The Devotion of Suspect X - Keigo Higashino [97]
There was a knock at the door. Yasuko answered it, and a young detective leaned into the room. He was a member of the team that had been searching Ishigami’s apartment.
“Can I have a moment with you, Detective Kusanagi?”
“Sure.” Kusanagi nodded and headed for the door.
In the next apartment, Mamiya was sitting in the chair by the desk. The PC monitor on the table next to him was glowing. Elsewhere in the room, young detectives were packing things in cardboard boxes to take back to the station as evidence.
Mamiya pointed at the wall next to the bookshelf. “Take a look.”
Kusanagi gasped despite himself.
The wallpaper had been removed from a corner of the wall, and a square had been cut out of the drywall behind it. A thin cord dangled from the hole; on the end of the cord was a small earphone.
“Have a listen.”
Kusanagi placed the earphone into his ear and immediately could hear voices.
“If we can confirm what Ishigami is telling us, things should proceed pretty quickly. I don’t think we’ll be bothering you too much more after that, Ms. Hanaoka.”
It was Kishitani. The sound was a little fuzzy, but perfectly audible. Kusanagi glanced back at Mamiya. He wouldn’t have believed the people he was listening to were on the other side of the wall if he hadn’t seen it himself. He listened again for a moment.
“… will Ishigami be charged with?”
“That will have to be determined by the court. But it’s a pretty clear case of murder, so I should think he’ll be put away for quite some time—that is, assuming he doesn’t get the death sentence. In any case, he won’t be bothering you anymore, Ms. Hanaoka.”
For a detective, he talks way too much, Kusanagi thought, removing the earphone.
“We should show this to Ms. Hanaoka afterward. Ishigami says she knew about it, but I have my doubts about that,” Mamiya said.
“You mean Yasuko Hanaoka had no idea what Ishigami was up to?”
“I heard you talking to her over that earphone,” Mamiya said with a grin. “It’s pretty cut and dried. Ishigami was a classic stalker. Delusions of sharing some kind of bond with his target, trying to get rid of every other man who gets close to her. No wonder he hated her ex-husband.”
Kusanagi grunted.
“Why the frown? Something not sitting right with you?”
“No, it’s just I thought I had a good grasp on this Ishigami fellow, but everything he’s been telling us lately doesn’t seem to fit with my image of him. It’s confusing.”
“A man has many faces. Stalkers are never the people you think there are.”
“I know that, just … you find anything other than the listening device?”
Mamiya nodded grandly. “The kotatsu cord, for one. It was in a box along with his kotatsu in the closet. An insulated cord, too—the same kind as the one used to strangle the man. If we can find a trace of the victim’s skin on it, we’re golden.”
“Anything else?”
“Take a look.” Mamiya pushed the computer mouse back and forth on the desk. His motions were jerky; he was clearly unfamiliar with using a mouse. Kusanagi guessed that someone had just taught him. “Here.”
He had opened a wordprocessing program. A page full of writing showed on the screen. Kusanagi peered at the words.
As you can tell by the enclosed pictures, I have discovered the identity of the man you see frequently.
I must ask, what is this man to you?
If you’re having a relationship, that would be a serious betrayal.
Don’t you understand what I’ve done for you?
I believe I have the right to tell you what to do in this matter. You must stop seeing this man immediately.
If you do not, my anger will be directed at him.
It would be a simple thing for me to lead this man to the same fate Togashi suffered. I have both the resolve and the means to do this.
Let me repeat, if you’re engaged in a relationship with this man, that is a betrayal I cannot forgive, and I will have my revenge.
SEVENTEEN
Yukawa stood at the laboratory window,