The commander of the Special Investigations Unit was named Daizo Kobayshi. He was bald and in his early fifties, and he had commanded the unit for three years. He listened with the other detectives on the squad as Bando played back the video of the interview - which went to mostly audio after she'd taken the glasses off - and how Kyohei Tachibana had seen through her disguise.
"It could be he picked up some things from his mercenary employers," she explained, "and maybe as a rule would have become more observant. I've used the glasses for years, and no one has seen through them. He's actually pretty sharp."
"Or Sei trained him," Eiji said. "It could be part of her making him into her ideal man."
"He said she said she liked her men older."
"We have only his word she said it."
"So we're not going to take our potential victim at his word?"
"He wouldn't be the first victim to be enthralled by his abuser and cover for her."
"I'm sorry, Eiji, but this just doesn't feel that way to me."
"She could have trained him how to mask his feelings; told him what to say if anyone asked him about them."
"And she could be innocent and he could be getting frustrated because adults won't listen to him when he says nothing's going on."
Kobayashi's eyes flickered between the two detectives. The he gestured to them. "My office."
After Kobayashi had closed the office door on himself and Bando and Suzuki, he said, "Let me see if I understand the situation, Detective Suzuki: We do not have a victim. We do not have a victim's testimony. We do not have witnesses. We do not have physical evidence. We do not even have the 'he said' side of a 'he said-she said.' Your own partner isn't supporting your suspicions. All we have is your girlfriend's discomfort around a group of mercenaries who could be mistaken for lingerie models and whom our supposed victim has compared to nuns in a recording your partner made. In short, we do not have any evidence of a crime at all. Does that summarize the situation? Or would you care to dig the hole you're in a little deeper?"
"Captain-"
"I share your desire to get Sei Ping Ho off the streets, Detective. She and her ilk are a blight on the city. But we are first and foremost officers of the law. When laws have, in fact, been broken, we go after the offenders and bring them to justice. But we are not in the business of inventing crimes so we can pursue a personal vendetta. You have wasted this unit's time and resources on a fishing expedition that has not yielded anything that can not be explained away innocently. If Bailan's lawyers get wind of this, I'll be lucky to save our asses. While there is every reason to believe there are many thing Kyohei Tachibana has to discuss with his employer, there does not seem to be any reason for this office to be involved for one more minute. I expected better of you."
"All right, Captain, but what if there is something? She could do a lot of damage to this kid, and with Bailan's juice, she could get away with it."
"*If* there's something. You still haven't convinced me."
"All right then. What do you want us to do?"
Kobayahsi thought for a minute, then grabbed his coat off a coat rack. "You have other cases demanding your attention. Return to them and wait for my phone call."