AFI|Catalog

Early one February morning, executives of the Nakamoto Corporation, a Japanese weapons manufacturer, meet to discuss the purchase of struggling Los Angeles, California-based company, MicroCon. However, due to the deal’s impact on international relations, they must wait for approval from the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. To celebrate the potential sale, Nakamoto hosts a black-tie cocktail reception at the company’s high-rise office building. During the party, a young man named Eddie Sakamura slips away to the empty forty-sixth floor boardroom with his professional hired escort, Cheryl Lynn Austin. Around 9:00 p.m., Los Angeles Police Lieutenant Web Smith receives a call from his former partner, Tom Graham, informing him that Cheryl has been murdered. Graham assigns Smith to investigate along with retired police captain and Japanese cultural expert John Connor. Smith wonders if Connor can be trusted, but the senior officer proves to be an effective liaison when a Nakamoto representative named Ishihara refuses to cooperate with police. Once inside the boardroom, the detectives find indications that Cheryl was asphyxiated during a session of sadomasochistic intercourse. Afterward, they speak with the American security guard on duty, who reveals that the Japanese security team bugged the boardroom with highly advanced camera technology to record all the negotiations with MicroCon on laserdisc. Connor notices that the forty-sixth floor disc has recently been replaced in an effort to hide evidence. As he enters the party to question Ishihara, Smith watches the security cameras and also notices that his ex-wife, a powerful lawyer, is in attendance. Using Cheryl’s business card, Connor and Smith visit the bordello where she lived. Connor finds a plastic bag and restraints tied to the bed, while Smith notices several photographs ...

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Early one February morning, executives of the Nakamoto Corporation, a Japanese weapons manufacturer, meet to discuss the purchase of struggling Los Angeles, California-based company, MicroCon. However, due to the deal’s impact on international relations, they must wait for approval from the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. To celebrate the potential sale, Nakamoto hosts a black-tie cocktail reception at the company’s high-rise office building. During the party, a young man named Eddie Sakamura slips away to the empty forty-sixth floor boardroom with his professional hired escort, Cheryl Lynn Austin. Around 9:00 p.m., Los Angeles Police Lieutenant Web Smith receives a call from his former partner, Tom Graham, informing him that Cheryl has been murdered. Graham assigns Smith to investigate along with retired police captain and Japanese cultural expert John Connor. Smith wonders if Connor can be trusted, but the senior officer proves to be an effective liaison when a Nakamoto representative named Ishihara refuses to cooperate with police. Once inside the boardroom, the detectives find indications that Cheryl was asphyxiated during a session of sadomasochistic intercourse. Afterward, they speak with the American security guard on duty, who reveals that the Japanese security team bugged the boardroom with highly advanced camera technology to record all the negotiations with MicroCon on laserdisc. Connor notices that the forty-sixth floor disc has recently been replaced in an effort to hide evidence. As he enters the party to question Ishihara, Smith watches the security cameras and also notices that his ex-wife, a powerful lawyer, is in attendance. Using Cheryl’s business card, Connor and Smith visit the bordello where she lived. Connor finds a plastic bag and restraints tied to the bed, while Smith notices several photographs of Cheryl with Eddie Sakamura. When another escort named Julia stops by to ask about Cheryl’s whereabouts, she reveals that Eddie was abusive and controlling. Connor suspects that “the bad guys” sent Julia to mislead them, and warns Smith to never underestimate the cunning of their opponents. Next, they go to Eddie’s home, where he is throwing a private after-party. After attempting to lie about his association with Cheryl, Eddie admits that he brought her to the Nakamoto gala and promises to call Smith later with pertinent information. Connor agrees to trust him, because Eddie’s father, a prominent businessman, once saved his life in Japan. Back at the police station, Ishihara hands over the missing security laserdisc for fear of a public scandal. Connor, Smith, and Graham watch footage of Cheryl having sex with a shadowy figure on the boardroom table, and identify Eddie Sakamura in one of the frames. Although Connor remains skeptical, Smith and Graham decide to raid Eddie’s house at 2:11 a.m. Eddie flees in his sports car, but crashes on the highway in a fiery explosion. The next morning, Smith awakens to find that Eddie left him a message at 2:10 a.m., pleading, “Urgent! Must speak about missing disc.” He rushes to tell Connor, who is in the middle of a round of golf with his friend, Nakamoto president Yoshida-san. While he waits for them to finish, Smith receives a message from one of his co-workers warning that Willy “the Weasel” Wilhelm, a notoriously devious reporter now tied to the Japanese, has uncovered old bribery charges against Smith and Graham. Leaving the country club, Connor admits he confiscated the laserdisc and had it analyzed by a computer expert named Jingo Asakuma, who indicates that the disc was actually a modified copy in which Eddie’s face was digitally pasted over that of the killer. Despite this evidence, Graham pressures Smith to give him the disc so he can close the case. That afternoon, influential U.S. Senator John Morton asks the detectives if the murder is linked to the MicroCon sale, and politely urges them to discontinue their investigation. Afterward, Smith learns that reporter Willy Wilhelm leaked details about the bribery charge to his ex-wife, who now demands sole custody of the Smiths’ daughter. Smith has a breakdown, and the two officers return to his apartment, where they find Eddie Sakamura still alive. Eddie reveals that he was not driving his car when it crashed, and gives them the original, unaltered laserdisc. Just then, Graham arrives and begs Smith to drop the case. Although Graham pretends to fret about the lingering bribery charges, Connor realizes he is actually working with the Japanese and wants to cover up the murder. As Connor and Smith smuggle Eddie out of the building, the young man is killed by a group of Japanese gunmen planted outside. Smith is shot in the crossfire and blacks out, but a bulletproof vest prevents any serious injury. When he revives, he is interrogated by Police Chief Olson, who is also working with the Japanese. Olson forces Smith to take a leave of absence. Although police cannot locate Connor, Smith finds him back at Jingo Asakuma’s laboratory analyzing the original laserdisc. The footage reveals that Cheryl actually passed out after having sex with Senator Morton, and was later killed by a Nakamoto employee who knew how to carefully evade security cameras. Connor explains that Eddie, son of Nakamoto’s corporate rival, likely offered Cheryl’s services to the senator so he would vote against the MicroCon sale. Smith sends still photographs of the video to Senator Morton, who panics and commits suicide. Meanwhile, Connor, Smith, and Jingo barge into a meeting between Nakamoto and MicroCon to present the unaltered evidence. Yoshida-san is furious to learn about the attempted cover-up, and Bob Richmond, Nakamoto’s U.S. liaison, suddenly flees the building. Connor and Smith give chase to an adjacent construction site, but are unable to catch up to Richmond, who is pushed into a plot of freshly poured quick-dry concrete by two of Eddie Sakamoto’s friends. Smith and Connor part ways, confident that they uncovered the true identity of Cheryl’s killer. However, Jingo later wonders if Richmond really was guilty, or just took the fall for one of his superiors at the company.

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