Lady Joker, Volume 1 by Kaoru Takamura (lightest ebook reader .txt) 📕

at the same time Shiroyama was painfully aware of how detached he felt. He harbored no ill will toward Sugihara, the husband of his younger sister, but there was no way for him to feel familial empathy for him; all that Shiroyama could do—had ever been able to do—was to engage with him as fairly as possible. Facing him now, Shiroyama perceived Sugihara as a man whose good breeding had, once he’d hit fifty, turned into obtuseness; a man caught in a vicious cycle wherein his weak bearing generated a defensive attitude, which in turn weakened his foothold even further. There was no hope of his retaining his post as deputy manager of the beer division. As president, Shiroyama would eventually need to consider which of the board members—Sugihara among them—would be temporarily transferred to an affiliate company, and when he factored in their personal circumstances, he could hardly keep himself from berating Sugihara. He was forced to tamp down his emotions once again.

“Sugihara-san. Do you know whether the police shared the matter of the tape with all the members of the board?”

“Kurata-san was the first one called in by the police, and I heard they asked him about it. Apparently Kurata-san made a statement then that the only six people who knew about the matter of the tape were himself and Shirai-san, you and me, and the human resources manager and general affairs manager at the time.”

“So the story hasn’t leaked to the rest of the board members, correct?”

“I believe not.”

“Sugihara-san. I will talk about this in further detail at the board meeting, but the crime group’s demand is money. This has nothing to do with the tape from 1990. Right now, our only duty is to come up with a countermeasure that will not damage the company. I need you to keep the affair with your family completely separate from this.”

“But the media may find out about it . . .”

“Even so, that story has nothing whatsoever to do with the company. Do you understand? There must be plenty of executive tasks that require your attention right now. Be sure not to forget that, as deputy manager, the fate of the beer division rests with you.”

“I am aware of that.”

“Sugihara-san. I am speaking to you as a relative—I’m on your side. I feel the same way about not wanting to involve Yoshiko-chan’s family in this controversy. Well, there’s no time for this now. Let’s go.”

Shiroyama checked his watch and began walking briskly ahead. Beginning with the beer division on the twenty-ninth floor, then continuing through another sixteen or seventeen floors in descending order, all he could do was to peer into each room and to thank everyone with a slight bow. As he moved his feet around the office, conversing and displaying his usual facial expressions, Shiroyama repeated to himself that bending to the crime group’s demand was what would ultimately protect this company and its employees. Were he not to think this way, it was doubtful that he could bear up against the future accumulation of lies, deceptions, and schemes—both personal and public—as well as the inevitable complications that would arise from the discord on the board.

Shiroyama returned to his executive suite on the thirtieth floor by 5:45 p.m., as planned. His secretary Ms. Nozaki followed right in after him, just as she always did, saying, “Sorry, but could you confirm this first?” She handed him the day’s itinerary, which Shiroyama examined while still standing. An itemized list of things he was to have accomplished that day—receiving guests, meetings, interviews, and scheduled visits—were all crossed out in red, and in the empty spaces next to them were corrections: canceled, postponed, will contact later, and alternate date required. Pages two and three were for tomorrow and the day after.

“For today, the only urgent matter is the Takasaki factory on-site briefing—would you like to set an alternate date or instruct only the pharmaceutical division to attend?”

He had been preoccupied for some time with attaining approval from local residents for the construction of a manufacturing plant for immunosuppressive drugs based on genetic-modification technology, so he could not delay the matter any further. “Please consult with them and reschedule the date for either this weekend or early next week,” Shiroyama replied.

“Understood. As for the rest, I’ve already sent a proxy letter to the trade issue council and the Japan Business Federation. Vice President Shirai attended the dedication ceremony for Tomioka’s new distribution facility on your behalf, but he forgot to bring with him the greetings message in your name. If we are going to send one tomorrow, I think we should revise the language a little.”

“Please show me the revised letter before you send it out.”

“What about the calls you’ve received?”

“Just see what the business is for today.”

“I understand. Then, please look over the schedule for tomorrow and the day after and check off the items you would like to cancel.”

Shiroyama did as Ms. Nozaki requested, still on his feet but leaning over his desk as he began to edit his calendar. First he deleted tomorrow’s monthly business headquarters meeting planned for nine in the morning, and wrote in, Executive staff, Morning assembly. 5th floor hall. The police interview was scheduled for 9:15. He had no idea how many hours it would take, but he went ahead and canceled the rest of the morning’s planned visitors and meetings. At noon there was a thirty-minute press conference for the media. He kept the rehearsal for the stockholders’ meeting as it was, scheduled for 12:30 p.m. He scanned the list of places he was supposed to be in the afternoon, narrowed it down to two, and canceled the rest.

For the day after tomorrow, he canceled all his outings save for the management council for major distributors, which he decided he couldn’t possibly miss; the induction of the new president of Limelight Japan; and the closing ceremony for the technical training program that was to take place at the Kanagawa factory. He looked up