Free The Devotion Of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino

the first thing they were bound to check out would be her statement that she hadn’t seen Togashi recently. Luckily, he had already prepared her for that eventuality.
    “Did the detectives see your daughter?”
    “No, Misato was in the back room.”
    “I see. Still, they will probably want to question her before long. You know what to do if that happens, right?”
    “Yes, you were very clear. I think she’ll be okay.”
    “I don’t mean to repeat myself, but remember, there’s no need to make an act of it. She just needs to answer the questions they ask as mechanically as possible.”
    “Yes, I told her that.”
    “Did you show the police your ticket stubs?”
    “No, I didn’t. You told me I didn’t have to show them unless they asked for them specifically.”
    “Then that’s fine. By the way, where did you put the stubs?”
    “In a kitchen drawer.”
    “Put them inside the theater pamphlet. Nobody goes out of their way to store ticket stubs. They might suspect something if you have them in your drawer.”
    “Okay, I’ll take them out.”
    “By the way…” Ishigami swallowed. He tightened his grip on the receiver. “The owners at Benten-tei … do they know about me going there to buy my lunch?”
    “What…?” Yasuko asked, momentarily taken aback.
    “What I’m asking is, do the people who run the store where you work know that your neighbor comes there frequently to buy lunches? This is rather important, so please be honest.”
    “Well, yes, actually. The owners were saying they were happy you were such a reliable regular.”
    “And they know that I’m your neighbor?”
    “Yes … is that bad?”
    “No, I’ll worry about that. You just do as we discussed. All right?”
    “Yes.”
    “Right,” Ishigami said, turning to set down the receiver.
    “Oh, um, Mr. Ishigami?” Yasuko’s voice came softly.
    “Yes?”
    “Thank you. Thank you for everything. We’re in your debt.”
    “No…” Ishigami paused. “Don’t mention it,” he said, and he hung up the phone.
    When Yasuko said “Thank you,” he had felt a tingle rush through his body. Now his face was flushed, and he welcomed the night breeze on his skin. He was even sweating a little.
    Ishigami headed home, elated. But his high didn’t last long when he remembered what she had said about Benten-tei.
    He realized that he had made a mistake when talking to the detectives. When they asked how well he knew Yasuko, he had only told them that they said hello when they chanced to meet. He should also have told them about the lunchbox shop.
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    “Did you confirm Yasuko Hanaoka’s alibi?”
    Mamiya had called Kusanagi and Kishitani over to his desk. He was clipping his nails.
    “The karaoke box checked out,” Kusanagi reported. “The person at the desk there knew her face. And they were in the book, from nine forty for an hour and a half.”
    “What about before that?”
    “Considering the time, they probably caught the seven o’clock show at the theater. It ended at nine ten. If they went to eat ramen after that, their story holds,” Kusanagi said, looking over his notes.
    “I didn’t ask if their story held, I asked if you checked it out.”
    Kusanagi closed his notebook. His shoulders sagged. “Just the karaoke box.”
    “You call that doing your job, Detective?” Mamiya asked, glaring up at him.
    “C’mon, Chief. You know it’s almost impossible to check out alibis in theaters and ramen shops.”
    One ear listening to Kusanagi, Mamiya pulled out a business card and threw it on the desk. The card read “Club Marian.” It gave an address in Kinshicho.
    “What’s that?”
    “The place where Ms. Yasuko used to work. Togashi dropped in there on the fifth of March.”
    “Five days before he was murdered.”
    “Apparently, he was asking about Yasuko. Anyway, I think that’s more than enough for even you to figure out what I’m getting at.” Mamiya pointed to the door behind the two detectives. “I want you to