Rhapsody in Red

Chapter 20

The man glanced at the luminous dial of his old wristwatch. It was two in the morning. He lowered the hood of his balaclava so that it completely covered his face and put on disposable gloves so as not to leave fingerprints. In the surrounding shadows he guessed the dark figures of his three companions. In the timid light of a distant lantern he moved and waved his hand to signal the others to follow him. Sticking their backs to the walls they advanced until they arrived at the metal service door of the restaurant. Despite it had three locks Yoshida estimated that it would not be a problem; with a new hand gesture he asked Shinzo to open it while he instructed the others to remain in the shadows in the meantime. The young man was struggling with the locks for about ten minutes, particularly with the one in the middle, but finally it gave in to his efforts. The four penetrated in the hallway lighting their lanterns and stealthily advancing following the thin but bright threads of light. They soon found the electrical installation and the sensei ascertained that it was a complete board with numerous circuit breakers and thermal keys but basically standard. With a new gesture he requested Kato to go forward and make sure to cut off the power supply. From then on they could find security systems powered by batteries but it would not be an insoluble issue either, and he was not even sure that they would be in place.

A smaller figure guided them through the corridors, illuminated by her flashlight. Finally she stood in front of a door and tried gently to open it but she did not succeed. Again it was Watanabe's turn to clear the way, which he could do in a couple of minutes. The young man opened the door and turned on the light in the interior. There were no laser beams or any other impediment so he gave way to the sensei who had decided to personally install the two spy cameras they had brought, as well as two additional microphones. Undoubtedly, of the entire restaurant, this was the site that most likely would be monitored by the occupants to detect equipment located clandestinely so that Yoshida sharpened the ingenuity to hide the devices thoroughly while retaining their strategic location.

After the stealthy action the four characters withdrew from the premises in the same way they had entered. They moved three blocks away avoiding exposure to possible public or private security cameras and finally mounted in a dark car. Yoshida got behind the wheel. Once inside it everyone took off their balaclavas that hindered speech.

"Do you think they will be able to detect the power cut of the building you made when entering? " The instructor asked Kato.

"If they are going to look for it, without a doubt, but ... why would they do it?"

"You're right. They will not have reasons to suspect the building has been intruded." Then he turned to the girl. "How do you feel, Aiko?

" Still tense. It's the first time I do something like that."

" Were you afraid?"

"Of course."

" But what else have you felt? " Yoshida insisted.

"I felt alive, intensely alive."

The instructor smiled. For him, that characteristic of the girl was not a surprise. He had guessed in his pupil an addiction for risk from the first days he had dealt with her Yoshida thought that sitting on her piano in front of a demanding audience required that kind of predisposition as did a speaker in front of a crowd.

Once their mission had been accomplished and her tension loosened, Aiko's mind wandered for a moment and finally arrived at Leandro. She regretted not being able to associate the boy with her new and intense hobby. Only recently had Aiko discovered three of the four things that together with music and interpretation made her soul and body vibrate in unison: love, s*x and adventure. The calm young pianist was really a source of adrenaline.

The next day she called Leandro and insisted on seeing him early in the afternoon.

"But you're not going to your piano class?"

"Today I'm going to sacrifice it. I want to be with you."

The answer gratified the young man -who lately was somewhat unenthusiastic- but at the same time confused him a little. Not having any friend or person with experience to consult he had to make his decisions on the fly and what came out was not always coherent, but the girl permanently subjected him to changing and even contradictory experiences. The perception that Aiko was in a process of rapid evolution and change in her own life was arising in Leandro's brain as well as the realization that her actions towards him were only a reflection of that evolution. He wondered if it was a temporary stage or a permanently acquired characteristic of the woman, but in any case all he could do was to accompany her and adapt to that whirlwind. Leandro was deeply in love with the woman.

When they met Aiko looked enigmatic and anxious.

As soon as they greeted each other she said.

" Do you remember that hotel we once went to? I need you to take me there now."

 The place was actually a fourth-class hotel and Leandro frowned. Guessing her boyfriend's thoughts, Aiko added.

"That hotel remains in my mind next to the Palermo bar where we went when we first met. They are idealized places where I was once happy."

When she arrived at the offices of the Mount Fuji Association, the girl had already anticipated that Mrs. Yamaguchi would have news for her. Actually it was a high probability event, due to the rapid development of findings based on filming and other evidence obtained in the restaurant through her own actions. The secretary did not disappoint those expectations and upon seeing the young woman asked her to accompany her once more to the monitoring room.

"Good day Aiko." Both Matsumoto's tone and his facial expression looked euphoric, quite unusual features in the austere director." Kato has news coming from Tokyo."

They all sat down and the technician projected several photos of the mysterious black-suited Korean in various environments

"This character is known by the name Mingyu Kang, although we ignore whether that is his true identity."

"His identity was established from the fingerprints on the fork that Aiko obtained in the restaurant. Bravo! " Yoshida's interruption did not surprise anyone since everyone knew his weakness for the girl.

Kato continued.

" As we suspected he is linked to the circles of Zainichi Koreans from Japan, although it is not certain that he was born in our country."

This time it was Matsumoto who interrupted to provide information.

" The Zainichi Koreans come from families that had been brought to Japan before the Second World War by the then military government in power as slave labor. When Japan was defeated in the war there were two million Koreans in that condition, but in the postwar period many decided to return to their land. However some 600,000 remained in Japan and are permanent residents in the country with a dubious legal status. The majority chose to obtain the South Korean citizenship but others chose North Korea's nationality. In general, the Japanese population has hostility towards them."

"As against all foreigners." Yoshida added acidly.

"That feeling is based on xenophobia and the belief that the Zainichi are not going to defend Japan and that their loyalty to the country is at least doubtful." The director completed." Sorry for the interruption Kato, continue with your narration."

" Precisely the so-called Mingyu Kang has been linked to an alleged conspiracy of several Korean nuclear scientists of Zainichi origin who work in Japan and who are suspected of being involved in the clandestine transfer of technology to fuel the nuclear development program in North Korea."

Matsumoto exhaled an involuntary whistle.

" So this character would be linked to one of the hottest and most dangerous issues in the world at this time. Is there any other information? " He asked addressing Kato.

"The report only adds that there are gaps in the information about Kang. Great periods in which his whereabouts and activities are unknown. The knowledge that we have of him in reality consists of sporadic screenshots from visualizations in different places in Japan, South Korea and Europe."

" The news of his sighting in New York caused quite a stir among my contacts in Japan." added Matsumoto. " I have been bombarded with requests for additional details, including his contacts here, samples of his DNA and in particular they request that we do not lose his trace and report all his movements."

"Easier said than done." commented Watanabe " At this moment he has left the hotel where he was staying and there are no traces of his location. He may have abandoned the United States territory by now."

"Could not the Japanese government request the help of the Americans to determine the whereabouts of this character?" Aiko's question sounded candid.

"There are clothes that Japan should be washed at home." answered sharply the director.