Spiral Read Online Free PDF Page B

sarcoma?"
    "That's right. We haven't determined yet if the cells belong to a specific tissue or if it's an undifferentiated tumor, but at the very least, we've never seen it before in the tunica intima or tunica media. Simply put, he developed a strange lump that blocked his blood flow."
    "So these were like cancer cells?"
    "It's probably safe to think of it in those terms. But normally, sarcomas don't occur inside blood vessels. It's impossible."
    "But when the test results come back, you'll know what caused the sarcoma, right?"
    Ando shook his head, laughing. "Unless there are other symptoms, we probably won't. I'm sure I don't even have to mention AIDS as an example
    Even in today's world, in which science, seemingly, is omnipotent, there are still a whole host of illnesses whose causes are unknown. There was no way to tell whether the symptom in question would prove to be part of a larger, identifiable syndrome or not.
    Ando continued. "There is one more possibility. Ryuji might have had a congenital defect in his coronary artery."
    A layperson could figure out what that meant. If Ryuji had been born with that lump in his artery, it would have seriously impaired his ability to live an active life.
    "But Professor Takayama…"
    "I know. He was a track star in high school. His event was the shot-put, I believe."
    "Yes."
    "So it's hard to imagine it had been there since birth. Which is why I want to ask you if Ryuji ever complained about pains in his chest, that sort of thing."
    Ando's relationship with Ryuji had basically ended upon graduation. They said "hi" if they passed each other in the hall at the university, but that was about it. Ando certainly wouldn't have noticed any change in Ryuji's physical condition.
    "We were together for less than two years."
    "That's fine. Did he ever mention anything to you during that period?"
    "He was tougher than other people. I can't even remember him catching a cold. He wasn't the type to whine, though, so even if he had a problem he might not have mentioned it. I certainly never noticed anything."
    "Nothing? Nothing at all?"
    "Well… that's just it, you see."
    Ando remembered suddenly that he hadn't called Mai here to give her a report on the autopsy. She had summoned him, to tell him about something that had happened when she'd been going over Ryuji's papers the night of the wake.
    "Right. Well, let's hear it."
    "I'm not sure if it has any connection with the professor's death, though." Mai was maddeningly cute as she dithered. Ando fixed her with an intense gaze, trying to urge her onward.
    "Please tell me."
    "Well, ten nights ago, I slipped out of the wake early. I went to the professor's apartment to put in order an unpublished article of his. While I was doing that, the phone rang. I didn't know what to do, but in the end I picked up the receiver. It was 'Asakawa', a friend of the professor's from high school."
    "Do you know this person?"
    "We'd met once. We ran into each other at the professor's apartment four or five days before he died."
    "A man?"
    "Of course."
    "Right. And?"
    "He didn't seem to know that the professor had died. So I told him, briefly, about what had happened the night before. Mr Asakawa seemed really shocked. He said he'd be right over."
    "Meaning…"
    "To Professor Takayama's apartment."
    "Did he show up?"
    "Yes, much sooner than I'd expected. He came in and glanced all around the apartment as if he were searching for something. And he asked me over and over if I had noticed anything. He looked like a man driven into a corner. He kept asking me if I'd noticed anything strange about the place immediately after the professor's death. But what really struck me as odd was what he said next."
    She paused and sipped some water.
    "So… what did he say?"
    "I remember it exactly. He said: 'He didn't tell you anything there at the end? No last words? Nothing, say, about a videotape?'"
    "A videotape?"
    "Yes. Strange, isn't it?"
    What an unexpected, inappropriate