They assembled in the Spider's office around the huge conference table, and tea and other refreshments were brought. The Spider also poured four large brandies. Chifune demurred at first but then drank, and some color came back into her cheeks.
It was strange, Fitzduane thought, that although there had been no discussion of why they had assembled, all knew why they were there. Adachi's death had marked a turning point. There was now a common imperative for immediate and drastic action. Adachi's death was not going to go unavenged. It was not merely a police matter. It was personal.
The Spider began the discussion. 'Adachi- san and I met yesterday,' he said heavily, 'and I think you should know what transpired.'
'The superintendent was determined to solve the Hodama murders. He clung to this objective, despite all else.'
'Immediately following the Hodama killings, the evidence pointed toward the Namaka brothers. First of all, a Namaka identity pin was found in the cauldron itself, and then a series of other clues were discovered, all of which pointed towards the Namakas. The puzzle was the motive. Hodama was the Namaka's political mentor and had been such for many decades, so why would they turn on him after all this time? And then some tapes were found and they purported to show that there had been a falling-out between Hodama and the brothers and that he was going to abandon them politically.
'On the face of it, the steady buildup of evidence against the Namakas was damning, but Adachi- san was not convinced. Instinct is an important part of a good detective's skills, and Adachi- san 's instincts told him that something was wrong. He would have been delighted to bring down the Namakas, but he felt that, paradoxically, the one crime they were innocent of was the Hodama affair.
'The aspect of the case that caused Adachi- san most concern was the manner of Hodama- san 's death. Of course, the method could have been an attempt to confuse the investigators, but overall, murder by boiling someone while still alive was such a horrible technique that the superintendent felt it must be personal and that the true motive for the killing was revenge.
'A great many people had reason to be revenged on Hodama- san, of course, but Adachi- san focused on the flaws, in the chain of evidence involving the Namakas, as he saw them. Investigation here showed a common denominator. In virtually every case, there was a Korean connection. Eventually, it looked to the superintendent as if a Korean or someone with strong Korean connections was behind the hit. Accordingly, he narrowed his search to looking for such a person or organization who might harbor a grudge against Hodama, even from many years ago. He further qualified that by looking for some particularly vicious incident. Some action that would result in a response as excessive as that meted out to Hodama- san.
'Adachi- san 's search was not easy. The postwar period was a confused time, and initial record-keeping left much to be desired. Additionally, Hodama was rarely involved directly in violence. Almost always, it was his practice to have such acts carried out by intermediaries, and, of course, in the early postwar years his favorite enforcers were the Namakas. Later on, the Namakas also became too respectable for much direct involvement and they, too, started to use someone else for their dirty work.
'The superintendent was eventually pointed towards Katsuda and his organization, when an elderly sergeant he had worked under told him the story of a rival Korean gang being burned to death by the Namakas at Hodama's instigation. This was the kind of crime Adachi- san was looking for. Here was the motive, and it came clearer when it transpired that a survivor of that Korean gang, Katsuda- san himself, was now running the second-largest yakuza gang in Japan. In other words, Katsuda not only had the motive but he also had the means. The Hodama attack smacked of a well-drilled yakuza operation, the kind that only one of the larger organized-crime groups could mount. Naturally, the Namakas could have carried out such an exercise, too, but at least Adachi- san now had another suspect and one that, in his judgment, made more sense.
'The superintendent's suspicion of Katsuda was further reinforced when an informant, generally known as the Eel and an expert in some of the murkier depths of the financial world, told Adachi- san that a major move against the Namakas was being made by various institutions backed by Katsuda. Of course, it could have been coincidence or Katsuda merely seizing the opportunity to avail himself of the power vacuum caused by Hodama's death, but all in all it seemed to Adachisan on the balance of probability that Katsuda was the man. Apart from anything else, further investigation revealed that the scale of the financial assault on the Namakas could not have been mounted without considerable preparation, arguably a matter of months, and yet these moves by Katsuda were initiated within hours of Hodama's death.
'Suspecting Katsuda and proving it were two different things. Of course, Katsuda could theoretically have been arrested and subjected to interrogation, but, frankly, with his political backing – and I include here the Minister of Justice, who receives handsome campaign contributions from him – such interrogation was not possible.
'As any good policeman does, Adachi- san went over the case file and other evidence again and again. Previously, he had had some success in enlarging the Hodama security videos. There he was convinced that the evidence he had uncovered was planted, but in subsequent viewings he concentrated on the other figures.'
Here the Spider smiled. 'Adachi- san made the perceptive observation that it is a natural human tendency to focus on movement, on the action, if you will. This time he studied every figure individually, regardless of whether that figure was doing anything significant or not. He came to an interesting conclusion. One of the figures was a gaijin ' – the Spider looked apologetically at Fitzduane – a foreigner.'
'I saw the video,' said Fitzduane. 'The attackers all wore suits and were masked. How could he possibly tell?'
The Spider felt very proud of Adachi. The Spider was a self-made man and the organization that had given him his opportunity was the Tokyo MPD, so he took a strong personal interest in the achievements of its personnel. Superintendent Adachi, he felt, was in the tradition of its very finest.
'It has to do with body language,' said the Spider. 'The superintendent examined the video enlarged and in the minutest detail. From it, he could see clearly that there was a leader and a group of subordinates. The leader was easy to pick out, and in contrast his men stood and moved in a particular way. Let me summarize it. Their demeanor, through how they stood and held their hands and numerous other small signs, conveyed respect. It demonstrated the natural ranking that underpins this society. Except for this man.'
The Spider pushed a rather grainy print across the table. It was a printout from a video recording that had been enlarged so the image was slightly blurred. Nevertheless, Fitzduane saw instantly what the Spider meant. This man stood as an impatient equal, and, examined closely, his build was decidedly not Japanese. This man carried more body weight than would be normal for a Japanese of that height, and his neck was thicker. Further, the camera had caught him as he was carrying out a gesture that was somehow familiar.
The Spider tossed a second print on the table. This was a close-up of the man's hands. It showed the right hand pulling at a fold of the skin on the back of the left in a nervous or impatient gesture.
'Holy shit!' said Fitzduane. He looked back at the first print and studied the suit. All three buttons were done up. He looked closely. The buttons were covered with the same fabric as the suit. Suddenly, the masked figure was clearly recognizable. Once you made the connection, it was not hard to identify the characteristic strutting stance. 'Schwanberg!' he breathed. 'The decidedly unlovable Schwanberg. I guess he could not resist seeing someone boiled alive.'
The Spider nodded. 'It took Adachi- san longer to identify Mr. Schwanberg. A great deal of work, in fact. But eventually he came to the same conclusion. And then, at last, the significance of the timing of the Hodama killings became clear. Katsuda had been let off the leash by his CIA masters. The killing was Katsuda's revenge, but really that was secondary. The prime motive was a bigger game. And that game was political. Adachi- san did not know the precise reasons, but he suspected that it was merely that Hodama- san and the Namakas had outlived their usefulness. They were well-contaminated by their money-politics reputations. It was time to reshuffle the deck and put some more-acceptable faces on the top.'
The Spider looked at Fitzduane, almost as if accusing him. 'Superintendent Adachi now knew who had killed Hodama and his people and why, but this very discovery made the whole business vastly more dangerous. It now appeared that he was no longer just up against one of the most powerful yakuza leaders in Japan, but also against a covert arm of an agency of the United States. This was very difficult. The relationship of this country with America is” – he paused, searching for the appropriate words – 'friendly but not entirely harmonious at all times. There are certain areas of friction.'
Fitzduane sipped at his brandy. Dawn was breaking outside. It was still raining. 'Deputy Superintendent-
