"Do you have Masato's contact information?"
"I have his business card."
"Please give it to Rachel."
"I will."
That afternoon, my attorney contacted Richard Collins.
He agreed to meet privately with his legal counsel present.
I attended with Rachel.
Richard looked different outside the restaurant.
Less polished.
More concerned.
He was fifty-four, with a successful investment firm and a reputation for careful business decisions.
He had been one of the executives Kenji mocked.
Now he looked embarrassed.
"Miss Tanaka," he began, "I owe you an apology."
"For what?"
"For laughing when Mr. Takahashi insulted you."
I hadn't expected that.
"I didn't understand his words, but I understood that he was being cruel. I should have stopped it."
"Thank you."
He looked toward Rachel.
"We suspended the partnership negotiations immediately."
"Did you review the financial documents?"
His expression hardened.
"Our accountants identified several inconsistencies between the summary materials and the underlying records."
I stared at him.
"What kind?"
He explained that certain liabilities had been described differently across documents.
Some projected earnings were based on assumptions not clearly disclosed.
Other records referred to related companies that hadn't been fully identified.
Richard's team had not concluded that fraud had occurred.
But the concerns were serious enough to stop the transaction.
I exhaled slowly.
"Then you believe me?"
He looked directly at me.
"I believe your warning deserved investigation."
For the first time since the dinner, I felt something loosen inside my chest.
Rachel asked whether Richard would cooperate with investigators if necessary.
He agreed.
Then he leaned toward me.
"There's something I want you to know."
"Kenji contacted me yesterday."
"What did he say?"
"He offered to reduce the investment price significantly if I stopped asking questions about the restaurant incident."
"He tried to buy your silence."
Richard nodded.
"That's one interpretation."
"But I'm not interested."
I smiled faintly.
"Good."
Then he reached into his briefcase.
He removed a document.
It was a letter dated fifteen years earlier.
My breath caught when I saw the signature.
Hiroshi Tanaka.
My father.
Richard explained that his firm had recently acquired an archive of financial correspondence during due diligence.
One file contained an old warning letter from my father.
It described concerns about the same investment structure Kenji was now proposing.
Dad had been warning people long before I understood what his work involved.
"Your father tried to raise these concerns years ago."
My eyes filled.
He hesitated.
"There's another name on the distribution list."
Then Richard pointed to a handwritten note.
It had been added several days after the letter was received.
I read it carefully.
Hiroshi is correct. We need to stop the transfers before someone discovers the losses.
The note carried Masato's initials.
For fifteen years, Mom believed Masato had betrayed Dad.
Now this document suggested he had known the truth.
But it raised another question.
If Masato agreed with my father, why had he changed his testimony?
Richard studied my expression.
"I thought you should see it."
When we left the meeting, Rachel received a message.
It was from Masato Fujimoto.
He had contacted her office directly.
He said he knew about the allegations against my father.
And he wanted to speak.
But only under one condition.
Rachel read the message aloud.
"He says Kenji must not know we're meeting."
Chapter 6
Masato Fujimoto arrived at Rachel's office wearing a plain gray coat and carrying an old leather briefcase.
He was sixty-five.
His hair was mostly white.
His shoulders were slightly hunched.
And when he saw me, his expression changed.
For several seconds, he stared.
Then he whispered in Japanese, "You have your father's eyes."
My throat tightened.
I didn't answer.
I had spent fifteen years imagining what I would say to the man who abandoned Dad.
I thought I would shout.
Demand explanations.
Tell him how much we suffered.
But now that he stood in front of me, I couldn't find the words.
Masato lowered his eyes.
"I am sorry."
"For failing your father."
We sat around the conference table.
Rachel explained that the conversation would be documented and that she wanted everyone to speak honestly.
Masato nodded.
Then he opened his briefcase.
Inside were old notebooks, correspondence, and several financial documents.
He placed them carefully on the table.
"Your father was right," he said.
"About the missing money?"
"He found transfers that should not have occurred."
"Then why did you change your statement?"
He closed his eyes.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then he whispered, "Because Kenji threatened my family."
Masato explained that his wife had been seriously ill at the time.
She needed expensive treatment.
Their insurance coverage was complicated, and Kenji had arranged financial assistance through a company benefit program.