Free Football Frenzy by Alex Ko Page B

criminal history. We will make sure the regular police track him down, but I think
Yoshida will have cut him loose. I know how he thinks – Kobayashi was just a pawn, and one that’s outlived its usefulness. Our task now is to stop one of the most dangerous criminals in
the country from committing severe assault, maybe murder, to get Shini to throw the game on Saturday.”
    “And here’s why,” said Nana, tapping a few buttons. The screen went blank, then filled with lines of code on a white background. Nana highlighted part of it. “There. See
the entry for Thursday, 11.43 a.m.? Just this morning, someone named Hana Nishimura placed a bet on England to win the football game. A large bet.”
    “Who’s Hana Nishimura?” Jessica asked.
    “Probably an alias, a fake bank account,” said Granny. “Or maybe some hapless fool Yoshida has tricked into being his go-between.” Granny raised her eyebrows. “When
I was listening in at the gambling den, I heard Kobayashi say something about moving a large amount of...I didn’t get the last part.”
    “Also, this is only one bookmaker,” Mimasu said, slipping on a pair of reading spectacles and leaning in to scan the screen. “If I were Yoshida, I would have placed bets with
everyone going. With the odds the way they are, if Shini lets England win, he will make back five hundred times what he has put in. And he has put a lot in.” Josh stared at the figure
on screen. He couldn’t convert yen to pounds in his head, but he knew it was a very, very big number.
    “The question is,” Granny stroked her wrinkled chin thoughtfully, “will Shini do it?”
    “No!” Josh burst out. Immediately he felt his face start to go red. Team O all stopped sipping their tea or tapping at their control panels, and looked at him. Granny turned and
crooked an eyebrow. Josh looked at his sister. “Back me up, Jess, Shini would never do something like that, right?”
    “I don’t think so,” Jessica said. Her voice was firm, but quiet. Josh frowned.
    “Josh-kun,” said Mr. Nakamura, “your faith in your friend is to be admired. But the truth is that we just do not know what Shini is going to do. He may not feel he has a
choice. Yoshida may be applying pressure in all sorts of ways.”
    “We must work on the basis that he will do it,” interrupted Granny. “Yoshida must be confident of success, to have placed these bets already. If Shini doesn’t do it,
Yoshida’s funds will be hit, and badly. He must, therefore, have some information we do not.”
    Josh gritted his teeth. “I...suppose that makes sense,” he admitted.
    To his surprise, Granny put a hand on his shoulder. “And yet, we do not know what that information is. There is only one way to find out. It’s time to talk to Shinichiro. And the
best person to do that...is you.”

“We’re here to see Mickey Mouse,” Granny said to the hotel receptionist.
    “I believe Mouse-san is in the gym at the moment,” said the receptionist, with a totally straight face.
    The twins had asked Kiki for Shini’s secret code name. Lots of celebrities used them, to stop any old journalist walking into hotels and pretending to know them. Kiki told them that Shini
was using Mickey Mouse – Kiki often called herself Minnie.
    “I can send a message to him that you are here,” the receptionist went on. “Or if you like you can visit him in the gym.”
    “Oh, okay,” said Jessica. “We’ll go and talk to him there.”
    Granny nodded her approval. Josh could guess what she was thinking – the gym wouldn’t be private, but it’d be better than the busy hotel lobby.
    The gym was in the basement, and the lift doors swished open onto a gleaming corridor full of mother-of-pearl and chrome with swan motifs painted on the walls. Doors to male and female changing
rooms, a sauna, a spa and a swimming pool were marked in symbols: English and kanji. Through a wall of glass panels, Josh saw a huge white space full of mirrors,