Part 4

As ministry officials are wont to do, the one Matthew had briefed took his time getting back to them with the information.

"I could have driven to Adelaide and looked it up myself sooner," Matthew grumbled. He glared at Blake, who was pacing again. "Or sent you, get you out of my hair."

Lucien glared back, but resumed his pacing in silence.

Matthew was contemplating whether to let everyone on the daytime roster go home for the night, to try again in the morning, when finally his telephone rang. "Lawson," he barked. Listening for a moment, he began to write on his notepad. "When was that?" he asked, then listened again. "Yes, this is an urgent matter. If you can have someone here within the hour, we'll wait. Otherwise, I'm taking him in for questioning." Another pause. "Right. Thank you for the information. I'll keep you informed."

Lucien and the others now hovered over him. "Well?" asked Charlie.

Reading from his notes, Matthew told then, "At last report he had moved to a place about halfway between here and Ballan. That was ten days ago."

Lucien pounded a fist on the desk. "Just before Hammond was murdered."

"Let's move," said Matthew. "I'll have Inspector Freeman from Ballan meet us there. We'll do this right, gentlemen. No slip ups."

"Is the ministry sending someone?" asked Lucien.

"Can't get here until the morning. We won't be waiting for him."

Darkness was falling when they reached the secluded house on what had once been a farm but had long since surrendered to weeds and overgrowth. The house itself seemed to be in decent repair although badly in need of a coat of paint.

A dilapidated barn and shed provided some cover as the police officers surrounded the main house. Darkness or no, Mister Tanaka would not elude them again.

Lucien's heart pounded as he and Matthew waited for everyone to get into position. As badly as he wanted this case concluded and the murders to stop, he also dreaded facing Tanaka again. The scars on his back itched at the thought. He hoped he wouldn't embarrass himself.

"You all right?" Matthew asked quietly.

He could only nod and take a deep breath.

"Well, then."

They walked cautiously up to the house, having no idea what they might face inside. Lucien's nerves were strung tight in a way they hadn't been for many years.

Matthew knocked on the front but didn't wait for an answer before using a shoulder to fling it open. At the same time they could hear Charlie bursting in through the back door.

"Tanaka," Matthew called out, starting to move from room to room in search of their quarry. Lucien followed him, noting that the house was neat and tidy, nothing out of place except the clean teacups on the kitchen table.

"Here," said a voice from the back of the house, what must be a bedroom.

Wary that he might have a knife, Matthew grabbed a towel from the bathroom as they passed and wrapped it around his forearm, holding it before him protectively as he edged around the doorway. Lucien and Charlie were right behind him.

"Bloody hell," he muttered, lowering his arm.

Lucien took a deep breath and moved inside to see what had startled Matthew. His mouth gaped.

Tanaka sat in an upholstered armchair, his hands gripping the arms in dread. He was not a big man, and his dark hair was neatly combed. But what caught their attention was his legs. Or what was left of them. Both limbs had been amputated just above the knee.

"What do you want?" he demanded, in a heavily accented yet imperious voice that Lucien knew all too well." It still caused a chill to run up his spine.

Matthew looked at Lucien for confirmation that they had the right man, and one glance told him there was no mistake. But it was also clear that this man had not committed all those murders. Even using the wheelchair that stood in the corner of the room he could not have stabbed those men, not all of them.

"Now what?" asked Charlie.

"Now we take him in for questioning," said Matthew.

"But, boss, he couldn't…"

"Take him in," Matthew repeated sharply. He then grabbed Lucien's shoulder to guide him out of the room. "Thoughts?" he asked, when they were out of Tanaka's hearing.

Lucien shook his head. He was still off-balance after facing down one of the worst demons from his past. He smoothed down the hair at the back of his head. "I don't know how, but he's involved. He must be. The timing, if nothing else."

"Agreed," said Matthew. "Maybe he hired someone."

Bill Hobart came through the front door. "Boss, Simmons radioed. Someone tried to kill Nigel Harris just now."

"Is he all right?" Lucien demanded.

"Just a scratch, Simmons says. They're on the way to the station."

"I don't suppose they caught the assailant?" asked Matthew.

"Nope. And he had his face covered so no one got a good look at him. Just that he had dark hair. Short. Slight build."

"The one at the cemetery. All right, let's get Mister Tanaka to the station and find out what Mister Harris can tell us."

"He had a handkerchief covering most of his face," Harris told them. "Definitely Japanese though. The eyes, you know? They weren't covered."

"Did he say anything?" asked Matthew.

"Not really. Just a kind of yell. I was coming out of my barn and there he was with that knife. I put my left arm up to block it and hit him with my right." He flexed his fist. "That's when Constable Simmons showed up and the bugger took off. Dressed all in black so he just kind of disappeared, you know?"

Lucien gestured at the left arm, where a handkerchief had been wrapped around the forearm. "Let's have a look," he said, opening his medical bag. He quickly determined that no stitches would be necessary; a few butterfly bandages were sufficient to hold it closed. "There we are. If you have any problem with it, stop by my surgery."

"Thanks, Doctor. Again."

"How about a cuppa, Mister Harris?" Matthew suggested.

All at once Lucien was back in Tanaka's kitchen, staring at the table. "Two cups," he murmured. "There were two cups…"

"What?" Matthew demanded. He recognized the look on Lucien's face.

"There were two cups on the table. Tanaka was waiting for someone. Bloody hell, the killer is on his way back there."

He ran for the door, the others right behind him.

The light was still on in the bedroom, but the rest of the house was dark. Matthew and Lucien waited in concealment but with a view of the front door. Charlie and Bill covered the back one. Their cars were out of sight. Nothing to indicate outwardly that there was a welcoming party inside. Now they just had to hope that the killer had not already been there, seen that Tanaka was gone and fled himself.

Matthew was just beginning to assess other options when they heard it: the sound of an automobile pulling up outside. He motioned Lucien back, and ducked deeper into the shadows himself.

Something must have tipped him off. The man slipped silently through the front door, his dagger extended before him. Matthew cursed himself for not bringing his revolver, but stepped out into the open. "Police," he announced. "Drop the weapon and put yours hands in the air."

The man whirled toward the voice, his dagger moving slightly side to side as he approached.

Before he could get close enough to strike, Lucien was on him from behind, both hands clamped around the wrist of the arm holding the knife. The man was stronger than his slight build would suggest, but Lucien was strong himself, and the adrenaline charging through his body made him stronger still. He used his greater height as leverage to force the knife hand down, then banged it forcefully against his knee until the killer lost his grip and the weapon clattered to the floor.

Charlie and Bill had rushed in, and they quickly had the man pinned and handcuffed.

"Hey, Doc, you want to…? Bill nodded toward the man's exposed ribs.

Lucien turned away, almost physically sick. "No, thank you, Bill. It might be a good idea to have him in one piece."

"I have a feeling Sydney and the Gold Coast are going to want to talk to him as well," Matthew observed.

The man had no identification on him. He was completely silent on the trip back to the station.

None too gently, Charlie and Bill escorted him into the squad room, where Harris and Tanaka were still seated.

"That's him," Harris announced.

But the man was struggling against his escort in order to get a closer look at Tanaka. "Otou-san" he murmured softly.

"Of course!" said Lucien, shaking his head. "I should have guessed."

"What did he say?" asked Matthew.

"He said 'father'. This is Tanaka's son."

The younger Tanaka's English was excellent. Now that he could no longer complete his father's mission, he saw no reason not to tell them everything. He and his mother had moved to Australia a few years after the war. The shame heaped on them by many in their Japanese hometown had forced them to flee the homeland.

They had settled near Adelaide and waited for Sadaharu to be released. The son, Shohei, had attended the University of Adelaide and eventually gotten an administrative position in the war office, using his access there to track some of the former prisoners from Changi.

"Why?" Matthew demanded. "I could understand them wanting revenge on your father, but what reason do you have to kill them?"

"They shamed my father," insisted Shohei.

"How did they do that?"

Lucien's voice was quiet. "We survived."

"So did he," Matthew pointed out.

"No! My father lost his honor. He can no longer return home. I had to avenge him. He can't do it himself now, and I'm his only son."

Charlie came forward and held out a sheet of paper. "We found this on Mister Tanaka. The older one. It's a list. Of victims. Doc, it looks like you were next."

Lucien and Charlie were both exhausted, but Jean insisted on warming up supper for them. She and Mattie watched them eat and peppered them with questions.

"So after what that man did to you and all the others, he somehow thought of himself as a victim?" Jean was indignant.

"It seems no one came out of that place unscathed," said Lucien. "Actually, there are studies that say the torturer is almost as damaged by it as those he tortures."

"They should have hanged him with the others." Jean would allow no sympathy for that despicable man.

"And what about the son then?" Mattie pointed out. "He's the one that actually killed all those poor people."

"They might hang him now," Charlie said. "I imagine there'll be a lot of people calling for it."

"More victims of that bloody war," sighed Lucien. "When does it end?"

Jean handed him a glass of whiskey. "Well, this awful case has ended anyway. Do you think you can get some sleep tonight?"

"I'm going to try. Right now. Thank you for dinner, Jean. Good night, everyone." He took the glass with him as he trudged toward his bedroom.

"Good night, Lucien." Jean's eyes followed him until he was out of sight.

"You really think we'll get much sleep tonight?" Charlie asked quietly.

"More than he will, I'll bet," said Mattie.

Jean decided she would spend the night on the couch in the sitting room, just in case she was needed. Falling asleep in his arms really wasn't such a sacrifice, after all.