“Balsamic,” I guessed. And too much of it. I had to keep from puckering my mouth as I ate.
“I mean to go on a natto diet, but Oksan keeps stuffing me with high-cholesterol meals,” Tom said, not looking like he minded a bit.
“You eat natto? I’m glad I don’t have to work with you.” I made a face at him. The smell of fermented soybeans was just as bad as its stringy texture, although millions swore it was a font of good health.
“Tomatsu, if you want to lose weight, get married. None of the girls today cook! Oh, I’m sorry, Rei-chan. You surely are an exception?”
“I hope so!” Had she forgotten the time I brought her imperfectly rolled, but nonetheless delicious, vegetarian sushi?
“How is the romantic life? Any nice new boyfriends?” My aunt probed.
Before I could say no, Tom came to my defense. “Leave Rei alone. After all, she came over for a professional consultation.”
Aunt Norie blushed and made excuses to do some vacuuming upstairs, perhaps fearing Tom would order me atop the dining table for some kind of exam. Instead, he led me into the living room and settled into a plush recliner. The chair uttered an electric groan and began vibrating along his shoulders. Tom sighed happily, reinforcing my suspicion he wouldn’t leave home anytime soon. He’d live in the massage chair until Aunt Norie finally found a bride with acceptable culinary skills.
As Tom read the autopsy, I wandered through the minimalist beige living room, sliding the floor-to-ceiling shji screens aside to look at the garden, where plum trees were already budding. Maybe my aunt would let me cut a branch to take back to my room.
“This reads like it was written twenty years ago. Country doctors!” Tom snorted.
“Tell me about it.” I sat down on the couch and opened the notebook I’d brought with me.
“It starts out quite normally, describing the subject as a forty-one-year-old female weighing forty-nine kilograms,” Tom told me. “The stomach contents were partially digested rice, fish, and vegetables, giving the impression she died four to six hours after eating.”
That would have been between eleven and one, when I’d gone out to hear the temple bells ring.
“Moving on, general X rays showed no fractures. The X ray of the skull revealed no fractures, although the coroner noted bruising behind both ears. A dental exam showed teeth to be intact with no lacerations of the tongue.”
So she hadn’t bit her tongue or had it pierced, I wrote, thinking of Richard.
“A pelvic exam revealed that she had given birth previously, and there was evidence of a well-healed tubal ligation.”
I was stunned. “It can’t be. She said she didn’t have children!”
“People lie. The body can’t.” Tom looked at me significantly. “The coroner went on to perform toxicology tests. In thirty cubic centimeters of blood taken from the left ventricle, there was a blood alcohol content of one hundred and five milligrams per deciliter.”
“The police said she was extremely drunk and passed out in the snow.”
Tom shook his head. “If she had been driving a car and been stopped by the police, she probably would have tested positive for alcohol. But given this very slight blood alcohol content, she wouldn’t have been falling-down drunk.”
“She seemed perfectly sharp when I talked to her after dinner that night. She drank a little sake.” I remembered with a pang the ceremonious way she had poured for Hugh.
“Eighteen c.c.s of water were present in her lungs. It looks like the coroner assumed it to be melted snow.”
That made me think of the bath. “Wait a minute. If someone were forcibly held underwater, how much water would show up in their lungs?”
“Not much, since the throat contracts against foreign substances. Drowning victims typically have twenty c.c.s or less in their lungs.” Tom handed the papers back. “They should have tested for liver and kidney disease but didn’t. That’s what I’m upset about. They shortcut things, neh?”
I didn’t want to discuss such boring things as livers and kidneys. “What about the possibility of assault? You mentioned some bruises behind the ears.”
“It could be that because she was lying down, her blood flowed to the back of her head and caused the marking.”
“The bath contained some special kind of mineral water,” I mused. “Why didn’t they test it? Then they could tell it wasn’t snow—”
“It looked clear to them, I assume.” Tom looked at me. “Now are you going to tell me why you even have a copy of this document?”
I hesitated before saying, I can’t tell you. It’s confidential.”