Кэйго Хигасино - The Name of the Game is a Kidnapping

“So he’ll go through with the deal because he confirmed I was okay,” Juri observed, peeking at the screen from behind me.

“Well, I wonder about that.”

“Uh, but...”

“He’s saying that he needs some time to prepare the money. They’re still trying to buy time. That’s why they’re demanding to know the method of exchange. Anyway, those guys are trying to coax us into making a move. Through that, they think they can grab us by the tail.”

“Telling them the exchange method comes after they prepare the money, I guess?”

“Yeah, that’s my thinking.” I left the computer and sat down on the living room sofa. Juri followed me.

I turned over my thoughts. They were about what our opponents were up to. They couldn’t just be lying in wait for us to make our move.

“Hey.” Juri sat down next to me. “How are we getting the money? Do you have some neat idea?”

“Oh... yeah,” I said ambiguously. If I told her I had no idea, what sort of face would she make? I couldn’t afford to lose her trust at this point.

In fact, I was assuming that it would all work out. Outwitting the police wasn’t so hard. They say kidnappings never work, but my hunch was that it wasn’t true and that successful cases simply go unreported. The police were neatly hiding them to save face. Just the cases where the perp was caught were widely reported so that kidnappers always appeared to be dumb even from an amateur perspective. There had to be some in the world who were smart. The families, too, probably didn’t want to complicate things once their precious child had come home. Spilling to the press and earning the culprit’s grudge would do them no good.

“You’re not going to tell me? How the exchange will happen?”

“I’ll tell you in time.”

“Are you trying not to make me feel agitated? You think I’d be scared? I’m not that weak.”

“I don’t think that—” I said with a wry smile. At that moment, I came up with something. Agitated... It wasn’t a bad idea.

Nodding, I stood up. I went to the kitchen, took two cans of beer from the fridge, and came back to the sofa. I put one in front of Juri.

“What are you grinning about? It’s creepy,” she complained.

“I just thought of something fun. Those guys are going to get agitated.”

“Agitated?”

“I’m going to tell them how the exchange will happen.”

Juri was about to pop open her beer, but her hand froze at my words. “Are you sure about that?”

“You’ll see. I won’t just be showing my hand.”

I returned to the computer and connected to the internet again. I performed several operations and accessed the site with the free email service. In the daytime, I had acquired an account there. The name and address were of course fake.

I opened a new mail window. Next, I took out my notebook and punched an address into the to field. It was the one of the person posting as “Julie” on the bulletin board.

“Well then.” I put my hands on the keyboard and took a deep breath.

We are confirming that we received your message. We are extremely delighted that you’ve learned that Juri Katsuragi is safe. Now we just need to move along the business negotiations. Letting this stagnate because of things that don’t matter is just a drawback for both parties. We need to expedite this.

First, we would like you to prepare three hundred million yen as we told you. Please have it all in old ten-thousand-yen bills. Divide that in half and pack it in a caddy bag and in another bag.

Next, a cellphone. It can be the one you normally use.

When the above preparations are complete, notify us in the usual way. At that time, provide your cellphone number. You probably can’t just write it out so you may apply some camouflage.

We pray that you complete the preparations quickly. Juri Katsuragi’s prompt release will be tied to that.

We will tell you this just in case. There is no point in replying to this account. We will no longer use this address or look at emails sent to this address. It is only for this one-time occasion.

After reading it three times over, I sat up straight and carefully tapped the send button. In a few seconds, a notice that the email had gone out flashed on the screen. I immediately logged out.

“A caddy bag and a bag, huh. I see,” Juri, who was watching from behind me, admired. “Because carrying that around isn’t strange.”

“Our opponents would think so, too.”

I glanced sideways at Juri, who tilted her head quizzically, and drank my beer.

When would they notice the email? Soon, no doubt. They had to be checking regularly. Maybe the Katsuragi estate was in an uproar right around now.

I was dying to take a peek at the CPT Owners Club website but decided not to anymore for tonight. Being antsy wouldn’t do me any good. Anyway, the other party was in a strategy meeting. I cut the internet connection and turned off the computer too.

The sound of the fan died down, and the room quieted to a surprising degree. I only heard Juri’s breathing.

“We’re done with the game for tonight. Good work.”

“We’ll finally get that ransom money.” Her chest heaved. “You won’t tell me how yet?”

“You’ll know eventually,” I replied with a smile. I wanted to tell her what I was up to, but she didn’t need to know everything. “Let’s go to sleep for tonight.”

I had Juri sleep in the bed while I lay down on the sofa. She seemed a little dubious about that but didn’t confront me.

To be frank, I was regretting having slept with her. It wasn’t for any reason I could put my finger on. It might’ve been because I’d committed a prohibited move in the game. Or was it guilt, for having touched my precious “merchandise”?

That wasn’t it.

Some kind of alarm was ringing in me as though to say, You can’t take it back now, can you? It was a feeling you could only call intuition.

I didn’t sleep well, probably thanks to that. Only having dozed off a little, I rose at pretty much my usual time. After washing my face in the bathroom, I booted the computer, also by force of habit.

I checked my email before hopping over to the CPT Owners Club. I glanced at the bulletin board and caught my breath.

Ready (Julie)

Good morning. This is Julie. I’ve finally gotten the money. With this, I should be able to get the dear car I’ve been hoping for. All that’s left is waiting for them to contact me.

By the way, these days, we can choose our plate numbers, yes?

I’d love to pick either:

3XXX or 8XXX

I’ve just started playing golf, so I can’t wait for the day when I can put my golf bag in the trunk and drive.

I phoned in to Hotel Gardens and told them I wanted to make a reservation for tonight. I was transferred to the front desk and a male hotelkeeper came on the line. He asked how many people were staying, and I told him it was just me.

“Yes, we can prepare a single room for tonight.”

“If possible, I would like a room facing the avenue.”

“Do you mean on the front side?”

“I guess. And if possible, not too high up.”

“Please wait a moment.”

I was put on hold for about twenty seconds before the hotelkeeper’s voice came back on.

“Thank you. Would a room on the fifteenth floor be fine?”

“The fifteenth floor. Sounds good, I’ll have that room then.”

“Certainly. May I have your name and phone number?”

I told him a bogus name and number, then hung up.

“What hotel?” Juri asked me without getting up from the sofa.

“Gardens. It’s nearby. It’s a pretty decent hotel. The crab egg shark fin soup at the Chinese restaurant in there is a delicacy. Apparently, the head French chef is the most medaled old man in Japan.”