House of Bamboo Page #2

He must have got fouled up

with the wrong crowd.

You think I should go to the police?

No. What good is it?

You can't help them.

Well...

- I'm afraid.

- Of what?

I'm afraid they will kill me

the way they killed him.

It was smart of him to keep

the marriage a secret.

You got nothing to worry about as long

as nobody knows you're his wife.

Who's the boss?

The fellow in charge of the place.

The head man!

The number one boy.

Ah.

- Ichiban.

- Yeah.

- You're the ichiban?

- Hai. Konnichiwa.

You speak a little English?

A little.

What's $25 in Japanese money?

Ah, so.

Uh, 9,000 yen, official rate.

I give you 10% more.

Nine thousand yen

is $25 dollars, huh?

Hai.

I come every week,

collect 9,000 yen for protection...

so nobody'll do to you

what I'm doing, okay?

Hai.

Who's the boss?

You know, the boss.

The head man.

You know, the boss.

The number one boy.

Ah, so-so.

Ichiban. Ichiban.

Red. Red.

- You mean the guy with the red coat?

- Hai. Hai.

You the ichiban?

Hai. Konnichiwa.

- Speak a little English?

- Of course. A little.

What's $25 in Japanese money?

Ah, so.

Nine thousand yen official rate.

I give you 10% more.

I come every week,

collect 9,000 yen for protection...

so nobody'll do to you

what I'm doing, okay?

Wake him up.

That's enough.

Who you working for?

Come on. Answer the man.

Answer the man!

Who are you working for?

Sp-Spanier.

Who's he?

Me.

And who else?

Eddie.

Eddie who?

Spanier.

I asked you who else

you're working for.

I told you.

Well, Griff, you had it figured right.

Our Chicago mob was coming in

to take over Tokyo.

Well, that's what happens

when you act like a hoodlum.

Selling protection.

You know, my pappy used to

tell me about that...

while I was on his knee.

Where've you been

the last 20 years, Eddie?

What museum did you crawl out of?

What's it to you?

I don't remember seeing you around.

You will.

Well, you might give me that

$50 you borrowed from my place.

Come on.

Give the man the money.

- Charlie.

- Yes, sir.

How many, uh, pachinko parlors

are there in Tokyo?

Over 3,000, the last count.

And more in Yokohama,

Kobe and Osaka.

You go and sell them protection, Eddie,

and stay out of Tokyo.

Now beat it.

Oh, pappy should have seen that.

A shakedown. Today.

Tokyo.

Give me a cup of tea.

Huh?

Good to see you.

Oh.

How about, uh, octopus?

No.

- What's he talking about?

- He says you stole his pearls.

That's crazy.

Come on. Search me.

Do you have your passport?

Yeah, I got my passport.

Yes, we got a record on Eddie Spanier.

Assault and armed robbery.

Sentenced three to five years.

Paroled after two years, eight months.

"Assault."

Hai.

I got it.

Thanks, Corporal.

The American army has quite a record

on you, Mr. Spanier.

- That action's over.

- Why did you come to Tokyo?

- Is there a law against it?

- No.

But we don't like

undesirable characters.

I served my time. My book's clean.

Check with immigration on my passport.

They confirmed you

had one when you docked.

- Do you have any friends in town?

- No.

What did you do with the pearls?

Do I look like a pearl diver?

You were identified

by the man as the thief.

The charge against you

has been dropped.

Am I supposed to

decorate somebody?

He just telephoned his shop.

The pearls are there.

He had forgotten to take them.

He's very sorry.

- Very sorry, huh?

- Yes, very sorry.

Hey, you.

Sandy told you

to stay out of Tokyo.

Did he tell you to bring me in?

He asked me. In case

I spotted you still in town.

Well, you spotted me.

Let's go.

Don't take any chances. You'd better

double-check those figures yourself.

- Yes, sir.

- Make sure the flowers are ready for tonight.

- Yes, sir.

- That's all.

Pachinko parlors paid for this place.

Used to belong to a baron.

You're only off the boat a couple of days

and right away you get picked up by the cops.

How'd you know

when I got off the boat?

The date's stamped on your passport.

You lost it.

I got no use for it.

You want to go to work for me?

- I got my own plans.

- Oh, sure.

But that takes money.

Organization takes friends.

You got none of those three.

My mother didn't raise me

to be a dog-robber.

Aw, you're got Griff all wrong.

He's my number one boy, my ichiban.

He was doing me a favor.

He can do me one driving me

back where he picked me up.

Well, it's your decision.

Nobody's pushing you.

I'm not interested in working

for any pachinko operator.

- Come on, ichiban.

- Who said anything about pachinko?

You didn't talk about anything else.

I've got other interests.

- What kind?

- Your kind.

- What's in it for me?

- Loot. Lots of it.

Are you in or out?

- I'm in.

- Give the man a cigar.

Come on.

I'll show you around.

What a crummy-looking character.

- What did you say his name was again?

- Spanier.

Eddie Spanier. Man, he sure hit it

off good with Sandy.

- I don't like him.

- Why not?

I don't like him.

Your war record is one of

the best I've ever seen.

Assault and armed robbery.

Sentenced three to five years.

Paroled after two years, eight months.

Drafted 1943.

Charged with homicide of second lieutenant,

no witness, no conviction.

Robbed division payroll,

sentenced to military prison...

where you served the rest of the war.

Dishonorably discharged.

Arrested on mugging charge.

No conviction.

Assault and armed robbery.

No conviction.

You working for the law?

Where'd you get that rundown on me?

I got ways.

Let's sit down, huh?

Plus getting me framed?

Well, I had to get you pinched

so I could screen you.

That's the way I built up my outfit.

All ex-cons before they were drafted.

All stockade hounds in the army,

dishonorably discharged.

Fine-looking ex-G.I.'s to mix with...

the politest people

in the politest nation in the world.

And there's no hoodlum stuff.

We don't even carry weapons.

Here. Get yourself

a suit with some style.

Make yourself presentable.

And report right back to me after you do.

Brooklyn Dodgers.

Do you know a pachinko

operator named Sandy Dawson?

He's a petty racketeer

who uses pachinko as a front...

- like many other criminals.

- A front for what?

Other gambling interests.

We know all about him.

Yeah? He knows all about me as Eddie Spanier.

- How could he know that?

- He had my criminal and military record...

the same one you had

in your hand today.

Are you inferring

somebody in my department...

- I'm not inferring anything.

- Maybe he got it from the army.

Maybe. All I know is he had me picked up

on that phony charge to get it.

You may have stumbled on something

more than we expected.

What other interest

has he besides pachinko?

Don't know, except he runs his outfit

like a five-star general.

- I'm to report right back.

- Any link between him and Webber?

- Don't know.

- What about the stolen weapons

and ammunition?

Carrying weapons is verboten.

He hit that hard.

Stay with him.

He might give you a lead.

- What about the widow?

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