by Mark McKay
‘Has this got anything to do with Takashi Yamada?’
‘That was my first thought, too.’
Nick had made that first visit to Japan not only to improve his Aikido but also to investigate Yamada, who was a reclusive billionaire known to both Oyama and Yoshi Mashida. In years past they had all been friends, until Yamada had an affair with Mashida’s wife, Yuki. When the truth came out and Yuki wanted to end the affair, she had been found dead in Yamada’s bedroom. The verdict was suicide, but there was another version of the story in which Yamada killed Yuki in a drunken rage. That was the version Mashida preferred. The bad blood engendered by the incident had never gone away.
Nick’s interest in Yamada was to do with the possibility that he might be the buyer of some priceless artifacts that had been stolen from a long lost tomb in India. Two solid gold lion sculptures, eight feet high. He had persuaded Yoshi Mashida to help him and they found the lions on Yamada’s estate. The billionaire had not only lost face and money over that discovery, but he’d also faced criminal charges. Needless to say he was furious, and not without resources. Sometime afterwards, he sent an assassin to Oyama’s cottage to kill Nick. The man nearly succeeded.
‘I thought Yamada was charged with accessory to theft or buying stolen property,’ said Nick. ‘Shouldn’t he be in prison?’
Oyama looked bitter. ‘He got a suspended sentence. His lawyers got him off the hook.’
‘And I thought Yoshi was going to… deal with him.’
‘In time. He waited too long, it seems.’ Oyama started the car. ‘But perhaps we’re wrong. At the moment, we don’t know who it was.’
On the way back to Sevenoaks, Oyama told Nick what little he knew of the attack. Two men had called on Yoshi and Mariko around 9pm. When Yoshi opened the door he was shot in the chest and head. Mariko, who was in the garden just behind the house, rushed inside and grabbed a gun from a drawer in the lounge. She shot one man as he came into the room but sustained the leg wound in the process. The second man didn’t hang around, he ran out the front door and kept going.
‘Their orders were probably to kill Yoshi only,’ said Oyama.
‘They might regret that.’ Nick had seen Mariko in action. She wasn’t someone you wanted as an enemy.
‘So, I must go to Japan tomorrow,’ continued Oyama. ‘For the funeral. And to find out about the future of the Crimson Dragon Society.’
They didn’t say much else on the way back. Nick thought about Yoshi Mashida, who had been a man of immense charisma. He hadn’t known his boss well, but he knew that he’d had friends in high places and that whoever had ordered his death had now made more enemies than just his daughter. Two of them were sitting in this car.
With Oyama in Japan, Nick would have to work here without backup. He wondered if he should go with Oyama and pay his respects in person, but he got the impression that Oyama was going to have a council of war with Mariko and he wanted to keep it an all Japanese affair. He made the suggestion anyway.
‘No, stay here and work on this case,’ said Oyama. ‘If I need you, I’ll say. If Mariko needs you, she will say.’
They were almost at the cottage. Not quite the welcome back I expected, thought Nick. When they pulled up outside the cottage, Nick could see that Oyama had done as he’d requested and bought a small greenhouse. He could see part of it peeking out just beyond the stable block. Oyama followed his gaze.
‘I planted the seeds. Something is coming up, but I’m not sure about temperature and humidity.’
‘Thanks. I saw the plants in Peru. Let’s see how they go.’
Oyama was obviously preoccupied, but once they were inside he told Nick what he’d been able to find out about matters related to Julian’s murder.
‘I have a report on Hackett Pharmaceuticals for you,’ he said. ‘It’s a British company. They produce anti-malarial drugs, prescription painkillers and so on. But their main income generator was an anti-AIDS drug called Retromaxim. They sold a lot of it in Africa, but it was so expensive that two countries ignored the patent they had on it and produced generic copies. Much cheaper for the consumer. Anyway, Hackett brought a lawsuit against them, saying they were in breach of patent. They lost. Now Retromaxim is selling for a quarter of the original cost throughout Africa. Hackett’s profits plunged and as far as I can tell, they’re just scraping along. There’s more in the report.’
‘Do they have an interest in natural health products?’
‘Couldn’t find any reference to it.’
‘What about Amazon Ascension Natural Products?’
‘There’s no company registered in that name in the UK or the US,’ said Oyama. ‘You sure they exist?’
‘They exist somewhere. Maybe they just aren’t registered as a company.’
Oyama shrugged. ‘That’s about all I can tell you. As for your friend Conrad and private clinics, I don’t know where to start. There are just too many.’
‘Yes, I’ll need to get some help with that. Still like looking for a needle in a haystack, though.’
‘Oh, one other thing. A Mr Henderson called me, wanting to talk to you. He got my number from Maria Frost.’
Nick checked his watch. It was 6.30pm, after office hours. He’d try Henderson in the morning.
They spent a quiet evening. Nick wondered what would happen with the Crimson Dragon Society now Yoshi Mashida was dead. Would Mariko take over? She practically ran the operation anyway, far as he could tell. Oyama spent some time on the phone to Japan, trying to get an update on her condition. It was the middle of the night in Tokyo and the best he could get out of anyone was that the surgery had gone well. The bullet had lodged in the fleshy part of the thigh and no major blood vessels were damaged. She was expected to make a full recovery.
Nick drove Oyama around the M25 to Heathrow Airport the next morning. They allowed plenty of time for the customary traffic jam, but today the traffic was flowing. Before they parted, Oyama made a suggestion.
‘Shauna might help you with the private clinics. She’s a nurse. She might know where to go for a private skin graft.’
‘Good idea. Guess I don’t have to tell her why I’m asking.’
There was a notepad in the Toyota’s glove box. Oyama wrote down Shauna’s phone number.
‘She has some time off, actually. Just a few days. We were going to the Lake District, then this happened.’
He dropped Oyama outside the terminal. It was a drop-off only zone, so he couldn’t hang around. He pulled out into the slow mass of buses and taxis arriving at the terminal and made his way back to the motorway. Time to get to work.
Back at the cottage, he started making enquiries. He rang Hackett Pharmaceuticals and asked for Conrad Steadman. As expected, there was nobody by that name working for them. That would have been far too easy. He tried Shauna next. When she answered, he asked if she could help him with his enquiries.
‘You sound just like a policeman,’ she said, laughing. ‘What am I suspected of?’
‘I was a policeman, once upon a time. I wondered where I might get a list of private clinics that do skin grafts.’
‘You need a skin graft? What on earth happened?’
‘Not me. Someone I’m looking for.’
‘Ah. Private clinics do anything and everything.’ She thought for a bit. ‘The way to go about it would be to identify all the surgeons that do that kind of thing. When is your someone having this work done?’
‘Very soon. Could even be right now.’
‘Mmm. If you could find the right surgeon and take a look at his list for the next week, that might do it.’
‘Katsu said you were at a loose end. Can you help me with this?’
She wasn’t taken aback. ‘You’re very direct, Nick. Did Katsu put you up to this?’
He had to admit that Katsu had suggested it. ‘Sorry about your holiday,’ he added.
‘Yes. He was pretty upset about his friend. And you’re rig
ht, I have some time I can spare. Do you want me to come down to the cottage?’
‘If you don’t mind. Soon as you can, actually.’
‘Alright. There’s a register of plastic surgeons online. I can start working my way through that. I’ll see you later on.’
That was useful, he thought, once they’d disconnected. They could both work their way through the list. At the moment he couldn’t see any other way of getting a lead on Conrad. In the meantime, he thought he’d better find out what Henderson wanted. When he called the number, the Research Director at Sanderson-Phillips answered straight away. It was his direct line.
‘Mr Severance. I was told you were in Peru. Find anything of interest?’
‘I think so. Is that why you called me?’
‘No, that wasn’t it. I think I know why Julian Frost and Ray Curtis were murdered, but I’d rather discuss it in person. Can you come to London? I’m free this afternoon.’
‘Of course. Just tell me when.’
They made the appointment for 2pm. Henderson had sounded worried and Nick wondered if he’d shared whatever information he had with the police. Maybe he just wanted someone who knew about the case to sanity check his theory for him. And at the same time, he could ask Henderson some questions of his own. He rang Shauna back to let her know he wouldn’t be around when she arrived. There was a computer in the cottage that had nothing on it relating to the work of the Crimson Dragon Society, so there was no risk of her seeing something she shouldn’t. He ate an early lunch and then set out for London.
Henderson was warmer in his welcome than he’d been at their first meeting. There was even coffee and biscuits. Nick still had to sit on the strategically placed sofa though, and be looked down on. He stifled a laugh.
‘When I heard you’d gone to Peru, I assumed it was related to Julian’s murder,’ said Henderson. ‘Was that the case?’
‘Yes. I’ll tell you about it in a minute. I’m more interested in why you think he was murdered.’
‘It’s speculation. I found out that one of our competitors has been genetically manipulating a plant substance. They isolated the active ingredient and enhanced it, and then they applied for a patent. About eighteen months ago. Nothing unusual about that. But when I saw that it’s a substance that increases sex drive for both men and women, I got interested. It sounded just like the powder you gave me. This ingredient came from a plant called “The Stallion of the Amazon”.’
‘It’s the same powder. Was it Hackett Pharmaceuticals, by any chance?’
Henderson looked at him in astonishment, and nodded. ‘Yes, how did you know that?’
‘I met one of their people, in Peru. But how does what you’ve just told me relate to murder?’
‘For a patent to be approved, the substance or process in question must be new. If someone else isolated this ingredient and published a research paper before the patent was approved, it wouldn’t be new anymore. The patent would be rejected.’
‘And Julian or Ray could theoretically have done that.’
‘Yes,’ said Henderson, looking worried. ‘And now my research people in the laboratory are trying to isolate the active ingredient. If I’m right about this…’
‘I’m still not convinced. Is it normal pharmaceutical practice to murder your competitors?’
Henderson was out of his chair and pacing the room now. ‘Of course not. But the stakes are potentially huge. If Hackett gets their patent, they’ll have a twenty-year monopoly. If they then develop a commercial aphrodisiac that works for both sexes, and it works quickly, it will be a big seller. We’re talking billions.’
‘And what’s Sanderson-Phillips’ take on this? It could be worth billions to you, too.’
‘Oh, we’re interested, no question about that. Problem is, Hackett is way ahead of us. Maybe two years or more. But if we could duplicate their research and threaten to publish, we’d have some leverage. We could do a deal and take a slice of the pie.’
‘But if you’re right about this,’ countered Nick, ‘your research people could be the next targets.’
‘I realise that. That’s why we’re going to maintain strict secrecy. I expect you to do the same.’
Nick thought about what he’d just heard. This must have been what Conrad meant when he said there was much more at stake. If Hackett Pharmaceuticals were really struggling financially and they were unscrupulous enough…
‘You’re walking a dangerous road,’ he said to Henderson. ‘Let me tell you what happened in Peru.’
He spent the next ten minutes bringing the research director up to speed. The only thing he left out of his account was the cocaine. Henderson stood in the position by the window that he’d occupied on Nick’s last visit; staring over the rooftops towards Regent’s Park. He took it all in without saying a word. Then he sat down at his desk, in a sober mood.
‘You’re lucky to be here,’ he reflected, hands behind his head. ‘This “Stallion of the Amazon” probably grows best in Peru. The Peruvian government will almost certainly approve the patent under the conditions of existing international trade agreements. That means Hackett will have exclusive rights to the plant. They could sell it as a natural aphrodisiac and that way they’d have both the pharmaceutical and the alternative health markets covered. Nice work, if you can get it.’
‘And what about the Indians who provided them with the knowledge in the first place? Will they get any of the profits?’
Henderson laughed. ‘They won’t get a penny.’
Nick didn’t think much of that answer, but kept the sentiment to himself.
‘My job is to prove that Conrad killed Julian and Ray,’ he said. ‘If and when I do that, and you’re right about the motive for the murders, then it will all come out. Could work to your advantage.’
Henderson smiled. ‘That’s very true. Hackett Pharmaceuticals would be finished. And then we could file our own patent.’
‘When is their application due for approval?’
‘Sometime within the next year. I don’t have a date.’
Nick wondered how avaricious Henderson really was. ‘Let’s say we could discredit them. But to do that, I need to find Conrad. That isn’t going to be easy.’
‘You should be asking the police to help you.’
‘When I’ve got evidence, I’ll involve the police. But right now, I think we need to draw Conrad out of hiding. And for that, I need bait. How do you feel about leaking some of your research?’
Henderson gave him a long look. Curiosity got the better of him. ‘I’m listening. What have you got in mind, Mr Severance?’
He found Shauna hard at work when he got back to the cottage. She had phoned the offices of more than seventy plastic surgeons in the London area, pretending to be from an insurance company.
‘I told them that I was processing a claim for private medical treatment, for Mr Steadman. I said that he’d told me their clinic would be doing the work in the next week or two, but not who would be doing it. I needed that information to proceed with the claim, and could they help me out?’
Nick smiled. ‘Very creative of you. And could they help you out?’
‘They told me that Mr Steadman, whoever he might be, had made a mistake. He isn’t booked with any of them.’
Shauna was maintaining what he’d noticed was her customary upbeat mood, but he could see she was tired.
‘We’ll just have to keep trying,’ he said. ‘Let’s call it a day, now. More tomorrow, if you’re up to it.’
‘Sure. I can do this from home in London just as easily as here. If I hit the jackpot, I’ll ring you straight away.’
‘Thanks Did you get a taxi here? I’ll drive you to the station.’
She yawned. ‘Actually, before I go I have a favour to ask. Will you practise Aikido with me? Just for an hour or so. It will wake me up.’
She had all her gear with her. Nick thought it would clear his head as well, so he agreed
. Ten minutes later they were both changed and in the dojo Oyama had rigged up in the old stable block.
He was surprised to see she was wearing a black belt. ‘Where did you learn?’ he asked her.
‘In Dublin,’ she said. ‘On and off for years, now. Want to do some free style?’
They went through a series of moves; strikes and counter throws and arm locks and wrist locks. She was very fast and competent. Nothing like Mariko, but definitely skilled in the art. Then she wanted to speed it up, and when they did her mood changed. There was aggression there now and she put on just a little more pressure than was necessary when he was on the receiving end. He thought at one point his elbow might not survive another attack like the last one. But she didn’t seem to notice. Not until they were finished, and he was massaging his arm rather gingerly.
‘Sorry, Nick. Was I too hard on you?’ Her bouncy persona was back.
‘No, it’s fine. We’ll do it again, sometime.’
He drove her to the station and watched as she went into the ticket office. She seemed very fit, as if she did Aikido or something physical every day. The aggression had surprised him, Aikido wasn’t about that. It might be lethal in the right hands, but it wasn’t a hard martial art. Someone with her experience ought to know that. He shrugged mentally and backed the car out of the parking space. Perhaps that was the way they did it in Dublin.
He wanted to know how Mariko was doing, so he called Oyama the next morning.
‘She is fine,’ said the sensei. ‘She will be home, tomorrow.’
‘Give her my love. When are you coming back? I need you to help me with something. I need someone to be a pharmaceutical researcher.’
‘I will be here for at least another week. Why do you need a researcher?’
Nick explained his plan. Oyama said Mariko would be able to find someone to take on that role, and to wait until she contacted him.
‘I’ll tell her all about it. In a few days you should have some help.’