Hard Rain

that. Because the individual in
    question seemed to have the same concerns. He left the sport for the
    world of bare-knuckled underground fighting, where there really are no
    holds barred. Where as often as not the fight truly is to the
    finish."
    I had heard about these fights. Had once even met someone who
    participated in them, an American named Tom, who was practicing judo,
    for a time, at the Kodokan. He was a tough-looking but surprisingly
    articulate guy who shared some interesting and valuable unarmed combat
    philosophy with me. I had defeated him in judo, but wasn't sure how
    things would have turned out in a less formal setting.
    "Apparently this individual was highly successful in these underground
    contests," Tatsu said. "Not just against other men. Also in bouts
    against animals. Dogs."
    "Dogs?" I asked, surprised.
    He nodded, his expression grim. "These events are run by the jakuza.
    It was inevitable that our man's skills, and his cruel proclivities,
    would come to the attention of the organizers, that they would then
    recognize that he had a higher calling than killing for prize money in
    the ring."
    I nodded. "He could kill in the wider world."
    "Indeed. And, for the last year, that is precisely what he has been
    doing."
    "You said he had a more sophisticated set of skills."
    "Yes. I believe he has developed capabilities that I once thought were
    your provenance only."
    I said nothing.
    "In the last six months," he went on, 'there have been two deaths,
    apparently by suicide. The victims were both high-level banking
    executives in soon-to-be merged institutions. Each seems to have
    leaped to his death from the roof of a building."
    I shrugged. "From what I've been reading about the condition of the
    banks' balance sheets, I'm surprised that only two have jumped. I
    would have expected more like fifty."
    "Perhaps twenty years ago, or even ten, that would have been the case.
    But atonement by suicide now exists in Japan more as an ideal than as a
    practice." He took a sip of his tea. "An American-style apology is
    now preferred."
    '"I regret that mistakes were made," I said, smiling.
    "Sometimes not even "I regret." Rather, "It is regrettable.""
    "At least they're not claiming that taking bribes is a disease, that
    they just need treatment to be cured."
    He grimaced. "No, not yet."
    He took another sip of tea. "Neither of the jumpers left a note. And
    I have learned that each was concerned that the actual size of the non
    performing loans of the other party was significantly higher than
    advertised."
    "So? Everyone knows the problem loans are much bigger than the banks
    or the government admits."
    "True. But these men threatened to reveal the problem data as a way of
    blocking a merger that had no sound business rationale, but which was
    nonetheless favored by certain elements of the government."
    "Apparently not a very smart move."
    "Let me ask you something," he said, looking at me. "Hypothetically.
    Would it be possible, realistically, to throw someone off a building
    and make it look like suicide?"
    I happened to know with certainty that it was possible,
    but I decided to accept Tatsu's invitation to keep things on a
    'hypothetical' level.
    "Depends on how thorough a pathological exam would be conducted
    afterward," I said.
    "Assume very thorough."
    "With very thorough, it would be tough. Still possible, though. Your
    biggest problem would be getting the victim up to the roof with no one
    seeing it. Unless you had some way of tricking him into meeting you on
    a rooftop or otherwise knowing in advance that he was going to be
    there, you'd have to transport him yourself. If he were conscious for
    that journey, he'd be making a hell of a racket. Also, if he were
    fighting you, there would be evidence of a struggle. Your skin under
    his nails. Maybe a clump of your hair in his stiff fingers. Other
    items incommensurate with a voluntary act. And he'd be fighting with
    no regard for his own safety, no regard to pain, so there would be
    evidence of a struggle all over you, as well. You have no idea the way
    a man will fight when he understands he's fighting for his life."
    "Tie him up first?"
    "You tie someone up, it leaves marks. Even if he doesn't struggle."
    "And he would be struggling."
    "Wouldn't you?"
    Kill him first?"
    "Maybe. But that's risky. Changes to the body set in quickly after
    death. The blood pools. Temperature drops. And the results of impact
    to a dead body aren't the same as the