The Devotion of Suspect X - Keigo Higashino [53]
“How can those stubs help you do that?”
“Well, I can’t really say, but they might be of some use. The best thing would be if we could prove that you did go to the movies on the day you say you did … tell me, you haven’t thought of anything else, have you—anything unusual from that day?”
“No, nothing more than what I’ve already said.”
“Right, thank you,” Kishitani said, his eyes wandering around the room.
“Sure has been cold lately, hasn’t it? You use that electric kotatsu there every winter?”
“The kotatsu? I suppose…” Yasuko said, turning around to glance at the heated table, in part to hide her shock from the detective. He couldn’t have mentioned the kotatsu purely by accident.
“How long have you had that kotatsu for?”
“Oh, I don’t know … four, maybe five years. Is there something wrong?”
“No, not at all,” Kishitani said, shaking his head. “By the way, did you go someplace after work today? I noticed you came home late.”
Yasuko blinked, the question taking her by surprise. She realized that the police must have been waiting for her by her apartment. Which meant they had probably seen her getting out of the taxi.
I’d better not lie.
“I went out to dinner with a friend,” she answered, trying to keep her answer as vague as possible, but of course that wasn’t enough to satisfy the detective.
“The man who was with you in the taxi? Right. I was wondering, how do you know him? If you don’t mind me asking,” the detective said, almost bashfully.
“Do I have to tell you where I went to dinner, too?”
“If it’s not a problem, ma’am. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to pry into your personal affairs, but if I don’t ask about it then my boss will complain when I get back to the office, see?” Kishitani gave a sheepish grin. “Be assured, we wouldn’t think of troubling your friend—the man you were with. If you could just tell me where you went?”
Yasuko sighed deeply. “His name is Kudo. He was a regular at the club where I used to work. He knew I had been married to Togashi and he was worried about me with the case on the news and all. He came to my work to check in on me.”
“What does he do, this Mr. Kudo?”
“I heard he runs a printing company, but I don’t know much more than that.”
“Do you have a number where we could reach him?”
Yasuko furrowed her brow and frowned.
“Please understand,” Kishitani said, nodding apologetically, “we won’t contact him unless there is some dire need—and even if we do, we will be very discreet, I assure you.”
Yasuko took out her cell phone, not bothering to hide her displeasure, and quickly read off the number Kudo had given her. The detective hurriedly scribbled the number down.
Kishitani then asked her to tell him everything she knew about Kudo. All the while that they talked, even as he kept on prying, he maintained his sheepish demeanor. Eventually, Yasuko found herself telling him everything back to the first day when Kudo had appeared at Benten-tei.
After Kishitani left, Yasuko locked the door and sat down in the entranceway. She felt overwrought, her emotions dragged out to exhaustion.
Then she heard the sound of the sliding door as Misato emerged from the back room. “They still suspect something about the movie, don’t they?” the girl said. “Everything’s happening just like Ishigami said it would. It’s pretty incredible, you know.”
“I know.” Yasuko stood and brushed her fallen bangs out of her face.
“Mom. I thought you went out to eat with the people at Benten-tei?”
Yasuko looked up. Misato was frowning.
“You were listening?”
“Of course I was.”
“Oh…” Yasuko slid her legs under the kotatsu, her head hanging. She remembered the detective asking about the kotatsu.
“How could you go out to eat with someone at a time like this?”
“I couldn’t say no. He—the person I went to dinner with–was very good to me in the past. And he came to find me because he was worried about me—about us. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it before.”
“No, Mom, I’m fine. It’s just—”
They heard the door to the next apartment open and shut. Then came the sound of footsteps, heading down the stairs.