Chapter 4

Mister Han looked over his shoulder at the corpulent blonde street girl he had purchased for an evening's entertainment as he exited the hotel room in downtown London. She was sprawled across the bed in deep slumber with the marks of his energy showing clearly across her milky white skin like badges of courage.

He so much enjoyed dishing out the blows to the seldom protesting young things that walked the streets of major western cities. The females engaged in that profession in his country were not amused by such treatment and were far too well protected by the dreaded Yakuza to be trifled with. He had an appointment with the embassy in the mid-morning but no worries about problems with the authorities. Then, later this evening he was scheduled to give a demonstration of Karate killing blows at a "Dojo" in Oxford. He really hated the "dog and pony" shows filled with obsequious students of the martial arts circled around him like little sponges waiting to be filled with the wisdom of his message. He did enjoy using the female students as props to illustrate a particular move. The "choke holds" were his favorite and the sight of them falling into sleep made him tremble with anticipation.

He had been sublimely cautious in the assassination of the naked blonde western woman as a favor to his Yakuza mentors for a reason unknown to him. He regretted the necessity to time the event with the high class lady's young child in attendance but he had no other option and took care that the infant was not harmed in any way.

Master Han was proud of how he had staged the "accident" to display the naked body upside down with her hair flowing down several steps below her head. It was a bit theatrical but effective in lasting memory. His only concern was the fact that some other player had confused the scene with the insertion of the chef's knife into the already dead body making it appear as a homicide right at the outset. His careful planning went to naught and it infuriated to the point that he broke a perfectly good ceramic plate of some considerable value to his host.

Now he was informed this meddling western woman was requesting an audience with him ostensibly for the purpose of gaining knowledge about his technique. His hard-working spy system warned him that she was not that innocent in her approach and that she represented a danger from the British authorities who were now alerted that the homicide by stabbing was not anymore the fact than the accidental fall down the stairs. He felt the brunt of a spotlight for the first time in his long career of covert assassination. His first reaction was to flee the country but that would only cast further suspicion his way. He decided to brazen it out and see what this meddling woman had up her sleeve.

Martha sat in the car deep in thought outside the plush hotel where Master Han was holding court for his many fans. She was reasonably certain that the sly oriental man was responsible for her niece's death but she literally had no proof other than a devious deduction and a strong suspicion that her wayward relation was mixed up in some funny business related to one of her paramours with a dodgy past. She had been sifting through her niece's short list of bedroom visitor's and found that the playboy son of the owner of a powerful Japanese electronics consortium was a frequent visitor to her home for undisclosed reasons. She could only speculate it was for specialized indoor sports and not business dealings.

In any event, she was ready to meet the man of mystery and had a deep-seated gut feeling that he would live up to her expectation of an evil and vile personality. It surprised her that Master Han had a security team screening all visitors for unauthorized weapons considering his reputation as a dangerous man. Either he was a man with a fear of unknown enemies or some threat had already been made by competitors of his Yakuza cohorts.

Actually, when she saw Han sitting in calm repose on the settee in the middle of the large room, she was somewhat taken aback because he looked so harmless and uninteresting. She wondered if that was the same thought of her departed niece just before he delivered the killing blow to the back of her neck and pushed her naked body down the stairs.

"Welcome, kind lady, I have been told you have some interest in the study of martial arts?"

Martha was on her guard but did her best to appear as inconspicuous and non-threatening as possible. Her trainer had told her that when in the presence of capable persons such as Master Han to be circumspect in both speech and movement. She hoped she passed for a kindly old fart with dreams of glory.

"Thank you so much, Master Han, it is an honor to finally meet you. I have watched your demonstrations with great interest. Your swiftness of hand is most impressive. My fellow students are quite enthralled with your expertise. I must confess I am here also for another reason and I hope I am not being too forward to ask if you were acquainted with my niece, Lady Rowena."

Han poured two cups of tea into delicate bone china and looked at her with a bemused look on his face.

"I wonder, dear lady, if your use of the past tense would suggest the lady in question is no longer with us?"

Martha knew immediately that the man was fully aware of her relationship and the fact she was a "running dog" for the Police services. It would serve no purpose to spar with him and so she asked bluntly,

"Where were you between midnight and two AM this Friday past?"

Master Han laughed at the direct question.

"That was certainly not very subtle, my dear lady. I can account for my movements fully. My door has a computer chip that shows my presence and absence at all hours. My motor car is equipped with a GPS to show all movements and the dash cam will confirm it was I in the car whenever I drove anywhere for an errand. Are you now employed by the local constabulary or is it just feminine curiosity that sparks your interest?"