Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn Page B

saying Skye actually put a van Gogh painting there. I’m saying the yakuza thought she might have. So when your window got broken the other night, after the art show—”
    “Your window got broken?” Margo turns to my dad. “You didn’t tell me that.”
    “Just petty vandalism.”
    “Sorry, Dad, but I don’t think so. I think the yakuza came that evening or maybe even before the art show. I think they broke in to look for a painting hidden in your house.”
    Agent Chang stares at me. Agent Denny types furious notes.
    I take a deep breath and wrap up my theory. “They were probably nearby today, watching the house. Maybe they thought Julian was crating the van Gogh painting along with your stuff. They followed him all the way to this gallery and saw their chance to get the van Gogh. When it wasn’t there, they got mad and took it out on Julian. And on your paintings.”
    Everyone is quiet. I close my eyes. I feel kind of sick.
    “But that is preposterous. Who would have led the yakuza to think Glenn, of all people, was harboring a stolen van Gogh?” Margo asks.
    Agent Chang shuts her laptop. “That’s exactly what we need to find out. And we need to get these yakuza into custody and investigate their possible connection to the Yamadas’ break-in. But Violet’s theory gives us some fresh avenues of exploration. Good thinking, Violet. And with the license plate number, we can start making inquiries at car rental agencies right away.”
    “Thanks.” I steal a glance at my dad, but he’s picking a hangnail instead of beaming at me with fatherly pride. I sink back into my folding chair.
    The phone rings. Margo retreats to her office to take the call, apologizing to us for leaving. “It’s Julian’s mother,” she says. “She’s quite distressed about her son, as you can imagine. I’ll rejoin you all in a moment.”
    The FBI agents confer in low voices, and then Agent Chang faces the rest of us. “Here’s how we’re going to handle this letter. We’ll stage a sting operation.” She explains: Kenji will write a response letter, promising to show up with the painting. In six days, an FBI agent will pose as Kenji and go to the Hammering Man , carrying a blank canvas wrapped in paper. At the handover, a team of undercover FBI agents, posing as tourists, will nab the two thieves and get the drawings.
    “It would be helpful if you could all get out of town for a bit, while we take care of the situation,” Agent Denny says. “Might be a good time for you folks to take a little vacation.”
    “Actually, we are all scheduled to travel to Japan on Thursday,” Kenji says.
    “Hold on,” my dad says. “Isn’t Tokyo crawling with yakuza ? I don’t think we should go.”
    I chew my lip. After how close I’ve come, is he really going to call off our trip?
    “Actually, I see no reason why you can’t keep your travel plans,” Agent Chang says. “ Yakuza generally do not bother foreigners. They don’t want the interference of foreign governments investigating, or the media sniffing around.”
    “I, too, see no great cause for alarm, Glenn,” says Kenji. “The museum and the mural site are both in our office building, which has security. Your hotel has excellent security as well. But if it would put your mind more at ease, I can arrange for Violet to have personal protection.”
    “Wow! You mean like a bodyguard?” I exclaim.
    “Precisely. We’ve worked with a personal security agency for years.”
    “Oh, wow. That’d be so cool.” Reika will freak when she hears this.
    My dad scratches his neck. “I don’t know. I’m uneasy about it.”
    “Why don’t the two of you talk it over?” Agent Chang says. “Agent Denny and I have a few more questions for Mr. and Mrs. Yamada.”
    Margo emerges from her office, and the FBI agents take the Yamadas in there to talk.
    My dad doesn’t mention the sting to Margo, but he confesses he’s having second thoughts about taking me to Japan while the FBI