touch of envy when he saw how much better young Sakahara was

at talking to the media than he could ever hope to be. Not that it

really mattered anymore, he thought. He showed his ID to the

police officers keeping the crowd back and went through. He stood

and watched as Sakahara wrapped up his question-and-answer

session with the media.

Kunimitsu Sakahara was thirty-two years old, very

serious-looking, and built like a bantam rooster. He was short, even

for a Japanese, and to make up for it he had adopted a somberly

aggressive, coolly professional manner, with a style of speech that

left no doubt that he was a man who knew exactly what he was

talking about. He reeked of competence and assertiveness. He paid

a great deal of attention to his appearance, dressing well and

conservatively. He could have been a young corporate executive. He

had that take-charge, brook-no-nonsense way about him. He

handled all their questions expertly, with the skill of a politician.

He gave his answers without any hesitation, kept them short and

to the point, and didn’t tell them any more than he wanted them to

know.

“Who were the victims, inspector?”

“At this point, we haven’t yet established that. Identification is

going to be difficult, due to the condition of the remains. As soon as

we know for certain, that information will be released, pending

notification of next of kin.”

“Was Kanno one of the victims?”

“As I just said, we have not yet been able to identify the victims.”

“But you don’t know that he wasn’t one of the victims?”

“I think I’ve already answered that.”

“So Kanno is missing, then?”

“We have not yet been able to locate him. At this point, we’re not

assuming anything. We’re investigating all possibilities.”

“What about the driver of the limousine? Have you established

who hired the car?”

“The driver has been identified, but we are not in a position to

release his name until his family has been properly notified. As to