Inspector Slake closed the door behind him and turned on the interrogation light. He immediately pointed the light at Taka, who already, unbeknownst to him, had taken out a cigarette and lighter hidden in his jumpsuit, slowly getting comfortable in his chair.
“So, what have you got on me this time?” Taka puffed.
“Plenty,” Slake replied. “I just wanted to see the look on your face when I tell you that I finally have enough solid evidence to put you away for good.”
Taka shook his head and chuckled.
“Sure, you do,” he said sarcastically.
Slake snickered right back at him. “Does the name ‘roots26’ mean anything to you?”
Taka stared at Slake and took another puff from his cigarette. While he did not look it, he was in shock. He began to think to himself, “How did he find out about roots26?”
Roots26 was a secret association of Japanese businessmen, yakuza leaders, and politicians whose goal was to gain as much power and influence as they possibly could. The head of the organization was none other than Taka. Through roots26, Taka was able to cover up almost every operation he conducted.
Taka still sat there in the chair, not saying a word. Slake continued to speak.
“That’s right,” he said. “Michael told me everything.”
“Michael a la Mode” was one of Taka’s most trusted associates in roots26. In fact, roots26 was named after a clothing store that Michael went to all of the time.
Slake continued, “It’s too late for you now Taka. He’s about to testify before a grand jury as we speak.”
“Is that so?” Taka said uncaringly.
Suddenly an officer burst through the door.
“Inspector Slake!” he exclaimed. “Michael was just shot outside the courthouse as he was being escorted!”
Slake immediately turned his head and looked at Taka, who was now smiling. Slake immediately knew that one of Taka’s assassins must have been keeping an eye on Michael and must have taken him out.
Taka started taking another toke of his cigarette, but before it reached his lips, Slake slapped it out of his hand and began to shake him.
“You bastard!” Slake screamed. Slake had finally snapped.
“Calm down!” the officer said.
Slake couldn’t hear. The one chance he had at putting Taka away was dashed. He shook Taka more and more violently and soon knocked Taka over. As he did this, he knocked out the interrogation light. The officer, who was trying to shed some light in the now pitch black room, cracked open the door. Taka realized that this was his chance to escape. He scrambled toward the door, got to his feet, jammed the door open, and ran down the hall toward the emergency exit. As Slake ran outside the interrogation room, he had lost sight of Taka. Completely distraught, he immediately called for backup.
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