The Morning News

Part 2 of the stroy. I'll likely be adding bits every couple of days. This parts slightly differant than the last one.

The headline of his copy of the Yomiuri Shimbun (Japanese national newspaper) said it all: ‘Another Day, Another Body’. What the media was starting to call the Tokyo Ripper had struck again the night before. It was causing quite a panic in the city; people were scared to go out at night unless absolutely necessary. Most wanted to know if and when the culprit would be caught, as well as being worried if they would be appearing in the next morning edition of the news. The latest victim had been a prostitute. The reporter, a woman named Yuuki Alster, had wrote, ‘the woman who, unlike most of the other working girls, had been out late during the horrible weather of last night.’ The article continued, stating that the police had yet to release the autopsy report, though Ms. Alster believed it would follow the same pattern as the previous 5 deaths – a violent rape followed by an even more violent and bloody, assault until death. The article continued further, making references’ to the infamous Ripper murders that plagued late 19^th century London. However it no longer had his attention. It was a good article; there was no doubt about that. But it left one question unanswered – how had this woman found out all of this before he had? The police was understandable; they had needed to be informed when he’d found the body. And it wouldn’t do to have bad relations with them, not if he wanted to continue in his line of work. His contact in the police had also mentioned a similarity between the 2 Ripper’s, pointing out the fact that they’d both had a taste of the ladies of the night. The comment hadn’t been lost on him.

 

He finished his breakfast, completing the crossword before his morning cup of coffee. Picking up a colored pin eh placed it onto a seemingly random point on the map of Tokyo hanging on the wall. Five other pins adorned the map. Opening a drawer he pulled out a small, leather notebook and pen. Flipping through to the last page he checked the quickly made note:

 

“Female, mid-20. Little clothes left on.

Multiple physical injuries, face seems to have

Been chewed off?”

 

It had been too wet, the rain having only stopped no more than 30 minutes earlier, to make searching the area virtually impossible. All he’d been able to do was make the few notes and contact the authorities. All the work he’d put into this over the last few weeks had been for nothing, he hadn’t arrived in time for this one. His phone rang a call from his mother. No matter what his extracurricular activities, business was still; business and appointments had to be kept. An American was coming over to see one of the senior members of his families shipping company and he needed to make sure everything was in order beforehand. 30 minutes later he checked himself in the full body mirror, fully suited and ready for the day ahead. A combination of shoulder length, dark hair, piercing features and the custom made suit made him look quite respectable, almost handsome some would say. It was just such a shame that he felt like such a fraud every time he wore it. Thing is, you can’t really refuse a present from you mother. Not when she was the only person he had left.

 

Leaving the building he checked the time: 10:00. Hopefully this meeting wouldn’t last long, and he’d be back by mid-afternoon. He looked longingly at his newest addition, a top of the range superbike. Maybe not the most powerful of bikes, but it looked good and got him from A to B fast. This was always a good thing. And now came the other, quite large problem with wearing a suit: he couldn’t justify turning up to the office on the bike. Luckily, or unluckily depending on your point of view, his mother had prepared for this as well. A black executive car waited for him, imported from Europe by the looks of it. One of the rear doors was open; standing next to it was the families chauffeur.

 

“Morning, sir.” He said his English accent still a noticeable difference in Japan.

 

“How many times must I say this, I know how to open a door.” The exasperation

clear in his voice.

 

“My apologies, sir. But my instructions are quite clear, sir.” The chauffeur nodded his head as his passenger entered the car. The roads were fairly quiet at this time of day, rush hour having been long finished and leaving the major routes congestion free.

 

“Incidentally, sir might find it helpful to read the reports of the latest changes in the American stock markets. Makes for some interesting reading, if I may be bold enough to say so, sir.”

 

“Reynolds, remind me again what would I do without you.” He asked, pulling open the dossier next to him and giving it his full attention.

 

“Probably ride your bike into the office, sir, ruining your suit and looking rather disheveled, sir.” His infliction of disheveled suggested this man thought that appearance was second only to good manners. They drove the rest of the way in silence, the information in the dossier being very interesting reading indeed. Some companies, Sony and Panasonic mainly, were doing well. Both having increased profits, and thus there value also increased. However some of the American mainland companies were suffering because of the quality of imported goods. If this had just been an isolated case then it was doubtful if anything would have happened about it. The problem was that America was starting to become increasingly dependant on the imported goods, and its market was suffering for it. This explained why he had been forced into having the meeting with the American – they were worried. Very worried.

They eventually pulled up outside the main office of Dragon Transporters, a small scale organization that mainly did internal shipping, though had recently branched out into exporting goods ‘stateside’. Nodding hurried greetings to various members of staff he made his way straight up to the boardroom. He was the first one to arrive, and this suited him perfectly. 30 minutes later, after making a few inter-departmental calls, the rest of the board arrived. The meeting started. 

 

Author's Note

have I got the dialogue right, or am I wasting too much space here? Its the first time I've had to write a conversation wrote on paper, need thoughts on it please.