No Longer Human ( PDFDrive )

91
night before. After he finished his questioning, he
filled out a form to send to the district attorney's
office. He commented as he wrote, "You mustn't
neglect your health that way. You've been coughing
blood, haven't you?"
That morning I had had an odd hawking cough,
and every time I coughed I covered my mouth with
my handkerchief. The handkerchief was spattered
with blood, but it was not blood from my throat. The
night before I had been picking at a pimple under
my ear, and the blood was from that pimple. Realizing
at once that it would be to my advantage not to
reveal the truth, I lowered my eyes and sanctimoniously
murmured, "Yea."
The police chief finished writing the paper. "It's
up to the district attorney whether or not they bring
action against you, but it would be a good idea to
telephone or telegraph a guarantor to come to the
district attorney's office in Yokohama. There must be
someone, isn't there, who will guarantee you or offer
bail?"
I remembered that a man from my home town,
an antique dealer who was a frequent visitor at my
father's house in Tokyo, had served as my guarantor
at school. He was a short-set man of forty, a bachelor
and a henchman of my father's. His face, particularly
around the eyes, looked so much like a flatfish that my