Hiroshima Sunset

by John Kelly

It was the day before Amanda was due to leave. On arriving early at the office, she received an unexpected call from George Balwyn asking her to come immediately to his office. George sounded very official as if something had happened. Amanda looked toward Janet Ryan's office for moral support but Janet had not yet arrived. Dropping her briefcase at her desk she wasted no time walking upstairs wondering along the way if she had done something wrong. After knocking timidly, she entered the spacious office and obligingly followed George's wave of the hand as he beckoned her to be seated. George had a visitor. Another man dressed in a dark blue suit, sat opposite the large oak desk. George Balwyn looked across at his visitor, then toward Amanda.

  'This is James Bayswater,' he said to Amanda. 'James has been doing a bit of detective work on our Mr. Avers.'

  Amanda nodded and greeted the detective.

  'Excellent,' she replied very professionally, and listened intently as the private detective gave George Balwyn his report.

  'Quentin Avers is sixty-two,' James Bayswater told them. 'He lives in Kew, an early retiree. He was a former general manager of a seat belt manufacturing company supplying the local market. One of his last projects before retiring was to successfully negotiate an export contract to supply seat belts to Japanese car makers under some local content offset program initiated by the government.' George Balwyn took notes. 'We can assume therefore that he has been to Japan at least once probably more than that,' he interrupted. 'Yes,' Bayswater replied. 'Since retirement he has been an active anti-nuclear advocate, and author of something called the Hiroshima Myth.'

  'The what?'

  'The Hiroshima Myth. It's not a book. It's sort of a blog, a reflection on how the war ended. It has never been published in book form but he emails it out to anyone who shows any interest. You can read it on his website,' Bayswater explained.

  'What is it about?' George asked.

  'In 1945 the United States dropped an A-bomb on Hiroshima without warning. Over one hundred and forty thousand people died. Many of them suffered horrifying injuries and sickness for days and weeks afterwards, before they died from the effects of radiation. Not content with that, two days later the Americans dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing over 73000 people.'

  'Yes, I know about Hiroshima,' George said pensively.

  'Within weeks of the bombing the war was over,' Bayswater continued. 'President Truman justified the bombing on the premise that the death toll would be less than if the war continued on, and the allies had to mount an invasion of Japan. He reckoned that dropping the bomb saved half a million to a million American lives. It's a hotly disputed claim and subject to all kinds of debate, but that's what he said.'

  'Effectively he was saying that it was better to kill a whole lot of Japanese in one hit, rather than have a whole lot of Americans die later on. Is that what it boils down to?'

  'Yes, er, I suppose so. I haven't read all of it, but what Avers suggests is, that the bombing itself wasn't necessary and that Harry Truman should be tried posthumously as a war criminal.'

  'I've been doing some research of my own on that subject,' Amanda spoke up. 'There's good reason to think that dropping the bomb was more of a scientific experiment, than a serious attempt to end the war.'

  George looked across at Amanda somewhat surprised at her comment and momentarily distracted. He quickly regained his train of thought.

  'Do you have a copy of this blog?' he asked Bayswater.

  'No, but I can get it for you if you like,' Bayswater replied.

  As George was about to answer, there was a knock on the door and Janet Ryan appeared.

  'What is it?' George asked.

  'It's about Amanda,' she replied. 'She's leaving in the morning. I can't seem to find her.'

  'She's here with me. Come in.'

  Janet entered the office to see Amanda sitting on the couch.

  'Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize.'

  George nodded. 'I called her in earlier. This gentleman has been able to give us some information about our Mr. Avers.' He turned to Bayswater. 'Thank you for what you have done. I'd like a copy of the blog you mentioned and I'd like you to continue checking. Give me a call when you have something. If you don't mind showing yourself out, I have something else to attend to.'

  James Bayswater nodded and left the office leaving Janet to close the door behind him. Both women sat in front of the oak desk.

  'Well, what do you make of that?' George asked Amanda.

  'He's right about the 'Hiroshima Myth' part.

  'What do you mean?'

  'Everything I have read on the subject over the past few weeks suggest that there is much more behind the bombing of Hiroshima than what we have been told.'

  'It's to be expected when 'freedom of information,' documents are released,' George agreed, not wanting to engage in a political discussion. 'Learn as much as you can, but don't let it interfere with your primary purpose.'

  Amanda nodded.

  'So, do you have everything you need?'

  'Yes, Mr. Balwyn. I have everything I need.'

  'What about money. Has Avers given you spending money?'

  'Yes I have plenty of money, thank you.'

  'Okay, well, we have learned a little bit about our friend and it appears he has had some business in Japan before, so we will have to accept that he knows what he's doing; a bit of an anti-nuclear disciple by the looks of it. However, I don't want you to put yourself in any difficult situations. I don't want any late night, dark alley rendezvous' with strangers. I want to know where you are at all times. We are practically on the same time zone save an hour or so. I want to be able to call you whenever I feel like it, so don't turn your mobile phone off at any time, understand?'

  Amanda nodded. It was not so much what George was saying as the paternal concern he displayed while saying it. Amanda felt re-assured, as if help was only a phone call away. 'If you need any help from us don't hesitate to get on the phone, okay?' Amanda nodded. Then with his customary wave of the hand, George indicated the meeting was over and both women left his office.

  9.