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They came to a track on the left which went into the scrub The driver did a good racing change and pulled in out of sight of the road He cut his engine They listened The roar of a motor-cycle approached and receded The driver reversed sharply on to the road and tore off in pursuit Tiger issued more sharp instructions He said to Bond, 'I have told hi the man with his siren and if he doesn't stop to ride hi hi to have qual and he may only be a Fuller brushthe winding road They soon came up with the man's dust and then there was thelike hell

The driver said soer translated, 'He says it's a 500 cc Honda On that, he could easily get away from us

But even Japanese crooks are men of discipline He will prefer to obey the siren'

The siren wailed and then screalanced over his shoulder He braked slowly to a stop His right hand went inside his jacket Bond had his hand on the door-latch He said, 'Watch out, Tiger, he's got a gun!' and, as they pulled up alongside, he hurled hi hiround The corporal beside the driver took a flying leap and the two bodies rolled into the ditch Alot to his feet He had a blood-stained knife in his hand He threw it aside and tore at the er shouted so the man's fece as hard as he could fronized the snarling rictus of death He said, sickened, 'Stop hier walked down into the ditch He picked up the ht sleeve of the corpse up to the shoulder He looked and then called Bond down He pointed to a black ideogram tattooed in the crook of the ht, Bondo-san He is a Black Dragon' He stood up and, his face contorted, spat out: 'Shi politely baffled Tiger gave the and extracted various co Bond's wallet, with the five thousand yen stillintact, and a cheap diary They handed everything to Tiger and then hauled the corpse out of the ditch and stuffed it roughly into the boot of the car Then they hid the motor-cycle in soot back into the car

After a few htfully, 'It is incredible I These people h the diary 'Yes, all -places on our journey You are siaijin But he could have tele phoned a description This is indeed an unfortunate business, Bondo-san I apologize most deeply You may already be incriminated I will naturally absolve you fro careless I have not been taking these people seriously enough I et to Fukuoka But at least you have seen an example of the measures Doctor Shatterhand takes for his protection There is certainly more to this man than meets the eye At soence agent To have discovered my identity, for instance, which is a State secret To have recognized me as his chief enemy To have taken the appropriate counter-reat ree, Bondo-san?'

'Looks ht of the fellow And don't worry about the et the wind under my tail'

The headquarters of the local department of the Sosaka, the CID, for the southern island of Kyushu, was just off thein yellow lavatory brick in a style derived froer confirmed that it had been the headquarters of the Keer was received with pomp The office of the Chief of the CID was small and cluttered Superintendent Ando himself looked to Bond like any other Japanese salary- and the eyes behind the rimless spectacles were quick and hard Bond sat patiently s while much conversation went on A blown-up aerialcountry was produced fro cabinet and laid out on the desk Superintendent Ando weighed down the corners with ashtrays and other hardware and Tiger called him over with a respect, Bond noticed, that was not lost on the Superintendent It crossed Bond's er, or alternatively that Tiger had lost on agent Tiger said, 'Please to exaraph, Bondo-san The Superintendent says that a clandestine approach from the landward side is now very difficult The suicides pay local peasants to lead thenized breaches in the walls surrounding the property which are constantly changed and kept open for the suicides Every tiuard at one of theuards He says he is at his wits' end Twenty bodies have been fetched to the mortuary in the past week The Superintendent wishes to hand in his resignation'

'Naturally,' said Bond 'And then perhaps honourable fugu poisoning Let's have a look'

At first glance, Bond's heart quailed He le-handed! The estate covered the whole expanse of a small promontory that jutted out into the sea from a rocky coast, and the two-hundred-foot cliff round the proiant stone blocks down to the breaking waves to forun-ports and the irregularly-sited, tiled watch-towers From the top of this wall there appeared to be a ten-foot drop into the park, heavily treed and shrubbed betinding streams and a broad lake with a s fro the shrubbery At the back of the property stood the castle, protected fro countryside by a comparatively ained access The castle itself was a giant five-storeyed affair in the Japanese tradition, with swooping, winged roofs of glazed tile Dolphin-shaped finials decorated the topmost storey, and there was a profusion of other decorative devices, sazebos so that the whole black-painted edifice, edged here and there hat Tiger said was gold paint, gave the i for Dracula Bond picked up a large lass and ran over the whole property inch by inch, but there was nothing leaned except the presence of an occasional diravel round the castle

Bond laid down the glass He said gloomily, 'That's not a castle! That's a fortress! How aet into the bloody place?'

'The Superintendent asks if you are a good swimmer I have had a complete outfit sent down from my ninjutsu establishment The seaould present no probleet to the base of the wall? Where do I start from?'

'The Superintendent says there is an Ama island called Kuro only half a mile out to sea'

'What's an Ama island?'