The thirtieth. Evening.
With a section chief behind the wheel, Shindo left to commence the unscheduled inspection. Surprise checks such as these were detested by the front-line officers in district and usually referred to as ‘raids’. Shindo had received the go-ahead after notifying Takegami of his intention to inspect five stations to the south. The chief had, of course, understood that Shindo’s real target was in Station Q.
Shaken by the motion of the car, Shindo’s stomach was all too tangible a presence. Despite his instructions to the contrary, Yanagi had continued to look into the relationship between Sone and Yaeko Kato. And the intel that Sone had been frequenting Mumu was no doubt good, considering the source.
Shindo didn’t like it.
I’ll know when I see him.
With a headcount of more than 200 officers, Station Q was one of the largest the prefecture had. The four-storey building was old, with visible cracks, but a renovation last year and a fresh lick of cream-coloured paint had allowed it to maintain its status as a major hub in the south. It was seven thirty when Shindo, wearing full uniform, stepped out of the car in front of the station. A couple of young officers stood to attention, giving sharp salutes as he walked through the glass entrance doors.
Table with local map. Riot shields at the ready, in case of forced entry.
Check.
Next was the ground floor. Shindo made the rounds of Transport, Administration and Accounting. Everything was in order. All the desks were tidy. His next stop was the armoury. Guns, bullets – everything was a match to the lists in inventory.
Shindo started to make his way up the stairs. He checked the now-empty divisions of the first, second and third floors. All the lights were off. All the windows were locked tight. He walked into Public Safety. Spotless. Apart from Sone’s, the majority of desks were equipped with word processors. Shindo let his eyes linger on the logo: Brand K.
He took his time to make a thorough inspection of the detention facilities before finally returning to the ground floor. The officers on duty were there, standing in a line. Only those manning the radios were missing.
‘Look smart!’
The order had come from the officer on watch, Yoshio Sone. His face was redder than ever, flushed with excitement and nerves. The checks began.
‘Notebooks!’
The dozen or so officers present each held out their police notebooks. Once Shindo had inspected them, the order was given to put them away. Sone continued to bark orders: ‘Rope!’ ‘Handcuffs!’ ‘Whistle!’ ‘Gun!’
Shindo found he could not look away as the man issued command after command, his voice almost screeching. This was the Sone he knew. He wasn’t sure if it stemmed from sincerity or simple-mindedness but either way the man’s sense of duty resembled that of an officer fresh out of police school. Even now, at fifty-five, he was almost hopelessly unchanged.
Sone has been frequenting Mumu.
Shindo couldn’t picture him with Yaeko Kato. For this unremarkable middle-aged man who looked even now ready to collapse from stress to seduce an attractive mama-san, one who was well versed in the ways of the night. To gorge on her youthful body in a hotel. Try as he might, the image would not form in his mind. Even if Sone had been to Mumu, she wouldn’t have paid him any attention, regardless of how hard he’d tried to win her over. Nothing could have happened between them.
Once the checks were complete, Shindo turned to face Sone.
‘I’d like to take a look at the cars.’
It was the easiest way to get him alone. They left for the parking area behind the station, Sone with a bundle of keys in his hand. Shindo chose the car marked ‘Q1’. Getting into the passenger seat, he asked Sone to start the engine.
‘Front lights.’
‘Yes, sir.’ Sone’s voice cracked.
‘Back lights.’
‘Sir.’
Sone shuffled his feet, looking awkward. Shindo twisted his neck to confirm the reflection of the red lights on the wall behind them.
Now.
He looked at Sone in profile. The man was covered in sweat.
‘How are you doing?’
‘Good. Thank you, sir.’ He made no attempt to return Shindo’s gaze. His eyes were fixed ahead, focused on the dark as he sat upright in his seat.
‘I think we can dispense with the formalities. The raid is over.’
‘Thank you, sir. If I may . . . I’m always impressed at how you conduct the inspections so thoroughly and with such precision.’
‘Sone . . .’
Shindo felt his heart ache. It was true he was senior in terms of rank. Yet Sone had joined the force before him and had the edge when it came to age. And the two of them weren’t strangers to each other. Outside work, in private like this, it was relatively common for the elder of two officers to talk as though they were addressing a junior. The force subscribed to a rigid hierarchy of rank but that didn’t preclude the otherwise universal tradition of showing respect for your elders.
Yet Sone was different.
He seemed determined to give Shindo the respect appropriate for a superintendent. His tone remained formal and self-effacing throughout their conversation. This was what convinced Shindo of the man’s innocence. He had not changed. His decency, his passion for the job, they were both as Shindo remembered.
Shindo pulled away from the station.
He imagined he could hear the sighs of relief but he knew the officers would be busy calling the nearby stations. He’s coming. The next station in line would be scrambling to get everything in order.
It was close to eleven when he finally got back to the Prefectural HQ. A weak light seeped through the curtains of the room on the corner of the first floor of the north building.
As expected.
The officers from Administration were holed up in the cubbyhole that was Personnel. He’d been right – they’d already started work on the spring transfers. Shindo returned to Internal Affairs and sat at his desk to write up the evening’s report.
There was a knock at the door.
‘Do you have a moment?’ Shinji Futawatari from Administration tipped his head into the room. ‘How was the raid?’
‘Good. Not that they’re ever bad,’ Shindo answered, choosing his words carefully.
Futawatari would have been there in Personnel. He would have come across after seeing the lights come on in Internal Affairs. Given the fact that it was after eleven, it was unlikely he’d come to chat. It was more likely that he’d been waiting for a chance to catch Shindo alone, when Takegami and Katsumata were out. That would be it.
People liked to refer to him as the ‘ace’. He’d made superintendent three years ago, at the young age of forty. Such things had been known to happen, perhaps once every few generations, but Futawatari had another talent that separated him from the pack. In his case, the word ‘ace’ was also a reference to the trump card he held.
Personnel.
More than anything, it was the transfer he had masterminded two years previously that had propelled his name to the forefront.
Katsumata had gambled money during a game of mahjong with an acquaintance who owned a pachinko parlour. At the time, he’d been a division chief in Transport Guidance. One of his junior officers had been outraged and lodged an official complaint, which had led to Katsumata’s eventual transfer.
The choice of destination had stunned the force.
Rather than face the scrutiny of Internal Affairs, Katsumata had been transferred there. It was inspired. The press, who had already caught wind of the scandal, had not known how to react. They’d never move him there. Not if the rumours were true. Futawatari had forced them to draw that conclusion.
Shirota doesn’t have the gall to pull a stunt like that. I’m telling you, it was Futawatari. The whispers had spread like lightning through the force, the tone gradually shifting from one of shock to one of fear.
Even Shindo had to admit it was impressive. At the same time, he had to wonder whether such extreme measures had been necessary to safeguard the reputation of the force. There were scum wherever you went. Squeeze them out. That was surely the proper way to defend an organisation. However he looked at it, Shindo couldn’t bring himself to fully agree with the man’s way of thinking.
And yet, face to face with him now, this man who was seven years his junior, he couldn’t help but feel intimidated.
It was second nature, after fifty, to think about how many years and how many posts you had left. While he couldn’t quite match Futawatari’s meteoric rise, Shindo was himself a career officer and one who had made superintendent at the age of forty-four. It had hurt to miss out on the promotion to district captain that spring but he still considered his stint in Internal Affairs to be temporary. It would last a year, at most, allowing him to recuperate. There was still time. He could still make director before his retirement.
Even so, another couple of years in some out-of-the-way post . . .
Shindo understood that the captain and the director of Administrative Affairs both held Futawatari in high regard. A single word from their ‘ace’ might be all it took to seal a man’s fate, be the difference between making director and getting stuck at division chief.
‘That reminds me,’ Futawatari said, lowering his voice. ‘Is something happening with Inspector Sone in Station Q?’
The words were like a slap in the face.
‘No. I mean . . .’ Shindo stumbled to find his response. ‘We did have a letter, but I think it’s one we can dismiss. He doesn’t seem to be involved in anything untoward.’
‘I see.’
Futawatari got smoothly to his feet. His footsteps grew distant and the room returned to silence. Shindo couldn’t move from the couch.
Who told him?
He reviewed a selection of faces.
Takegami? Mizutani? No. Yanagi? Never. Morishima from Forensics? Not necessarily. Shindo had been to the Mutual Funds Association. And there was always the chance that Katsumata had somehow got wind of the letter. There was also the possibility that Futawatari had used some means of his own, although Shindo wouldn’t usually expect a man who had spent his career in Administration to have too many ‘assets’ at his disposal. That said, people liked to back a winner and it wouldn’t be long until Futawatari secured dominion over the Prefectural HQ. There would be plenty of people who wanted to win his favour. He wondered just how far the man’s reach spread.
Whatever the source of the leak, the fact that Sone was now in Futawatari’s sights meant that there were people outside Internal Affairs watching to see how Shindo handled the case. And work had already started on the transfers.
Shindo’s stomach groaned, alerting him to an emotion that was a long way from anger.