Spiral Read Free

callously. But, in truth, his friendship or lack of it with the deceased had no effect on how he wielded his scalpel.
    "Excuse me, Ms Takano," the lieutenant broke in. "Would you mind telling the doctor exactly what you told us about how you discovered the body?" He seemed determined not to let down his guard on this case just because there were no signs of foul play. There was no time to waste in exchanging fond memories of the dear departed.
    He'd brought Mai here for the express purpose of having her present her story to Ando. She'd been the first person to see the body, and Ando was the medical examiner in charge of the autopsy. Hopefully between them they could establish the cause of death. That was why they were gathered here today.
    In a hushed tone, Mai began to tell Ando more or less the same story she'd told the police the night before.
    "I had just gotten out of the bath and was blow-drying my hair when the phone rang. I looked at my watch immediately. I suppose it's a habit of mine. If I know what time it is when the phone rings, I can usually guess who it is. Professor Takayama rarely called me; usually, I called him. And he hardly ever called after nine o'clock. So, at first, I didn't think it was him. I picked up the receiver, said 'Hello,' and a moment later I heard a scream from the other end of the line. At first I thought it was a prank. I held the phone away from my ear, in surprise, but then the scream faded into a moan, and then it gave out altogether. I felt like I was wrapped in… in a stillness not of this world… I brought the receiver back to my ear and listened for signs of anything, all the while dreading what I might find out. And then, suddenly, like a switch flicking on, Professor Takayama's face was in my mind. I recognized the scream. It sounded like him. I hung up the phone and then dialed his number, but the line was busy. And so I concluded that it was he who had called, and that something bad had happened to him."
    "So you and Ryuji didn't have any sort of conversation?" Ando asked.
    She shook her head. "No. I just heard that scream."
    Ando scribbled something on a memo pad and urged her to continue. "What happened next?"
    "I went to his apartment to see what had happened. It took me about an hour to get there, by train. And when I went in… he was there, by the bed in the room past the kitchen…"
    "The front door was unlocked?"
    "He'd… given me a key." She said this with a certain artless bashfulness.
    "No, what I mean is-it was locked from the inside, then?"
    "Yes, it was."
    "So then, you went in," Ando prompted her.
    "Professor Takayama had his head on the bed, facing up, his arms and legs spread out." Her voice caught. She shook her head vigorously as if to repel the scene replaying itself before her eyes.
    Ando hardly needed her to elaborate. He had the photos before him. They spoke of Ryuji's lifeless body more eloquently than words could.
    Ando used the pictures as a fan to send a breeze over his sweaty brow. "Was there anything different about the room?"
    "Nothing that I noticed… Except, the phone was off the hook. I could hear a whining sound coming from it."
    Ando tried to collate the information he'd gleaned from the incident report and Mai's story to reconstruct the situation. Ryuji had sensed something was wrong with him and had called his lover, Mai Takano. He must have hoped she could help him. But then why hadn't he called 911? You have a sudden pain in your chest-if you have the time and strength to use the phone, normally your first call would be for an ambulance.
    "Who dialed 911?"
    "I did."
    "From where?"
    "Professor Takayama's apartment."
    "And he hadn't done so, correct?" Ando shot a glance at the lieutenant, who nodded. He'd already confirmed that there had been no request for an ambulance from the deceased.
    Ando briefly considered the possibility of a suicide. Distraught at his lover's cruel treatment of him, a man decides to take his own life and swallows