfway through Watanabe’s hypocritical‘ little speech. The case

would be assigned to young Sakahara. He was to turn over all his

notes, so that Sakahara could have a chance to look them over

before the big-shot I. T. C. investigator arrived. And he also agreed

to take a few days off, with pay, of course, a well-deserved rest for

working so hard. Akiro didn’t even feel angry. He just felt tired and

helpless.

He went back to his office and told his secretary he was taking

some time off, then checked in with Sgt. Soichiro Kitano,

administrative coordinator of the task force, a veteran of almost

twenty years. Kitano understood and commiserated with him,

promising to keep him posted, unofficially, on the progress of the

investigation. And he learned from Kitano that while he had been

in Watanabe’s office, watching his career go down the drain, there

had been some new developments. Very disturbing developments.

Apparently, sometime last night, after the bodies of the hooker

and the Yakuza man had been discovered in the Ginza alley, the

body of a chauffeur was discovered in a limousine parked across the

street from Kanno’s shop in the Shinjuku district. It appeared as if

his body had exploded. Blood and entrails everywhere, all over the

inside of the car. A gruesome scene. The door to Kanno’s shop had

been found open and several more bodies—or, more accurately,

remains—were discovered in the basement. They, too, seemed to

have exploded. Or been torn apart. No one was even certain how

many victims there had been. Two, three, perhaps four.

Kanno’s apprentices had seen no sign of him since they had left

the shop the previous day and they were afraid that something

might have happened to him. For all anyone knew, he might have

been one of the victims. It was impossible to identify the bodies,

because there was so little left of them.

Sakahara had left to pursue the investigation. He wasted little

time.

Kitano had already established that the limo had been rented to a

Mr. Michael Cornwall, who had taken two of the most expensive

suites at the Imperial Hotel. However, after checking with the