Hard Rain

results to a live one. The
    examiner could spot the discrepancies. Besides, you'd still have to
    worry about evidence of the actual cause of death."
    "What if he were unconscious?"
    "That's the way I would go. If he were unconscious,
    though, you'd have to carry him like a body. And maneuvering seventy
    or a hundred kilos of dead weight isn't easy. Plus, if you used a drug
    to knock him out, most likely it would still be in his bloodstream
    after death."
    "What about alcohol?"
    "If he'd drunk enough to pass out, you'd be in good shape. A lot of
    suicides drink before pulling the trigger, so nothing suspicious there.
    But how are you going to get the guy to drink himself under the table
    to begin with?"
    He nodded. "The two jumpers in question had blood alcohol levels high
    enough to have induced unconsciousness."
    "Could be what you think. Or not. That's the beauty of it."
    "An injection?"
    "Possibly. But to get enough alcohol in to do the job, you'd have to
    leave a detectable puncture mark at the spot where you injected it.
    Plus there's alcohol in his bloodstream, but no residue of, say, Asahi
    Super Dry in his stomach? Not good."
    "Maybe a setup. A woman, someone strengthening his drinks, getting him
    to drink more than he can handle."
    "That could work."
    "How would you do it?"
    "Hypothetically?"
    He looked at me. "Of course," he said.
    "Hypothetically, I would try to get to the target late at night, when
    there would be the fewest people around. Maybe in his apartment, if I
    were sufficiently confident that he'd be there alone and that I had a
    reliable means of undetectable access. I'd dress like a janitor,
    because no one ever notices janitors, hit him with a stun gun, and put
    him in an industrial-sized laundry cart, or a large rolling refuse
    container, whatever would be in keeping with the surroundings. I'd
    line it with something soft to make sure he didn't suffer any
    contusions that would be incommensurate with his fall. You'd have to
    zap him every fifteen seconds or so with the stun gun to make sure he
    stayed quiet, but with no people around that wouldn't be too difficult.
    Get him up to the roof, roll him over to the edge, and dump him. That's
    how I would do it. Hypothetically."
    "What would you think if you found a small strip of plastic caught in
    the band of the victim's wristwatch?"
    "What kind of plastic?"
    "Sheet plastic. Thick. The kind that comes in rolls, for protecting
    furniture and other large valuables."
    I was familiar with some of the uses for that kind of plastic, and I
    thought for a moment. "Your killer could have gotten the victim drunk.
    Let's leave aside how for the moment. Then he rolls him in the plastic
    to prevent contamination from handling. Take him to the edge of the
    roof, grip one end of the plastic, and give a hard shove. The victim
    rolls out of the plastic and into the air. Very neat."
    "Unless, somehow, the victim's watch snagged on the plastic'
    "Not impossible. But if that's all you've got to go on, you haven't
    got much."
    "There was also an eyewitness. A bellhop, working late in the hotel
    where one of the victims died. At three in the morning, the same time
    the coroner fixed the time of death, he got a good look at a janitor
    with a large cart going up in one of the elevators. Exactly the scene
    you just depicted."
    "He described your man?"
    "To the details. A crushed left cheek, from his Muay Thai days.
    Unusual scarring on the opposite side of his face, under the eye. These
    are healed dog bites. "A frightening face," he said. Entirely
    accurately."
    "No such janitor employed in that building?"
    "Correct."
    "What happened to the bellhop?"
    "Disappeared."
    "Dead?"
    "Probably."
    "That's all you've got?"
    He shrugged. "And two similar deaths, outside of Tokyo. Each to a
    family member of a key player in parliament." His jaw clenched, then
    released. "One to a child." , "A child?"
    Clench, release. "Yes. One with no history of emotional or other
    problems in school. No evidence of precursors for suicide."
    I had once heard that Tatsu had lost an infant son. I wanted to ask
    him, but didn't.
    "If those deaths were intended to send messages to the principals," I
    said, 'they were being pretty subtle. If the principal thinks it was
    suicide, there's no impact on his behavior."
    He nodded. "I had the opportunity to interview each of the principals.
    Each denied that there had been any contact from anyone claiming that
    the deaths were other than suicide. Each was