covered with his porridge and honey. Still, it was a reminder that he was home again in Duncleeve.
'You sound distant,' said de Guevain. He was back in Paris. Since he largely owned his private bank he was something of his own master, and he had an excellent Director-General, but even so he felt inclined to show the flag now and then.
Fitzduane was holding the instrument far enough away to avoid contact. There was raspberry jam on the damn thing as well. Boots had been hungry that morning. There were toast crumbs everywhere. He hunted around for tissues while he spoke.
'I am distant,' he said. 'You're in France, I'm in Ireland.'
He found the tissues, wiped the phone as best he could, and moved the receiver closer to him. 'How are things on your end?'
'The family are fine,' said de Guevain, 'and the bank is making money. Situation normal. I lead a predictable life. And I have heard from our foreign friends.'
'This is an open line,' reminded Fitzduane gently.
'I know, mon ami,' said de Guevain. 'All I want to say is that now I have ever reason to believe that you can rely on the builder we talked about. He is not associated with the competition. My friends are sure of it, and I am sure of them.' de Guevain's ‘friends’ could be traced back to his college, his regiment, and his banking connections. The foreign and intelligence services would feature. Apart from his aristocratic background, Christian was an enarques, which meant that he had gone to one of the small group of colleges from which the key rulers of France were selected. It was an intellectual club with excellent sources. It was the final check. Yoshokawa- san could be trusted.
'Take care of yourself, my friend,' said Fitzduane. He felt suddenly concerned. It was a feeling, no more. 'You were with me when the Hangman was killed. Get some security. Take some precautions.' de Guevain laughed. 'I'm only in danger when I visit you, Hugo,' he said. 'But do you know anything?'
'No,' said Fitzduane. 'Nothing. But I just have a sense of unease.'
'Two attempts on your life. You're entitled to some paranoia,' said de Guevain. He hung up the phone and thought for a while.
Everything was fine except for the break-in at his apartment two nights earlier. Fortunately, nothing had been stolen. The security system was being upgraded, and he resolved to have a word with the bank's security people.
Tokyo, Japan
March 2
Two months into the Hodama murder investigation, it was clear to Adachi that he was in for an endurance test.
Results were not coming either easily or quickly. Murder investigations typically developed strong leads in the first day or so, resulting in a quick arrest, or else turned into a matter of stamina.
After the first couple of weeks, he realized he faced the prospect of months or even years on the affair. He might be transferred off the case to let some new blood have a go, but, pending that, he was in for the duration. Hodama had been too big a fish for the case to be put quietly on the back burner. This was the killing of an insider, one of the most powerful members of the political establishment. If someone of Hodama's status could be killed and the assassins left undetected, then no one was safe.
A steady stream of government members, senior civil servants, and politicians expressed their decidedly personal concern about the progress of the investigation. There were regular calls from the Prime Minister's office. The Minister of Justice had asked for special briefings on two occasions. The brunt of the pressure was fielded by the senior prosecutor and the Deputy Superintendent-General, so Adachi was left relatively free to operate, but the extent of the concern was made well-known to him, together with regular statements of confidence in his abilities.
Adachi was not naive. He was uncomfortable being supported in this way. It put him neatly in the firing line as the fall guy, if such was required. Secondly, it was his experience that public praise normally came before private termination. The best eulogies, now he thought about it, were delivered at weddings, retirements, firings, and funerals. It was a depressing observation about the human condition. And did weddings really belong in this group of essentially negative transitional occasions? He thought they probably did – although undoubtedly most participants regarded themselves as exceptions.
Inspector Fujiwara came into the squad room looking pleased with himself. Immediately behind him, two sweating detectives appeared, struggling with a very large, heavy object neatly wrapped in the material used by the Forensics Department. The parcel was labeled and sealed with an eye for presentation. Whoever had wrapped the damn thing had obviously aspired to the high aesthetic packaging standards of the Mitsukoshi Department Store. Adachi did not know whether to be proud of this Japanese obsession with doing everything correctly – even when it was not necessary – or to regard his fellow countrymen as being slightly nuts. It was heresy, but it was a thought worth taking further, he considered.
He glanced at the wall clock. It was nearly eight o'clock in the evening and most of the desks were still manned or their occupants supposedly doing something policelike in the field. We are nuts, he decided. We Japanese are a completely nutty nation. We should be out enjoying ourselves instead of working ourselves even nuttier. I should be in bed with Chifune enjoying long slow sex – perhaps something slightly kinky – instead of being impaled on a swivel chair in my office with my eyes gritty and my clothing sweaty and rumpled, waiting for my Inspector- san to pull a huge rabbit – or maybe something more interesting – out of his parcel.
The parcel was rectangular and vaguely coffinlike in shape, though taller. 'I assume, Inspector- san,' said Adachi, 'that there is a woman inside that container and that you will shortly cut her in half. You have that showman's look. Well, proceed: given the pace of progress around here, we are all in sore need of entertainment.'
Inspector Fujiwara took the cue. He stretched his arms out like a magician winding up a crowd, then turned and tipped the wrapping material off the object. A nineteenth-century kurama nagamochi stood revealed. The heavy wooden chest, reinforced with iron corner pieces, was customarily used for storing bedding and kimono.
'Nice piece,' said Adachi. 'It has wheels, by the way – little round things at the bottom.' He looked at the sweating detectives. 'Why didn't you – Tokyo MPD's finest – push the bloody chest?'
'Forensics wrapped the wheels too, boss,' said Fujiwara. 'They do that kind of thing. They thought it would look neater. Anyway, we wanted to make it a surprise. You've been looking gloomy recently.'
'Oh,' said Adachi. He did not quite know whether to feel flattered or deflated. He did feel curious.
'Miwako Chiba,' said Inspector Fujiwara. 'A damned attractive woman in her early fifties. Slim figure, distinguished face, great eyes, lots of sex appeal. Looks great – could be twenty years younger.'
'Is she in the box?' said Adachi. 'Not that I want to pry.'
'She lives out in Takanawa,' said Fujiwara. 'Nice house, two tatami rooms and the rest modern. Plenty of money there – not really big money, but comfortable. A settled look to the situation.'
'Is there a Mr. Chiba?' said Adachi. He was beginning to understand.
'No,' said Fujiwara.
'Little Chibas?' said Adachi.
'No,' said Fujiwara. 'None recorded and none that I noticed.'
'Ah!' said Adachi. 'What does she do?'
'Has a bar in Rippongi,' said Fujiwara, 'but someone else manages it. Chiba- san is a lady of leisure.'
'Whose mistress or ex-mistress?' said Adachi. The pattern was predictable. A great deal of police work was about patterns.
'She is out of a job these days,' said Fujiwara, 'whatever their relationship.'
'Hodama, the old goat,' said Adachi. 'Whatever he took, I'd like to have some. By all accounts, he was fucking someone or something steadily until he was broiled. Eighty-four years of age and still at it. He was a credit to our culture.'
'Hodama,' agreed Fujiwara.
Adachi had remembered how tired he was. He leaned forward. 'Inspector- san,' he said politely. 'Would you
