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

as he left the conference room, overcome with unease that he had forgotten to do something.

Then, perhaps waiting for just such an opportunity, Seigo Kurata began casually walking alongside him. “The matter with the student Hatano and his father,” he said. “Did Shirai tell you about it?”

Shiroyama nodded.

Since he and Kurata had worked in the beer division together for a quarter of a century, selling beer side by side, they were in lockstep with each other, both literally and figuratively. Kurata may have been known as a torpedo, but there was great range to his quiet breathing, and he often silenced himself to contain his rising emotions—all this Shiroyama felt he understood. After they both became executives, they had consciously started to distance themselves from each other, but in the time it took to cover the dozen steps to the elevator hall, they managed a brief exchange.

“There’s no need to be concerned about the issue with Sugihara and your niece. Sugihara’s investigation into Hatano’s background had nothing to do with the company.”

Kurata’s voice was low and people thought of him as deadpan, but Shiroyama’s ears picked up each and every emotion lurking beneath the surface as clear as a bell. He was conscious that Kurata was extremely irritated, though at what his irritation was directed he would never know.

“And besides, Okada hasn’t fully grasped the story either. Besides sniffing out the trouble with the second interview, all they’ve managed to do is look up Hatano’s family and dig up material they can use from that letter sent by a distant relation they somehow happened to get their hands on.”

“Was it that journalist?”

“Yes. And by the way, I’ll make sure Okada’s exposed tail gets a little thrashing this time.”

For an instant, Shiroyama thought he had misheard him. It wasn’t that Kurata had said the same thing as Shirai. Using his own methods, Kurata was making every effort to contact Okada, find out whatever information Okada had on hand and, once he had determined their motive, he intended to launch an attack. Even in a world where shaking hands with the right hand while doing battle with the left was common, for Kurata—who had dedicated himself to maintaining their relationship with Okada—to say such a thing had serious implications, which went beyond Shirai’s argument.

“Is the situation with Ogura and Chunichi that serious?”

“There’s word going around that S. might get caught up in the mix.”

S.—suddenly Shiroyama pictured the face of Sakata, the representative who was scheduled to give him a thank-you call that afternoon about the fundraising ticket, but he could not imagine the circumstances in which the most influential figure in the ruling party would be swept up in an investigation. Yes, Shiroyama dimly recalled having been warned that attention must be paid to the flow of money related to the land purchased by Ogura Development, Ogura’s affiliated company, as it could lead to a bribery scandal, but it was difficult for a corporate man like himself to grasp all this. If such a possibility really did exist, then it was all the more urgent that they settle accounts with Okada, lest it land Hinode in real trouble. Though it rattled him a little, his annoyance about this and the necessary steps against Okada were still both so vague in his mind that they didn’t seem relevant to today or even tomorrow.

“It means we’ve arrived at the moment when Shirai’s arguments make sense,” Kurata murmured softly, his words cast down at his own feet. Shiroyama could not make out the tone of his voice as it reached his ears. Kurata continued, touching upon the specific measures he would take. “I’ll have general affairs file an official claim with the police. And I’ll make sure that we don’t refer to either Okada or the dentist.”

Kurata was saying the same thing as Shirai, but without elaborating on how he had reached such a conclusion, which, at this late stage, irritated Shiroyama. “Kurata-san. This issue must eventually be brought before the entire board. When you feel it’s necessary for everyone to be made aware of what has happened, I urge you to report it immediately.”

“When the time is right, I will. For now, we need to take care of accounting.” Kurata finally looked up as he said this. The sunlight streaming through the windows of the elevator hall shone on his face. Shiroyama considered that the same view from the thirtieth floor must appear differently to Kurata than it did to him and to Shirai.

“Make sure we at least clear last year’s figures,” Shiroyama said.

Kurata immediately responded, “Just point one percent more. That’s two hundred seventy thousand cases.”

“If only the lager’s numbers would rise.”

“I’m also dissatisfied with the numbers from the past two weeks. I’ll have all the branches reset their target numbers for next month, and I’ll drive them to hit two hundred seventy thousand cases no matter what. You’ll see.”

As he said this, Kurata’s face gleamed with a vexing confidence.

Shiroyama’s day was not particularly busy. By the time he returned to the office after the Hinode Cultural Awards at the Hotel Okura—having put in a brief appearance at the reception—it was just after seven-thirty. He sent Ms. Nozaki home, thanking her for her efforts, and once he was alone, he sorted through the telephone messages and memos that were arranged on his desk along with his mail, and then spread out the business reports and interim financial statements that he had not gone over that morning.

By the time he started writing in the daily log that he kept, it was eight-thirty.

8:35 a.m.: Visit from Shirai and Tsukamoto. Confirm any issues with chain of communication within human resources. Shiroyama’s hand halted after he had written these words on the first line. It was the end of the day, so he allowed himself to draw out the personal incident that had been bothering him since the morning and think it over, then reached for the phone.

The phone rang four times before he heard a