Кэйго Хигасино - The Name of the Game is a Kidnapping

It was on a hunch that I became interested in following her. I didn’t think she’d broken into the Katsuragi residence. I thought it was more reasonable that she’d slipped out of the estate for some reason. So then what would that reason be? That was what I was interested in.

I saw no hint of her worrying about being shadowed. It was likely because I was keeping a good distance. When she got to a large road, she raised her hand and tried to hail a taxi. That was when I fretted. If she got in a cab, it’d be over.

I hurried out to the road. The taxi she had gotten in was leaving. Drilling the license-plate number into my brain, I waited for the next taxi to come. Luckily, a free car came by.

“Just head straight for now, as fast as possible,” I said as I got in.

The driver didn’t seem thrilled with the instructions and pulled out with a disgruntled look. I fluttered a ten-thousand-yen bill next to his face.

“There’s a yellow taxi right in front of us. I want you to follow it.”

“I don’t want any trouble, mister.”

“It’s all right. There’s a girl in that taxi, and I was asked by her parents to follow her.”

“Huh.”

The driver stepped on the accelerator. It seemed that was the conclusion of our negotiation. I placed the ten-thousand-yen bill on the small money tray.

I thought it’d be bad if we didn’t catch up before we got to Kanpachi Street, but luckily, her taxi was stopped in front of a traffic light beforehand. I rechecked the number and told the driver, “It’s that car.”

“Why follow her? Are you trying to catch her?” the driver asked.

“No, I just need to figure out her destination.”

“Ah, and you’re reporting it to her parents?”

“Well, something like that.”

“I see. She must be very precious.”

I wasn’t sure what his interpretation was, but it seemed the driver had drawn his own conclusion.

The taxi the girl was riding went south down Kanpachi Street. Mine did, too. Hers was not going particularly fast, so it wasn’t especially hard to follow.

“I thought a young woman would head to Shibuya, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, does it?” the driver said. Probably because we were heading in the exact opposite direction of Shibuya.

At that point, the taxi in front of us turned left. It was Nakahara Road.

“If we go straight, this takes us to Gotanda, right?” I asked.

“That’s right. Recently, they say there are a lot of places to go out around Gotanda too.”

Had she bothered to sneak out over their wall just to hit some bar? If she said she was going out at this hour, her parents certainly wouldn’t take it with a smile. But her own face when she’d made her escape didn’t seem like that of a young woman looking forward to a night out. There was something more urgent in her expression. I was following her like this because of that.

Gotanda station came into view. The taxi ahead of us showed no sign at all that it was stopping. It passed the station and this time turned right.

“Whoa, now it’s Shinagawa,” the driver said.

“That’s what it seems like.”

The girl’s taxi entered Route One between Tokyo and Yokohama. We, too, continued on it. After a minute, I caught sight of the Japan Railways Shinagawa Station on the right side. The left side was lined with famous hotels.

“Ah, they’re going to the left,” the driver said. Certainly, the car in front of us had its blinker on.

“Follow them please.”

“But we’ll go into the hotel.”

“I don’t mind.”

The hotel entrance was at the top of a gentle slope. The car in front of us stopped there. I also instructed the driver to stop, just below.

“I wonder if she might be meeting with some guy,” the driver said as he issued the receipt.

That might be it , I humored him with a reply.

The girl went through the revolving doors and headed inside. After waiting a bit, I continued after her.

The driver’s speculation might have been right. I could understand why she would sneak out of the estate in that manner if she were meeting a man secretly. But in that case, was I an awful clown to have tracked her all the way to this place? No, no, whatever it was, I would be at no disadvantage knowing the Katsuragis’ secrets. My interest revived.

Going in, the front desk was to the left. No one was at the long counter now. The girl was ringing the call bell on top of the counter. Before long, a hotelkeeper wearing a gray uniform came from the back.

I pulled a ten-thousand-yen bill from my wallet and approached the girl from behind.

“I sincerely apologize, but tonight we’re completely full,” the hotelkeeper was telling the girl. It seemed she was trying to get a last-minute room.

“It doesn’t matter what kind,” the girl said. Her tone was listless. She had the type of voice that you’d want to sing R&B.

“I’m sorry, but they’re all occupied.” The middle-aged hotelkeeper lowered his head respectfully, even to such a young lady. Then he turned his eyes towards me. “How may I help you?”

“I want 2000-yen bills. Could you break this for me? I just need five.”

“For ten thousand yen? Please wait a moment.”

The hotelkeeper momentarily withdrew to the back.

Without taking notice of me and with an aimless gait, the girl headed to the front entrance. I couldn’t lose sight of her here. I left the counter. At that moment, a voice called from behind me, “Oh, sir.”

“Thank you, it’s okay.”

I left the dumbfounded hotelkeeper behind and also headed outside.

The girl was just about to enter a pathway that crossed the hotel garden. Fearing that I would be suspected, I put some distance between us and tailed her. There were no signs she’d noticed me.

The pathway ended at the edge of the hotel’s premises. Across the street was another hotel. I inferred what she intended to do.

Just as I thought, the girl went into the neighboring hotel. This one’s front desk was on the first floor; it was always manned even in the middle of the night because businesspeople favored the place. I found a spot where I could observe the front desk and from there watched her actions.

The girl, who had been speaking with the hotelkeeper, abruptly pivoted and started walking. The result of their exchange was obvious from her sulking visage.

She went into a room with public phones. I see , I thought, and moved closer.

There she was in the middle of frantically flipping through the phone book. I knew which section she had turned to without even looking.

“At this time and with that appearance, it’s impossible no matter which hotel you go to.”

She jumped at my voice and looked at me with a surprised expression.

“A lone young woman with no reservation asking for a room just makes them suspicious. From the hotel’s perspective, taking on a guest who isn’t even paying them that much isn’t worth the trouble they might get into.”

It seemed she thought a creepy man had approached her with clear ulterior motives. She closed the phone book and tried to leave.

“You’re trying to find lodgings for tonight, aren’t you, Miss Katsuragi?”

Her feet stopped flat. Her neck turned around like a mechanized doll with noisy gears. “Who are you?”

I pulled a business card from my pocket. She alternated between looking at me and the printed characters.

“Cyberplan...”

“Advertising, producing, brokering, we do anything. Handymen for our corporate partners, as it were. Your company, Miss Katsuragi, is our greatest client. Well, since that’s it for my self-introduction, I’d be pleased to get yours.”

“I’m under no obligation.” She flicked the business card with her fingertips. It fluttered to the floor.