| |
Yamamoto listened to the recording. Genzo and Futoshi, the men who had brought it to him, waited patiently. They were in Yamamoto's home, away from the hidden microphones and surveillance at agency headquarters.
Yamamoto looked at his two henchmen.
"How unfortunate. I rather liked them. They have displayed true courage."
"What do you want us to do?" Genzo said.
"They will have to be eliminated."
"They've booked a flight to America tomorrow."
"Then you'll have to do it tonight. Make it look as though the yakuza did it."
"That shouldn't be hard to do," Futoshi said.
"Inform me when it's done."
The two men bowed in unison. They left the house and got in their car.
Genzo said, "Looks like the boss stepped in it, big time."
"All the big shots are like that," Futoshi said. "Show me a politician who doesn't have secrets."
Genzo was driving. He pulled away from the house and headed for the expressway.
"How do you want to do this?" he said.
"Everyone has been trying to kill these Americans. No one has succeeded. I don't think we should go after them one-on-one."
"You have a better idea?"
"Maybe a bomb. We put it in their hotel room."
"Boss said make it look like the yakuza are responsible. They don't usually do bombs. Besides, where do we get one?"
"We'll improvise. The components are easy enough to find. We'll do a little shopping, make up a nice package, and deliver it."
"I don't like it. It's too complicated," Genzo said.
"Okay, smart ass, how do you want to do it?"
"We shoot them. Maybe a lot of other people with them. Make it look like a yakuza hit."
Futoshi laughed.
"You crazy bastard."
"We know where they're going to be. In the hotel restaurant. We could get them there."
"I saw a movie once where someone put a bomb in a serving cart and took it into a restaurant."
"You're still thinking about a bomb?"
"A tablecloth hid the bottom of the cart. No one suspected the bomb was underneath."
"It must have been an American movie," Genzo said.
"It was, but American movies are inferior. Ours are much better at presenting violence. The Americans are always blowing things up. It's easy and it substitutes for content. Our films are far more subtle. Kurasawa's movies for example, like Throne of Blood. The swordplay is beautiful, the strategy elegant, the end tragic."
"Now you're a film critic? Kurasawa stole the plot from Shakespeare."
"You don't like the classics? Come on, you can't beat the blind swordsman."
"You don't really believe someone could do that, do you?"
"It doesn't matter. It makes a great story."
They drove in silence for a few minutes.
"Maybe you're right," Genzo said. "About using a bomb."
"I thought you said the yakuza didn't use bombs."
"Boss will find a way to plant the story. Maybe make it look like the hotel wouldn't pay protection. Something like that."
"We could put it in a serving cart," Futoshi said, "like in the movie."
The two men argued about the merits of American and Japanese movies all the way back into town.