action.
Yamagata almost fell across the bed when it landed upside down in a flower border outside, but he just succeeded in staying upright and clambering over it. His kimono was half off one shoulder, so he ripped it from his body without shifting his gaze from the focus of his anger.
The car was moving off, but it would have to pass Yamagata on the narrow road.
He stooped, legs astride, rubbing his hands, preparing to meet the car as if it were a rival in the wrestling ring. He actually indulged in some intimidatory action. He placed his left hand across his heart, stretched out his right, raised his right leg high in the
There wasn't time to complete the ritual. The car was coming at him. Hunkering low again, he waited for the crunch. There was no question of giving way to two tons of automobile. Much more than his self-esteem was at stake.
With exquisite timing, he launched himself straight at the car at the moment it would have smashed into his legs. His huge body was visible rising over the bonnet in a movement that looked like a dive at the windscreen. The effect was made more spectacular by the car's acceleration, because all he needed to do was dip his torso and jump as the bonnet moved underneath him. His head shattered the windscreen and hit the driver with tremendous impact. The car veered off the road and smashed against the speed limit sign.
Peter Diamond was standing in a dust cloud of plaster, mesmerized by what he had just witnessed. Whether Yamagata had survived, he couldn't tell. The wresder's head and torso were entirely inside the car and the rest of him lay on the bonnet, ominously still.
Diamond shook himself out of the trancelike state and was preparing to clamber over the rubble to give help when there was a warning shout from behind, more of a scream than anything intelligible. Just in time he glanced behind and saw Leapman's other henchman charging towards him with the knife raised to strike.
Diamond was no sumo wrestler. Nor was he particularly fit. His right arm still ached from the beating he'd had in New York. But he still had quick reactions and his police training had given him some elementary judo. Until now he'd never been required to use the shoulder throw in a real fight. It was quite a contortion to twist sufficiently to grab the man's right sleeve and left lapel without being stabbed, but he succeeded. He bent his knees to get under his attacker's center of gravity, and gave a terrific tug. The man somersaulted over his back and thumped the ground heavily. Not bad for an amateur. Diamond grabbed the knife, but there was no need because the man was out cold.
The shout must have come from the nurse they'd seen attending to one of the coma patients. Now she was running straight past Diamond to the car. He followed.
One of the rear doors opened and Leapman climbed out, scattering fragments of broken windscreen from his clothes. Seeing the knife in Diamond's hand, he raised his arms. He was not the sort to fight for himself. Diamond ordered him to lie facedown on the verge.
Naomi got out next, making a whimpering sound, in some distress, but not visibly injured. Her mother followed and held her Yamagata's body was lacerated extensively, but to Diamond's immense relief, he began to move. He must have been stunned for a while, and no wonder. Slowly but without assistance he withdrew his bleeding torso from the front of the car. Astride the heavily dented bonnet he sat tidying his hair.
The nurse had been examining the man in the driver's seat, feeling for a pulse. Presently she stood back and shook her head. From the look of him, his neck must have been broken. He'd taken the full impact of Yamagata's head.
Hospital staff rapidly appeared from all sides, some just to watch or take pictures-for a Japanese is never far from his camera-and others ready to help.
Diamond stooped and picked up one of Yamagata's flip-flop sandals, or
The sightseers surrounded Yamagata until a nurse persuaded him to remove himself from the car bonnet and go for treatment. He was extensively marked, but the cuts were superficial. In a few days there would be no scars. Diamond eased a path through the admirers and handed the flip-flops to their owner. He would have liked to apologize for the way he'd ranted and tried to break free. Instead, he bowed. They both bowed. Then Yamagata made a generous gesture. First, he pointed to the henchman being helped to his feet by a security man and then he tapped Diamond's chest with his forefinger, nodding at the same time as if to express approval. He bowed again and with a sense of ceremony returned the flip-flops to Diamond. Words weren't required. There was actually a scattering of applause. Diamond was glad he didn't have to speak because he couldn't have trusted his voice at that moment.
Yamagata looked around. Something still troubled him. He spotted Dr. Masuda standing a short way off, holding Naomi by the hand. He strode across to them, exchanged a bow and a few words and then stooped and lifted the little girl into his arms.
She looked comfortable. Even contented.
The cameras clicked.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
'Look at these! Jesus, what do they think I'm going to do?' The handcuffs on Michael Leapman really weren't necessary, but as the Yokohama police had insisted on this formality when they allowed Diamond to interview him, it was respected. They sat facing each other in leather armchairs in an office belonging to the senior detective, who observed from behind his desk with an interpreter beside him.
Diamond waited indifferently. He was confident that the protest would pass. If he'd ever seen a man who was ready to talk, it was Leapman, desperately wanting to justify his actions to somebody.
And the switch to sweet reasonableness was not long in coming. 'You know, in a way I'm relieved. I wasn't in control of my life anymore. Mind if I tell it my way?'
A nod from Diamond and he was away.
'I can scarcely believe what an idiot I've been. Less than a year ago, I had things pretty well sorted. I was Vice Chairman, on a good salary in a prosperous company, although I have to say I could see the clouds gathering. Manny-the Chairman-wouldn't admit that we were slipping back in the pharmaceuticals league. He was a great personality, a real nice guy, a terrific manager in his time, but frankly he wasn't in tune with modern business. It's a shark pool now and Manny shouldn't have been there anymore. I know the drug industry. I was ambitious for his job and I expected to get it soon.'
'Through a boardroom coup?'
'Right. I had a surefire plan to reverse the slide, but I knew he wouldn't back it Unknown to Manny, I'd already given the green light to certain research projects that he wasn't even aware of. Nothing unethical, just things that I considered Manflex should support to stay competitive. I diverted some funds quite legitimately from other projects we were phasing out and when the accounting got a little complex I actually injected some cash from my own pocket. It was an investment, the way I saw it. There was this project in Indianapolis with terrific potential.'
'Churchward's?'
Leapman nodded. 'Every drug company in the business was looking for a breakthrough with Alzheimer's. Alaric Churchward was getting some sensational test results with PDM3.1 was damned sure we had an all-time winner, and I was aiming to torpedo Manny with it I knew he wouldn't back it without all kinds of guarantees we weren't ready to supply. The Board was unhappy with Manny and I expected to make my bid for Chairman anytime. When I became boss I could give the drug my backing and turn Manflex into a top company again.'
'You had support on the Board?'
'For sure. But they didn't know about PDM3 yet. That was the ace up my sleeve. I told nobody.'
'You told the mafia.'
'I needed money to fund the project More money than I possessed.'
'But from the mafia?'
Leapman's cuffed hands moved apart in a parody of a man gesturing that he'd acted in good faith. 'At the
