"But even if it ain't him," said Heiji thoughtfully, "It's probably someone close to him. It didn't look like that guy was under duress in the message, so maybe somethin' happened to him afterwards."

'Something' basically meant 'getting offed by your co-conspirators and having your plans co-opted to construct overly complicated murder mysteries' where Heiji came from. But that was beside the point. "Anyway, since my cell phone's gone, I figured I'd head into town and try a pay phone."