Кэйго Хигасино - The Name of the Game is a Kidnapping

“You mean about Juri Katsuragi.” Yuguchi’s tone grew less jovial. “It’s gotten intense, hasn’t it? I think those remains were found not long after we saw each other. Well, I kind of expected that she was dead. Our people on the case have been staying up working all night lately.”

“Any results?”

“Dunno. The Katsuragis’ guard is super-tight, so we probably haven’t learned anything beyond what’s being reported. I’ll try asking later.”

“I’m counting on you. And, sorry for this all of a sudden, but can you see me tonight?”

“Uh, that is very sudden.”

“I’m supposed to see Mr. Katsuragi soon. I want to have as much info as possible.”

“I understand. I’ll work things out. Is the same place as last time good? I think I can hop over at around seven.”

“Got it. Seven.”

After putting down the receiver, I went over the call I had just made. Would it be my downfall? Had I said too much? Had he found it unnatural?

But I quietly shook my head. There was no point in worrying about it now.

I thought about how I would use my time until seven. There was no way I’d be getting any work done.

When I went to the café, Yuguchi was already waiting at a table by the window. He found me and raised his hand.

“Sorry for doing this when you’re busy.”

“No, it must be worse for you, Mr. Sakuma.”

I ordered an iced coffee and leaned forward. “Well, about that thing.”

“Yes. I asked around as much as I could about what we know. But please keep everything I say from now off the record. We don’t want to be on Nissei Auto or the police’s shit list.”

“I understand. Do you think I’d do anything to compromise you, Yuguchi?”

“Well, of course I trust you, Mr. Sakuma...” Yuguchi pulled out a pocket notebook. “To cut to the chase, the police still haven’t found a solid suspect. Their angle of attack is Juri’s relationships, but no one who fits the description has surfaced.”

“Do the police think it was someone she knew?”

“Well, the victim was an adult and not a kid. Their take must be that she wouldn’t have followed someone she didn’t know. There’s the possibility she was abducted by force, but the culprit had decided on her as a target beforehand, so the police must view this anyhow as the doing of someone with some connection to Juri or the Katsuragis.”

“But we’re talking about the Katsuragis. Couldn’t people looking to get the ransom have done it thinking any rich girl would work?”

“Of course there’s that take, but they seem to believe the possibility is low.”

“I wonder why.”

“That’s because” — Yuguchi looked around and lowered his voice a notch — “the hostage was murdered. Someone with no connection to the Katsuragis could have returned her after taking the money, provided that he hadn’t shown his face to Juri. But that isn’t what happened. The culprit had no intention of safely returning Juri from the start.”

I got what he was saying. Supposedly, her remains were at least two weeks old. In other words, she had to have died just a few days after she’d gone missing.

“The method was coldblooded, so the investigators seem to think that it wasn’t simply for the money but based on some kind of grudge.”

“A grudge...”

I didn’t know what to think about that. I certainly wanted to get back at Katsutoshi Katsuragi. Indeed, I’d come up with the game for that very reason. But that was only because a card called Chiharu had fallen into my hands. In the first place, I hadn’t killed Juri Katsuragi. In fact, I’d never met her.

“Have the police gotten ahold of any clues?”

“It seems they have a few. For the ransom exchange, Mr. Katsuragi had spoken with the culprit several times over the phone, and they have a tape recording of that.”

“A tape? He recorded it?”

“It seems so. He hadn’t notified the police at that time, but he planned on contacting them as soon as Juri returned safely. He did his best to collect evidence on his own in order to aid the investigation.”

That man would certainly try to. Not having notified the police in the first place was the bigger surprise.

“What other evidence do they have?”

“When it comes to that, the police don’t tell us everything, you see... Oh, right, right.” Yuguchi looked at his notebook and covered his mouth with one hand. “It seems that Juri wasn’t spared in the other way either.”

“The other way?”

“She’s dead, so maybe we shouldn’t really care, but I mean her chastity.”

“Ah...” I was too stunned to speak.

“They actually are keeping that out of the news. But it left behind significant evidence for the police. A man’s pubic hair,” Yuguchi said, lowering his voice further, “and his bodily fluids — apparently it was left behind. Well, of course, it must have been dry when they found it.”

I felt my pulse quickening. It took all I had to keep my dismay from showing on my face.

“Was there other evidence?” My voice was too high.

“There seems to be, but it hasn’t been made public. If I find out, I’ll contact you.”

“Thanks, please do.” I gulped my iced coffee and steadied my breathing. “Why Yokosuka?”

“Huh?”

“Why was she found in Yokosuka? Why did the culprit bury her where he did? Have the police been saying anything about that? For instance, maybe they think that’s where the hideout was?”

“I haven’t heard anything about hideouts, but there’s a rumor that the police have been canvassing for witnesses there.”

“Canvassing?”

“It’s simple. Basically, with a photo of Juri Katsuragi in hand, they’re asking if people ran across her. The police aren’t seeing Yokosuka as a place where the culprit went to bury the body but as the scene of the murder itself. So they’re guessing that there’s someone somewhere who witnessed Juri while she was alive.”

“Why do they think so?”

“Well, I don’t know.” Yuguchi spread both his hands and shook his head.

After we said bye, I went straight to my condo and, after eating a simple meal, sat down at the computer. But even after it finished booting, I didn’t budge for a while.

The jigsaw puzzle pieces that had been scattered around in my head until now were slowly starting to come together. There were many incomplete parts, but I could see the overall outline.

Sweat flowed from my temples. It was what you’d call a cold sweat. It was pretty hot and muggy, but there were goose bumps all over my body.

Imagining the shape of the completed puzzle, I was panicking. Believing it was impossible, I broke up the puzzle, trying to somehow put the pieces together into a different picture, but no matter how many times I tried, it ended up the same. If there wasn’t a mistake in my reasoning.

I took a deep breath and slowly started typing. I prayed from the bottom of my heart that there was a mistake in my reasoning. But praying would get me nowhere. I had to do what I could.

Suddenly remembering something, I stood up. I went to my bedroom and approached the coat that I had left on the hanger. I stuck my hand into its inner pocket and took out what was inside. It was the thing that might become my lifeline.

I returned to my computer and got back to work.

The final task was to write an email. I thought about it for some time and started typing as follows:

Mr. Katsutoshi Katsuragi,

This is a grave matter. I request your urgent contact. You should be aware of the subject matter. Any method of contact is acceptable. You should know my identity, so I venture there is no need to give you my name. I have no objections to you calling me on the phone, either. But make sure the investigative authorities do not notice. You must understand that such attention would hurt us both.