Chapter 7: Interviews and Invitations (Part 2)

Base Infirmary
U.S. Navy Base
New Yokosuka Harbor
9:45 PM

Following the altercations at Heartbeats Bar, Cathy Wilkens arranged for injured base employees Smith Bradley and Gilbert Flakes to be quietly transported the infirmary on the United States Naval Base at New Yokosuka Harbor. Agent Kondo, meanwhile, had stayed behind to interview Yoshifumi Hato, the bar manager, to gather more information about what supposedly happened inside the bar.

Nurse Rita Quinn was in the process of suturing Gilbert's right arm, which had sustained a few cuts from colliding with the broken pieces of glass inside the crates on which he landed. Nurse Quinn was a short Hispanic-looking American woman in her mid to late 20's whose black hair was tied back in a bun. She was dressed in a white scrub outfit with matching nurse's sneakers.

"I'm going to have to suture each one of these cuts on your arm, Mister Flakes" Rita said in a very caring tone, "I'm not to lie to you. The process will most likely be painful."

An already sore and exhausted Gilbert partially grunted and partially sighed in response. "Let's just get this over with, please" he replied in an expectedly bleary tone. With that, the nurse's meticulous suturing process began.

Cathy, meanwhile, sat on a wheeled stool across from the treatment bed and took the opportunity to pull herself closer and begin her questioning. "Okay Gilbert," she began, "On that note, you know I have to ask you some questions. Mind if we get those over with, too?"

Gilbert nodded just before wincing in pain as Rita irrigated one of his cuts with water.

"What did the young kid say to you guys just before that fight broke out outside Heartbeats?" Cathy continued.

Gilbert gave a half-shrug using his free arm and shoulder. "Not much," he said, "We just tried to stop him from entering the bar."

"Were you told to stop him from coming in?" Cathy asked.

"No," Gilbert replied, "We were just trying to hassle him for a laugh, you know? We'd had a lot of beers and were just being dicks."

"So," Cathy said, "Neither you nor Smith knew what Ryo Hazuki was really there for?"

"No," Gilbert emphatically replied, "I swear to you, Cathy! We had no idea!"

Cathy then motioned over to the treatment bed on the opposite side of the room, which was concealed by a privacy curtain at the moment. "Okay," she said, "Well, Chief Petty Officer Desmond is over there talking to Smith right now. Is he going to back up what you just said to me?"

"Yes," Gilbert anxiously replied, "Yes! Absolutely, yes!"

Cathy gave the man a very harsh look in return. "He damn well better," she pitilessly said, "You guys aren't commissioned Navy sailors, so technically we don't even have the power to arrest or prosecute you for anything because this whole thing happened off base. But make no mistake, Gilbert, we will be talking to your supervisor about what went down tonight."

With that, Gilbert hung his head and groaned. Cathy then pulled the privacy curtain in front of his treatment bed closed before turning to see Agent Kondo step through the open doorway into the Infirmary.

"Hey," Kondo greeted.

"Hi," Cathy replied, "Did you learn anything more back in Dobuita?"

Kondo tentatively nodded in retort. "I spoke to Yoshifumi Hato," he began explaining, "He's the manager at Heartbeats Bar, and let me tell you, he's not the warmest guy around. It took some finesse on my part, but after about fifteen minutes, I finally coaxed him into telling me what he told the Hazuki kid."

"And?" Cathy eagerly inquired.

"The only information he thought to give him was the name 'Charlie'," Kondo explained, "He said he's a biker who's apparently affiliated with that Mad Angels gang."

Cathy nodded. "I don't know if you know," she said, "But the Mad Angels are partly based out of this shitty, old, decommissioned warehouse here at the harbor."

"Really?" Kondo asked.

"Mm-hmm," Cathy replied, "I haven't had any personal interactions with any of them, but the harbor security guards might be able to help."

Chief Desmond soon emerged from talking with Smith Bradley and joined his subordinates' conversation. "Mister Bradley told me that he and Mister Flakes were just trying to rouse the young man just for being a young man going into a bar," he said, "Obviously, young Mister Hazuki didn't take too kindly to their provocations."

"Gilbert just told me pretty much the same thing," Cathy replied. Agent Kondo then spoke up and explained to their boss about what Yoshifumi Hato had told Ryo.

"The Mad Angels, huh?" Desmond said, "Yes. We've been attempting to keep somewhat of a closer eye on them since they're known to interact with a lot of sailors."

"Does the name 'Charlie' ring any bells for you, Chief?" Kondo asked.

Desmond thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Not off hand," he replied, "No. My suggestion would be for you two to check in with Detective Inspector Murakawa in the morning and have him help you investigate. It doesn't sound like this 'Charlie' is one of our sailors."

Cathy checked her watch. "It's almost ten o' clock," she said, "All the harbor operations are shut down for the night. Would it be okay with you if we called it a night, Chief?"

Desmond nodded. "Please do. Let's check in at the police company office at Oh-Seven-Hundred hours tomorrow morning."

Okayama Heights Apartments
Dobuita
10:34 PM

Cathy arrived back at her apartment just after 10:30 PM. She was in the process of putting her key in the door when she noticed that there was a seemingly random slip of note paper that had apparently been slipped in with the various pieces of mail that the postman had delivered earlier that day.

As such, she picked up all the mail and the paper along with it, tucking the mail under her right arm before carefully unfolding the piece of paper and reading.

"Dear Cathy-san," the note read, "I apologize for the way I initially chose to handle things tonight. I feel like I owe you and your partner an explanation for my situation so that you both will have some context. I'd like to invite you both to dinner at our family residence tomorrow evening around five p.m. Please give me a call to confirm that you received this note. Regards, Ryo Hazuki." An address in Yamanose and a phone number were both listed as an impromptu post and post-postscript to this note.

Cathy sighed, opened her apartment door, and went inside before promptly shutting and locking the door behind her.