Кэйго Хигасино - The Name of the Game is a Kidnapping

“I was going to call, but since you’re here, I don’t need to. I want to make sure that my voice is heard by Katsutoshi Katsuragi as little as possible. Even though it’s very unlikely that your dad would remember it.”

“I call, then what do I say?”

“I’ve thought it out. Come here.” I had her sit in front of the computer. Then, I operated the keyboard and displayed a certain document on screen. It was something I had written while I waited for her. The document was divided into several items.

I pointed at the first bit. “Start with this. When you tell him this, you can hang up right away.”

Juri stared at the sentences with an earnest look. Seeing her face, I realized that it had all been a pose. Being strangely bold as she shopped and dying her hair were merely the flip side of her anxiety.

“Is it going to be okay calling from this phone?”

“Make it as brief as possible. If you take too much time, they’ll be able to specify the area.”

She took a deep breath. She looked at the buttons on the cellphone.

“Right now?”

“Right now. This is the number.” I put a note with Katsutoshi Katsuragi’s cellphone number in front of her. “If you don’t do it fast, the sun will set.”

“And it’s bad if it sets?”

“That video camera isn’t infrared, and the binoculars aren’t night-vision scopes.”

She seemed to take my meaning more or less and nodded wordlessly. With another deep breath, she passed the cellphone to her left hand and brought her right index finger toward the buttons. Looking at the note, she carefully pressed each number. After she finished dialing, she brought the phone to her ear and gently closed her eyes.

I could hear the rings, too. After two, the phone connected.

“Hello, it’s me. Juri. Don’t say anything, just listen to me.” She recast her gaze on the laptop screen. “Ten minutes after this, leave the house. Please load the caddy bag and other bag into the trunk of a car. Papa, you should be the only person in the car. Get on the Metropolitan Expressway and head toward Mukojima Interchange... Mukojima, MU-KO-JI-MA. If you can, follow the legal speeds as much as possible. Well, I’ll contact you again... Sorry, we don’t have the time to talk.”

She hung up and looked at me with plaintive eyes. Her cheeks were a little flushed. I gently kissed her half-open lips.

“Good job.”

“Am I contacting him next time, too?”

“Well, basically, you communicate for me.”

“Basically?”

“You’ll understand soon.”

I accessed the internet again on my laptop. The Japanese Public Highway Corporation had a website that streamed information in real time. I went there. On the LCD display, a map of the Metropolitan Expressway appeared. The routes were indicated by white lines, but colored yellow or red depending on the congestion level. Today it seemed to be moving along more than weekdays, but even so, there were dabs of color here and there.

I followed the course that I thought Katsutoshi Katsuragi would take. There didn’t seem to be too much traffic for now, only a little red before and after Hakozaki Junction.

Alternating between looking at the clock and the map of the Metropolitan Expressway, I finished the bottle of water. I was horribly thirsty. Juri also started drinking a cola. Neither of us said a word. I refreshed the traffic information now and then, but there wasn’t a big change in the situation. Any would be due to an accident. Just not that , I prayed from the bottom of my heart.

I looked at the clock and snapped my fingers. “Juri, the phone.”

With a tense expression, she took the cellphone in hand. “What should I do next?”

“Ask him his present location. That’s all.”

Juri nodded and made the call. “Hello, it’s me. Where are you now?... Uh, Takebashi? You’ve just gotten past Takebashi.”

I gave her an okay sign with my fingers. She hurriedly hung up.

“He said Takebashi.”

“Okay.”

I shifted my gaze to the map of the Metropolitan Expressway. It was clear from Takebashi Junction to Edobashi. He could probably go at forty miles per hour. Edobashi to Hakozaki was moderately congested. That was an issue. The timing. It was all about the timing. I could only trust my instincts.

I snapped my fingers again. “Call. Confirm his position.”

Juri pressed the redial button. It seemed she connected immediately.

“Where are you now?... Almost at Edobashi?”

I stood up and gave her an okay sign. She hung up in a hurry.

I stood at the window and double-checked the position of the video camera. I beckoned Juri over.

“Call in one minute. Instruct him to exit at Hakozaki. After that, hand the phone to me.”

“To you? You’re talking to him?”

“Yes. From there I’ll do the talking,” I said, nodding.

Exactly one minute later, Juri made the call. Next to her, I took a gas canister out from the bag.

“Hello, it’s me. Exit at Hakozaki. Uh, don’t hang up,” she added hastily and handed the cellphone over to me.

I waited one beat and took the phone. It ought to have been light but felt awfully heavy. My heart started racing.

I stood at the window and used one hand to put the cellphone to my ear; in the other hand I held the pair of binoculars. I had already started the video camera.

I saw a silver-gray Mercedes gliding down the slope. I couldn’t make out the driver. I looked at Juri, who was peeking at the video camera monitor. She just nodded. It was Katsutoshi Katsuragi’s car.

I put the gas canister up to my lips, sucked in the gas, and spouted in one go, “Stay on the expressway and get on the circling lane.”

Juri, who was listening right next to me, turned to me dumbstruck. I couldn’t blame her. I had abruptly let out a voice like Donald Duck’s. I hadn’t thought a helium-based toy that altered my voice would ever serve such a use as this. It was a party novelty I’d bought for some occasion or other.

Katsutoshi Katsuragi must have been stunned, too. “What did you say? Wasn’t I supposed to go to Mukojima?”

I breathed in the gas before answering, “Drive in the circling lane.”

“There’s an entrance to the Ginza district on the right. I don’t need to go in there?”

“Drive in the circling lane.”

At that point, I hung up the phone and gave it back to Juri. I monitored Hakozaki Junction through my binoculars. A silver-gray Mercedes went past. Several passenger cars followed. There was also a truck. And a taxi.

The Mercedes appeared again. Hakozaki Junction formed a small ring. If you didn’t take any of the exits to head to any district, you could just go round and round until your tank was empty.

After the Mercedes had appeared a third time, I gave my next instruction to Juri. With a surprised face, she pressed the cellphone’s redial button.

“Hello, it’s me. The deal is off. Go home and wait for the next contact... I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s happening, either.”

After hanging up, she glared at me. I was sitting on the bed.

“What the heck, why did you suddenly cancel the deal?”

“Suddenly? That was the plan all along.”

“All along. You were going to cancel anyway?” Juri came to my side and looked down at me. “What was all that trouble for?”

“Just figuring out the police’s movements.”

I stood up and stopped the camera I had left running.

The screen displayed Hakozaki Junction. The silver-gray Mercedes kept driving past several times. Various other cars also drove through. However, the only car that was displayed more than once was Katsutoshi Katsuragi’s car.

“That’s weird. It really is only the Mercedes.”