Read Online Less Than Human by Maxine McArthur - Free Book Online Page B

much.”
    “Probably a boyfriend.”
    “I hope so.” Eleanor tried to think what was different about Mari. “It’s like she’s decided to keep her real life away from
     the family.”
    Masao grunted. “Sounds sensible to me.”
    She snuggled into him again. She had always envied his ability to drop off in moments. Soon she drifted into a dream in which
     Yoshiko tried to invite the technician Sakaki, of Kawanishi Metalworks, to tea, but he kept saying, “Ask the robot.”

H ere?” Ishihara’s voice rose in disbelief.
    “Yup.” Assistant Inspector Beppu, Ishihara’s usual partner, took his scene-of-crime kit from the back of the car and blipped
     his key twice at the doors to make sure the locks were active. Beppu, who had been on the driving range when Ishihara called
     him, was still wearing golf slacks and a regrettable Hawaiian shirt that strained over his paunch. The duty officer from Homicide
     had gone on ahead with the Forensics team.
    Two marked police cars and the squat white morgue van were parked right up against the main entrance of the twenty-story,
     four-block Betta. It was one of the newest Bettas—Ishihara could see a pile of construction rubble to the side of one building,
     surrounded by a line of orange tape that flapped in the hot breeze, and the curved concrete walls shone blindingly white.
    “We should have come by subway,” added Beppu. “Too damn hot outside.” He wiped the beads of sweat that had jumped out all
     over his face. Beppu needed to lose about twenty kilos. “That retirement village by the seaside looks better every day.”
    Ishihara scratched his head. “I thought they said a cult-related group suicide?”
    “Yeah, either they got it wrong, or it’s a weird one. Come on.” Beppu jerked his head at the entrance.
    Ishihara shook himself mentally. Don’t doubt an incident because it doesn’t fit the pattern. Cult-related group suicides had,
     as far as he knew, all occurred either at country retreats or in run-down midcity communes, often underground. It didn’t feel
     right, this one happening at a Betta. As though he’d found a cockroach in his guaranteed fumigated and insect-free, shiny
     stainless-steel bathtub.
    The lobby was cool inside and crowded with tall plants in blue pots. Natural-seeming light from hidden ceiling panels created
     the impression of a skylight and made the room look larger than it was. He couldn’t tell if the plants were real or not—the
     flat leaves looked shiny and perfect enough to be artificial. On the other side of the room several men in casual clothes
     huddled together and stared at the police.
    Three uniformed policeman stood talking to a portly man in a gray suit. The man kept raising a hand nervously to his mouth.
     His words floated through the fronds.
    “… called an emergency meeting of the Residents’ Association. This is most irregular.”
    You bet it is, thought Ishihara.
    Beppu chuckled. “I’ll take the whiner, you take the stiffs. Right?”
    Ishihara nodded. He preferred the company of the dead. They didn’t talk. And Beppu had a knack of getting information from
     witnesses.
    One of the uniformed policemen went up with Ishihara in the elevator. The elevator wouldn’t move without some fancy button-pushing
     on the door panel and flashing of a card at ceiling sensors.
    “He unlocked this elevator for us,” said the constable, with a jerk of his thumb toward the manager. “You go direct to the
     sixth floor, and nobody will disturb us.”
    “That’s where it happened?” said Ishihara.
    “Yes. The owner of the apartment went away on a work trip and got a shock when he came back. Doc reckons the bodies have been
     there two, maybe three days.” He grinned at Ishihara’s expression. “The air-conditioning was set to about ten degrees, so
     it’s not as bad as it could’ve been.”
    Ishihara chided himself mentally for showing any expression and said nothing more until the elevator doors opened. They