Кэйго Хигасино - The Name of the Game is a Kidnapping

“Then I’ll have to fulfill mine.” I picked up the card. “I can’t overlook a thief who snuck into an important client’s home.”

The girl opened wide her slightly slanted eyes. She looked rather strong-headed, but also prettier that way. I continued looking into those eyes.

“Or else, it wasn’t that you were sneaking in, but that you snuck out. Either way, I can’t overlook it. I better contact Mr. Katsuragi.” I pulled my cellphone out of my pocket.

“Stop.”

“Then introduce yourself.” I flashed her a smile. “Tell me what’s going on, because I can be a fairly understanding guy. Depending on the situation, I might even be of assistance in getting you lodging for tonight.”

A hesitant look appeared on her face. No, perhaps it was a calculating look. She was making a guess as to my identity and wondering whether I could be trusted, whether she should get some use out of me.

She brought out her right hand. “That business card, please.”

“As you wish.”

Taking the card, she stuck out her left hand next. “Your license.”

“My license?”

“Because this card might not be yours.”

“Ah, I see.”

Seeing her up close, she was younger than I’d thought. She might have been around high school age but was levelheaded. I pulled my license from my wallet. She used the ballpoint pen and memo pad set out next to the phone to take down my address.

“You’re very careful,” I said, putting away my license after she’d given it back to me.

“Papa says to always introduce myself at the very last moment.”

“Papa?”

“Katsutoshi Katsuragi.”

“Ah,” I nodded. “Of course. But why in the world would the daughter of Nissei Automobile’s executive vice president scale their wall and break out?”

“That doesn’t have anything to do with you, does it?”

“Well, it’s true I have nothing to do with it, but the reality is that I’ve met you. If something happened to you afterwards, I’d be brought to account. My company might not survive that.”

“Why should I care?”

She tried to leave, so I pulled out my cellphone again. “I’m going to call. Right now.”

She turned around with a fed-up face. “I’m saying you can leave me alone, isn’t that good enough for you? Can’t you listen to the orders of the executive vice president’s daughter?”

“Unfortunately, it’s the EVP who’s important to me, not his daughter per se.” I pretended to press the buttons on my cellphone.

“Stop it.”

She tried to snatch it. I evaded her.

Right then, a middle-aged guy who looked to be a businessman came by. He watched us dubiously.

“You don’t want to draw people’s attention in this place, right?” I said. “Would you talk with me somewhere else?”

She thought it over again. I should say she started calculating again. After a while she nodded.

We went to a café next to the hotel. That’s to say, a self-service venue where you had to bring your drink to your own seat. We headed over to a counter facing the street and sat side by side.

I had thought of two ways I could make use of her. One was that I could somehow take her back to the Katsuragi estate tonight. It would mean I’d have a huge advantage over Katsutoshi Katsuragi. If I became the guy who protected his precious daughter, any man would have to change his tune.

The other way was by listening to her story. There was no mistaking that since she had snuck out of the estate, she held some sort of secret. It would also be the Katsuragi family’s secret. When I confronted Katsutoshi Katsuragi after this, that would also probably serve as a great weapon.

After taking a sip of her coffee, she broke the silence. “How long have you been watching me?”

“From the mansion. I saw you when you went over the wall.”

“Why were you in front of my house?”

“The reason wasn’t important. I was nearby because of work so I thought I’d gawk at the famous Katsuragi residence.”

“I thought no one was in the street.”

“I was a little ways away. If I looked at the house from up close, I’d get caught by the security camera, wouldn’t I?”

“Well, after that, you followed me? Why? For what?”

“I feel like I’m getting interrogated by a detective.” I grinned wryly and sipped my coffee. “I told you earlier. Mr. Katsuragi is a very important man to us. It’d be natural for us to go investigate if we saw someone climb over the wall and leave his estate, wouldn’t it?”

“Why didn’t you talk to me immediately?”

“Is that what you wanted?”

When I asked, she sunk into silence. I took another sip of my coffee.

“I thought maybe there was some sort of reason, so I thought I’d watch you for a bit. But I didn’t think I’d end up following you all the way here.”

“Strange taste.”

“If I weren’t like that for my work, I wouldn’t be any good. Now I get to ask some questions. First, introduce yourself.”

“I already did.”

“All I’ve heard is that you’re the EVP’s daughter. I’d like to know your name. I need something to call you, don’t I?”

She watched the street through the glass window, but eventually muttered, “Juri.”

“What?”

“Juri. As in the first characters from ‘arbor’ and ‘science.’”

“Ah, so it’s Miss Juri. Juri Katsuragi. Indeed, just hearing your name, I know you’re no pleb.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m praising you. Anyway, I’m wondering what circumstances in the world would make Miss Juri Katsuragi climb over her own house’s wall?”

She sighed at my question. Her slender shoulders rose and fell. “Does that mean I have to tell you?”

“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to, but...” I reached my hand towards the pocket my cellphone was in.

“Fine. You’re saying you’re going to tell my parents, right?”

“It’s what you call adult responsibility. Take your pick.”

“Let me think a little.” Juri rested her chin in her hands on the counter. She was surprisingly fair for girls nowadays. You could call her skin porcelain; its surface didn’t even have a trace of unevenness. It wasn’t just from being young. That took work.

As I gazed at her beautiful profile, she faced me abruptly. I pulled back in a flash.

“Could I get a refill on the coffee?” she asked.

“Sure thing.”

As I cleared the empty cup, I took the opportunity to drink mine as well and bought two more cups of coffee. When I got back to the seats, Juri was smoking Caster Super Milds.

“I can’t praise you for smoking while you’re still young.”

“Agreed. But if I were older, would you praise me?”

“I don’t smoke.”

“Because of your health?”

“More than that, I think it’s a waste of time. If it takes about three minutes to smoke one cigarette, then people who smoke a whole pack a day waste one hour out of twenty-four just smoking. They might say they’re actually working while they smoke, but that’s bull. Another reason: in order to smoke, you have to sacrifice a hand. There’s hardly any line of work that benefits from you using one hand instead of both.”

Juri faced me and blew smoke into my face. “Is it any fun thinking that way?”

“It’s not because it’s fun, it’s just that I don’t like wasteful things. Anyway, have you come to a decision?”

Juri put out her cigarette in the ashtray with some care and brought her second cup of coffee to her mouth.

“To put it simply, I was running away from home.”

“Running away?”

“That’s right. I came to hate being in that house, so I ran away. That’s why I can’t get caught by my parents. That’s why I had to climb over the wall.”