Кэйго Хигасино - The Name of the Game is a Kidnapping

“That’s the safest, isn’t it?”

The answering machine incident had been a headache, but now I was glad that room existed. I’d been worried about the hiding place for the money the entire time.

We got into the MR-S and, like we had that night, drove with the roof up. Juri was preciously hugging the money in the paper bag on her knees. It was her livelihood from here on out.

“Hey, I wonder if the police investigation has started,” she said.

“Of course. It should have when we sent the kidnappers’ fax.”

“Do you think they’ve found a clue?”

“There’s no way they would.” I curled my lips. “If they did, it’s a fake clue. The faint sound of ships in the background, and such.”

There was no worry about them coming at us via the emails or cellphones. The sole witness was Nakamura from the Nissei Mukojima branch, but if Juri was to be believed, the man wouldn’t be able to furnish useful information to the police.

“But there is one clear clue,” Juri said.

“What’s that?”

“The culprit speaks English. With a British accent.”

At that, I jerked the steering wheel. The body of the car swerved widely off the centerline. I immediately righted it.

“Are you good at English?” I asked, feigning calm.

“Not really. I honestly don’t know much about accents. I just thought it kind of sounded British. Am I wrong?”

“Well, maybe.” I felt sweat running down my leg.

She was right. I’d lived near London for a year. You could say that was when I’d become proficient in English. Some people could tell.

I changed expressways, and we arrived at Yokosuka. I saw the restaurant we had stopped at before. I remembered that someone had sprayed my MR-S.

“Could you wait there again?” Juri said.

“No, that place is bad luck, so let’s not do that. I’ll drive up close tonight.”

“Close...”

“Next to Yuki’s condo. Carrying a package that big is difficult, isn’t it?”

“I’m fine. If you wait next to the condo, with this kind of car you’ll stand out.”

“I’m more scared of you standing out. You’re just leaving the package in the room, right? If I’m only parked for a short time, no one will get suspicious. Tell me the way.”

“Oh, uhh, turn right at that corner.”

“Right, is it?” I turned on the blinker and entered the right lane.

However, from that point it was a disaster. Juri’s navigation was unreliable. She made mistakes about which corners to turn on and we got lost. In the end it took over thirty minutes to get to the condo after wandering around. Juri’s excuse was that she’d never gone there by car.

“Even so, that was terrible. Oh well. It’s that condo?” I turned my eyes to the right side of the road. There was a white building that looked at least four stories high, but it seemed like there weren’t many units. It was almost midnight, and about half the rooms still had lights on in the windows.

“Well, I’m going.”

“Be careful.”

From inside the car, I watched Juri’s back as she carried the heavy-looking paper bag. Fortunately, there were few residences in the area. It was late and it seemed we didn’t have to worry about people seeing us.

I gazed at the condo. I hadn’t asked the room number, so I didn’t know which floor Juri intended to go up to. In a four-story building, there might not be an elevator. Carrying that package up the stairs would probably be hard.

I stayed like that for about five minutes, then thought, That’s weird . There wasn’t a new light turning on in any window. Yuki’s room would probably be dark, so Juri should have turned on the light immediately.

Maybe I just couldn’t see it from this side?

About five more minutes later, Juri came out. She crossed the street at a jog and approached my car.

“Sorry for making you wait,” she apologized, getting into the passenger seat. It seemed she was a little out of breath.

“Did you hide it okay?” I said, starting the car.

“Yeah, perfectly.”

“Wouldn’t Yuki’s parents or someone go in?”

“That’s okay. She said that would never happen. Even if someone did go in, I hid it where they wouldn’t be able to find it easily.”

“Is Yuki’s room that big?”

“It isn’t, but it’s pretty disorganized with furniture everywhere.”

“And the floor plan?”

“Huh?”

“The floor plan of Yuki’s room. Is it a studio?”

“Ah, uhh, it is. What about it?”

“No, I was wondering what kind of rooms young people live in around here.”

If it was a studio, then if the light were turned on, it would be visible from outside , I thought.

After we had driven for a while, Juri said, “Hey, do you want to try going there?”

“There?” I stepped on the brake.

“That place. You remember, right? We went there the last time we came.”

“Ah...” Of course I hadn’t forgotten it or anything. “Why there?”

“Because, tonight is the last night. I have to go home and we won’t meet again.”

I was silent. It was as she said. I was thinking about escorting her somewhere tonight and contacting Katsutoshi Katsuragi. With that the game would be over.

“So, I thought we might go to that place with those memories.” She said it in a somewhat offhand tone. It might have been out of embarrassment.

I took my foot off the brake pedal. Yokosuka was a decoy location for us, so it was better not to hang around for too long. But I thought maybe a short while was okay. Just as she said, this was our last night together.

I stopped the car on the hill at the tip of Miura Peninsula half an hour later. Like that other night, I let down the hood completely and took in the grassy scent. Next to me, Juri was taking a deep breath too.

Unfortunately, it seemed that there were clouds spread across the sky. Tonight we couldn’t see the stars.

“It was a short time, but it was so much fun,” Juri said looking at my face.

“It was a thrilling game.”

“I think every day after tomorrow will feel really boring.”

“It won’t be. I’ll keep saying it, but you still have a job left to do.”

“That’s nothing. Compared to what I’ve been up to.”

“That’s promising.” I laughed.

“Mr. Sakuma.” Her eyes emitted a sincere light. “Thanks for everything.”

“That’s hardly necessary. I got fun out of this, too. It’s been a pleasure playing a do-or-die match for the first time in a while.”

“Plus you won the match?”

“Yeah.”

We faced each other and smiled.

“But really, thank you,” Juri said. “Because of you, I can keep on living.”

“That’s a little extreme.”

“But it’s the truth... I guess I shouldn’t expect you to understand.” She tilted her head.

Our gazes met and, just like that, we kissed. Her lips were soft and slightly moist. I felt myself stiffening, but didn’t think of trying to undress her. It was always important to know when to quit. I had to cut off our relationship here. I shouldn’t be so wistful.

But still, just once more, for the last time, I held Juri’s body tightly. It seemed she’d lost some weight these past few days. “Thank you,” she whispered again as our bodies parted.

We got off the Coastal Way at Oiminami and headed to Shinagawa station. But instead of stopping there, I parked when a large hotel came into view on my left.

“Okay, one last review,” I said.

“Again? You’re so damn persistent.” Juri strained a laugh.

“Persistence is our lifeline. Please don’t complain — can we just do this?”

“When I woke up...” Her eyes grew distant. “I was lying inside a car. I think it was probably a Mercedes. My hands and feet weren’t tied up, and no one else was there. So I got out of the car. I was dizzy, but thinking that it was my last chance, I started running for my life. Because of that, I didn’t have the time to read the car’s plate. It seemed like I was in a parking lot. Actually, it was a hotel’s basement parking lot. I used an elevator to go to the lobby, but it was the middle of the night, so no one was there. I left through the front entrance and headed toward the taxi pickup. I didn’t think about whether I had money or not. I thought that as long as I got home, it would be okay.”