Rising Sun

Co

Co

The pool lights were on outside. They cast a green rippling pattern on the ceiling. Co

The body lay face down in the water, naked, floating in the center of the pool, a dark silhouette in the glowing green rectangle. Co

The body was blue and cold, begi

“They would be careful about that,” Co

“About what?”

“About not letting anything show. But I’m sure we can find the proofs…” He got out his penlight and peered inside Eddie’s mouth. He inspected the nipples, and the genitals. “Yes. There. See the rows of red dots? On the scrotum. And there on the side of the thigh…”

“Alligator clips?”

“Yes. For the electric shock coil. Damn!” Co

“About what?”

Co

He fell silent. He stared at the corpse. Finally, he slid the body back into the water. It floated out again.

“Let somebody else do the paperwork,” Co

“I liked him,” Co

I was lost. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I didn’t think I should say anything. Co

“Come on,” he said finally. “We have to move fast. There’s only a couple of possibilities. And once again, we have fallen behind events. But if it’s the last thing I do, I want to get that son of a bitch.”

“What son of a bitch?”

“Ishiguro.”

2

We were driving back to my apartment. “You take the night off,” he said.

“I’m going with you,” I said.

“No. I’ll do this alone, kōhai. It’s better if you don’t know.”

“Know what?” I said.

We went on like this for a while. He didn’t want to tell me. Finally he said, “Tanaka went to Eddie’s house last night because Eddie had the tape. Presumably, the original.”

“Right…”

“And Tanaka wanted it back. That’s why they had an argument. When you and Graham came, and all hell broke loose, Eddie told Tanaka the tape was in the Ferrari. So Tanaka went down there, panicked when he saw the police, and drove the car away.”

“Right.”

“I always assumed the tape was destroyed in the crash, and the fire.”

“Yes…”

“But obviously it wasn’t. Because Eddie wouldn’t dare be so cocky around Ishiguro unless he still had a tape. The tape would be his ace in the hole. He knew it. But he obviously didn’t understand how ruthless Ishiguro would be.”

“They tortured him for the tape?”

“Yes. But Eddie must have surprised them. He didn’t tell them.”

“How do you know?”

“Because,” Co

“So they’re still looking for the tape?”

“Yes. Or evidence of the tape. They may not even know how many are missing, at this point.”

I thought it over.

“What are you going to do?” I said.

“Find the tape,” Co

I pulled up in front of my apartment building. As Elaine had said, all the reporters were gone. The street was quiet. Dark.

“I still want to go with you,” I said again.

Co

“I can guess,” I said. “You’re going to retrace Eddie’s steps from last night. Eddie left his house and went to stay with the redhead. Maybe he went somewhere else, too—“

“Look,” Co

“But—“

“Come on, kōhai. Out of the car. Spend a nice night with your kid. You did a good job, but your job is finished now.”

Finally, I got out of the car.

“Sayonara,” Co

“Daddy! Daddy!” She ran toward me, arms outstretched. “Pick me up, Daddy.”

I picked her up. “Hi, Shelly.”

“Daddy, can I watch Sleeping Beauty?”

“I don’t know. Have you had di

“She ate two hot dogs and an ice cream cone,” Elaine said. She was washing dishes in the kitchen.

“Jeez,” I said. “I thought we were going to stop feeding her junk food.”

“Well, it’s all she would eat,” Elaine said. She was irritable. It was the end of a long day with a two-year-old.

“Daddy, can I watch Sleeping Beauty?”

“Just a minute, Shelly, I’m talking to Elaine.”

“I tried that soup,” Elaine said, “but she wouldn’t touch it. She wanted a hot dog.”

“Daddy, can I watch Disney cha

“Michelle,” I said.

Elaine said, “So I thought it was better that she eat something. I think she was thrown off. You know, the reporters and everything. All the excitement.”

“Daddy? Can I? Sleeping Beauty?” She was squirming in my arms. Patting my face to get my attention.

“Okay, Shel.”

“Now, Daddy?”

“Okay.”

I put her down. She ran into the living room and turned on the TV, pushing the remote without hesitation. “I think she watches too much television.”

“They all do,” Elaine said, shrugging.

“Daddy?”

I went into the living room and plugged in the cassette. I fast-forwarded to the credits, then let it run.

“Not this part,” she said impatiently.

So I fast-forwarded to the begi

“This part, this part,” she said, tugging at my hand.

I let the tape run at normal speed. Michelle sat in the chair and started sucking her thumb. She pulled her thumb out of her mouth and patted the seat beside her. “Here, Daddy,” she said.

She wanted me to sit with her.

I sighed. I looked at the room. It was a mess. Her crayons and coloring books were scattered over the floor. And the large Tinkertoy windmill.

“Let me clean up,” I said. “I’ll be right here, with you.”

She popped her thumb back in her mouth, and turned to the screen. Her attention was total.

I cleaned up the crayons and put them back in the cardboard box. I folded up her coloring books and set them on the shelf. I was suddenly tired and sat down for a minute on the floor next to Michelle. On the screen, three fairies, red, green, and blue, were flying into the throne room of the castle.