Vol 1 Chapter 2.2 (1/2)

*Joker Game Novel Translations: Book 1, Chapter 2 [Ghost], Part 2/7

Two hours had pa.s.sed.

Gamou, who had left the estate of the British Consul, walked towards a park near the harbour.

He paused his footsteps at the entrance, and nonchalantly looked around.

A circular fountain of a great size had been set in the center of the park. In theory, water should spout regularly from it, yet, it had not on this day.

The sun shone brightly, about a dozen children were running about with wooden sticks in their hands, screaming loudly. Each of them sported shaven heads and tan skin, their fronts and backs barely distinguishable, donning baggy sportswear and shorts. A few women, whom seemed to be the mothers of the children, stood chatting under a clump of trees in a corner. An old man who looked as though he were taking a stroll pa.s.sed by, set his cane against a bench beside the fountain, and sat down, resting.

Gamou slowly strode across to the fountain, and seated himself on a bench that had been placed back to back with the other. It had just so happened that he was sitting right behind the old man.

The time has come, the sprinklers of the fountain came to life, water spouting from within. The children who ran about screamed louder.

An icy voice sounded from behind after a while.

—Begin your report.

Gamou looked straight ahead, a strained smile forming on his lips.

The sound came from barely parted lips, a noise produced in an odd way only such that only the other would understand. The elderly man who sat behind him had total control of the direction in which his voice was going. Even if the children had stopped nearby, they probably would not be able to notice that the old man before them was speaking.

However, in the end, the old man had deliberately spoken after the sprinklers had been switched on.

Speaking of which, this senile old man, who had been sitting on the bench, was Lieutenant Colonel Yuuki in disguise, and even his correspondent, Gamou, had not been able to see through him at first glance.

Carefully.

Cautiously.

Those were the things the Lieutenant Colonel had taught Gamou in the “D-Agency”.

D-Agency—

It had been Lieutenant Colonel Yuuki’s idea, to establish a spy training agency within the Imperial j.a.panese Army.

The Lieutenant Colonel had disregarded the backlashes that came from within the army, and established the D-Agency on his own.

Gamou Jirou was one of the first students of the D-Agency, and deserved special commemoration.

“In my opinion, he’s innocent.” Gamou said lowly, facing straight ahead, with the same amount of control in his voice as the old man.

“Gamou Jirou” was the pseudonym used for carrying out this mission.

The students of the D-Agency regularly took on false names and ident.i.ties to get a grasp on both sides of the situation, and will put on more suitable masks accordingly for each mission.

“I do not think that the old gentleman has anything to do with the case.”

“…and your evidence is?”

“As you also know, chess is a simple game that reflects the nature of the players.”

Gamou swiftly listed out his observations of his opponent’s personality reflected through chess.

A simple man who’s also fond of playing around with strategies.

Superst.i.tious.

Dares not to challenge traditional values and authority.

Cautious, with a stern façade.

Interested in miscellaneous knowledge of all sorts.

“From these traits, the probability of Graham being involved in the matter, and concealing it from those around him…”

“….less than five percent, correct?”

Lieutenant Colonel Yuuki had spoken of the possibility himself, and remained silent for a long while.

Gamou, of course, understood the implication behind his silence.

Five percent.

This will not do.

—As long as the probability is not zero, do not a.s.sume that the party is innocent.

This was one of the principles of a spy Gamou had learnt in the D-Agency.

To a spy who has concealed their ident.i.ty in order to infiltrate an enemy country, stirring up even one percent of suspicion in their surroundings would mean losing their life.

Alternatively, Gamou’s mission is also the same, so long as the probability remains as five percent, a simple “I have been mistaken” after the mission has been completed would not settle the matter.

The beginning of the case dated back to a month prior.

The Yokohama military police unit had arrested a Chinese man who had fled at the sight of them during a patrol late at night.

Seeing that the latter had ran after taking one look at the unit, there had to be something he was concealing behind it all.

The military police had unyieldingly interrogated the man, and discovered a shocking conspiracy.

The man was a member of an underground anti-j.a.panese terrorist organization, and admitted that they would a.s.sa.s.sinate a prominent figure in a bomb plot during the commemorative ceremony in the coming year, Kōki 2060. [1]

The senior officers had been shaken to the core after they had had received the report.

The royal court were planning to attend the ceremony. If there were to be a bomb or disruption, settling the matter would not be as simple as making those who were responsible for security to “take the blame and resign”.

—The full picture of the plan has to be ascertained no matter what.

Under the near-hysterical pressure of the senior officers, a murderous aura permeated the scene of the investigation.

It had instead become counter-effective in the end.

In order to make the suspect confess, the methods of torture had been harsher than usual, and he was sentenced to death.

Those who were responsible for the interrogation were almost unable to acquire any details of the plan.

Only a few communication posts used by the organization network were discovered.

A mix-used building of a foreign company, a customs house, a news agency, a bank, a restaurant and a coffee house.

Parties stationed at these locations would issue “instructions”, and the suspect would act accordingly.

The military police immediately deployed personnel to overlook in each location. The entrances and exits of the buildings had also been closed off, thorough investigations were carried out inside over a number of days, and two coded slips of paper, possibly the “instructions”, had been found.

—Who put these instructions?

Suspicious figures had been questioned, but to no avail.