Detective Takuda and Reverend Suzuki dug into the clay with their boots as the ascent steepened, and then they hit the last three meters: an almost vertical climb to the stone lip. Wooden posts jutted from holes in the exposed stone, but the posts were rotten, spongy and wet to the touch. Takuda ...
Takuda brushed off his fine new suit, and Suzuki clutched his packet of spicy pickled cod roe. Mori aimed a kick at the Hakata doll, large and square in its silk bundling cloth, but Suzuki edged in to block the kick. “No, no, no,” he moaned. “That’s a nice doll. It’s a week’s groceries if we can ...