passed on the disorder to their daughter.'
He thought for a minute. 'Any ideas?' he asked.
Janet turned to face him. 'Those clippings in the folder. There was one that gave some background on Senator Manhelm. He was a part of the team that dropped the bomb.'
The party at the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square was in full swing when Brasher and Janet arrived. The embassy staff had flatly refused to give them security status and insisted that they were there only as guests.
The invitation had said 8:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. It was 9:45 p.m. and Brasher was beginning to think they had overreacted, seen too many Arnie Schwarzenegger films. When you thought it through rationally, in a detached manner, the whole theory was ridiculous. How could a young woman with a deadly disease come all the way to London, leave a trail of hideous death behind her and still move around with every appearance of good health?
He was about to suggest to Janet that they picked up their coats and left when there was a ripple of comment that cut across the hubbub of sound. Brasher glanced around. Everyone was looking towards the main entrance.
Nothing had prepared Brasher for the sheer beauty of the exquisite woman who stood in the doorway. She was small but beautifully proportioned. Her midnight-black hair was piled high on her head and secured with brightly lacquered combs. The light blue silk kimono she was wearing covered her from throat to toe but the thin material did nothing to disguise the body beneath.
'That's got to be her,' Janet stated unnecessarily.
The senator was the first to snap out of it. He put on a wide Texas grin and bore down on the diminutive woman like an avalanche in early spring.
Janet tapped Brasher on the arm and claimed his attention. 'What now?' she asked simply but to the point.
Brasher physically shook himself and refocused on the job in hand. 'Just keep an eye on her.'
The senator was busy introducing Hisako to the other guests. He was obviously smitten and he was oblivious to the venomous looks his wife shot at him as he pranced around in a flawed attempt to shed fifty years. Half an hour later the guests were beginning to drift away. Brasher beckoned to Janet and stationed himself by the door. Janet joined him.
'When she leaves, identify yourself and ask her to come down to the station. If you get any trouble, arrest her,' he instructed.
Janet winced. 'What are the charges?'
'Being a danger to the health of ageing senators for a start. We'll think of something. Just don't lose her,' Brasher told her.
He looked around. There was no sign of either the senator or Hisako.
'Damn. Where'd they go? Watch the door,' Brasher ordered.
He placed the empty glass he had been nursing on the windowsill and walked purposefully towards the spot where he had last seen the senator and his lovely guest.
The door to the terrace was open and he eased into a position where he could see outside. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he could just make out two figures standing by the balustrade. He didn't know what to do. He felt like a Peeping Tom. Hisako moved closer to the senator and took off the long gloves she was wearing. There was something menacing about the way she unveiled her hands and it was not lost on Brasher. He still had no clear idea what he was going to do. He coughed and stepped out on to the terrace. The senator saw him and swayed back, putting a little distance between himself and temptation. But he wasn't pleased.
'Yes?' he barked.
Before Brasher could think of something to say, Hisako reached up and took the senator's face in her hands and gave the old man a passionate kiss on the lips. Hisako stepped back and gave a deep bow. A faint, amused smile lurked around her lips, taunting the policeman to do something. With a movement that Gypsy Rose Lee would have envied, Hisako ripped off her silk kimono and dropped it to the floor. Underneath she was wearing a tight-fitting catsuit which revealed every curve and dimple of her perfect body. The senator was beginning to recover his equilibrium.
'What's going on here?' he asked loudly, but nobody bothered to answer. Still with her eyes fixed mesmerically on Brasher's face, Hisako tossed aside the highly lacquered hairpiece she was wearing. Beneath it her skull was hairless. But even this didn't diminish her ravishing beauty. Brasher managed to pump some air through his vocal cords.
'Detective Inspector Brasher. I wonder if you would mind accompanying me to the station. I would like to ask' He trailed to a halt, feeling inept.
Hisako walked slowly towards him.
'I don't think so, Inspector. I have other plans,' she said softly.
Before Brasher had a chance to move, her hand shot out and crashed into his throat. Brasher staggered back, knocking over a stand with a huge pot plant. The sound of the crash brought two of the guards running, pistols in hand. Hisako was already on the move. As the first guard came through the door he was met with a flying mata- geri which crashed him into the wall. The second guard decided it was one of those times when you shoot first and ask questions later.
Hisako did a back flip and her arched foot thudded into his neck. His gun went off but missed Hisako. Other guards came running. They were no match for their daintily lethal opponent.
Janet arrived on the scene in time to see one of the 18-stone bodyguards tossed over the balustrade. If the trained American guards with their guns weren't getting anywhere she was hardly likely to make a difference with her telescopic night-stick.
Janet hastily hid behind the thick wooden door leading to the entrance hall. She saw Hisako break away and run towards where she was hiding. The policewoman threw her weight at the heavy door. There was a satisfying crash as Hisako, taken completely off guard, ran into the swinging portal. The force propelled her across the room.
