Having arrived at the hotel I realized I had made a serious error. I wanted to pay the taxi driver, and that’s all I could do because my backpack with all my stuff in it was still at dr. Tachikawa’s apartment. Just before I sent the taxi off I decided that it would better to go to Kodjiro’s, and so I got back to the place that was supposed to be avoided. I greeted the porter and quickly went upstairs. As I was about to ring the bell I noticed the door was ajar. Might Kodjiro be inside? Already? The last I had seen of him was him taking care of Rosanne. Surely he couldn’t be back already? I pushed open the door very slowly and looked into the hall. There was no one there. I carefully slipped in and checked all the rooms. There was nobody there as well. My backpack stood against his desk, not where I left it. When I took off, it had been somewhere in a corner. A note was pinned to one of the shoulder-straps. I opened it curiously. It was a letter from Kodjiro.

Dear Adrian,

As you know we’ve gotten ourselves into a hornets’ nest. Not only you and Rosanne, but Sonja as well. I hope that Hans and Heather have found a safe place. I don’t think we’ll be seeing each other again soon. I can probably stay out of trouble myself, if everything goes my way. Paul Bentley can’t help me, but he can help you. Trust him! As proof of our friendship you will find a cheque, take this as compensation for all the problems you’ve gotten into and for all your work.

All the best,
Kodjiro Tachikawa

I couldn’t believe my eyes. He came back sooner than me and had already gone. The cheque made a clear statement. It wasn’t a small amount. I decided that somehow I had to get him the receipt for the case waiting at the UPC warehouse. But how to go about that? Was he coming back here? I didn’t want to take the risk of just leaving it here. Kodjiro, after all, was also on the run. After one more look around I left the apartment carrying my backpack and the letter. I decided to leave round the back to avoid the porter. Just when I was coming out of the back entrance I saw Kodjiro getting into a car no more than fifty meters off. I wanted to call out but it was already too late. Tyres screeching, he raced around the corner and out of sight.

I couldn’t think of anything better than to go back to the hotel where I had arrived an hour ago. I was tired and I couldn’t come up with anything better. Maybe I would find Rosanne there. Or perhaps she was in the car with Kodjiro?