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

officer he saw once long ago. Whenever Shiroyama encountered Kanzaki, he became even more convinced that the man was a different breed from Iwami at the National Police Agency—Kanzaki had the face of a commander of a combat unit.

The first thing Kanzaki said was, “Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.” He bowed, then sat down without affectation and commented frankly, “What a wonderful view.” It was not small talk; Kanzaki was in fact surveying the far vista from the window of the fortieth floor. He was not like most other officers, who were all pretense.

“By the way, sir, how are you feeling these days?” Kanzaki asked.

“I’m doing fine, thank you. Which do you prefer—meat or fish?”

“I’ll have the fish.”

“How about beer?”

“Thank you, but I’m afraid not, since I’m on duty.”

After the waiter left, Kanzaki cut right to the chase. “The first matter I came to discuss with you today is—”

Shiroyama was impressed, wishing business could always be conducted as efficiently.

“—Investigation Headquarters would very much like to lure ‘Lady Joker’ into taking action so that we might be able to progress with the investigation. If the perpetrators make a move, a means of closing in on them becomes available. Therefore, on the date specified—May fifth—we would like your company to take out an ad in Nikkan Sports, and we will await further instructions from the perpetrators.”

Now Shiroyama realized that Kanzaki’s plain-spoken manner of discussing things was one-sided—he still represented authorities who had no need to ever consider the other person’s perspective. Moreover, his finely-honed lack of idiosyncrasy undoubtedly functioned as a sort of intimidation.

“What will we do once we receive further instructions?”

“Presumably, the next instructions will involve how to deliver the money. We’d like you to follow those instructions. Of course, the police would have the place surrounded, so if the perpetrators were to appear, rest assured that they would not get away. MPD has never let a perpetrator escape in previous cases such as this.”

“You mean you want us to act as if we are going along with the perpetrators’ demand?”

“That’s right.”

“It’s not for me to judge what is best for the investigation, so if that’s what you say, we’ll follow instructions. I’ll have the control center issue an official response.”

“By the way, you contacted us the day after receiving the letter from the perpetrators. Is there any particular reason why?”

“No, nothing in particular. The executives are all so busy that it’s difficult to get them together at the same time to discuss a course of action.”

The arrival of their meal interrupted conversation temporarily as Kanzaki began eating—langoustine with sauce américaine, served with butter rice. “Wow, this is incredibly delicious,” he commented. Shiroyama explained that the sauce américaine, prepared by the kitchen of the beer restaurant each day by pounding and simmering a ten-kilogram Japanese spiny lobster, was among the best in Tokyo.

“I see . . . Now I understand how you immediately identified the Western food item that you were given as ‘pork and beans,’” Kanzaki responded, straight-laced as ever. “Speaking of which, canned pork and beans are also distributed by the Self-Defense Forces and some municipalities, who use them as emergency food supplies.”

After this digression, Kanzaki got back to the point. “Now, the second matter I wanted to discuss with you. As we try to force a move by the perpetrators, I’d very much like to provide you with a detective as escort.”

“You mean a bodyguard?”

“A bodyguard equipped with a handgun and an expandable baton, yes.”

“I’m not so sure about that . . . It’s all so sudden.”

“I bring this up because there is no room for error—for the police nor for your company.”

“The company has increased the number of security guards.”

“You go out and about every day, and yet you only have one driver with you. That is much too vulnerable.”

“That’s standard for civilians.”

“I don’t mean to dodge the police’s accountability, but the attacks on corporate executives—including last year’s incident in which the managing director of Toei Bank was shot and killed—could have been avoided if the victims had been a little more prepared. And compared to those cases, the situation involving your company is much more pressing. The perpetrators who abducted you were confident that, once they released you, they’d still get their hands on the six hundred million, so once they realize that this is no longer likely, you can expect to be in quite a lot of danger.”

So the police do, in fact, suspect that the criminals have some kind of connection with me, Shiroyama surmised. “You just said that in the event that the perpetrators give instructions about how to deliver the money, we should do as we’re told and you’ll be able to apprehend them,” he said, holding firm.

“We’ll be able to catch them in the act, but we can’t stop what they do behind the scenes,” Kanzaki retorted.

“The point being, it’s all very dangerous.”

“All cases are dangerous.”

“If what it takes to arrest the perpetrators would expose me to a level of danger that requires a bodyguard, then I’ll need to give it some thought,” Shiroyama said. His resistance was meager, and Kanzaki remained unwavering.

“This is not Hinode’s problem alone. Apprehending the perpetrators concerns the law and order of this country and corporate society as a whole. I would like your company to be an example for corporations all over Japan by not yielding to unwarranted corporate terrorism. All I’m suggesting is for the police to do their utmost in this effort by providing you with a security detail.”

Shiroyama knew he had no recourse other than to comply with the police. A corporation did not have the capacity to prevent or respond to unforeseeable dangers. They had no grounds for refusing the police’s offer to provide a detective. The reason he himself was having trouble accepting it was simple: he was utterly baffled that neither he nor the board of directors had been able to predict that such danger and constraint of personal freedom would befall him and those around