Chapter 7

  More snacks were brought out and while munching on some cookies, (Visha vacuuming up the majority) they finally began to see some of the other girls go in for their interviews.

  Tanya didn’t bother trying to figure out which order each was being interviewed in and why, no, she was too preoccupied making sure she had her story planned out and that it all made logical sense.

  Finally, it was her turn, and the same clerk came to fetch her for her interview, pausing and having to make a call when she asked if Visha could accompany her or at least wait outside the door to her interview. After the call Visha was allowed to sit in a chair outside my interview room.

  Tanya found herself sitting across a table from three other people two men, one in a suit and the other in police uniform and one woman who Tanya could smell the familiar scent of Human Resources on.

  Smiling at all of them she took a sip of the water that had been placed in front of her and calmly waited for them to ask their first question. The officer started things off.

  “I’m officer Takashi Miike, and these are my colleagues, Mr. Tsuruga Ren,” the man in the suit bowed his head “and Miss Watanabe Mio.” The woman also bowed in greeting. “Could you state you name for the record?”

  Tanya Stood up and formally introduced herself remembering not to salute at the last second and instead bowed appropriately “I’m Kaizaki Degurechaff Tanya, I’m pleased to meet you.”

  “Nice to meet you as well,” everyone chorused back to her before the officer began talking again.

  “Sorry you have the look of a foreigner, and your fingerprints don’t come up on any of our databases, yet you have a Japanese last name can you please expand on that.”

  “Yes, sorry for the confusion. My father was Kaizaki Soto, Suginami Ward, worked for Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. He died several months ago I’m not exactly sure when.”

  The man in the suit was quickly writing everything Tanya had been saying, pausing only to ask Tanya to specify the Kanji for her father’s name. After finishing he pressed an intercom buzzer, shortly after young clerk knocked before stepping in and taking a note from Mr. Tsuruga and stepping back out.

  “Sorry please continue.” Mr. Tsuruga stated, motioning to officer Takashi.

  “Sorry we got a little sidetracked, can you tell us how old you are, and how long ago you were abducted, also we never cleared up why you don’t show up on our countries database are you a citizen of your mother’s country?

  “I’m fifteen years old and will be turning sixteen on July 18th, there is no record of my birth in this country or any other, for the same reason I can’t name a date when I was abducted. My Mother was an illegal resident of this country brought in by the same type of organization that so recently held me captive.”

  Tanya’s was interrupted by the officer.

  “Do you know what yakuza clan your mother was a part of?”

  “My mother was not officially a member of any criminal gang; it would be more appropriate to say she was the property of one. She was originally from Germany and spoke that language in our home when I was growing up, thus teaching it to me.

  “She didn’t like to talk about it, but from what I pieced together over the years, when she was younger, she was abducted and brought here by an organization that raised her to work in a specific industry for them.

  “I believe as she got older, she got less customers and was given more freedom and leeway to fend for herself, so long as she paid her dues on time. As for which gang controlled her, she didn’t say. She put in a lot of effort to keep me free of all that and it worked, for a while.”

  “What changed?”

  “I have a few thoughts about what caused things to start changing. What I think happened and what I know are different though.”

  Tanya paused to collect herself and her thoughts waiting to be prompted to continue, she didn’t want to just spill all her guts out at once that would come off as too scripted to these professionals.

  “Tanya chan, if you don’t mind me saying, you speak very well for someone your age, and you’re very mature. You seem to be handling all of this much better than most of the other people we have spoken with so far.”

  This time it was the woman who Tanya believed to be from HR who spoke, Miss Watanabe.

  Tanya noticed a faint look of disapproval flash past on the faces of the suit and the officer.

  While not exactly a rude question, those with field experience would no doubt understand why a girl who grew up in the manner Tanya had just described would be mature for her age. And also, why she would be used to or at least less shocked by the position that she had just been rescued from.

  “Let’s just say even though my mom tried to shield me from the worst of what her life was like. I was not unaware of what kind of life she had led. And I always worried that it was only a matter of time before I was pulled into that world.

  “So, while I am happy to be free, I was never as frightened as the other girls, my mom had lived through it and found a semblance of a normal life after a while. I figured if I just stuck it out long enough, I would eventually end up like she did. Which is better than dying.”

  “I know it sounds strange hearing this from such a young girl, but you learn to be pragmatic, and a realist when you have seen the things I have.”

  Tanya looked each of them firmly in the eye to express her sincerity and show she wasn’t lying.

  Mio deeply regretted asking the poor young girl that question. She had mostly meant it as a compliment but also because she was curious at how serious and stoic the young girl was acting.

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  None of the other girls they had interviewed had been able to talk about their experiences without breaking down in fits of tears. So, her curiosity had gotten the better of her and now curiosity had killed the cat.

  This girl had seen things, lived in terror her whole young life. Mio could see it in her eyes as she glared at them, a glimpse of the weight on a weary soul. Daring them to challenge her words.

  “Sorry,” Mio found herself whispering an apology. To which Tanya appeared confused for a second before schooling her face into a blank mask.

  “Ahem, you mentioned you had some theories on why things started to change could you tell us about that?”

  “Two things really one was my father began to get involved, but mostly I think it was that I had grown old enough to be worth more as an asset, then as blackmail material.”

  “Blackmail?”

  “My father was being blackmailed by the group my mother worked for. You see he met my mother not long before I was born at a bar she worked in as a hostess. They developed a relationship that ended with my conception.

  “When my mother and her handlers found out about me, a plan was implemented. My mom told my father that she was going home to have the baby. She cut all contact with him, and I was born, supposedly by some doctor or clinic the gang controlled.

  “I was raised by my mom for ten years. She made sure to make them enough money, so we were left alone for the most part. After I turned ten, they contacted my dad and started blackmailing him with the truth about me and my mom.

  “He had a good job, and it would have been terrible for his career if it was found out he had a bastard child with a prostitute that he had abandoned for ten years.”

  “What was his reaction? I don’t believe he filed a police report.”

  “No, he paid them. It wasn’t too much, just a lump sum every few months. He came to visit me every once in a while. He used to give me books on finance and the Chicago School of Economics.”

  Tanya had such a genuine smile on her face in that moment that each of the interviewers found themselves picturing a scene of a tall man in suit bending down to hand a cute little girl a book that in her small hands appeared massive. The girl clutched the tome to her chest like a treasured doll beaming in joy at the gift from her papa.

  “Tanya’s face fell. Things lasted like that for a few years, but I started to get older, to develop more. Some of mom’s friends in the gang moved away or fell out of favor, we started to get pressure for more money.

  “Then mom got sick, she couldn’t go to the hospital and well she, she never got better.

  “Father was going to come to get me, he was going to take me away. I told them that when they came for me, but they told me that he was already dead. Showed me the newspaper with his death. They said that they were going to take care of me from now on. I don’t know if they were involved with my father’s death, but I have my suspicions.”

  “Do you know how you ended up in that house?”

  “I think the plan was always to find a buyer for me. They talked about it when I was not supposed to be listening. Eventually I remember getting put in a van and taken to a warehouse. Then they put me in a shipping container that a bunch of other people were already in. That’s where I met Visha.

  “They were letting people out to use the bathroom, and Visha didn’t know what they were saying. I think she tried like three different languages before I heard her speak German. So, I helped translate for her, and next thing I know is she’s sticking to me like glue.

  “They found it more convenient to leave us together, so we ended up becoming a sort of package deal. Sorry I don’t want to go into any more details. Suffice it to say we eventually ended up transferred from one place to another and had just gotten to that house you found us in when the incident happened.”

  “Can you walk us through that night. We have it on record that you were the first to call the police that night. Is that correct?”

  “Yeah, we had just gotten delivered before midnight, still wearing our costumes. What I’m wearing now. Oh, by the way we want to keep these as a sort of rescue memento so if it’s not too much trouble would that be ok.”

  “Yes, that should be fine.” The HR representative hurried to agree.

  “Could we get our shovels back as well? They are a part of the outfit, and I remember Visha especially felt braver when she was holding it during the whole incident while we were waiting for rescue.”

  The HR Rep made to agree again, only to get silenced by a look from Tsuruga Ren.

  “We will try to accommodate that request. Now please continue.”

  “Yes sir. We got there just before midnight, and there was talk of using us, but then someone showed up and by the way everyone acted he must have been important and then they started arguing, so we were shut into an empty room.

  “Later that night when it got quiet me and Visha snuck out to see what was going on and maybe if we could escape. That’s when we bumped into the others. We got scared from some noise that was made and went back to the room.

  “After a few more hours we woke up to the sound of yelling and gunshots. Then everything got quiet, so we snuck back out and went to where the fight had been. We say the bodies, and well we panicked a little, but I saw a phone on the kitchen table, so I grabbed it and called the police while we made our way back to the others.”

  “You weren’t the only one to call the police and from the report you hung up when the officer asked you to wait on the line.”

  “To be honest, I was worried that maybe some members of the police where in on it or at least knew about what was going on. So, I wanted to cover my bases. It also seemed to comfort the others when they got to call the police themselves.”

  “Thank you, this wraps up all the questions I have for you.” Officer Takashi stated.

  “I have a few more questions if you don’t mind Miss Kaizaki? Do you have any evidence of your relation to your father we can use. It may turn out to be a big help in finding which gang was involved in your situation, as well as opening new leads regarding his death.”

  Tsuruga Ren asked while leaning forward notebook poised.

  “We exchanged emails back and forth, I also have the account numbers and password to a special bank account he gave me access to, but I image after his death that it’s been closed.”

  Tanya proceeded to give them the account information for his past self’s suit fund account. He had set it up so that a specific amount was deposited each month accumulating into the perfect amount for the price of a new suit each year.

  For the emails, well those had never existed, so she just told them two fake email account names from a random company.

  “I also would like to submit to a paternity test, if that would be ok. I’ll need to anyway if I want to try and apply for any inheritance I’m owed.

  “I’ve never met my grandparents, and I don’t know what their reaction will be finding out about me and the circumstances of my birth. I would not be surprised for them to reject me as I’m both half foreigner and also the possible cause of their son’s death.

  “That being the case, could you contact them for me and explain the situation. I would ask that you wait for the results of the paternity test first before contacting them.”

  “Is there anything else you can think of about any of this situation that you can share with us?

  “Nothing that comes to mind. I take it we will be having more of these interviews as we wait for this whole situation to get sorted out. If so, then if I think of anything else I will bring it up then.”

  “Very well, that will work just fine. Thank you for your time, Miss Kaizaki.”

  “No problem. Do you know who will be interviewing my friend Viktoriya Serebryakov?”

  The three looked down at a few printed pages on the table in front of each of them, shuffling them, Miss Watanabe spoke first.

  “Yes, she is our next interview.”

  “Well, that’s good she came with me to this interview and is waiting outside. I don’t know if you were informed of her need for a translator. Earlier we spoke to the one assigned to her and due to her unique dialect, I have been assisting in helping translate for her.”

  “Well, that’s a bit unusual. Why don’t we take a ten-minute break to confirm this information, and we will proceed with the interview after that.”

  Officer Takashi spoke standing up putting his hands to his lower back and stretching backwards.

  “That sound’s fine I need to get some coffee, thank you for your time, Miss Kaizaki. Please wait in the foyer with your friend and we will reconvene in about ten minutes once we speak to the translator.”

  Tanya bowed her head by pure reflex, but her mind was fully occupied by something else. Something else far more important at the moment.

  He had mentioned coffee.