Tokyo Noir: The Complete First Season

by J. Scott Matthews

  Mei just looked at him.

  “Don’t believe me? Okay, remember after Great and Glorious Battle to Subjugate the Lesser Peoples of Asia, or whatever the official Japanese term for—”

  “You know goddamn well we just call it World War II.”

  “Yes, that. When government had tons of amphetamines just lying around. Surplus from the war effort, when they fed it to their own soldiers and citizens. Made them alert, forget they were hungry. Make it so people could work in factories, and soldiers could be alert to crash their planes. Who did they turn to to dispose of all those drugs?

  “Or how about the gurentai gang problem? Chinese and Koreans brought to Japan during the war as slaves were set loose after war. Who did government use to stop the gang violence? The yakuza.

  “Or what about wartime sex slaves? Every time issue is raised, your government shits its pants over whether to acknowledge they existed, let alone apologize.”

  “Past governments have acknowledged the comfort women issue, but—”

  “Wait, what the fuck did you just say?” Vasili thundered. “What did you call them?”

  Mei was intimidated, but tried not to let it show. “What? Comfort women?”

  Vasili shook his head in disgust. It was the first time Mei had seen the big man show much of any emotion, least of all anger.

  “Comfort women? You call women who were kidnapped from their homes and put into camps to be repeatedly raped by Japanese soldiers comfort women? My heart has been burned black by cynicism at what men are capable of. But even I cannot make myself to use such cold-hearted doublespeak as comfort women.”

  “Point taken,” Mei said, actually feeling chastised. “But I can’t help but notice your examples are a bit dated there …”

  “Oh, you want something more recent? How about disaster relief provided by yakuza when the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant turned to shit after the 3/11 earthquake? Or the men we sent up as volunteer fire fighters when it began burning a decade later? We were the first ones there helping people evacuate when the government was still denying there was even a problem. When 5/13 tsunami ravaged Tokyo, we were pulling people from buildings with fucking rafts while leaders were holed up in their ministry buildings, thinking of how to spin the disaster.”

  “A good deed here or there doesn’t excuse the fact that you’re parasites. You still live off the people.”

  “Sure, we make money off them. We offer goods and service your government has decided are illegal. People are free to choose whether or not to partake.”

  “Like the drug addicts who can’t help themselves?”

  “A choice was made by them to use. Is not my problem.”

  “What about their kids? Have you ever seen the children of drug addicts? Wasting away because Mommy and Daddy needed money to fix up instead of buying food? What choice did they have?”

  “Eh, there’s always some—how you say—collateral damage.”

  Now it was Mei’s turn to be indignant. “Collateral damage? Didn’t you just tear me a new one for saying comfort women? Now you’re going to use the American euphemism for ‘people we blew up by accident’?”

  “Point taken. But my understanding is it also means ‘people who died because we failed to act.’ Which is basically everyone this killer murders in future because you thought you would play Dirty Harriet and go it alone. Masa is a dead end. I can tell you for fact he is not killer.”

  “Oh no?”

  “Is not this killer, I mean.”

  “You sure about that? Then how did his blood get all over my crime scene?”

  “Not necessarily his blood. Just only match you had for that DNA signature in your records.”

  “You don’t think that’s a pretty big coincidence?”

  “Even if only point zero one percent of the population of Tokyo matches, with twenty million people in greater metropolitan area, that is still twenty thousand people with same genetic signature. Is not coincidence. Is math.”

  “How do you know so much about forensics?”

  “How do you not? You have narrowed search. But you still have long way to go. Besides, I have people looking for Masa for something else. When we find him, I’ll let you question him.”

  “What do you want him for?”

  “Reasons.”

  “You’ve got to be straight with me. Because right now it seems like you’re trying to derail my investigation.”

  “I told you, is in both our interests to catch this bastard. But you will not catch him by running full speed down dead ends.”

  Not if I go down the dead ends you’re taking me down, I won’t, Mei thought. She just nodded.

  “Thanks for understanding, partner,” Vasili said with a wink.

  “Don’t call me that.”

  When his detective was gone, Vasili took out his phone and dialed a number.

  “Satoshi! How goes it, my friend? How are we on repaying that debt?”

  “I’m working on it, but—”

  “But you’re going to have to hurry. The police are after Masa too. They think he is serial killer.”

  “Is he?”

  “Eh, would not surprise me. Point is, you got to hurry. Because if they find him first, is all over.”

  “Why? Can’t you get to him in custody?”

  “I can’t have him talking.”

  “What is so damn—”

  “Just find him.”

  So saying, Vasili hung up. He saw Jun looking at him from his post in the corner.

  “What?”

  “Why not just let the police catch Masa? Then you can get to him there.”

  “Too risky. As long as that fucking recording exists, he can use it as bargaining chip. With police, or with others in syndicate. Believe it or not, some people are not enamored of my unique charms and would do me harm.”

  “You really think he’d turn state’s witness on you? Doesn’t seem like him.”

  “I don’t know what to make of him lately. But with all the jobs I had him doing, he has plenty of dirt. And if I got put away … I wouldn’t last long in prison.”

  Vasili pushed his chair back and stood up. “I go to store to buy drink. You want something?”

  “I’ll go for you. What do you want?”

  “No, I go to clear my head. Is fine, stay here.”

  Vasili emerged on the sidewalk and walked several blocks to a nearby convenience store. When he was standing in the long line for the register, the disheveled man in front of him kept turning around to look at him. To Vasili, he had the telltale look of a long-term Dextro-MXE tweaker, given his fidgeting and red-rimmed eyes. He also appeared to be homeless. Finally the man turned around and spoke.

  “You … American?” the man said in his best English.

  “No, not American, Russian,” Vasili replied in Japanese.

  “Ah, you speak Japanese!” the man said, switching to Japanese. “Your Japanese is excellent!”

  Vasili nodded politely, wishing the line would move faster.

  “But where did you say you’re from?”

  “Russia.”

  “Russia?” the man said, chewing on the word and finding it unfamiliar. “Where is that?”

  “Russia?” Vasili asked, eyes widening. “It’s … far away. Over there.”

  “Over where?”

  “You know Europe? It’s between Europe and Asia.”

  “Ah, I see. Is it big?”

  Luckily the man was called up to make his purchase. Vasili shifted uncomfortably as the man slowly counted out his coins onto the counter. He seemed short and began counting again as the clerk looked on impatiently. After a minute of this, Vasili stepped around him and caught the clerk’s attention.

  “Ring us up together.” Vasili took out a five-thousand-yen note and tossed it on the counter, then began walking away.

  “Sir! Your change!” the clerk cried out.

  “Give it to him,” Vasili said, motioning towards the man.

  He st
epped out of the store without waiting for a response and kept walking.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Mei sat in the dark basement room her team had been assigned to, poring over Ozu’s case file. She wanted to be ready when they brought him in for questioning. The man had been a soldier in the Japan Self-Defense Forces and had even fought in Myanmar during the war. He came back on a medical discharge following a head injury, then was in and out of hospitals and psych wards with PTSD. When the JSDF suffered cutbacks, he was chaptered out and lost his benefits.

  He got involved in crime soon after. He bounced around a few crews before ending up working with Masa. The two were soon arrested for extortion, though Ozu took the rap and the years that went with it, letting Masa walk. Having paid his debt to society, he was trying to go straight (or so he claimed), and was now on the payroll at a logistics company as a truck driver.

  She leaned back and rubbed her eyes, having learned more about this weak lead than was strictly necessary. It was something to do while she waited for Kato and Ina to bring him in for questioning. Speaking of which, where were they? It was nearly nine at night, and neither of them were answering their phones.

  Mei took the elevator up to her old department to see if she could find Kentaro. On the way, she ran into her former boss Nomura, who was heading out for the night.

  “Well, well, look who it is.”

  “Hello, sir, just looking for my once and sometimes partner.”

  “Kentaro went home early. He has his daughter tonight. But if you’re looking for your boys, I think they’re still in the interrogation room.”

  “Who?”

  “The two detectives working with you. Don’t know their names. Brought a suspect in about an hour ago.”

  Mei didn’t let him finish before she took off running down the hall towards the interrogation rooms. She found the one they were in and peered in through the one-way glass. There she saw a man who must be Ozu looking panicked, with blood oozing from his nose down around his mouth. Kato was screaming in his face, while Ina stood uncomfortably close behind the suspect. Both men were down to their undershirts and were sweating profusely.

  All three men looked at her when she entered the room. “Detectives, a word?”

  “Why didn’t you inform me that you had the suspect?” she said when they were outside.

  “He seemed ready to talk when we brought him back,” Kato said. “We didn’t want to waste time tracking you down.”

  “And what has he told you?”

  “Nothing useful so far. But a few more rounds of this and he’ll be ready to talk.”

  “A few more rounds of what, exactly?”

  “A few more rounds of us being real persuasive.” He held up a fist with knuckles scraped raw.

  “No, we’re not doing this.”

  Kato didn’t reply, he just looked at Ina. “See? I told you she wouldn’t have the stomach for this.”

  “I was under the impression that this suspect was a long shot to get intel on Masa, not the key to the investigation. Why are you giving him the third degree?”

  “We have reason to suspect he knows where Masa is hiding. You want to solve this case, don’t you?”

  Mei hesitated before reluctantly agreeing. “Alright, proceed. But nothing too rough. And I’ll be sitting in.”

  “Wouldn’t you rather just let us handle it?” Kato asked.

  “No. And I want to be kept in the loop on everything that happens with this case. Understood?”

  The others nodded as they returned to the interrogation room. Mei stood in the corner and watched as they approached the suspect. His face was already starting to bruise, and there was blood on his teeth.

  “Alright, sweetheart, where were we?” Kato asked Ozu with a smile. “Oh, that’s right, I remember!”

  With that, he slammed a fist into Ozu’s stomach, causing him to double over as much as possible, given his restraints.

  They were testing her, this much she was sure about. Why else would Kato disobey her order immediately after returning to the room? She opted to remain silent. At least for now.

  “Now do you want to be more cooperative?” Ina said.

  “Please! I’ve told you everything I know. He was staying with me for a while, but he left suddenly.”

  “And when was this?” Kato growled.

  “About a month ago. I haven’t heard from him since!”

  “Where did he go?”

  “I don’t know!”

  Kato delivered a vicious backhanded blow that caught Ozu full in the face. A stream of blood splashed against the wall, and Mei could hear a tooth clatter across the floor.

  “Ease up, Detective,” Mei said.

  “He didn’t tell me where he was!” Ozu said, blood pouring from the spot where his tooth had been. “He was paranoid! Afraid that people were—”

  Kato punched him hard in the ribs again.

  “Kato!”

  Ozu doubled over wheezing. He looked up straight at Mei with tears in his eyes.

  “Can’t you stop this?”

  Mei shifted uncomfortably. She didn’t like this at all, but at the same time, she didn’t want to look weak in front of her men. She looked away.

  “This stops when you’ve told us what we want to know!” Ina said.

  “I’ve told you everything I—”

  He was cut off by another blow to the ribs. That was it for Mei. She couldn't allow this.

  “Kato, that’s enough!”

  “What? You’re going to protect this guy?” Kato scoffed. “You want me to coddle this scumbag? This lowlife addict?”

  “Just stop beating on him.”

  “Well, look at that!” Kato said, addressing Ozu. “My soft-hearted partner wants me to go easy on you!”

  “I’m not your partner, I’m the ranking officer on this case.”

  “Listen to her!” Kato said, still talking to Ozu. “She doesn’t want me to do any more of this!” He punctuated the last word by striking Ozu again. “Or this!”

  “Goddammit, Kato! I gave you an order!” Mei shouted. “We’re done here!”

  “We’re done when he talks!” Kato said, striking Ozu again.

  “Alright! Alright! I might … I might know where Masa is! He goes to the reclaimed islands when he’s hiding. Tsukishima … and Odaiba sometimes. He might be there!”

  “You got anything more specific for me?” Kato shouted. “Any names?”

  “Names of who?” Ozu wheezed.

  “That’s for you to decide.”

  Kato reached back to strike him, but Mei grabbed his arm and held him back. She shook her head.

  Ozu still flinched, but he talked. “I dunno who he still knows! He burned a lot of bridges. Maybe Osammy? Or Satoshi? I don’t think anyone else would talk to him still!”

  Kato and Ina looked at one another and exchanged a nod.

  “Thank you for your cooperation in this matter,” Kato said, uncuffing Ozu. He gave him a cold smile. “No further questions.”

  “What the fuck was that back there?” Mei demanded.

  They were back in their office underground. The two of them just stared back at her blankly.

  “I’ll repeat myself, because you obviously didn’t hear me. Just what the fuck do you think you were doing back there?”

  “My job,” Kato said.

  “That is not your job!”

  “You know, Kimura, I respect the chain of command and all. But sometimes I wonder: just whose side are you on?”

  “The law, motherfucker!” This all sounded familiar. Where had she heard it before? “Which you just violated back there a number of times.”

  “See? I told you,” Kato said to Ina. “She doesn’t have the stones to get those soft hands of hers dirty.”

  Mei fumed. “What did you really accomplish with that tough-guy act? What did that gain us?”

  “We got a general area where he might be! And some names!” Ina protested.

  “Said under dure
ss,” Mei said. “But alright. They’re your leads, so you’re going to work them. Starting tomorrow, I want you two out canvassing Tsukishima, Odaiba, and every other reclaimed island in the bay looking for Masa.”

  “Are you punishing us?” Kato said. “What, are you going to run to the senior superintendent too? Rat us out?”

  Mei regarded him evenly. She couldn’t run this up the chain of command, not without pissing off everyone under her. Besides, cops who ratted out their fellow officers didn’t last long. Treachery was a hard reputation to shake.

  “I’m not going to take this up the chain. But in the future, you remember who is running this investigation. Do you understand me?”

  Ina nodded. “Understood.”

  Kato nodded as well. Then he smiled.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Vasili and his assistants arrived at Eriko’s compound and were waved through the manned gate at the front. The shacho’s personal residence (and the Kaisha’s defacto headquarters) was a fortified compound at Hiroo. Its modernist exterior of stone and glass, recessed into a hillside, hid an opulent interior that was richly furnished. The spoils of a successful life of crime.

  Vasili had been here innumerable times over the years. The house was where the Kaisha’s board meetings, dinners, and other functions were held. Vasili had also visited for numerous one-on-one sit-downs, as well as his regular heads-up poker games with Eriko. She usually kicked his ass at poker. Then again, the old girl was a shark at everything she did.

  But right now, Vasili hoped he wasn’t swimming straight into her jaws. There had been no word from Masa about the recording he’d made of Vasili ordering the hit on Chobei, so Vasili was going to assume that word hadn’t made it out yet. But there was really no way to know for sure. Not until he either walked out of there alive, or didn’t.

  They were taken through security, where they were scanned and patted down for weapons, before being shown into one of the shacho’s private salons. Vasili gave a sad smile when he saw his boss, or what was left of her.

  It was painful for Vasili to look at his longtime leader and ally. She seemed to be a pale ghost of her former self as she sat in her wheelchair with oxygen tubes breathing for her. She had been attractive in her day, but the cancer had dampened much of the fire in her eyes. Yet even with her face crisscrossed with wrinkles and her iron-gray hair thinning on her scalp, her eyes were still sharp. She smiled her wry smile when she saw him.