"hello, mr. patel. my name is tomohiro okamoto. i amfrom the maritime department in the japanese ministry oftransport. this is my assistant, atsuro chiba. we have cometo see you about the sinking of the ship tsimtsum , of whichyou were a passenger. would it be possible to talk to younow?""yes, of course.""thank you. it is very kind of you. [translation] now,atsuro-kun, you're new at this, so payattention and see to learn." "yes, okamoto-san." "is the taperecorder on?" "yes it is." "good. oh i'm so tired! for therecord, today is february 19th, 1978. case file number250663, concerning the disappearance of the cargo shiptsimtsum.

[/translation] are youcomfortable, mr. patel?" "yes, i am. thank you. and you?""we are very comfortable." "you've come all the way fromtokyo?" "we were in long beach, california. we drove down.""did you have a good trip?" "we had a wonderful trip. it wasa beautiful drive." "i had a terrible trip." "yes, we spoke to thepolice before coming here and we saw the lifeboat." "i'm a littlehungry." "would you like a cookie?" "oh, yes!" "here you go.""thank you!""you're welcome. it's only a cookie. now, mr. patel, we werewondering if you could tell us what happened to you, with asmuch detail as possible.""yes. i'd be happy to."