After a ride which his fear made seem like hours, but from the noise of traffic was still in congested Tokyo, he was pulled out of the car and shoved inside a building and up a flight of stairs. At the top he heard someone knock on a door. At a muted response, the door opened and he was thrust forward. His captors pushed him roughly into a chair and tied him to it before removing his blindfold.

There were three men in the room with him, each looking like a caricature gangster. He noticed they all had thick bandages wrapped around their little fingers. The room itself was empty except for three plastic chairs. Deep red flocked paper, stained in patches, covered the walls. On the floor was a worn and filthy shag carpet which had once been hot pink. All the room lacked was a bed, Bill thought, to complete the brothel look.

"Hey man, what do you want? What's going on?"

He asked the questions in as macho a tone as he could produce.