The martial arts teacher turned to me—I was over on the slick wood floor, watching—as if he’d known I was there all along. Perhaps he had. His smile was almost angelic as he approached and held his hand out.

“Mr. Hammer,” he said.

I took the hand, shook it, neither of us trying to impress the other, and he took it back.

“You’re Mr. Sakai.”

A head bow. “Call me Mashy. Everyone does, even my wife.”

I looked at him curiously. “Did, uh, Rod give you a call that I was heading up to see you?”

Tiny shrug. “No, I just recognize you. From the papers and TV.”

Well, he was over fifty.

“How can I be of service, Mr. Hammer?”

No need to talk badges with this guy.

“If you follow the papers,” I said, “you probably know your client, Casey Shannon, was killed recently.”

“Murdered. Yes.” His expression turned somber. “A shame. Good man. Fine man. But I felt he was at Solstice under…false pretenses.”

“Really? Why is that?”

His smile was a fleeting thing as he gestured toward the mat. “Shall we sit?”

We went over and sat like Indians, the Mick and the Jap. Half a lifetime ago we might have been in foxholes in the same war. Different foxholes.

Sakai picked right back up. “I believe he was here not seeking fitness, but to investigate another student of mine.”

“Vincent Colby.”

“Yes.” He raised a gentle palm. “I should not have qualified that. When he first came to Solstice, Lt. Shannon came to me privately and asked a few questions.”

“What, specifically?”

“Nothing specific. Generalities. What was my opinion of Vincent Colby as a person? I said I found him affable and hardworking, a good student. I explained that my context was not sufficient to discern more. I asked him what he was looking for. His answer was…remarkable.”

“Oh?”

“He said he was looking for a killer.”

I nodded, thinking about that. “Was there hostility between Colby and Shannon? Tension?”

“No. They were friendly. Not warm…” A faint smile. “…other than the sweat we work up here.”

Said the guy who didn’t seem to be able to work up a sweat.

“So I would say,” the sensei said, “Lt. Shannon was not certain of Mr. Colby. Was Vincent Colby a good man or a bad man? Or, like so many of us, something in between? The lieutenant sought the answer.”

“Is Colby a good student? Would you say he’s proficient?”

Several emphatic nods. “Yes. One of my best. Took right to it.”

I thought about that for a while and the sensei patiently waited for me.

Then I asked, “Is it difficult to kill someone with karate, Mr. Sakai?”

I thought the quick shift in subject might throw him; but this was not an easy man to throw in any sense of the word. His immediate response was only to say, “Call me Mashy, please, Mr. Hammer.”

“Yeah, and I’m Mike. But is it?”

“Possible to kill with martial arts techniques? Certainly. Not so simple as on television and in the motion pictures, but…yes.”