The Devotion of Suspect X - Keigo Higashino [9]
Opening the door at last, she found Ishigami’s large round face hovering just outside. His narrow eyes stared in at Yasuko. There was no discernable expression on his face; it gave Yasuko the chills.
“Um, er, can I help you?” Yasuko said, managing a smile, even as she felt the muscles in her forehead twitch.
“I heard some noise,” Ishigami said, his face still impossible to read. “Did something happen?”
“Oh, no, nothing,” she replied, shaking her head vigorously. “S-Sorry to have bothered you.”
“Well, if you’re sure it’s nothing,” Ishigami replied, his eyes wandering toward the room behind her.
Yasuko’s skin was on fire. She said the first thing that came to mind. “It was a bug. A cockroach.”
“A cockroach?”
“Yes. A cockroach on the wall, and I—my daughter and I were trying to get it. I’m afraid we made quite a ruckus…”
“Did you kill it?”
Yasuko’s face hardened. “What?”
“The cockroach. Did you kill it?”
“Yes … yes, we did,” Yasuko said, bowing her head with each word. “Killed it good. Everything’s fine. Thanks.”
“I see. Well, if there’s ever anything I can help with, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you very much. I’m sorry. Really sorry. For all the noise.” Yasuko bowed her head deeply and shut the door. Then she locked it. Only when she’d heard Ishigami return to his own apartment and shut the door behind him did she allow herself a deep breath. Then she crouched down, putting her hands to the floor to keep from toppling over.
She heard the sliding door open behind her. “Mom?”
After a long moment Yasuko stood shakily. She glanced at the bulge in the kotatsu cover and a new wave of despair came crashing down on her. “We didn’t have a choice,” she said at last.
“What are we going to do?” Misato asked, looking up at her mother.
“What can we do but call the police?”
“You’re going to turn yourself in?”
“You have a better idea? He’s dead. I killed him.”
“But what’ll happen to you?”
“I don’t know.” Yasuko pulled back her disheveled hair. She realized that she must have looked frightful. She wondered what the mathematician next door had thought. Not that it mattered.
“Will you go to jail?” Misato asked.
“Well, I suppose so, yes.” Yasuko’s lips shaped a smile. She could already feel herself giving up. “I did kill him, after all.”
Misato shook her head violently. “But that’s not fair!”
“Why not?”
“It’s not your fault. It was all his fault. He was gone, history! But he kept coming back, tormenting you, and me … You shouldn’t have to go to jail for him.”
“Murder is murder. Everything else is just details.”
Oddly enough, Yasuko could feel her own feelings coming under control as she explained the situation to Misato. She could almost be coolheaded about the whole affair. And as soon as she began to calm down, she started wondering if it was really true that she had no other option. She hadn’t wanted Misato to grow up the daughter of a nightclub hostess. A murderer’s daughter had to be worse. But she couldn’t think of a way out. Still, even if there was no getting around the fact of what had happened, at least she could try to make both of them look as good as possible in the eye of the public.
Yasuko saw the cordless phone where it lay in a corner of the room. She went over and picked it up.
“Mom, no!” Misato darted across the room, trying to take the receiver from her mother’s hand.
“Let go!”
“No, you can’t!” Misato shouted, grabbing Yasuko’s wrist. She had a strong grip, probably from those hours of badminton practice after school.
“Let go of me, please.”
“No, Mom, I won’t let you do it. I’d rather turn myself in.”
“Nonsense! What are you talking about?”
Misato shot her mother a defiant look. “I hit him first. You were just trying to save me from him. And even after it all started, I helped. I killed him, too.”
Yasuko’s body stiffened, and her grip on the phone weakened. Misato snatched it from her hand. Hugging it to herself she went to the far corner of the room, turning her back on her mother.
Yasuko thought