At the top of the steep slope was his destination, an office building on the right-hand side of the road. Plates with the names of the resident businesses hung on the wall just inside the front entrance. Kunugi Publishing was on the second floor. There was an elevator, but Kusanagi took the stairs. This turned out to be extremely awkward due to the large number of cardboard boxes stacked in the stairwell. It was a flagrant violation of fire codes, but he decided not to mention it – at least, not today. He peeked in through the wide-open door at the top of the stairs and saw several employees sitting at their desks. The woman closest to the door noticed Kusanagi and came over. ‘Can I help you?’ ‘Yes, is Mr Sasaoka here? I spoke with him on the phone.’ ‘Oh, yes, hello.’ A slightly pudgy man’s face appeared from behind a cabinet. ‘Mr Sasaoka?’ ‘Yes! Er …’ The man turned to the desk beside him, opened a drawer, and pulled out his card, which he offered to the detective.
![悪意 [Akui] (2001) by Keigo Higashino](/i/cover.jpg)