The Devotion of Suspect X - Keigo Higashino [24]
“Yes … is that bad?”
“No, I’ll worry about that. You just do as we discussed. All right?”
“Yes.”
“Right,” Ishigami said, turning to set down the receiver.
“Oh, um, Mr. Ishigami?” Yasuko’s voice came softly.
“Yes?”
“Thank you. Thank you for everything. We’re in your debt.”
“No…” Ishigami paused. “Don’t mention it,” he said, and he hung up the phone.
When Yasuko said “Thank you,” he had felt a tingle rush through his body. Now his face was flushed, and he welcomed the night breeze on his skin. He was even sweating a little.
Ishigami headed home, elated. But his high didn’t last long when he remembered what she had said about Benten-tei.
He realized that he had made a mistake when talking to the detectives. When they asked how well he knew Yasuko, he had only told them that they said hello when they chanced to meet. He should also have told them about the lunchbox shop.
* * *
“Did you confirm Yasuko Hanaoka’s alibi?”
Mamiya had called Kusanagi and Kishitani over to his desk. He was clipping his nails.
“The karaoke box checked out,” Kusanagi reported. “The person at the desk there knew her face. And they were in the book, from nine forty for an hour and a half.”
“What about before that?”
“Considering the time, they probably caught the seven o’clock show at the theater. It ended at nine ten. If they went to eat ramen after that, their story holds,” Kusanagi said, looking over his notes.
“I didn’t ask if their story held, I asked if you checked it out.”
Kusanagi closed his notebook. His shoulders sagged. “Just the karaoke box.”
“You call that doing your job, Detective?” Mamiya asked, glaring up at him.
“C’mon, Chief. You know it’s almost impossible to check out alibis in theaters and ramen shops.”
One ear listening to Kusanagi, Mamiya pulled out a business card and threw it on the desk. The card read “Club Marian.” It gave an address in Kinshicho.
“What’s that?”
“The place where Ms. Yasuko used to work. Togashi dropped in there on the fifth of March.”
“Five days before he was murdered.”
“Apparently, he was asking about Yasuko. Anyway, I think that’s more than enough for even you to figure out what I’m getting at.” Mamiya pointed to the door behind the two detectives. “I want you to go and check out that alibi, every bit of it. If anything doesn’t fit, I want you to go back and talk to this Yasuko again.”
FIVE
A small pole about thirty centimeters long stuck up from a square box on the lab table. There was a ring, only a few centimeters across, encircling the base of the pole. The strange item would have looked a bit like a carnival ring-toss game were it not for the cord snaking out of the side of the box and the single toggle switch on top.
“What the heck’s this?” Kusanagi muttered, bending down to stare at the device.
“I wouldn’t touch that if I were you,” warned Kishitani beside him.
“Nah, I’m sure it’s fine. If this thing were dangerous, he never would’ve left it lying out here like this.” Kusanagi flicked the switch. The moment he did so, the ring around the pole began to float upward.
Kusanagi gaped. The ring was hovering in midair, wobbling slightly.
“Try pushing the ring down,” came a voice from behind him.
Kusanagi looked around as Yukawa walked into the room, a file folder cradled in his arms.
“Welcome back. Class?” Kusanagi asked as he turned back to the floating ring. Reaching out gingerly, he tried to push it down with his fingertips. A second later he yanked back his hand. “Yowch! That thing’s hot!”
“It’s true, I’m not in the habit of leaving dangerous objects lying about. I do, however, assume a basic knowledge of physics.” Yukawa strolled over to the table and flicked off the switch. “This device is only high school–level physics, as a matter of fact.”
“Well, I didn’t take physics in high school,” Kusanagi said, blowing on his fingertips. Kishitani laughed immoderately.
“Who’s your friend?” Yukawa asked with a raised eyebrow.
The smile vanished from Kishitani’s face and he bowed curtly. “Kishitani. I work with Detective Kusanagi. I’ve heard