Sign of the Dragon (Tatsu Yamada Book 1) by Niall Teasdale (e reader TXT) 📕

pretty obvious that the cause was the same as the incident at The Hole. Thankfully, the security personnel were not equipped to get inside the exclusion area that had already been set up by the bioterrorism team which had arrived fifteen minutes before Tatsu.

‘Hey, you can’t be in here without– Oh, it’s you, Sergeant Yamada.’ The speaker was largely invisible inside a biohazard suit but was probably male. Anything else about him was a guess.

‘Good afternoon, Yasuda. Yes, it’s little impenetrable me. No danger of me catching anything. That said, I don’t think you’re going to find anything infectious anyway.’

‘If it turns out to be the same agent as the Chiba incident, you’re probably right. We got to this one faster. A couple of them were still alive. I think they lost the last one about five minutes ago. Maybe we’ll find something.’

‘Somehow, I’m not inclined to hold my breath.’

‘Do you even breathe?’

‘Of course. I can hold my breath for over an hour while walking around, but I do have to breathe.’

‘You learn something new every day. Best thing you can do currently is keep the ViraShield security and execs off us.’

Tatsu scowled at the man in the whole-body condom. ‘Thanks a lot, Yasuda. That’s just what I need.’

~~~

As was the case with many corporate buildings, the ViraShield building was effectively an arcology. Most of the company’s four and a half thousand employees lived in ViraShield Tower and were provided with necessary workspaces, recreation facilities, and shops by the company working with franchise partners. You never had to leave the building if you did not want to, and many did not.

Hideki Fukui was not one of those. The company’s CEO had a house in the country and travelled for business meetings. He got out and about. However, he also had an apartment and office complex on the top floor of the tower, and that was where Tatsu was taken to meet him. She had a feeling that this was meant to intimidate her and was not sure why.

Certainly, the stylish interior of Fukui’s apartment was intimidating in the sense that it suggested he had vast amounts of money and enjoyed using it to create a world he enjoyed living in. The styling was a mix of ultramodern and European baroque. There was a lot of extravagant ornamentation, often in modern materials. Sculptures decorated the entrance area accessible via a secure, dedicated elevator, and the room had a mural painted on the ceiling. Tatsu was led into an office which might have swallowed her apartment building, complete with statuary, wall murals, neon-highlighted ceiling mouldings, and a solid, dark-wood desk that was the size of Tatsu’s apartment floor. As Tatsu headed for the desk, she began to notice details in the paintings. Many were scenes out of Greek and Roman myth, but you could spot the same face on a number of the heroes: Fukui’s face. The man had an ego.

The man himself was exhibiting his superiority by sitting behind his desk and not rising as Tatsu approached. His attention was divided across multiple displays which Tatsu could not see, and he studiously ignored the detective striding toward him. A little too studiously. He was, according to his records, fifty-seven and looked younger, a mid-height man with a fit build in an expensive suit. Dark hair and eyes, the hair cut by someone who charged an arm and a leg for the service. He continued to ignore Tatsu for several minutes, so she waited; if he did not care about his dead employees, why should she?

‘Sergeant Yamada, is it?’ His voice matched his environment, cultured with a hint of crass.

‘That’s correct,’ Tatsu replied.

‘And you’re the one they’ve put in charge of this act of bioterrorism perpetrated upon ViraShield?’ As he spoke, his gaze travelled over Tatsu’s body, oozing disapproval the whole way up.

‘This is the second such incident. The first took place in a club in Chiba, which is my district.’

Fukui’s expression and tone were mocking. ‘I hardly think something happening in Chiba has any bearing on an attack on a prominent nanotechnology company in Tokyo. A few ketō dying–’

‘Most of the victims in the club were Japanese. From Tokyo. Only one was a local. And one was a programmer in your employ, Ayane Arima. Now you have fifteen dead employees in your building. Do you have any idea why someone might be targeting your company, Mister Fukui? Or who it might be?’

‘There’s no evidence that this attack was targeted.’ There was an instant of a pause before he spoke, which Tatsu found interesting.

‘You made the implication yourself. An “act of bioterrorism perpetrated upon ViraShield.” Your employees have been at both locations. Has anyone been fired recently under unusual or controversial circumstances?’

‘Of course not. ViraShield is a progressive company with happy employees. They are universally loyal to the company.’

That seemed pretty unlikely. No company was that universally loved. ‘Well, I can assure you that every effort will be made to uncover the perpetrator of this crime, Mister Fukui. As part of the investigation, I’d like to see the company records on all your deceased employees. There may be a connection between two or more of them indicating a reason for the attacks.’

Fukui’s eyes narrowed. ‘That would require a warrant which–’

‘Has been obtained and sent to your legal department. I’m sending you a copy now. I’d hope that your zeal to see justice for your employees will move you to expedite the matter.’

He glanced to his right and paused, presumably reading the warrant document. ‘You’ll have your information as soon as possible. Act quickly, Sergeant. If this matter is not resolved in a timely manner, I’ll see to it that a more senior officer is assigned to this case.’

He had a mean glare. Tatsu turned off her blink reflex and waited for him to