Chapter 2: The Briefing
7th Fleet Military Police Company
U.S. Naval Base
New Yokosuka Harbor
The Next Morning
6:25 AM
As planned, Special Agent John Kondo picked up Petty Officer Cathy Wilkens at her Dobuita apartment. The pair then drove to the United States Navy's base at New Yokosuka Harbor and entered the headquarters for the 7th Fleet Military Police Company, the MP unit to which Cathy had been assigned since her arrival in Japan 10 months earlier.
The very busy headquarters was housed within a very large warehouse located on the farthest end of the base's property and served as the workplace for approximately 100 military police personnel from both the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. This also included the U.S. Naval Security and Investigative Command Agency.
Cathy and Agent Kondo found their way into the building's second conference room, which served as the home base for the "Operation Precious History" task force.
They were greeted by the head of this new task force, U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Nicolas Desmond. Desmond, dressed in his official Naval uniform, was a tall, silver-haired white man in his mid-40's.
"Thank you both for coming," Desmond warmly and mutually greeted the pair before specifically addressing Cathy, "Good morning, Petty Officer Wilkins. Thank you for accepting this assignment, and on behalf of our task force, I sincerely apologize for the excessively short notice."
Cathy nodded. "I appreciate that, Chief Desmond" she replied in a tone that was equally collegial, "Lieutenant Bellis and Agent Kondo here have both taken the liberty of somewhat filling me in."
"I see," Desmond replied, "Am I to understand, then, that the lieutenant signed off on your official reassignment to us?"
"Yes, sir" Cathy said, "The ink's still wet on my paperwork, as a matter of fact."
"Glad to hear it," Desmond said, "Welcome aboard, first of all." He then motioned to Agent Kondo. "Second of all," he continued, "I'd like to partner you up with Special Agent Kondo for this investigation."
The charismatic female petty officer and the handsome male Japanese American NSIC agent traded looks and somewhat awkward grins before both returning their mutual gazes to Desmond. "That's fine," Cathy said.
Desmond nodded. "Just so that I can have some understanding of your background, ma'am" he said to Cathy, "How long have you been in the service?"
"Two years and ten months now, sir" Cathy began to explain, "I'm originally from Sitka, Alaska and I enlisted in the Navy not long after graduating high school."
Desmond nodded once again. "Understood," he said, "And I saw in your file that you formerly served as a base security officer at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii after you finished training. Do I have that right?"
"You do," Cathy replied, "In fact, that's how I got my official assignment to our military police. Japan's my first overseas post."
"Alright then," Desmond said before looking again to Kondo. "Agent Kondo," he continued, "Would you mind stepping to the front and explaining to Petty Officer Wilkins exactly why we're all here, please?"
Kondo nodded before getting up from the conference table and crossing to a large chalk board that faced the opposite end of the table. "This task force was formed three months ago after we started getting numerous theft reports from some of the freight warehouses here at the harbor," he began explaining, "The warehouse foremen initially thought that they were just accidental shipping losses until more and more pieces kept coming up missing."
"And these missing pieces were all precious Asian antiques, right?" Cathy asked.
"Yes," Kondo replied, "They were all part of two separate collections of antique dishes, vases, and paintings from ancient China and Japan. The two collections would be shipped back and forth from Kanagawa to Shanghai to be featured in local museums as part of a two-week-long exhibit in each country."
"Each collection passed through New Yokosuka Harbor," Desmond added, "For security reasons, they were housed in the freight warehouses under U.S. military jurisdiction. That's why the Japanese harbor authorities assigned the responsibility of investigating the thefts to us."
Cathy scoffed. "That's ironic," she bluntly said, "You send these extremely precious antique pieces to be housed in what's supposed to be the most secure place in the harbor only for them to end up stolen anyway?"
"Believe me, ma'am" Desmond added, "That irony isn't lost on any of us here."
"Do you have any suspects as of yet?" Cathy inquired.
"Actually," Kondo replied, we do." He then placed an enlarged photograph of a tall, white 29-year-old sailor in front of her. "You know this guy, right?" he asked.
Cathy nodded. "Sure do," she replied with recognition, "That's Tony Abrams. He's a Seaman Recruit from San Francisco. I've encountered him a few times, mostly for being at the MJQ late at night instead of returning to base like he should have. He also tends to enjoy his drinks a bit too much."
"He's on the manifest of sailors and other base personnel who came in and out of the warehouse where the pieces were housed around the time that the thefts were discovered," Kondo explained before putting out two more photos, "Along with these two guys."
Cathy picked up the new photos in each hand and once again nodded with discernment. "This is Smith Bradley," she said as she momentarily held up the first photo, "He's a twenty-seven-year-old Seaman Recruit from the small town of Crested Butte, Colorado. I've never dealt with him personally, but I have seen his service jacket. It said that he's a dishonorably discharged Marine who got tossed out after punching his Second Lieutenant."
She then held up the last photo. "Bob Dickson," she continued, "He's a twenty-nine-year-old Seaman. He's another small-town fellow from Bonners Ferry, Idaho. I've dealt with him on just one occasion two months ago after he had gotten into a fist fight with a Dobuita local at Heartbeats Bar. Unlike these other two, Bob's a genuinely nice guy. He was very polite in dealing with me and the other MPs. He always addressed us as either 'sir' or 'ma'am'. He's a more squared-away sailor, for sure."
Chief Petty Officer Desmond nodded in agreement. "That fits with what we've been able to figure out," he said, "We think that Tony and Smith are somehow affiliated with the Mad Angels gang."
Cathy raised an eyebrow at that. "That wild biker gang that took over that old warehouse here at the harbor?" she said before shrugging her shoulders, "Hmmm. Lieutenant Bellis has mentioned them to me a few times in passing. I've tried to look out for them myself, but they don't tend to come into Dobuita all that much from what I've heard."
"Right," Kondo said, "We've actually been given some pretty good intelligence from a local cop who's been monitoring Dobuita for signs of low-level drug smuggling."
"And who might that be?" Cathy asked.
"His name's Osamu Murakawa," Kondo explained, "He's a Detective Inspector with the regional police. He's been working on an undercover assignment in Yokosuka, specifically in Dobuita, for the last few months. He's met a few Mad Angels before."
"Do we know how to get in touch with him?" Cathy queried.
"I know his Superintendent," Desmond replied, "I can let him know that we're looking to speak to him, and he'll arrange a meeting for us. Where should I say you guys want to meet him?"
Kondo took a second to think. "Yamaji Soba Noodles," he said a few seconds later, "It's on that corner street next to You Arcade. Today at eleven a.m. Tell him that lunch is on me."