Sign of the Dragon (Tatsu Yamada Book 1), Niall Teasdale [books for 20 year olds .txt] 📗

I’m interested in, I’ll stream it. Never seen you wearing anything like that on it. You could raise your viewer figures a lot if you did.’

Irritation at having her secret uncovered apparently fizzling, Yamauchi waved a hand. ‘We’d win some, we’d lose some. Testing already suggests I’m bordering on losing some of the demographic because I wear short skirts.’ She looked at Tatsu. ‘That’s why I have to wear hose in the middle of summer. The demographic for Deep Dive is pretty conservative. A case could be made that we’d get better figures if I dressed like a geisha. With all the makeup.’

‘That… might also be worth seeing.’

‘No chance. Anyway, you’re one to talk. Could you be wearing less?’

Sachiko was wearing a mesh bodystocking with a microskirt and thigh-high boots over it. It was not concealing much. ‘Yes.’ She waved a hand at the tables with their cages. ‘You’ve seen me in less.’

‘You should see her in her maid costume,’ Tatsu said. ‘Made it herself. Sachiko is a talented girl in many ways.’

30th August.

‘T-t-talented,’ Yamauchi said. ‘Yes!’ She had got fairly drunk on pink cocktails and suggested, drunkenly, that they go somewhere and bang. Her words. She was now strapped to a cross in the dungeon room in the Dream Castle with Tatsu watching Sachiko work on her. They had been at it for thirty minutes and the reporter had come four times already. Make that five.

‘Your turn,’ Sachiko said, stepping away from her victim.

Tatsu got to her feet and started over. ‘My pleasure.’

‘You two are t-trying to k-kill me,’ Yamauchi said.

‘If I wanted to kill you, I’d use a gun.’ Tatsu slid a couple of fingers into Yamauchi and got a groan out of her. ‘You wanted the full Chiba experience. Have to take the rough with the smooth.’

‘I’ll t-take whatever you can d-dish out.’

Tatsu’s smile was a little malicious. ‘Challenge accepted.’

~~~

Alert! Sergeant Yamada, attend the attached address. Probable homicide linked to current case, number attached. Victim identified as Yong Pan of same address. Sergeant Nakano has been notified.

‘Shit,’ Tatsu said aloud. It was six fifteen in the morning and she had settled down to sleep at three. Still, she sent the acknowledgement and then tried to crawl out from between Yamauchi and Sachiko without waking them. Fat chance.

‘You’re going?’ Yamauchi asked.

‘I got a call.’

‘Another murder?’

Tatsu considered her options for a second and concluded that the reporter would hear soon enough anyway. ‘Yong Pan.’

‘What? I’m coming–’

‘No, you’re staying here. I won’t let you onto the scene this time either.’

‘Oh. Right. I guess.’

‘I’m going to grab a quick shower and then head over there. Three hours’ sleep is not enough.’ The last sentence came out as a groan, but she headed for the small bathroom anyway.

Behind her there was the sound of someone moving on the bed. Then, ‘Sachiko? What are you–’ That was followed by a long groan and then, ‘I need to get some s-sleep.’

‘Sleep when you’re dead,’ Sachiko replied.

Tatsu steeled herself and continued into the shower. Sometimes, being a cop could really suck.

~~~

‘Okay, this is a serious break in pattern,’ Nakano said. ‘What does a Chinese community leader have to do with the Funabashi gang?’

‘Nothing,’ Tatsu replied. ‘Not a single thing.’

Yong Pan had died in pain in his own bed. His body had multiple cuts on it, most of them shallow but probably painful. His abdomen had been opened up using two far deeper cuts forming an X. The bedroom stank of human waste and blood. That had not been the killing stroke, however. He had not been beheaded, but there was a long wound bisecting his throat. There was a lot of blood – the mattress was soaked in it – but death would likely be put down to asphyxiation; he had choked to death on his own blood rather than dying of blood loss.

‘He’s been pretty vocal about the need to calm things down,’ Tatsu said. ‘My guess is that whoever did this, they wanted him to shut up about peace.’

‘Maybe when forensics have worked on the card, we’ll know what the killer was thinking.’ The usual business card had been left at the scene, but it was as soaked and red as the mattress. Whatever was written on it, it was illegible.

‘Maybe. Damn. This is going to really heat things up around here. The tongs didn’t exactly like Pan, but they won’t like him being executed either.’

‘War?’ Nakano asked. ‘You think that’s what the killer is after? Because that’s what I think they’re after.’

‘I think they want the Funabashi gang ended. War is one way to achieve that, given their weakened state. This might be enough to tip things over the edge…’

‘What else?’

‘I’m going to start keeping an eye on Vasilev. He could hold the gang together, even if he’s no Anastas Zima. And if he goes, they might just implode. I think Vasilev might be next and this might be the best chance we have of catching the killer.’

‘Do you need help?’

Tatsu waved the question away. ‘Our mysterious killer only seems to strike at night. I can do night shifts for a while. Though my girlfriend isn’t going to like it.’

Nakano raised an eyebrow. ‘You have a girlfriend?’

‘Apparently. I thought we were just fuck buddies, but apparently I was wrong.’

~~~

The call came through at quarter past eleven, at night. Tatsu had been up all day on three hours’ sleep and wanted to be in bed, and a call from Dexter Burrell did not seem likely to be important, but…

‘This had better be good, Dex,’ Tatsu said when the connection went through.

‘Need your expertise to verify a story,’ Burrell replied. ‘Maybe this helps with your case too.’

Tatsu sighed. ‘What do