Hard Rain

comes out, that way Biddle or whoever
    could just blame me." He looked at me. "As their fall guy."
    Maybe the kid wasn't so naive after all. "You still haven't told me
    what you want from me," I said.
    "I want you to run countersurveillance tonight and tell me what you
    see."
    I looked at him. "I'm flattered, but wouldn't you be better off going
    to the CIA Inspector General?"
    "With what? Suspicions? Besides, for all I know, the IG and the
    Station Chief went to Yale together. Remember, as of six months ago,
    Crepuscular was shut down. At which point it effectively became
    illegal. And all this time I've been running it. Before I go through
    channels, I need to figure out just what is going on."
    I was quiet for a moment. Then I said, "What are you offering me in
    return?"
    "I'll tell you what I know about your friend."
    I nodded. "If what you tell me is convincing and valuable, I'll help
    you."
    "You won't renege?"
    I looked at him again. "You're going to have to take that chance."
    He pouted like a kid who thinks he's made a reasonable request and is
    hurt that he isn't being taken seriously.
    "Okay," he said after a moment. "The last time we met, I told you we
    identified Haruyoshi Fukasawa as an acquaintance of yours by
    intercepting a letter from him to Kawamura Midori. All we had from the
    letter was his first name, which is spelled with an unusual combination
    of kanji, and a postmark for the main Chu-oku post office."
    That tracked pretty much with what Harry and I had come up with
    ourselves. "Keep going," I said.
    "There was a lot of information to sift through if we were going to
    make effective use of those two small bits of information. Local ward
    domicile records, tax records, things like that. We'd have to work
    outward in concentric circles starting with the Chuo-ku postmark. That
    meant manpower and local expertise."
    I nodded, knowing what was next. "So you outsourced it."
    "We did. To a Station asset named Yamaoto."
    Christ, they might as well have just put out a contract on Harry. I
    closed my eyes and thought for a second. "Did you tell Yamaoto why you
    were interested in Fukasawa?"
    He shook his head. "Of course not. We just told him we wanted to know
    where a person with that name lived and worked."
    "What happened after that?"
    "I don't know. Yamaoto got us the addresses we wanted. We tailed
    Fukasawa as closely as we could, but he was surveillance conscious and
    we never managed to stay with him long enough to follow him to you."
    "You're not telling me much that I don't already know. What about
    Fukasawa's death?"
    "I went to his apartment the other day with diplomatic security to try
    to surveil him as usual. I told Biddle I didn't think this was a good
    idea after our previous encounter, that it was personally dangerous for
    me, but he insisted. Anyway, I saw a lot of unusual activity. Police
    cars, and a a cleanup crew for the sidewalk in front of his building. I
    looked into it and found out what had happened. When I told Biddle, he
    got totally pale."
    "Meaning?"
    "Meaning my impression was that he was both surprised and upset. If he
    was surprised, it means that someone else was responsible for this. I'm
    assuming it wasn't an accident. That leaves you and Yamaoto. Since
    you're here and seem to care, I'm also assuming that you and Fukasawa
    didn't have some kind of falling out. That leaves Yamaoto."
    "Let's assume that you're right. Why?"
    He swallowed. "I don't know. I mean, at a general level, I would

guess it would be either because Fukasawa posed some sort of threat or
    because he was no longer useful, but I don't know more than that."
    "You ever see Fukasawa with a woman?"
    He nodded. "Yes, we saw him coming and going several times with a
    Yukiko Nohara. She works at a club in Nogizaka called Damask Rose."
    I thought for a few minutes. My gut told me he was being straight. But
    I had no way of knowing for certain. Besides, for the little he'd
    given me, I wasn't going to take the kind of chances that running
    countersurveillance for him could entail.
    Tatsu might be interested, though. And he might be better able to use
    Kanezaki's meager information than I could.
    "I've got a meeting in a few hours with someone who can help you with
    your problem," I said. "Someone who can do more than I can."
    "Does that mean you believe me?"
    I looked at him. "I haven't decided yet."
    There was a pause, then he said, "My wallet'
    I raised my eyebrows.
    "Where is it?" he asked.
    I chuckled.