Sign of the Dragon (Tatsu Yamada Book 1) Niall Teasdale (novel24 .txt) 📖

in the area, but the architects had added a couple of ‘towers’ at the front to give a castle-like impression and the main door had a portcullis-like arrangement mounted above it which could be dropped in case of riot. Safety and aesthetics in one reinforced, metallised plastic bundle.

Typical of most establishments of its type, it offered hourly room rental as well as overnight rates after ten p.m. The rooms came with numerous themes. You could have decoration from a range of popular anime, and hentai, series. You could spend your night in a room which looked like it belonged in a hospital. In keeping with the castle concept, there were several rooms based around medieval European themes, including one which was almost certainly not authentic and happened to be the one Kobayashi selected: the dungeon. Medieval dungeons had certainly not had the bondage equipment this one had.

Stretched over something which looked vaguely like a small vaulting horse, Tatsu wondered whether this was a kink Kobayashi was really into, or just something she played at. She was certainly enthusiastic about it. Or about using the strapless strap-on Tatsu had used on her to pound her lover from behind.

‘We’ll switch,’ Kobayashi said in a breathless voice, ‘in a bit. You can… tie me up.’

Tatsu was far from silent, but words were not going to be involved. So, Kobayashi was not wholly solid on the dominatrix thing, but she did seem to like bondage. It was not something Tatsu had been heavily involved in. Right now, however, she could see the attraction. Right up until the point when she could see nothing.

13th July.

Tatsu was awoken from five hours of sleep by a message coming through from Sakurada Gate.

Attend suspected homicide at attached coordinates. Observed similarity with existing case, link attached. Sergeant Kenzo Nakano has been notified.

She did not really need to check the link to know which case it was. There was only one case she was working with Nakano. She sent an acknowledgement immediately and slipped out from under the red synthetic silk sheet.

‘You going?’ Kobayashi said after a second.

‘I got a call and, technically, I’m back on duty. The room’s prepaid. Stay as long as you like.’

‘Or until nine. I’ve been here before.’

‘Right. I’ll call you.’ Tatsu paused halfway through pulling her shorts up her thighs and looked at the dark eyes watching her. ‘I will call you.’

White teeth showed in the dim light as Kobayashi smiled. ‘Can we come here again?’

‘Like the whips and chains?’

‘Actually, yes, but we could try some other rooms.’

‘As long as it’s not one of the anime ones. Being watched by a few dozen half-naked waifus is not my idea of a good environment for sex.’

Kobayashi shuddered. ‘No. Same here.’

~~~

There were better apartment blocks in Chiba. Evgeni Nikolaev lived in one of them. He had died there too.

‘Okay, so he was asleep, and someone sliced his throat like a slab of beef,’ Tatsu said.

‘And then stabbed him through the heart,’ Nakano added. ‘Seems like overkill. Who was he?’

‘Evgeni Anatoliy Nikolaev. He headed up the intelligence group within the Funabashi gang. That’s the name of Zima’s organisation, in case you missed it.’ Nikolaev was not a young man, likely over sixty, with grey hair and a few liver spots showing on his face. It was a little hard to tell because of all the blood. He kind of looked like someone’s kindly uncle, not exactly handsome, but comforting, if you ignored the open throat.

‘I didn’t. Is the intelligence group important?’

‘Nikolaev was kind of the power behind the throne under Zima. He was two decades older, something of a mentor. Much of the gang’s organisational structure was Nikolaev’s idea. He was old school. He had a degree in political history, I think. Admired the old Soviet systems. Vasilev would probably have maintained a good relationship with him, but the old man would have lost some of his power with the change in leadership. Further discussion can wait since I have a question. Nakano, what are you wearing?’

Nakano looked down at his suit. It was a dark-grey suit over a white shirt with a grey tie. ‘One of my suits.’

‘Yeah, well you know how you thought I was inappropriately dressed when I got to Zima’s apartment?’

‘I do. And I stand by my comment.’

‘The difference here is that I’m not going to get mugged for valuables because of my outfit.’

Nakano shrugged. ‘I don’t have anything valuable on me.’

‘You’ve got a gun.’ A sudden thought struck her. ‘Tell me you haven’t come down here unarmed.’

He gave her a sour expression. ‘I haven’t come down here unarmed. I’m not a moron. Anyway, this is appropriate for where I’m supposed to be. Are we sure this is the same killer?’

‘Huh, no, but it seems likely. We’ve got the same lack of physical evidence. A jammer was used to block detection of the death again. Apartment data is gone. This time the building computer was tampered with. The entire security system was shut down at two thirteen, about ten minutes before he died. Oh, and we have another card, which is very suggestive.’

‘What does this one say?’

‘“The eyes of the monster have been plucked.”’

‘Poetic. So, we’re looking for a hacker?’

Tatsu shrugged. ‘Or a team with a hacker in it.’ She paused. ‘I think we’re going to have to go see her.’

‘Her? Who?’

‘Yukiko Shiratori. If anyone has anything to gain from killing off the two most important people in the Funabashi gang, it’s the leader of the Shiratori-rengō. And she’s a master of iaijutsu.’

14th July.

It took time to organise a meeting with the kaichō of a powerful yakuza organisation. The Shiratori-rengō was not a big group, but it held sway over the Ichikawa area, the region of Tokyo on the western