Кэйго Хигасино - The Name of the Game is a Kidnapping

“That’s right.” Even as I laughed, apprehension wafted through my heart. Was that right? Had I really won against Katsutoshi Katsuragi?

“Is something wrong?” Juri asked. She seemed to have noticed the change in my expression.

“I remembered that the game still isn’t over. There’s one last important part left.” I put up my index finger. “Returning the hostage. We have to set you up as the pitiful victim. She was not only confined by heartless kidnappers but also coerced into helping extort the ransom. We need to get you back to the papa you love so dearly.”

“I’ll have to stay an actress for just a while longer, then.” Juri puffed out her chest.

“This next act will be tough. I won’t be by your side. No matter what happens, you’ll have to get through it yourself. This act won’t be for just a short time, either. Your whole life, you’ll have to play the part of a kidnapping victim.” I sat next to her, put my arm around her back, and pulled her towards me. “Are you ready for it?”

Juri blinked twice and stared at me. “Who do you think I am? I’m Katsutoshi Katsuragi’s daughter.”

“Right, of course,” I nodded.

Returning Juri home wasn’t hard. After putting her to sleep in a secluded place, I’d simply contact her father. Of course, I didn’t really have to put her to sleep. If she just pretended, that would be enough.

The issue was after that. A rigorous performance would be required of her.

“First the police will ask you about the conditions under which you were abducted.” I looked at her. “We went over those circumstances. Do you remember them? They’ll ask why you snuck out of the house so late at night. Well, how will you respond?”

“That night...” As though she were remembering, she continued, “Chiharu and I had a little argument over cosmetic cream. I felt irritated, so I thought of going to this bar where I’m a regular. I snuck away because I didn’t want my parents to get on my case.”

Okay, she remembered it well. As expected.

“Please tell us in detail what happened when you were kidnapped,” I said, shoving an imaginary mic in her face.

“Just a little while after I left home, a car stopped next to me. When I wondered why and looked over, someone grabbed me from behind. I tried to scream, but something like a handkerchief had been placed over my mouth. I don’t really remember what happened next.” After thinking and speaking up to that point, she made a face as though to say, How’s that?

“What’s next is key, though. When you came to, you were at the culprits’ hideout. They’ll probably ask you what kind of place it was. How will you respond then?”

This bit was worth thinking out carefully. If it seemed unnatural, the police would start to have doubts. Those guys were at least aware that a kidnapping might have been staged. If we did the production on the fly, some contradiction might emerge.

“A blindfold,” I said.

“What?”

“When you came to, you were blindfolded and couldn’t see anything. That’s how you’ll answer. What’s more, your hands are tied behind your back. In that state, you’ve been laid atop something like a bed.”

“And my feet?”

“Aren’t tied.”

“Why not?”

“Because there’s no need. Most people won’t be able to move around at all if they can’t see anything or use their hands. Tying your legs would be a bother to the kidnappers. Because they’d have to undo it and retie it every time you have to go to the bathroom.”

Juri nodded. “Got it.”

“When you tried to move, you heard a woman’s voice — that’s how you’ll respond. The woman said, ‘Don’t get up from the bed. If you’re obedient, we won’t do anything to you.’”

“She’s cool.”

“That’s right, she’s a cool woman. When you think of a cool woman, whom do you visualize?”

Juri tilted her head a bit. “Makiko Esumi,” she said. A little different from mine, but that was all right.

“Well, let’s go with that. The police will ask you: Were there any special characteristics to her voice? How old do you think she is? Did she have an accent? At that time, you think of Makiko Esumi. You answer the police’s questions like it was her voice you heard.”

“What do I do if they ask if it’s a voice I’ve heard before? Could I answer it’s Makiko Esumi’s voice?” Juri smiled impishly.

“Be my guest. The police would never knock on Esumi’s door even if you did. Well, they can go bother her if they want.”

“So the cool woman’s task is to watch me.”

“She’s your jailer and caterer. Even though you didn’t have an appetite, that woman had you eat, and you couldn’t resist. You were eating with a blindfold on, so nothing really hot. Nothing that would be hard to eat. It was probably sandwiches. We’ll say she untied your hands at least then. However, at those times, she tied up your legs instead. Yeah, let’s go with that.”

“When I eat, my hands are free, my legs are tied together...” It seemed Juri was picturing it in her head.

“Makiko Esumi had one more task. She was your conversation partner. We’ll say she chose topics unrelated to the case and chatted with you. About actors, fashion, sports, that kind of thing.”

“Boyfriends?”

“That’s—” I shook my head. “We’ll say she became less talkative whenever that topic came up. The woman wasn’t acting alone, so the police will probably think that the principal offender was her boyfriend or husband. In which case, they’ll want to know anything she said regarding love. That would be a hassle. A massive creative burden on you.”

“I see.” Juri seemed to be onboard. “Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“When I went to the bathroom, did I have my blindfold on? How would I go about it when I couldn’t see anything? Would Makiko Esumi have assisted me? I kind of don’t like that.”

I nodded with a strained smile. She had a point. It was a part we at least needed to pin something down for. “How about this? Whenever you said you wanted to go to the bathroom, the woman would take your hand and lead you to it. Your blindfold came off only after you got into the bathroom.”

“So then the two of us would go in together?”

“It felt cramped, but what can I say? The kidnappers didn’t want to give you any extra information. Once your blindfold was off, the woman would leave. After that, you had a little leisure time for yourself. You could pee, or whatever, to your heart’s content.”

“What a way to put it. You old perv.”

“Naturally, you observe the bathroom interior. It was like this. The walls were concrete. There was just a small ventilation fan and no windows. The light was an incandescent lamp. They had amassed a reserve of toilet paper and even sanitary napkins. The toilet was Western style. It also came with a spray feature.”

Juri clasped her hands as though in relief. It was probably hard for her to imagine taking care of her business without the spray feature. There would be more and more people like her with every passing year.

“The door was wooden. Originally it was made so that it locked from the inside. You know, the kind with a lateral bolt. However, the mechanism was taken out to keep you from holing up in there.”

“I wonder if I can remember all that.” Juri knit her brows, made fists with both hands, and held her head in between them. “I need a cheat sheet.”

“The police will ask whether you heard anything when you were in the bathroom or when you were going to and from it.”

“I can’t go wrong with saying I heard nothing, right?”

I shook my head. “Once you’re blindfolded, your hearing becomes fairly acute. If you tell them you heard nothing at all, they might get suspicious. It’s better if you heard something.”