The Devotion Of Suspect X (12 page)

“Now don’t go scaring her with your foolishness,” Yonazawa scoffed at his wife.

“You never know! Wasn’t the detective saying that Togashi had been asking around at Marian for Yasuko?” Marian was the club in Kinshicho where Yasuko and Sayoko had worked. “He said it would have made sense for him to come here next. He was suspicious of something. I saw it on his face.”

“Well, maybe—but that Togashi never did show up here, so we don’t have to worry about it, do we?”

“That’s why I said I’m glad he didn’t. If he had, then mark my words, the poor girl wouldn’t get a moment’s peace.”

Yonazawa frowned and shook his head, unconcerned. Yasuko wondered how he’d react if he found out that Togashi really had come to the shop. She felt a knot form in her stomach.

“Well, either way, it can’t be pleasant. You just need to hang in there, Yasuko,” Sayoko said brightly. “Of course the police will be investigating you; he was your ex-husband, after all. But once they are satisfied you had nothing to do with it, they’ll leave you be. And then you’ll be really free at last. I know Togashi was still hanging around your neck.”

Yasuko forced herself to smile.

“To be perfectly honest, I’m glad he got himself killed,” Sayoko said emphatically.

“Hey now.” Yonazawa frowned.

“Oh, what’s the harm in telling it like it is? You just don’t know how much trouble poor Yasuko went through on that man’s account.”

“And you do?”

“Well, I have an idea—Yasuko’s told me quite a bit. She started working at Marian just to get away from him, isn’t that true? And when I think about him snooping around there looking for her—why, it just gives me the shivers. I don’t know who killed him, but I’d like to shake their hand.”

Yonazawa rolled his eyes and stood. Sayoko, looking disgruntled, watched him leave, then turned to Yasuko. “Still, you have to wonder what did happen. Maybe some loan shark finally caught up with him?”

“Who knows?” Yasuko shrugged.

“Well, I hope you’re spared the worst of it. That’s all I’m concerned about,” Sayoko said quickly, picking up the last bit of bean cake and popping it in her mouth.

Yasuko returned to the front of the shop, the conversation weighing on her spirit. It was clear that the Yonazawas didn’t suspect anything. To the contrary, they were concerned that the whole investigation was going to be a nuisance for her. It hurt to deceive them, but they would be in for far more trouble if she were arrested. That would be sure to hurt business at Benten-tei. She really had no other choice but to continue to conceal the truth from them.

She went about her work mechanically as the afternoon wore on, haunted by thoughts of her predicament. Each time her mind began to wander, she forced herself to focus on the task at hand, concentrating on the customers as best she could.

It was approaching six o’clock, and no customers had been in for a while, when the shop door swung open.

“Welcome,” Yasuko said reflexively. Then she glanced at the new arrival. Her eyes widened. “My…”

“Heya.” The man who stood before her smiled, wrinkles forming at the corners of his eyes.

“Mr. Kudo!” Yasuko put her hands to her open mouth. “What are you doing here?”

“What do you mean? I’m here to buy a lunch box,” Kudo said, looking up at the row of pictures showing the various boxed lunches they had for sale. “Say, pretty nice selection you got here.”

“They told you where to find me at Marian.”

“Something like that.” He grinned. “I dropped by there the other day. First time in a while.”

Yasuko called into the back of the shop, “Sayoko! Come quick! You’re never going to believe this!”

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Sayoko asked, rushing out.

“It’s Mr. Kudo!” Yasuko answered, smiling. “He’s come to visit!”

“What? Mr. Kudo…?” Sayoko came out from the back, taking off her apron. When she saw the man standing there in his coat, smiling, her mouth opened wide. “Why, Kudo! It is you!”

“You both look well. How are you and the old man getting along,
mama
? From the looks of your place, I’d say quite well.”

“Oh, we get by. It’s so nice to see you again! To what do we owe the honor?”

“Nothing much, I just wanted to see your faces again,” Kudo replied, with a glance at Yasuko. He was scratching the tip of his nose—an old habit. Yasuko remembered that was something he did when he was feeling particularly shy about something.

Kudo had been a regular at the club in Akasaka when Yasuko first started working there. He had always asked for her at the club, and once or twice, they had even gone to dinner before her shift started. Sometimes, when club hours were over, they had gone out drinking. When she had moved on to Club Marian in Kinshicho to escape Togashi, Kudo was the only customer she had told. He’d quickly become a regular at her new workplace. He was also the first she had told when she quit Marian. She remembered the sad look on his face. “Work hard, and be happy,” he had said.

She hadn’t seen him since.

Yonazawa came out from the back of the shop, and soon they were all exchanging old stories. The two men knew each other well, both having been regulars at Club Marian.

After they had all talked for a while, Sayoko suggested that Yasuko leave early so that she and Kudo could go out for tea. Yonazawa nodded in assent.

Yasuko looked at Kudo.

“Only if you have time?” he asked. Of course, he had probably come close to closing time with this in mind.

“Just for a little while, then,” she replied, smiling.

They left the shop, walking toward Shin-Ohashi Road.

“Truth be told, I’d rather be taking you out to dinner, but I’ll let you off the hook today. I’m sure your daughter’s expecting you at home,” Kudo said as they walked. She had told him about her daughter shortly after getting to know him at Akasaka.

“Speaking of which, how’s your son?”

“Great. He’s a senior already. Makes my head hurt just thinking about college exams,” he said, grimacing for effect.

Kudo was the manager of a small printing company. He lived in Osaki, in southern Tokyo, with his wife and son.

They went into a coffee shop along the road. Yasuko avoided the family restaurant near the intersection where she had met with Togashi.

“I went to Marian to ask after you,” Kudo told her. “I remember you telling me that you were going to work at a lunch box place with
mama
Sayoko after you quit, but I didn’t know where that was.”

“You just remembered me, out of the blue?”

“Yeah, well, not exactly.” Kudo lit a cigarette. “I heard about the murder on the news, and started to worry about you. Sorry to hear about your ex.”

“Oh … I’m surprised you knew it was him.”

Kudo chuckled, blowing out smoke. “Of course I knew it was him. The name ‘Togashi’ was right up there on the screen, and I’d never forget that face.”

“… I’m sorry.”

“Nothing for you to apologize about,” Kudo laughed, waving his hand dismissively.

She knew Kudo had a thing for her, of course. In truth, she was rather fond of him, too. Yet their relationship had always been strictly platonic. On more than one occasion he had invited her to join him at a hotel, but she had always refused as pleasantly as she could. She lacked the courage to have an affair with a man who was married with children, and she was, at the time, married, too, though she hid that from Kudo and her other customers.

Kudo had finally met Togashi once when seeing Yasuko home. She always had the taxi drop her off a short distance from her apartment, and that night was no exception. But she had left her cigarette case behind in the taxi. Kudo had discovered it and followed her out of the taxi to return it. He had seen her go inside the apartment, so he’d knocked on the door. But when the door opened, it wasn’t Yasuko, but a stranger who had answered—Togashi.

Togashi had been drunk. When he saw Kudo standing there outside the door, breathless, he had immediately assumed it was one of her customers who just couldn’t take no for an answer. Before Kudo could even explain himself, Togashi had flown into a rage and started throwing punches. If Yasuko hadn’t come out of the shower to stop them, there was no knowing how far it would have gone.

A few days later, Yasuko took Togashi with her to Kudo’s workplace to apologize. Togashi had been on his best behavior. He knew full well what would happen if Kudo filed a police report.

Yet Kudo had shown no rancor. All he had done was warn Togashi that he couldn’t let his wife work at nightclubs forever. Although Togashi clearly didn’t appreciate the criticism, he’d said nothing in return and merely bowed his head.

Even after that, Kudo had continued coming to the club as usual, always treating Yasuko exactly the same as before. But they had never met outside of club hours again.

As time wore on, every once in a while, Kudo had asked about Togashi when no one else was around—usually about whether he had found work. All Yasuko had been able to do was shake her head.

Kudo had been the first to notice when Togashi grew more violent. She had done the best she could to hide the bruises with makeup, but while it might have been good enough to deceive most customers, she never fooled him.

You should get an attorney, I’ll pay for it,
he once offered.

Now, years later, as they sat down with their coffee, Kudo looked over her shoulder and asked, “So, what about this whole thing? I hope you didn’t get caught up in it?”

“Well, the police have been by a few times, but that’s about all.”

“I figured they might,” Kudo said with a sigh.

“It’s really nothing to worry about,” Yasuko assured him, laughing.

“And the media haven’t been after you as well?”

“No, not at all.”

“Well, that’s good news, at least. I didn’t think Togashi’s murder was the kind of spectacular event that the media hounds tend to jump on, but you never know. If you were having trouble with them, I thought there might be something I could do to help.”

“Thank you. You’re too kind, as always.”

Kudo blushed. Looking down at the table, he reached for his coffee cup. “Well, I’m just glad to hear that you didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“Of course I didn’t. What, you thought I did?”

“Not like that. As soon as I heard the news, I was worried about you. Someone murdered your ex, after all. I don’t know who killed him or for what reason, I was just worried that it might come back around to you somehow.”

“Sayoko said the same. You all worry far too much on my account.”

“Well, seeing how good you look, I’m starting to think that maybe I
was
worrying about the whole thing a bit too much. You’ve been divorced from him for a few years now, too. Had you seen him recently?”

“Seen him?”

“Yeah, Togashi.”

“Not at all,” she replied, feeling the muscles in her face tighten.

Thankfully, Kudo switched topics and began talking about his life. The economy was in a downturn, but his company had managed to tread water so far. When he talked about his home life, he only mentioned his son. This had always been the case. Yasuko knew nothing about Kudo’s relationship with his wife, though she had always imagined them getting along well. One thing Yasuko had discovered during her time working as a hostess was that men who were good listeners and truly cared about other people’s problems generally came from happy homes.

When they left the coffee shop, it was raining.

“This is my fault,” Kudo apologized to Yasuko. “You could have beat the rain if you’d gone straight home.”

Yasuko shook her head. “Don’t be silly.”

“You live far from here?”

“Only about ten minutes by bicycle.”

“Bicycle? Oh dear.” Kudo bit his lip, looking up at the clouds.

“It’s okay. I have a folding umbrella in my bag, and my bicycle’s at the shop. I’ll walk home and just go in a little early tomorrow.”

“Let me give you a lift.”

“No, it’s all right.”

But Kudo was already stepping out into the street, hailing a cab.

“Let’s have dinner next time,” Kudo said as the taxi pulled out into the street, the two of them in the back. “Your daughter can come along, too, if that works better.”

“You don’t have to worry about her—but what about you?”

“Oh, I’m fine anytime. Not that busy these days.”

“Oh. Right.”

What she had meant was,
What about your wife?
but she decided not to press the matter. She sensed that he got her drift but was avoiding the topic.

He asked for her cell number, and she gave it to him. She couldn’t think of a good reason not to.

Kudo had the taxi take them right to her apartment. She was sitting on the inside, by the door that didn’t open, so they both had to get out.

“Jump back in or you’ll get wet,” she said, standing out on the sidewalk.

“Right. Till next time.”

Yasuko merely nodded and smiled.

As Kudo got back into the taxi, he glanced past her, his eyes fixing on something. She turned around to see what it was, and discovered a man standing at the bottom of the stairs, umbrella in hand. It was too dark to see his face, but from the shape of his body she realized it was Ishigami.

Ishigami started walking down the street now, moving slowly. From the look on Kudo’s face, Yasuko imagined that Ishigami had been standing there watching the two of them as they got out of the taxi.

“I’ll call,” Kudo said through the window before signaling for the driver to leave.

Yasuko watched the taillights of the cab as it pulled away. Only then did she realize that her heart was fluttering. How many years had it been since she had spent time with a man who actually made her happy?

She watched as the taxi drove past Ishigami on his way down the sidewalk.

When she got back to her apartment, Misato was watching television.

“Anything happen today?” Yasuko asked.

Misato knew perfectly well she wasn’t asking about school.

“Nope. Nothing. Mika didn’t say anything, either. I don’t think the police have talked to her yet.”

“Okay.”

Moments later, Yasuko’s cell phone rang. The display showed that the call was coming from a public phone.