Part 15 (2/2)
16.
He was a huge man by j.a.panese standards.
Towering over most people, he didn't so much walk as he did loom. His shadow fell long over the hallway he stalked down, and the people he pa.s.sed only dared glance after him before turning back to their own worlds.
He detested the idea of impersonating anyone, but even he recognized the value of blending in. After all, he'd survived as long as he had based on his ability to remain undetected.
The hit had gone wrong.
Terribly so.
And the sudden appearance of a monk of all things meant that the plan had backfired in the worst way. Now he was left with the task of cleaning up the entire mess and ensuring that no one would be left alive who could link him to the attempt.
That meant doing things he would have normally preferred to employ someone else to do. He frowned. Doing so would have meant another loose end. A liability he simply couldn't afford.
His navy-blue uniform looked more black and reflected the dour mood that had come over him upon learning of the failed a.s.sa.s.sination. Not that he had expected it to go off well in the first place. Something like this was, after all, more of an experiment than anything else. But it had gone so utterly badly, that even he had been surprised.
He strode into the emergency department at the hospital and saw the relaxed group of patrol officers scattered all over the ward. When they saw him, they immediately snapped to attention, one of them going so far as to throw up a hasty salute.
”Who is in charge here?” he snapped.
Another officer stepped forward. ”s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+, sir!”
He looked around the room and glowered. ”Your men are pathetic. They lounge about as if this were break time rather than a place of professional business. Get them looking sharp. I want to know all the latest information about what happened in that alley and I want to know it right now.”
The patrol officer named s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+ turned and pointed at another officer. ”You there-get the commander the latest reports.”
s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+ turned back to him. ”Can I get you something to drink, sir?”
”No.”
”Very well. I was not informed you would be coming down to oversee this operation.”
He barely even glanced at s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+. ”And since when is headquarters required to inform you that I am taking a personal interest in a case? Or are you now of the belief that you have the experience to run such things?”
”No, sir. I was merely commenting that I find it strange to see you here. Mostly, we never even see you at all.”
”And you should count yourself lucky you do not. The more times I have to come out of my office to supervise something, the more likely it is that things have been done wrong. I am sent out to correct errors, s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+. And I do not like finding them in the work of supposedly competent police officers under my command.”
”No, sir.”
”Where are those reports?”
s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+ turned and waved over the man he'd spoken to earlier. The officer ran up with a sheaf of papers and handed them to s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+, who in turn handed them to him.
He glanced at them, scowling and grunting at the appropriate times and places. Finally, he took a deep breath and huffed it out.
”A monk.”
”Sir?”
”A monk was able to disarm and render unconscious twelve armed schoolgirls?”
s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+ nodded. ”It certainly appears that way, sir.”
”What about surveillance?”
”Sir?”
”The video cameras, s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+. Have you been able to pull anything from any of the local surveillance cameras?”
s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+ looked confused. ”We weren't aware there were any in the area, sir.”
He sighed. Of course, this dolt did not know about the cameras. Most of j.a.panese society didn't know about them. But the government had secretly and very quietly put an extensive network of video cameras throughout j.a.pan's major cities. The cameras were linked to huge computer banks that constantly ran facial-recognition software, comparing the thousands of faces that pa.s.sed by them daily with the faces of known radicals and terrorists.
But s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+ didn't know that. He wasn't supposed to know that. And the dim look on his face told him as much.
He cleared his throat. ”The Internet cafe didn't have video cameras? All that computer equipment and they're not the least bit concerned about getting robbed?”
s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+ shrugged. ”I'm not sure, sir.”
”Well, maybe it would be worth the time to send an officer down there to see if maybe he does have any cameras. And if so, could he potentially have a glimpse of our mysterious monk lurking through a frame or two?”
s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+ turned and dispatched two officers to investigate.
He glanced back at the report and then looked back at s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+. ”What about a composite sketch?”
”Sir?”
”Of the monk, s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+. If you've got the witnesses this report claims, then maybe they could get together and come up with some sort of rendition we might use to track this character down. I wouldn't think it would be too difficult to spot a monk in robes wandering the city with a staff, would you?”
”No, sir.”
”Get it done.”
”Right away, sir.”
He glanced around. The emergency department was fairly empty. The evening rush hadn't started yet and most of the staff was relaxed. He looked back at the report, aware that s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+ was looking at him again.
”What are we doing about the j.a.panese man and the American woman?”
”We have officers out looking for them, sir.” s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+ looked decidedly uncomfortable. ”But they seem to have disappeared.”
He grinned. ”Who can blame them? If I'd just been targeted by a dozen schoolgirls, I'd make myself scarce, too.”
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