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  'It's our punishment,' she was saying. 'We should never have done this.'

  'Shut up!' Masako yelled, lurching through the door and grabbing Yoshie by the collar. 'Don't you understand? They're after us!' Yoshie looked at her blankly, as though she were speaking a foreign language.

  'What do you mean?'

  'Isn't it obvious? They sent us Kuniko!'

  'I'm sure it's just a coincidence,' she whispered.

  'How can you say that?!' Masako could hear her voice rising to a shrill wail, but she couldn't stop herself. She shoved her finger in her mouth and bit it.

  'I had a bad feeling about this,' Jumonji interrupted. 'They told me to pick up the body at the back of Koganei Park.'

  'Koganei Park?' said Masako, feeling a chill run through her. So they knew everything. They knew how to get to Kuniko and how to send her as a warning. But why? She turned to look at the body sprawled out behind her. 'You fool!' she screamed at it. 'Tell us what's going on!'

  Jumonji took her arm. 'Katori-san, are you all right?'

  'Masako?' Yoshie said.

  'Maybe now you'll believe me,' she said, spinning around to face them.

  'Believe what?'

  'That somebody's after us. They got to Yayoi and found out what we did; and they've been watching me, too. Now they've killed Kuniko and figured out how to get her body here.'

  'But what do they want?' asked Yoshie, still sobbing. 'Even if they did kill Kuniko, why would they send her here? It's got to be a coincidence.'

  'Don't be ridiculous,' Masako said. 'They wanted us to know that they've figured out the whole thing.'

  'But why?'

  'They want revenge,' said Masako, and as soon as the word had left her mouth the puzzle seemed to solve itself. Of course, that was it. He wanted revenge, an elaborate, expensive revenge. She'd been wrong in thinking it was about the insurance money. If it was money he wanted, would he have spent millions of yen to get Kuniko's body here to scare them? But that made the whole thing even more terrifying. She fought the urge to break down in tears.

  'But who is it?' Jumonji said, frowning.

  'I'm not sure, but I'd guess it's the casino owner. He's the only one that fits.' Yoshie and Jumonji looked at each other.

  'Wh o is he?' he said. Masako was sorting through old newspaper articles in her mind.

  'Mitsuyoshi Satake,' she said at last, remembering. 'He's fortythree years old. They released him for lack of evidence, and after that he disappeared.'

  'Does the age match the man you saw?' Yoshie asked.

  'I don't know. It was dark and he was wearing a cap. But the voice would be about right. So I guess I'm the only one who's seen him - and I hope I never have to again.' He grimaced at the memory.

  'What are we going to do?' Yoshie said, beginning to cry again. 'What should I do?' Masako was still gnawing at her finger.

  'Take the money and run,' she said.

  'But I can't leave,' Yoshie sobbed.

  'Then you'll just have to be as careful as you can,' she told her, turning back to the body. First they had to figure out what to do with Kuniko. Should they cut her up? But there was no need to go to all that trouble now. Their client wasn't interested in having her disappear; she was meant as a threat. Still, it was too risky to just dump her.

  'What are we going to do with her?' she said.

  'Let's go to the police,' said Yoshie, squatting by the washing machine. 'I don't want to sit around waiting to end up like her.'

  'Then we'll all go to jail. Is that what you want?'

  'No,' she stammered. 'Then what do we do?'

  'We get rid of her,' Jumonji said, staring at Kuniko's heavy breasts.

  'But where?'

  'Anywhere, it doesn't matter. And then we lie low for a while.'

  'I agree,' Masako said. 'But I think we need to make sure this murder gets pinned on Satake.'

  'And how are we going to do that?' Jumonji asked, looking sceptical.

  'I don't know. But I want him to know we aren't just running scared.'

  'Are you crazy?' Yoshie groaned. 'Why do we care what he thinks?'

  'We've got to hit back. If we don't, he'll come after the rest of us, one at a time.'

  'But what have you got in mind?' Jumonji said, rubbing the stubble on his chin.

  'You don't suppose we could send her back to him?'

  'We don't know where he is,' Yoshie said.

  'No, I guess we don't.'

  'Okay,' said Jumonji, holding up his hands between them. 'Let's try to think this through slowly and carefully. We can't afford any more mistakes.'

  Masako suddenly noticed the wad of black cloth protruding from Kuniko's mouth. Slipping on a pair of gloves, she pulled it out. Fancy panties, with lace trim. She remembered the cheap underwear Kuniko had always worn to the factory. Knowing Kuniko, she'd put these on hoping someone would be taking them off.

  'He must have used them as a gag when he strangled her,' Jumonji said, examining the thick rope marks on the neck.

  Still holding the panties, Masako asked him, 'Did he strike you as good-looking?'

  'I told you, I didn't get a good look at his face, but he was well built.' He must have come on to her, Masako thought, trying to remember whether Kuniko had mentioned anyone who might fit the description. But they hadn't talked much lately, and it was unlikely she would have told her.

  'I guess we have to cut her up,' she said eventually, abandoning the effort to solve the puzzle. 'We don't have much choice.'

  'No, I don't want to,' Yoshie murmured. 'Not Kuniko.'

  'Then you don't need the money?' Masako said. 'You can forget about the million I promised you, and I'll keep your share for this, too.'

  'Wait a minute,' said Yoshie, hopping up. 'I still have to move.'

  'That's what I thought. You can't stay in that fire trap.' Masako then turned to Jumonji, who was standing there, watching them argue. 'Why don't you go get the boxes? We'll stick with the original plan: you can take care of them in Kyushu.'

  'So we're going through with it?' he said.

  'What else can we do?' Masako tried to swallow, but the saliva stuck in her throat as if her body were loath to accept it. In the same way her mind refused to accept what was facing them.

  Jumonji seemed only too glad of the chance to get out of there. Noticing how eager he was to go, Masako gave him a hard stare.

  'You can start running as soon as we're finished,' she said. 'Not before. Okay?'

  'I know,' he said.

  'We've still got a job to do,' she added. He nodded glumly, like a child who'd been scolded. 'And what about you?' Masako said, turning to Yoshie who sat gazing at Kuniko's body.

  '.. . I'm in/ she said. 'I can start thinking about moving as soon as we're through.'

  'You do what you have to do,' Masako said.

  'Where will you go?'

  'Nowhere, for the time being.'

  'Why?' Yoshie cried. But Masako didn't seem to hear her; she was busy thinking about something Jumonji had said - that he was the only one who had seen him. She wondered if this was true, if she hadn't seen Satake somewhere herself. The thought stuck in her head.

  'I'll be right back,' Jumonji said, before disappearing down the corridor. Masako started tying on her apron.

  'Skipper, set the line to eighteen,' she said.

  8

  The metal stairs creaked under him as Kazuo made his way up to his room in the two-storey, prefab building that served as a dormitory for the Brazilian employees. Couples had a room to themselves, but single men like Kazuo were forced to share with a room-mate. The living quarters were tiny - one small room with a miniature kitchen and a bathroom - but they had one good point: they were two minutes from the factory.

  Kazuo stopped at the top of the stairs and looked around. The laundry left out by the farmhouse across the way fluttered in the cold wind. A row of dry, brown chrysanthemums was visible under the pale streetlights along the narrow road. Even for early winter, it all seeme