‘There have always been rumours about sokaiya connections. It could explain his ability to predict so accurately whether a company had a prosperous future ahead of it or not. There are other, darker rumours also. But that is often so with successful people. Rivals tend to attribute their success to … underhand methods. Some cases I have handled … bore his shadow. I do not know how else to put it. Implications of Nishizaki Corporation personnel being involved in the background. But never the foreground. Nothing I could ever tie down. Still, if this is another such case … caution is required. You understand?’

‘I am always cautious.’

Kodaka nodded. ‘So you are. That is why I employ you.’ He glanced up the stairs towards the platforms. ‘I must go, Wada. Keep in regular contact, yes?’

‘I will.’

The hint of a bow. And Kodaka was gone, hurrying towards the stairs.

Halfway up them, he turned and gave her a chopped little farewell wave. She couldn’t be sure if he was smiling or not. But she was as she raised her hand in response. Even though she wasn’t certain there was actually anything to smile about.

Wada returned to the office, turning over in her mind the question of what it was Kodaka had taken with him. She dismissed the idea that he really had forgotten his notebook. No, he’d come in to collect something quite specific, possibly connected to Hiroji Nishizaki. She’d certainly been intending to look through the cabinets where he kept the files of closed cases to see if there was something relevant in one of them. But now she rather suspected there was no point in making the effort.

She decided to try even so. Kodaka was a poor manager of paperwork. But she found nothing about Nishizaki.

For that, of course, there was an obvious explanation.

Kodaka had removed it.

FOUR

KATE HAD LEFT for her tuscan holiday, but nick did not have the rest of the weekend to himself. Hearing from Kate that he’d be alone, April asked him over for Sunday lunch.

This was no ordinary Sunday lunch. It was the first of the traditional boozy gatherings of her and Caro’s friends since Caro’s death and as such an important milestone in April’s recovery from the loss of the woman she’d loved and lived with all of Nick’s life.