Hard Rain

photos. Doubtless Yamaoto plans to burn these
    unfortunates first. Then, during the ensuing media frenzy, he will
    release the balance of the receipts. The fact that there is no "hard"
    video or audio evidence backing this second wave of revelations will be
    lost on the public'
    "So even though Yamaoto might still be able to burn the group he's got
    on tape ..."
    "His efforts will be limited to that group. By reacquiring the
    receipts, we can contain the damage."
    "Okay. How are you going to get the receipts?"
    "They're in Biddle's safe," Kanezaki said. "I heard him say so on the
    phone."
    "It sounds like you can pick a lock, kid," I said, 'but cracking a safe
    is another story."
    "He won't need to crack it," Tatsu said. "Biddle will give him the
    combination."
    "What, are you going to just ask him nicely?"
    Tatsu shook his head. "I thought it might be better if you would."
    I considered for a moment. I wanted another chance to question Biddle
    about Harry, in more private surroundings than were available last
    time. Especially if it was true that he and Yamaoto were somehow
    aligned, which increased the probability that he might have been
    involved in Harry's death. Murakami and Yukiko were taken care of, but
    now it looked like there was still a little something I needed to wrap
    up.
    "All right," I said. "I'll do it."
    "I can help you set it up' Kanezaki started to say.
    "No," I said, shaking my head, already picturing how I
    would handle it. "I can take care of that myself. You just make sure
    you have access to Biddle's office when I tell you to."
    "Okay," he said.
    I looked at him. "Why are you doing all this? If the CIA finds out,
    they'll call you a traitor."
    He laughed. "It's hard to be scared of something like that immediately
    after finding out that your boss has been trying to hire someone to
    have you killed. Besides, Crepuscular was officially shut down,
    remember? As far as I'm concerned, Biddle is the traitor. I'm just
    trying to straighten things out."
    Tatsu took me to a doctor he knew, a guy named Eto. Tatsu told me he
    had done this guy a favor many years earlier, that as a result he was
    in Tatsu's debt and could be counted on for his discretion.
    Eto didn't ask any questions. He examined my arm and told me I had a
    fractured ulna. He set it, put a cast on it, and gave me a
    prescription for a codeine-based painkiller. The prescription was
    written on generic Jikei Hospital stationery. I looked at the
    signature and saw that it was illegible. No one would be able to trace
    it back to him.
    I called Biddle afterward. Told him I was ready to take him up on his
    offer about Kanezaki. Arranged a meeting for ten o'clock that night to
    discuss details.
    I went to another spy shop in Shinjuku. This time I bought a pair of
    high-resolution night-vision goggles with a binocular magnification
    function. I also picked up another ASP baton. I'd developed a certain
    fondness for the things.
    Next I stopped at a sporting good store and bought a pair of sweatpants
    and a matching sweatshirt, both in a flat black heavy cotton, and a
    pair of jogging shoes. It was hard to find the right footwear almost
    everything the store had was multicolored and gaudy but eventually I
    came upon a pair that was suitably dark. After I left the store I cut
    off the reflective strips that the manufacturer had thoughtfully placed
    across the heels to make joggers more visible at night. Getting hit by
    a car that might fail to see me wasn't my primary concern.
    I had told Biddle that he should enter the Aoyama Bochi cemetery
    complex on Kayanoki-dori, from the Omotesando-dori entrance. That he
    should walk down the path about fifty meters, at which point he would
    see a tall obelisk on the left, the tallest structure in the cemetery.
    That he should wait there.
    At eight o'clock, when it was sufficiently dark, I slipped into the
    cemetery from the Gaiennishi-dori side, avoiding the regular entrances
    just in case anyone was prepositioned and waiting for me. An odd place
    for a jog, but not unheard of. As soon as I was inside, I pulled on
    the goggles. I could make out every marker and bush in bright green. I
    saw bats sailing among the trees, a cat slinking from behind a stone.
    I set up near the obelisk, inside a memorial shaped like a triple
    pagoda. The pagoda offered me excellent concealment and a
    three-hundred-sixty-degree vantage point.
    Biddle showed up at ten sharp. He was as punctual about spy craft as
    he was about his