HIROSHI, ONE OF THE 20-something Japanese tourists who had used several memory sticks of his camera at Abe's, awoke with a strong urge to relieve his bladder. He was not surprised, as he had drunk copious amounts of beer the previous night, and his head throbbed and his tongue felt like a Bigfoot had slept on it.
He shared the room with his older brother, Akira. They slept in single beds. He glanced over at his brother and could make out the shadowy shape tucked up in the neighboring bed.
Akira snored loudly indicating to his brother that he was asleep and equally as intoxicated on Abe's beer, for Akira only snored when he was drunk.
Hiroshi looked at the travel clock on his bedside table. It was two-thirty in the morning. The only light in the room came from the hall light that filtered through the gap under the door.
Hiroshi threw back the bedclothes. Wearing only boxer shorts with the rising sun emblazoned on the ass end, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and sprung to his feet with the agility of a cat. He moaned quietly as this action caused his head to ache even more. He quickly glanced over at his brother. He hadn't woken him. Good, thought Hiroshi, for it had taken several interminable hours of listening to Akira bleat on and on about the rumpus at the bar, and if he had awoken, he would continue all through the night.
Hiroshi picked up his black, silk kimono off a nearby chair. As he tied the kimono, Hiroshi quietly opened the door and peered into the hallway. He stepped out of his room and carefully closed the door without making a sound.
Unlike the FBI agents and several of his Japanese companions, Hiroshi and his brother were not fortunate enough to have a room with a private bathroom. They had to share a communal bathroom—of which there were two—on the second floor.
Hiroshi yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Quietly, and with the light tread of someone trained in martial arts, he walked on bare feet down the hall towards the bathroom at the far end of the hallway. He had to pass the stairs to get to the bathroom. Something hit him like an express train of stink. He coughed.
And what he saw going down the stairs caused Hiroshi's sleepy eyes to widen with surprise. There before him was a stinky Bigfoot descending the stairs.
As if sensing someone was watching, the Bigfoot came to a sudden stop and looked over its shoulder. It stared at Hiroshi for a brief, wondrous moment.
Hiroshi blinked at the sight before his eyes. Was it a real Bigfoot or just someone dressed up as the creature? It looked real to Hiroshi, but since when did Bigfoot stay at hotels? His heart pounded with excitement, and with just a hint of fear, for supposing it was a real Bigfoot and was in a bad mood. It could attack. Hiroshi was a black belt in karate. He thought if the creature attacked he could defend himself, for this Bigfoot wasn't exactly as tall as everyone was made to believe.
"Bigfoot san . . . Hiroshi friend," he said pointing a finger at himself and bowing.
The Bigfoot looked away from Hiroshi with a growl and continued on its way down the stairs two steps at a time.
"Hey, Bigfoot, wait for me," Hiroshi called out excitedly in a raised voice. He pointed his finger at Bigfoot.
At that moment lights were turned on in virtually every room in the hotel. Frantic Japanese clambered with sleepy eyes for their cameras as the alert to the presence of a Bigfoot could be heard.
The Bigfoot became frantic also, and in its eagerness to flee, missed the lower step, tumbling onto the floor at the bottom of the stairs and rolling across the lobby.
Hiroshi charged down the stairs after the clumsy Bigfoot.
The Bigfoot got quickly to its feet, swaying slightly, as if it had had a little too much to drink.
Hiroshi reached the lower step and dived across the lobby. He grabbed a hold of the Bigfoot's furry ankle.
The furry creature wriggled itself free of Hiroshi's hold and gave the Japanese a hefty kick, causing him to roll backwards across the floor. The Bigfoot then made haste to leave and headed for the main door to the hotel.
A stunned Hiroshi could only watch as the Bigfoot ran across the hotel lobby. He noticed the stunned look on the female desk clerk as she watched the incredible sight.
THE BIGFOOT HIROSHI had seen that night was none other than MB. His plan was to create a stir. The plan apparently succeeded. Why he did such a thing and allowed himself to become one with the Phantom Bigfoot was quite simple-he'd had too many at Abe's that night. And once Duane had told him he was the Phantom Bigfoot, MB jumped in with both big feet. Old Indian legend tells us that man who drinks too much gets up to all kinds of mischief.
BOTH FBI AGENTS, like the majority of those present in the hotel that summer's night, had been awoken by Hiroshi's cry of Bigfoot. And like the majority of those present in the hotel that night, they opened their bedroom doors and stepped into the hallway to see what the commotion was all about.
Guests spilled out into the hallway. Excited Japanese with cameras and camcorders at the ready were eager to finally catch a glimpse of Bigfoot. Who would have thought it would be at the hotel?
MERLOT, DRESSED IN HER skimpy baby-doll, looked at a tousled-haired and sleepy-eyed Willis, dressed in his regulation white boxer shorts, as he stepped out into the hallway.
"Someone called out Bigfoot," Merlot commented with a yawn. She glanced down the hallway at the Japanese en masse making their way towards the stairs.
"Yeah, I heard," Willis replied with an irritated edge to his voice. "I was sound asleep."
Merlot glanced back at her partner and could see he wasn't in the best of moods by the scowl on his face. She knew her partner was always in a better frame of mind if he'd had a good night's sleep. If he didn't he could be real touchy, not that anyone could tell the difference these days.
"Go back to bed. I'll see what's going on," Merlot offered.
"What's the point . . . I'm awake now. Huh, won't get back off to sleep now, anyway. Better get dressed and see what's going on."
Merlot nodded her head in agreement as she attempted to go back into her room, but was swept away by the throng of guests heading for the stairs.
Willis was also swept away by the tide of fervent, camera-happy guests, most of which were Japanese.
MERLOT AND WILLIS LISTENED TO an excited Hiroshi pointing at the hotel exit and exclaiming in a confused mixture of Japanese and English what he had seen. Neither agent could speak Japanese, but Merlot quickly deduced that Hiroshi had seen someone dressed up in a Bigfoot costume leaving the hotel through the lobby door. Probably that piece of driftwood, Duane!
Merlot was all smiles, for unlike her cranky partner, she didn't mind being woken up, especially for something as stupid as this. "Must have been someone dressed up in a Bigfoot costume . . ." She chuckled, ". . . Unless Bigfoot likes room service. Wouldn't surprise me in this town."
A petite Japanese woman, dressed in a red kimono, ran down the stairs holding something in her hand and waving it excitedly in the air.
"Bigfoot photo. Bigfoot photo," she gasped in a voice breathless with excitement.
The FBI agents gave her questioning looks as she made her way over to them.
The woman bowed. "Please, I found photo slid under door of bedroom."
She handed the photograph to Merlot.
Merlot and Willis looked with total surprise at the photograph of a Bigfoot seated upon a toilet eating a doughnut. Both agents grimaced with disgust at the image totally lacking in couth.
"Yuck!" Willis said.
"Double yuck. How can anyone eat on the toilet?" Merlot exclaimed.
"Exactly," Willis agreed with a shudder.
Several Japanese who were standing nearby spied the photograph with excited gasps.
Akira exclaimed, "It's the sewial bather." He stared at Merlot's body.
Willis turned from the lurid photograph. He glanced at his partner and saw the grin on her face. "This keeps getting worse."