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"You know I am a devotee of Shimzu?" Suma asked Enshu.
"A well-known fact in art circles that you collect his work, especially the paintings he made of our surrounding islands."
Suma turned to Toshie. "How many of his pieces do I have in my collection?"
"You presently own eleven out of the thirteen island seascapes and four of his landscape paintings of the Hida Mountains."
"And this new one would make twelve in the island set."
"Yes."
"What Shimzu island painting have you brought me?" Suma asked Enshu expectantly. "Ajima?"
"No, Kechi."
Suma looked visibly disappointed. "I had hoped it might be Ajima."
"I'm sorry." Enshu held out his hands in a defeatist gesture. "The Ajima was sadly lost during the fall of Germany. It was last seen hanging in the office of the ambassador in our Berlin embassy in May of nineteen forty-five."
"I will gladly pay you to keep up the search."
"Thank you," said Enshu, bowing. "I already have investigators in Europe and the United States trying to locate it."
"Good, now let's have the unveiling of Kechi Island."
With a practiced flourish, Enshu undraped a lavish painting of a bird's-eye view of an island in monochrome ink with an abundant use of brilliant colors and gold leaf.
"Breathtaking," murmured Toshie in awe.
Enshu nodded in agreement. "The finest example of Shimzu's work I've ever seen."
"What do you think, Hideki?" asked Kamatori.
"A masterwork," answered Suma, moved by the genius of the artist. "Incredible that he could paint an overhead view with such vivid detail in the early sixteen-hundreds. It's almost as if he did it from a tethered balloon."
"Legend says he painted from a kite," said Toshie.
"Sketched from a kite is more probable," corrected Enshu. "And painted the scene on the ground."
"And why not?" Suma's eyes never left the painting. "Our people were building and flying kites over a thousand years ago." He turned finally and faced Enshu. "You have done well, Mr. Enshu. Where did you find it?"
"In a banker's home in Hong Kong," Enshu replied. "He was selling his assets and moving his operations to Malaysia before the Chinese take over. It took me nearly a year, but I finally persuaded him to sell over the telephone. I wasted no time and flew to Hong Kong to settle the transaction and return here with the painting. I came directly to your office from the airport."
"How much?"
"A hundred and forty-five million yen."
Suma rubbed his hands in satisfaction. "A very good price. Consider it sold."
"Thank you, Mr. Suma. You are most gracious. I shall keep looking for the Ajima painting."
They exchanged bows, and then Toshie escorted Enshu from the office.
Suma's eyes returned to the painting. The shores were littered with black rock, and there was a small village with fishing boats at one end. The perspective was as precise as an aerial photo.
"How strange," he said quietly. "The only painting of the island collection I don't possess is the one I desire the most."
"If it still exists, Enshu will find it," Kamatori consoled him. "He strikes me as being tenacious."
