do was to ride past them.
"I turned onto a side street, chained the scooter to a tree and
walked back to the restaurant. I think I irritated a waiter by refusing
tables until he offered one that gave me an angle to watch Ito. She
was sitting with a man with salt-and-pepper hair. There was
something about him that seemed out of place. His suit didn't fit well
even though his mannerisms were impeccably refined, and he was
clearly accustomed to expensive restaurants like the one we were
in.
"I was able to get a few photos of them with my phone. One
of them shows him handing Ito a small black shopping bag. She
smiled when she took it, but didn't look inside. He paid the check. It
was risky, but I left enough on the table to cover my bill and followed
him out. Ito gave me a funny look as I walked past her, but I didn't
think there was any reason for her to suspect anything. Anyway, I
followed him to a subway, and got on the same train.
"He got off after four stops. I followed and that's when it
happened. Never saw it coming."
Yuri was quiet for a while.
"Where was it?"
"In Kabutocho, where most of the government buildings are.
That might explain the man. He might be in the bureaucratic elite,
but with a middling salary."
"If he were top tier, he'd be paid well and likely have a
driver," I said.
Morimoto cleared his throat. "Maybe the meeting was secret
even from his driver."
I raised an eyebrow and briefly considered giving Morimoto
a friendly punch on the arm.
"That's all I remember."
She hadn't seen who had hit her and she wasn't sure the
man she saw with Ito was Panther, but I was certain of it.
If he'd had better sense, or better instructions, he would
have snatched Yuri's purse. That would have given him her identity,
if he didn't already know it, plus the camera and the receiver. He
hadn't. He hit and ran.
Morimoto briefed Yuri quickly on what he had found from
bank records, but she was in no condition to think about the case.
Her concentration drifted as he spoke.
A nurse with the effervescence of a high school cheerleader
interrupted to take Yuri's vital signs. Four other beds in the
six-woman room were occupied. Curtains around each bed were only
partially drawn or fully opened in a cavalier regard for privacy. The
room was clean, but depressingly bleak. I asked Morimoto if we
could arrange for a transfer to a better facility.
He was surprised that I'd asked. The hospital, he said, was
known for having competent staff and technologically advanced
equipment.
I'd have to take his word for it. The nurse used an ear
thermometer that took about two seconds to register. I'd never seen
that. Guess the place just needed paint.
The nurse didn't shoo us out, but she told Morimoto that
Yuri needed rest more than anything else.
Apparently Yuri agreed. She managed to direct me to her
purse and the digital camera inside before she waved her hand good
riddance and closed her eyes.
After we left, I handed Morimoto the camera. "Can you do
anything with that? It'll probably be hard to make an ID just from
photographs."
"Probably, we have a data base and software that can
recognize faces, but..."
"It's a long shot."
My self-assigned role was to come back to the hospital, bring
flowers and stage a bedside or visiting-room vigil. Handholding
probably wouldn't help Yuri. It might, however, help me atone for
not having seen the danger and to calm a growing rage.
I didn't know yet where or when or under what
circumstances, but before long Panther would have a reckoning with El Jaguar Sanchez. But I'd have to be careful. This was his
jungle.
* * * *
When I got back to the hotel, I asked the concierge to have
flowers sent to Yuri's room. I didn't know enough about her
preferences, so I left the arrangement up to the florist. I also had
roses sent to my room for me to take to her the next day. I couldn't
decide between candy or fruit, so I ordered chocolate-covered
strawberries. Whoever invented those deserved some kind
"I turned onto a side street, chained the scooter to a tree and
walked back to the restaurant. I think I irritated a waiter by refusing
tables until he offered one that gave me an angle to watch Ito. She
was sitting with a man with salt-and-pepper hair. There was
something about him that seemed out of place. His suit didn't fit well
even though his mannerisms were impeccably refined, and he was
clearly accustomed to expensive restaurants like the one we were
in.
"I was able to get a few photos of them with my phone. One
of them shows him handing Ito a small black shopping bag. She
smiled when she took it, but didn't look inside. He paid the check. It
was risky, but I left enough on the table to cover my bill and followed
him out. Ito gave me a funny look as I walked past her, but I didn't
think there was any reason for her to suspect anything. Anyway, I
followed him to a subway, and got on the same train.
"He got off after four stops. I followed and that's when it
happened. Never saw it coming."
Yuri was quiet for a while.
"Where was it?"
"In Kabutocho, where most of the government buildings are.
That might explain the man. He might be in the bureaucratic elite,
but with a middling salary."
"If he were top tier, he'd be paid well and likely have a
driver," I said.
Morimoto cleared his throat. "Maybe the meeting was secret
even from his driver."
I raised an eyebrow and briefly considered giving Morimoto
a friendly punch on the arm.
"That's all I remember."
She hadn't seen who had hit her and she wasn't sure the
man she saw with Ito was Panther, but I was certain of it.
If he'd had better sense, or better instructions, he would
have snatched Yuri's purse. That would have given him her identity,
if he didn't already know it, plus the camera and the receiver. He
hadn't. He hit and ran.
Morimoto briefed Yuri quickly on what he had found from
bank records, but she was in no condition to think about the case.
Her concentration drifted as he spoke.
A nurse with the effervescence of a high school cheerleader
interrupted to take Yuri's vital signs. Four other beds in the
six-woman room were occupied. Curtains around each bed were only
partially drawn or fully opened in a cavalier regard for privacy. The
room was clean, but depressingly bleak. I asked Morimoto if we
could arrange for a transfer to a better facility.
He was surprised that I'd asked. The hospital, he said, was
known for having competent staff and technologically advanced
equipment.
I'd have to take his word for it. The nurse used an ear
thermometer that took about two seconds to register. I'd never seen
that. Guess the place just needed paint.
The nurse didn't shoo us out, but she told Morimoto that
Yuri needed rest more than anything else.
Apparently Yuri agreed. She managed to direct me to her
purse and the digital camera inside before she waved her hand good
riddance and closed her eyes.
After we left, I handed Morimoto the camera. "Can you do
anything with that? It'll probably be hard to make an ID just from
photographs."
"Probably, we have a data base and software that can
recognize faces, but..."
"It's a long shot."
My self-assigned role was to come back to the hospital, bring
flowers and stage a bedside or visiting-room vigil. Handholding
probably wouldn't help Yuri. It might, however, help me atone for
not having seen the danger and to calm a growing rage.
I didn't know yet where or when or under what
circumstances, but before long Panther would have a reckoning with El Jaguar Sanchez. But I'd have to be careful. This was his
jungle.
* * * *
When I got back to the hotel, I asked the concierge to have
flowers sent to Yuri's room. I didn't know enough about her
preferences, so I left the arrangement up to the florist. I also had
roses sent to my room for me to take to her the next day. I couldn't
decide between candy or fruit, so I ordered chocolate-covered
strawberries. Whoever invented those deserved some kind
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