The Devotion of Suspect X - Keigo Higashino [68]
“I’ll give you a lift,” Kudo said after paying the bill.
“It’s all right. I’ll take the train.”
“No, let me give you a ride.”
“Really, it’s okay. I need to do some shopping.”
“Hmph,” Kudo grumbled, but in the end he saw her off cheerily. “All right, well, I’ll see you later, then. It’s all right if I give you a ring?”
“Of course, and thanks for the tea.” Yasuko returned his smile before walking away.
She was at a crosswalk making for Shinagawa Station when her cell phone began to ring. Still walking, Yasuko pulled out her phone and looked at the display. It was Sayoko at Benten-tei.
“Yes?”
“Hey, Yasuko? It’s Sayoko. Can you talk?” There was a strange tension in her voice.
“Sure, what’s wrong?”
“I just wanted to tell you that the detectives dropped by again after you left today. They were asking some strange questions. I thought you should know.”
Gripping her cell phone tightly, Yasuko closed her eyes. Those policemen were at it again, weaving a spiderweb around her wherever she went.
“What do you mean, ‘strange’?” she asked uneasily.
“They were asking about that guy. The high school teacher? What was his name again? Ishigami?”
Yasuko almost dropped the phone. “What about him?” Her voice was trembling.
“Well, they said they’d heard there was someone who came to buy our lunches just to see you, and they wanted to know who he was and what he did. I think they might have heard something from Kudo.”
“Kudo?”
Yasuko couldn’t imagine how this had anything to do with him.
“Yasuko, I think I might’ve said something to him once … and he must’ve told that to the police.”
Now it made sense to Yasuko. The detectives had talked to Kudo, heard about Ishigami, then gone to Benten-tei to corroborate what he told them.
“And what did you say, Sayoko?”
“Well, I didn’t want to raise any suspicions by hiding it, so I told them the truth. I told them he was a schoolteacher who lived next to you. But that we had just been guessing about his reasons for coming. It’s not like he told us anything.”
Yasuko’s mouth was dry. So the police had finally found Ishigami. Had it been Kudo who put them on the trail? Or was there some other reason they were watching him?
“Hello? Yasuko?”
“Yeah, sorry.”
“Anyway, that’s what I told them. I hope that was okay? I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?”
She had, but that was the last thing Yasuko could admit.
“No, not at all. I can’t see how it would be a problem. He’s certainly got nothing to do with all this.”
“That’s what I thought. I just wanted you to know that the detectives had come back.”
“Right, thanks.”
Yasuko hung up. Her stomach churned; she wanted to throw up.
She felt sick and queasy all the way back to her apartment. She stopped to do some shopping at a supermarket on the way, but couldn’t even remember what she had bought by the time she made it home.
* * *
Ishigami was at his computer when he heard the door of the next apartment open and close. There were three photos up on his screen: two of Kudo, and one of Yasuko as she went into the hotel. He had wanted to get a shot of the two of them together, but he’d been worried that Kudo would spot him; and if Yasuko had happened to see him, too, there would have been a scene. So he had let his better judgment prevail and kept his distance.
Ishigami imagined the worst-case scenario. He’d need these photos then, for sure. He just hoped it never came to that.
He glanced at the clock on his desk before standing. It was almost eight o’clock in the evening. Yasuko and Kudo hadn’t been together for very long. He couldn’t help but make note of how that fact put him at ease.
Telephone card in his pocket, the mathematician left his apartment and walked down the street as usual, taking a careful look around to make sure he wasn’t being watched.
He thought about the detective, Kusanagi. It was strange. Even when Kusanagi had come asking about Yasuko, Ishigami had gotten the feeling that the man was really there because he wanted to know about Manabu Yukawa. What sort of