The Devotion Of Suspect X Read Online Free PDF

to help.”
    “What?” Yasuko’s mouth hung open. What the hell was he saying?
    “How about I come over there now,”
Ishigami said, his voice hushed over the phone.
“Would that be okay?”
    “What? No, I don’t think—no, that would not be okay.” Yasuko stammered, her body breaking out in a cold sweat.
    “Ms. Hanaoka,”
Ishigami went on.
“It’s very difficult to dispose of a body. A woman can’t do it by herself.”
    Yasuko was speechless.
    He must have overheard. He must’ve been able to hear her talking with Misato. Maybe he had been listening to everything—her argument with Togashi, the struggle, everything.
    It’s over,
she thought, lowering her head. There was no escape now. She would have to turn herself in. She would just have to try to make sure that Misato’s involvement never came to light.
    “Ms. Hanaoka, are you listening to me?”
    “Um, yes. I’m listening.”
    “Can I come over then?”
    “But I just told you—” Yasuko stopped and looked at her daughter. Misato stared back at her, fear and confusion on her face.
She must really be wondering who I’m talking to.
    If Ishigami had been listening to everything from the neighboring apartment, then he knew Misato was involved in the murder. And if he were to tell the police what he knew …
    Yasuko swallowed. “Right. Okay. There is something I wanted to ask your help with anyway. Please do come over.”
    “Be right there,”
came Ishigami’s reply.
    “Who was it?” Misato asked as soon as Yasuko had hung up.
    “The teacher from next door. Mr. Ishigami.”
    “Why? How did he—”
    “I’ll explain later. You go to your room, and close the door. Quickly!”
    Still looking confused, Misato went into the back room again. At almost the same instant that the girl shut her door, Yasuko heard Ishigami step out of his apartment.
    A few moments later, the doorbell rang. Yasuko went to the entryway, unlocked the door, and removed the chain.
    Ishigami was waiting there with a curious expression on his face. For some reason, he had put on a dark navy jacket.
He wasn’t wearing that a moment ago.
    “Come in.”
    Ishigami nodded and stepped inside.
    While Yasuko locked the door behind him, the teacher stepped into the room and without the slightest hesitation pulled back the cover on the kotatsu. He went down on one knee to get a closer look at Togashi’s corpse. From his expression he seemed to be deep in thought. For the first time, Yasuko noticed that he was wearing gloves.
    Hesitantly, Yasuko joined him where he knelt. All the life had drained from Togashi’s face. Spittle, or something else—it was hard to say—had run down from his lips and dried on his skin.
    “You heard us, didn’t you?” Yasuko asked.
    “Heard? Heard what?”
    “Through the wall. You could hear us. That’s why you called.”
    Ishigami turned to Yasuko, his face blank. “I couldn’t hear you talking, if that’s what you mean. For all its faults, this building’s quite soundproof. That was one of the reasons why I moved here, actually.”
    “Then how did you—”
    “Realize what happened?”
    Yasuko nodded.
    Ishigami pointed to a corner of the room. An empty can lay there on its side. Some ash had spilled from it onto the floor.
    “When I knocked on your door a few minutes ago, I smelled cigarette smoke. Figuring you had a guest, I looked for shoes by the door, but I couldn’t see any. I glanced into the room, and noticed it looked like someone was under your kotatsu, and the cord was pulled. But if someone wanted to hide, they could’ve just gone into the back room. Which meant that the person under the kotatsu wasn’t hiding there, they
had been hidden there
. When I put that together with the thumping noises I’d heard, and the fact that your hair was unusually disheveled, it wasn’t hard to imagine what had happened. Oh, and one more thing: there aren’t any cockroaches in this building. I’ve lived here several years now and never seen