After the quake blind willow, sleeping woman dance dance dance

But why had Ushikawa ended up murdered by a professional killer?
Buzzcut chose his words carefully. “I think Mr. Ushikawa must have stepped on 
somebody’s tail, someone he never should have crossed. Before he even realized what 
he had done.” 
Was this the same person who had disposed of Leader?
“I don’t have any proof, but the chances are pretty good,” Buzzcut said. “And I 
think Mr. Ushikawa must have undergone something close to torture. I don’t know 
what exactly was done to him, but he definitely was interrogated ruthlessly.” 
How much did he say?
“I’m sure he told everything he knew,” Buzzcut said. “I have no doubt about it. 
But Ushikawa only had limited knowledge of what was going on. So I don’t think that 
anything he told them will come back to hurt us.” 
Buzzcut didn’t have access to everything that was going on within Sakigake, 
though he knew a lot more than an outsider. 
By professional, do you mean this person is connected to organized crime?
the 
superior asked. 
“This isn’t the work of the yakuza or organized criminals,” Buzzcut said, shaking 
his head. “They’re less subtle and more gory. They wouldn’t do something this 

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intricate. Whoever killed Ushikawa was sending us a message. He’s telling us he has 
a sophisticated system backing him up, and if anybody tries anything, there will be 
consequences. And that we should keep our noses out of it.” 
It?
Buzzcut shook his head. “What exactly he means by that, I don’t know. Ushikawa 
was working on his own. I asked him any number of times to give me a progress 
report, but he insisted that he still didn’t have enough material. I think he wanted to 
gather all the facts together by himself first. Which is why he was the only one who 
knew what was going on when he was murdered. It was Leader himself who had 
originally singled out Ushikawa. He worked as a kind of independent agent. He didn’t 
like organizations. Considering the chain of command, I wasn’t in a position to give 
him orders.” 
Buzzcut wanted to make it absolutely clear how far his responsibility extended. 
Sakigake was itself an established organization. All organizations have rules, and 
breaking these rules could lead to punishment. He did not want to be blamed for 
mishandling this affair. 
Who was Ushikawa watching in that apartment building?
“We don’t know yet. Normally you would expect it to be someone who lives in the 
building, or in the vicinity. The men I left back in Tokyo are investigating as we 
speak, but they haven’t reported in yet. It will take some time. It might be best if I go 
back to Tokyo and look into it myself.” 
Buzzcut wasn’t all that confident in the abilities of the men he had left behind. 
They were devoted, but not the sharpest pencils in the box. And he hadn’t explained 
the situation in much detail to them. It would be much more efficient for him to take 
charge directly. They should go through Ushikawa’s office as well, though the man 
on the phone might have already beaten them to it. His superior, however, didn’t 
permit him to return to Tokyo. Until things got a bit clearer, he and Ponytail were to 
stay put. That was an order. 
Was Aomame the person Ushikawa had been watching?
“No, it couldn’t have been Aomame,” Buzzcut said. “If Aomame had been there, 
he would have immediately reported it. That would have completed his assignment. I 
think the person he had under watch was connected to—or 
might
have been connected 
to—Aomame’s whereabouts. Otherwise it doesn’t add up.” 
And while he had that person under surveillance, someone found out about him,