Angel Eyes (53 page)

"Nuclear reactors?" Big Ezoe shook his head. This wasn't turning out as he had expected. "Kunio Michita's business doesn't include atomics."

"I guess it does now," the Kaga vice-president said.

"Who is selling him the hafnium?"

"A West German firm owned by an Argentine named Estilo."

Koi said, "Does Estilo's company manufacture the hafnium?"

''How should I know?''

Big Ezoe looked at her, and she said, "I know of this West German company. It's had a number of dealings with Kunio Michita. Estilo is a middleman, a broker for all sorts of hardware and esoteric raw materials like hafnium."

Koi thought for a moment. Then she looked at the Kaga vice-president. "Who does Estilo buy his hafnium from?"

"I have no idea," the man said. "I doubt that even Ten-san knows." He meant Fumida Ten, the chairman of Kaga. The vice-president shrugged. ''I don't even know anything about this West German company, except that it's represented in this country by Budoko Associates."

"That law firm is huge," Big Ezoe said. "Who at Budoko is handling the transactions?"

"I don't know. I shouldn't even be aware of Budoko. Normally I have to approve all corporate bills before they're sent on to accounting, but these were routed around me. I only came across one by accident."

Big Ezoe finished his asari, making smacking sounds of satisfaction. "Is there anything else that might be of use to me?"

''I can't think of anything,'' the Kaga vice-president said. He had not touched his breakfast. He looked at the food wistfully, as if he could recall a time when he had had an appetite. "Well, the only thing was, I don't think Michita was the original instigator of the joint venture talks. He brought an American with him."

"A businessman?"

"I don't think so. No. The American was introduced to us as Mr. Smith. What does that tell you?"

Big Ezoe nodded, threw some yen on the table, and he and Koi left the coffee shop. They strolled for some time amid the thinning throngs at the fish market. It was a good place to talk.

Big Ezoe said, "Now there are some intriguing new players to the game. It isn't just Michita and Hitasura we're chasing, it's Kaga and someone in the largest law firm in Tokyo. And where does Hitasura fit into all this? It seems we're no closer to finding the link between him and Michita. Not to mention this mysterious American. Do you remember a 'Mr. Smith' or any likely American who did not fit the typical businessman mold being in touch with Michita?''

"No."

"Let's leave that for the moment," Big Ezoe said. "Why were you so interested in where the hafnium is coming from?"

"I'm not sure," Koi said. "But it seems to me that none of this quite hangs together."

"Do you think our man's lying?"

"No. He's too frightened of you to lie. But I don't think he knows what's really going on. Neither do we, yet. What we're beginning to get a look at is flesh without any bones. It's not yet making sense."

They walked in silence for some time while Big Ezoe digested this. At last he said, "Does anything else occur to you?"

"Yes. I think we should put the deciphered pages of Kakuei Sakata's ledgers to good use. Let's use them as leverage to find out what Hitasura is up to."

Big Ezoe was already shaking his head. "I can't be certain that Hitasura doesn't already know what the ledgers contain. After all, it was his brother who did the deciphering. I can't take the chance of losing face."

"Then use the ledgers against Kunio Michita."

"Perhaps at some point. But not now. The ledgers are all we have. I resist the idea of shooting a gun with one bullet if I can achieve the same result merely by aiming the weapon.''

Koi considered this a moment, then nodded. "There's something else," she said. "When the Kaga vice-president mentioned Budoko Associates, it rang a bell. I didn't think of this before when you asked me about people Michita saw with some regularity, but now I'm beginning to see its significance.

"There was a young lawyer, Yen Yasuwara. He's now a partner in Budoko Associates. Have you heard of him?''

"Yes, but it's interesting that you have as well." Big Ezoe's mind was racing. Yen Yasuwara had been at the heart of the blood feud between Fukuda and Tori Nunn. Fukuda had been seeing Yen Yasuwara, primarily because Big Ezoe had been given information that Yasuwara was somehow involved with the sort of deals Big Ezoe would find attractive. Big Ezoe had sent Fukuda to find out what she could in any way she saw fit. That she had decided to open her legs for him had not presented Big Ezoe with a problem; that she had not been able to discover what Yasuwara was up to had. Then Tori Nunn had arrived on the scene and that particular line of inquiry had been blown because, as it turned out, Fukuda had some personal feelings left, after all.

Now it seemed that Yen Yasuwara was tied in with Kunio Michita. Could he be the link missing from Kakuei Sakata's ledgers?

"What was Yen Yasuwara's business with Michita?"

"I don't know," Koi said, thinking back. "Michita never met Yasuwara in the office. In fact, I never made the appointments. I wouldn't have known who Yasuwara or Budoko Associates were except for the fact that during the particularly difficult negotiations for the joint venture with the Kaga conglomerate, Michita left me the same number each time he left the office when there was a hole in his daily schedule.

"I remember he had asked me to keep the hours of two to three open. Of course, I didn't ask why. But when the Kaga negotiations were at a crucial stage, I had occasion to call him several times."

"And the phone number he left you was for Budoko Associates?"

"Well, that was the most intriguing part," Koi said. "Each time I called, a woman answered. But it was obvious from the way she spoke that she was no secretary, and the call was not routed through a switchboard. I assumed it was a private residence, but I was wrong. One afternoon when Michita was out, papers arrived by messenger from Kaga. They were so important that they did not come over the fax. The envelope was sealed with red wax in which was imprinted the Kaga logo.

"I phoned Michita at the number he gave me, and told him what had come in. He told me to come right down. He also told me to take the subway, not a company car."

Koi paused a moment. ''I assumed he was concerned with traffic-the subway was far faster than sitting in a car trapped on a crowded street. But now I'm convinced his main concern was security. He and Yen Yasuwara were at a private club in Shinjuku. The woman who answered the phone presided over their private room like a hawk with her young. She was a mama-san who had owned her own akachochin. This job, she told me, was far more lucrative. She looked after 'special' clients for whom the need for 'absolute privacy' was paramount.''

''This puzzle is becoming more fascinating by the moment,'' Big Ezoe said. "Whatever Michita and Yasuwara were working on was so secret they had to keep it from their respective offices. '' He thought a moment. "How was it that Michita trusted you with knowing where he was?"

"To be honest," Koi said, "it never crossed his mind. I was so good at what I did that I was next to invisible. He thought of me as a computer with hands, nothing more. Certainly not as someone who might possess independent thought."

Big Ezoe grunted. "More fool him."

Yen Yasuwara lived in a sleek, modern house in Hiroo in Minato-ku. Apparently he was undisturbed by the influx of trend-minded foreigners, opting for the flash the nouveau riche the world over seemed to prefer. It was important. Big Ezoe reflected as he guided the Mercedes up the tree-lined street, for those who were new to money to show how much they had to as many people foolish enough to take notice. Insecurity. That made Big Ezoe happy. He thrived on other people's insecurities.

Big Ezoe nosed the Mercedes into the curb, pulled to a stop, but he didn't cut the ignition. He said over the purr of the idling engine, "Will you recognize him?"

"Yes."

He didn't doubt her. He didn't doubt anything she said. Koi, it appeared, was totally unconcerned about the need now and then to lie. She seemed, in fact, totally oblivious to other people's reactions to what she said or did. This was, to a large extent, an enormous advantage, but her disconnectedness continued to concern Big Ezoe. Koi was like a tap gushing water: that was all well and good for as long as one needed the force; but what happened when it was time to end the flow and the tap would not close?

It was just after eight in the evening. The sky was the color of bronze, burnished by the ten billion lights of the city. There seemed to be no night at all. They had spent the day trying to get close to Hitasura and Tori Nunn, but even with Big Ezoe's vast network of informants, they could not even find out where they were. A day that had begun in a most promising manner had turned aimless and frustrating. On the other hand, Big Ezoe's lieutenants had assured him that, one way or another, an answer would be forthcoming before midnight as to the whereabouts of Hitasura and Tori Nunn. Until then, Big Ezoe knew he must content himself with what was about to happen.

Koi slipped out of the car, walking toward a young man in an impeccable three-piece suit who was approaching the front gate of Yasuwara's house. She had not said, "That's him," but had moved on her own, as if once having been given the objectives by Big Ezoe, she was now making her own way toward them without seeking his counsel. Big Ezoe again thought of the water tap that would not turn off.

Koi stopped Yen Yasuwara. He did not seem pleased to be intercepted. Koi said something to him, and Big Ezoe saw the young lawyer's face go white. Big Ezoe smiled. A moment later Koi had put Yasuwara into the backseat of the Mercedes, slid in beside him.

"You're a very handsome man, Mr. Yasuwara," Big Ezoe said as he threw the Mercedes in gear, pulled out into the street. "You must attract many women."

"Who are you people?" Yen Yasuwara said in a tense voice. "What do you want? "

Big Ezoe noticed that Yasuwara could not take his eyes off Koi. All the better, he thought. I want to remain as invisible as possible. It's Koi's job to take the heat of any fallout that might result from this interview.

Big Ezoe said, "It is my opinion, Mr. Yasuwara, that being handsome is something of a gift. It shouldn't be taken for granted."

''What nonsense are you talking?'' Yen Yasuwara was trying to seem angry, but he only succeeded in sounding more frightened.

Next to him, Koi hooked a bloodred fingernail, jabbed it into the center of his cheek. Yasuwara yelped, jumping in shock and pain. But Koi's left hand was already clamped firmly on his shoulder. She twisted her fingernail in Yasuwara's flesh.

"You . . ." he wailed. "You, what is this?"

''It's a picnic, Mr. Yasuwara,'' Big Ezoe said in a jaunty tone. "At least it is for us. We're out for a little fun."

Koi slit open the lawyer's cheek so that blood ran down his neck, soaking into his neat white shirt collar. Eventually it began to dribble onto his blue and cream tie, beading on the expensive silk like tears.

"Oh, God," Yen Yasuwara said.

"This might be an appropriate moment to begin our talk," Big Ezoe said.

"Talk? Is that what you want to do? Why didn't you say so at the beginning?''

Big Ezoe said, ''We wanted you to understand the seriousness of our intent, Mr. Yasuwara. I make money from information, and today you are going to make me rich."

"I think you're mistaken. You must have the wrong man. These things happen."

Big Ezoe ignored him. "You are doing business with two men, Kunio Michita and Fumida Ten, chairman of Kaga. Is that not so?"

"You're Yakuza, aren't you?" He stared in morbid fascination as Koi lifted her bloody fingernail in front of his face. It was as curved as a hawk's talon.

"It makes no difference who we are," Big Ezoe said, "especially to you. Now, I have asked you a question. I expect a prompt answer.''

Yen Yasuwara said, "Let me go. I don't know either of those men."

Koi's fingernail again buried itself in his cheek. This time she did not wait to drag it all the way down. Now there were two bloody parallel furrows along his right cheek. They could hear his gasping breath in the car.

Big Ezoe said, ''Michita and Ten. They are clients of yours.''

"Yes," Yen Yasuwara said immediately. his eyes were almost crossed in their attempt to keep sight of the bloody talon.

"What do you know of a West German firm owned by an Argentine named Estilo?"

"Look," Yasuwara said, "I could get into trouble if I answered that.''

Big Ezoe laughed. ''Mr. Yasuwara, you could not be in more trouble than you already are."

''But you don't underst-'' his words were cut off in a scream as Koi's fingernail pierced his flesh just beneath his right eye. Yen Yasuwara gave a reflexive jerk, but Koi held him fast.

"Yes, yes," he cried. His right eye was bloodshot, and tears were streaming from it. "All right. Estilo's firm employs me to facilitate moving unusual cargo from place to place."

"By unusual," Big Ezoe said, "I take it you mean illegal. By place to place I take it you mean across international frontiers without being monitored by customs."

Yen Yasuwara said nothing until Koi dipped her fingertip into his blood, smeared it across his dry lips. Then he whimpered, said "Yes," in a voice made hoarse by fear.

When Koi said, "Where does Estilo's hafnium come from?" Yen Yasuwara jumped. Perhaps he had not expected that she could speak.

"Please, please, please," he said.

Koi leaned toward him, and Yen Yasuwara began to tremble.

"Estilo buys all his hafnium from a French firm, named La Lumiere d'Or,'' he said. "It is a privately held French company, but its parentage is American.''

Koi said immediately, "Is the American who accompanied Kunio Michita in his dealings with Kaga the owner of this French firm?"

"I don't know."

"But he might have been.''

"I don't think so," Yen Yasuwara said. "I could tell the American was in control, although the two of them took pains to disguise the fact. I'm far too knowledgeable about such things for me to have been fooled. No, La Lumiere d'Or is simply the conduit through which the hafnium flows. This man, you could see, was not a businessman."