Newcomer by Higashino Keigo & Murray Giles

Author:Higashino, Keigo & Murray, Giles [Higashino, Keigo & Murray, Giles]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, Crime, thriller
ISBN: 9781250067869
Amazon: 1250067863
Goodreads: 33602102
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Published: 2009-09-01T07:00:00+00:00

6

THE FRIEND OF THE TRANSLATOR

1.

Mineko Mitsui was holding a teacup and smiling. She was dressed casually in a T-shirt and jeans, and her wavy hair was pulled back and tied loosely.

“Thank goodness,” Tamiko said. “I really thought you were dead.”

Mineko smiled and said nothing.

A chime sounded. That was the sound of the doorbell. Tamiko swiveled around to look at the door of her apartment. It was wide open, and someone was just slipping out.

It’s Mineko, she thought. She was right there just a moment ago, and now she’s gone. I must go after her. Tamiko was in a panic, but her body refused to move. Although she tried to get up, her legs were frozen.

The chime sounded a second time. Must help Mineko, thought Tamiko. Mustn’t let her leave like this. Got to bring her back.

Tamiko could feel something heavy pressing on her ankles. That was what was immobilizing her. She looked down. There was someone lying on her feet. It was Mineko, facedown on the floor. Her head began to turn. Her face would be visible any second now—

Tamiko woke up with a violent start. She was sitting in front of her computer. On the screen was a half-written email, of which the last paragraph was a meaningless jumble of random letters.

She must have dozed off. She was drenched in cold sweat, and her heart was pounding.

The door chime sounded for a third time. That, at least, seemed to be real. Tamiko got to her feet, tottered over to the intercom on the wall.

“Yes?” she said.

The response was instantaneous. “I’m from Nihonbashi Precinct. Could I come up for a quick word?”

It took Tamiko a second or two to figure out that the man was from the police. Mineko’s murder was being investigated out of Nihonbashi Police Station.

“Ms. Yoshioka? Tamiko Yoshioka?” The policeman was calling her name.

“Sorry … uh … yes. Come on up.”

Tamiko pressed the button to release the downstairs door autolock and replaced the handset on the wall.

Going back to her computer, she plunked herself into the chair. A mug about one-third full of milk tea sat on the desk. She’d been drinking it before she fell asleep. She raised the mug to her lips. It was stone cold.

She sighed as she thought back to her dream. What remained with her was a vague image of Mineko smiling. Was it fanciful to think that her friend was trying to tell her something? Although Tamiko enjoyed discussing the spirit world, in her heart of hearts she didn’t really believe in ghosts.

She put her elbows on the desk and pressed her forehead into her palms. She had a dull headache that had persisted for days. She was sure it was due to lack of sleep. She hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since the murder. The best she’d managed was a brief catnap. If she tried to sleep properly, the ghastly memories would come crowding in, making sleep impossible.

The apartment doorbell rang. Tamiko dragged herself over to the entrance and peered through the peephole.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.