Wolf and Cub
By DJ Clawson
Chapter 3 – Initial and DateZenigata's desk was the headquarters of all Lupin investigations in France and the rest of Europe. While it was nothing compared to the stacks of papers and piles of evidence in the lockers in Osaka, Lupin spent enough time in his ancestral homeland that the office was like a second home to Zenigata.
Still, it was second-best and that wasn't what he needed right now. Hoping the cost of the call wouldn't come right out of his pay, he phoned the commissioner of Osaka. "Did you hear?"
"Yes, I was informed. You finally got him, at least until he recovers. He will recover, is that correct?"
He looked at his watch. It was now almost midnight, so it was early morning in Japan. "He's going into surgery in eight hours. Then we'll know more. I've got to find the guy who did it."
"You tried his partners?"
"They're innocent. Their alibis aren't airtight, but I know they didn't do it."
"You're so sure, Zenigata-kun?"
"Sir, with all due respect, I think I know these guys," he said, his voice a little harsher than he intended to be. He blamed it on the hour. "I need some information."
"Of course. On what?"
"Former partners. Anyone he may have worked with. Anyone he may have crossed. Go back all the way, as far as the files go."
"You realize we have files on him from when he was twelve years old?"
"I've read them. They're just not fresh in my head and I need some names to go on. And a list of enemies."
"That's going to a be rather long list."
He rested his head on his upright palm. "I know, but could you do it? Email it or fax it or whatever."
"Are you all right, Inspector?"
He paused, because he himself had to do a mental check. "Yes, sir. Just very tired."
"Then get some rest. It'll take some time to bundle up this information for you."
"Thank you, sir."
"Keep up the good work, Inspector."
There was something he hadn't heard in a long time. "Thank you, sir." But it didn't make him feel a whole lot better, not while Lupin's would-be killer was still at large. There was no doubt that that stab was a kill move, not a friendly little nick. Someone liked Lupin even less than he did.
He sighed and spread his hands across the desk. It was filled with papers – more urgently, the police report filed by the bank manager, along with the Lupin note. When he had written it, Lupin had been healthy and probably looking forward to his heist, the little bastard. Now he was at death's door and all Zenigata had to go on was his stupid note –
Except, it wasn't his note. The inspector hadn't seen it up close when he arrived at the bank. It had been on the desk, and since his reading comprehension for French was still limited, he had just gone on the explanation from the very harried manager – his name was Beaufort or something. And it did announce that the vault would be robbed, or so Zenigata could now decipher – and when it would be robbed, and of what. And, the signature did say 'Lupin' – but not the way Lupin signed it. The handwriting was different, it didn't say 'the Third,' and it didn't include that annoying little cartoon face with the signature.
In fact, he was willing to bet his pension that Lupin hadn't written it at all.
"Has he woken up at all?" he asked the nurse as she pulled up the wheeled cot for transfer. "Here – let me do it." He lifted Lupin from bed to bed. He couldn't believe how light he was.
"Not that we're aware of," she said. "I was told to inform you that no one but authorized personnel are allowed in the operating room. Your officers will have to wait outside."
"Fine." Lupin was in no condition to escape, and his partners certainly weren't going to bust him out now. "Can I walk him to the room?"
"If you want to, sure." They began the trek to the elevator. Lupin showed no response to any of this. He was even paler than yesterday, his face contorted in a pained expression. "Officer, there are some forms that probably should be filled out by his next of kin."
"Lupin doesn't have a next of kin. He's probably got a kid or two he won't admit to, and some friends I wouldn't trust with a sharpened stick – and he's got a father somewhere. I think he's still alive."
"Well, someone has to fill out the forms," she said, handing the clipboard to Zenigata as she pushed the elevator button.
"I'm his caretaker," he said without thinking.
"Then put that down."
"What are his odds for this surgery? Do you know?"
"Any time they open up the heart is something to be concerned about. Beyond that, I'm not a doctor." The door opened. "Operating room is on the left. This is as far as you can go."
"Fine." But it wasn't.
"Aww, look. He's adorable."
"Disgust rises from –"
" – deep within you. Yeah, we've all heard it before, Goemon."
Three voices in the mist. Zenigata picked his head up from the crook of the chair that it had fallen into. The hard plastic had made his neck all sore. In the tiny waiting room, he was surrounded by three people he didn't know on the surface, but with whom he was well-acquainted beneath layers of disguise. "Gah. What time is it?" He answered his own question with his watch. It was almost noon.
"We didn't want to wake you," Fujiko said. "Besides, there hasn't been any news."
"Fujiko even did her nurse impression," Jigen said. "Too bad Lupin wasn't awake to see it. He probably would have leapt right off the table. Remember that time he jumped out the window when she called? No, you weren't there Goemon – trust me, it was classic."
"And I thought you couldn't stand me," Fujiko said.
"I can't – but that doesn't mean I wouldn't give anything to see Lupin up and running again."
A heavy silence fell over the room.
"So – about two days ago. The day before the heist," Jigen began hesitantly. "We don't remember anything specific, but Lupin was a little overeager to get wasted that night."
"What do you mean?"
"He was depressed," Goemon said. "It wasn't all that noticeable at the time, but looking back on it, he was."
"Lupin always played everything close to his chest," Jigen said. "But he wouldn't have taken on another partner without telling us. That's just screwy."
"I don't think it was another partner," Zenigata said, reaching into his breast pocket and pulling out the theft note. "I think it was someone else. A rival."
Lupin's partners took a closer look at it. "Hey, this isn't Lupin's handwriting."
"No, it isn't," Zenigata said. "Do you recognize it?"
They shook their heads no.
"I'm going to run all kinds of tests. See if anything comes up," he said, taking the note back. He shuffled the papers around that he had been working on before he dazzled off. "Oh – and does anyone know where I can find Lupin the Second?"
Jigen eyed him suspiciously, "Why would you need to do that?"
"Because I need him to fill out some forms. Do you know him?"
"I've met him," Jigen answered. "Only once, way back when it was just Lupin and me. Long story short, I didn't like the guy, and I didn't know Lupin that could swear like a sailor if he wanted to until that day."
"So they didn't get along?"
"That's putting it mildly, yeah."
"Huh." The wheels were turning in his head now; he nearly missed it when the doctor came in.
"Inspector," the doctor said, not recognizing or addressing the others.
"Doctor," he said nervously, rising to greet him.
"We repaired the damage to his heart and his artery. It's going to be touch-and-go for a few days, and then we'll know more. You can visit him once he's transferred back to the ICU, as long as he isn't disturbed. No stress on his heart – whatsoever."
"I want to put some people on the accepted visitor's list," Zenigata said. "These people – whatever names they give, put them on the list to get past security." He passed by the doctor, ignoring his flabbergasted expression. "I've got something to look into."