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“Shoot.”
Selma read off the information.
Sam repeated it, and then he remembered the boat. “Have you made any progress on finding us a larger research vessel? Leonid’s driving me a little crazy, asking about it.”
“That was the next item on my list. I’m in final negotiations to get a two-hundred-sixty-footer, fully equipped with the latest gear. It can be there within a week.” Selma mentioned a price. “Will that work?”
“They understand we want to rent it, not buy it, right?” Sam joked.
Selma paused, and when she spoke again Sam recognized the tone: she’d learned something and couldn’t wait to share with him. “Are you sitting down?”
“Yes, Selma. What’s up?”
“I did some more digging on your Japanese colonel’s history. Or, rather, on Japanese history that might be relevant to your man. I think I discovered the reason nobody wants to talk about the mysterious Meiji Corps. Have you ever heard of Unit 731?”
“No.”
“Unit 731 and several associated groups were units of the Japanese military that engaged in experimentation on prisoners and civilians. They tested every depravity you can think of—vivisection without anesthesia, freezing or burning victims to death to see how long it took for them to die, injecting them with poisons and chemicals for the same reason, you name it. They operated in China, mostly out of the Pingfang District, where they had a complex of one hundred fifty buildings just outside of Harbin, China. Unit 731 was run by a Japanese general named Shiro Ishii.”
“Shiro Ishii,” Sam repeated with a slight grin.
“The complex was disguised as a water purification facility. The atrocities went on for ten years. Besides the experimentation, they were also involved in germ warfare, where the Japanese dropped special bombs containing contaminated fleas into Chinese populations to spread the plague. To make a long story short, the Japanese made infamous Nazis like Josef Mengele look like Mother Teresa.”
“Why haven’t I heard of any of this? You’re describing war crimes that went on for a decade.”
“Well, that’s where it gets interesting. And, I mean, really interesting. After the Japanese were defeated, the Allies granted the Unit 731 scientists blanket immunity from prosecution. And apparently many of the worst offenders went on to become rich and powerful in postwar Japan.”
Sam’s tone hardened. “Do you have proof of that?”
“Well, it depends on what you mean by proof. The Japanese government claims it has no documentation on Unit 731.”
“How convenient.”
“Exactly. And the way I understand it, under Japanese law, all the eyewitness testimony and confessions from Unit 731 personnel are considered inadequate to prosecute. There were plenty of accounts from workers, even some photographs, but nobody wanted to pursue it. Especially when the people who were responsible for it became bigwigs—I’m talking owners of pharmaceutical and technology companies, seriously highly placed politicians and lawmakers, the whole nine yards.”
“Why on earth would the Allies grant those animals immunity?”
“At the end of the war, the Americans wanted to keep all information on biological and chemical weapons to themselves, out of Soviet hands. There was only one way to accomplish that—and to acquire the knowledge that years of inhuman research had generated. The Soviets wanted to prosecute all the Unit 731 scientists, but the Americans refused for the ones in their custody. The Soviets had a trial for a dozen they’d captured and the evidence was irrefutable, but it was dismissed by the U.S. as Soviet propaganda until the 1980s, by which time it was ancient history.”
“And you think that the same thing was done with the Meiji Corps?”
“It would certainly explain why everything related to it is still top secret.”
“And you’re sure about all of this?”
“Hundred percent.”
Sam hung up, and filled Remi in on the Tokyo contact and Selma’s research. When he finished, Remi was shocked.
“I don’t want to believe it, but if it came from Selma . . .”
“I know—it must be true. We can probably research more online—at least the Unit 731 stuff. She said there’s now plenty of information about it, after decades of total secrecy.”
Remi shook her head in disgust. “We need to talk to Kumasaka’s daughter, Sam. Sooner, the better.”
“I know. You want to make the call or should I?”
“I’ll do it. Don’t want to scare her off.”