Free The Sword Maker's Seal by Trevor Schmidt Page B

Sword Maker and his swords. You must know quite a bit, huh?”
    â€œI know more than anyone else on the subject, yes.”
    â€œDo you? That sword in the case is a fake Masamune, tell me why.”
    â€œThe seal is a forgery. Tanya told everyone that.”
    â€œI want you to tell me. After all, you’re the resident sword expert now.”
    Kenji’s smile faded and he was at a loss for words.
    â€œThat sword,” Kenji pointed at the sword that replaced the Masamune, “That sword came as a part of the exhibit, it was probably one of Masamune’s students or imitators that made it. It’s still a very ancient and respectable sword.”
    â€œBut it isn’t a Masamune.”
    Kenji’s face turned red with anger. “No,” he said through his teeth.
    Kenji turned his gaze up and behind Ezra then cursed. Reinhart ran into view with Detective Hayden and Tanya closely behind, still cuffed and looking sour as ever. Detective Reinhart not a tall man, but he made up for his stocky build with a chiseled face that intimidated even his own partner. His short raven hair was accented with a five o’clock shadow; making his face even darker.
    Detective Reinhart’s partner was named Hayden. The man wasn’t extraordinarily tall, nor was he extraordinarily strong. Hayden actually wasn’t a bit extraordinary. He was in the middle of his class at the academy, he had an average IQ, in fact, the only thing that made him above average at all was how ludicrously average he was. Hayden was still a rookie, though he tried not to let it show. Ezra turned his gaze back to Kenji and smiled.
    â€œLet me tell you how you did it,” Ezra said with his arms folded—all jitters ceasing abruptly and an air of confidence surrounding him.
    Madison and Mason took a few steps back then ran to join Addie.
    â€œThe afternoon before the robbery you joined Mr. Roy and Tanya in the back security station to celebrate Jackson’s birthday. While they were distracted you switched the security tape for the Japanese Sword Exhibit to a prerecorded tape that didn’t show any activity at all. You switched it to play instead of record. Jackson Roy wouldn’t know the difference, he was busy watching TV, only glancing occasionally at the security screens.”
    Kenji interrupted, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    â€œWithout any cameras watching, you waited for the other guard to do rounds, then used a bottle of hairspray to get past the lasers, used the copy of Tanya’s key you made earlier that day and took the sword.”
    Ezra paused for a deep breath.
    â€œWhat I didn’t get for a long time was that you weren’t the one to put a sword back in the case. It happened the next morning, when Tanya came in to work and the Masamune was nowhere to be found. Tanya put a sword in its place, waited until Mr. Roy came in, then told him the sword was a fake and that the real one had been stolen.”
    Kenji clenched his fists.
    â€œWhy would she do that?” Mason asked. “Why not just set off the alarm or call the police?”
    â€œLet’s ask her,” Ezra said then turned to Tanya. “Tell him why.”
    â€œI guess there’s no point in hiding it now,” Tanya said. “I took the real sword for safe keeping just hours after the museum closed. I heard that Kenji was the descendant of Masamune and I couldn’t figure out why he would donate a sword to the Tokyo Sword Museum that was worth so much. Then I realized that Kenji never believed or never knew it was real. He must have thought his grandfather was a crock and his stories were all made up. When I saw the sword I knew otherwise. I called the Japanese Embassy and told them the sword was real. They in turn informed the Japanese Government. But, then I thought if Kenji knew what a big mistake he made he would want the sword back.”
    â€œWhat he didn’t know