#1 Made to home phone from C’s mobile at 11.02, 11 December. B answers. Kidnapper does not give name, speaks in altered voice (helium or similar) and issues ransom demands.
‘I’ve got your daughter. If you want to see her alive again, get 20 million yen ready by midday tomorrow.’
B phoned A’s office. A reports kidnapping to 110.
#2 Received 12.05, 11 December. As before, kidnapper speaks in altered voice, call made from C’s mobile. A answers, having rushed home.
‘This is Sato. I want used bills. Put the money in the largest suitcase you can buy at Marukoshi. Bring it to the location I give you tomorrow, and come alone.’
Urgent investigation is in process.
End.
Mikami was speechless. He was horrified. The similarities to Six Four were unbearable: midday tomorrow, 20 million yen, Sato, used bills, Marukoshi, the largest suitcase, come alone. Even the detail of the kidnapper not giving his name during the first call then calling himself Sato was the same. The voice of a man in his thirties or forties, slightly hoarse, with no trace of an accent. That was the only difference. No – even that was unclear, because the kidnapper had altered his voice.
The same man . . . a repeat offence. Nothing in the details refuted the possibility. Even so, Mikami had a gut feeling that that wasn’t it. During Six Four, nothing had happened to suggest the kidnapper was doing it out of enjoyment. The crime was desperate, urgent, executed to obtain the large sum of money to be paid out for the ransom. It didn’t make sense that the same person would show off by staging a repeat performance. Even supposing it was him, he would surely have made every effort to strip away any resemblance to Six Four, made sure that there was nothing to suggest a link between the two cases.
Mikami felt like he was coming back up for air.
This wasn’t Showa calling them back. The case belonged to Heisei. It was new, unrelated to Six Four. And the kidnapping had taken place only moments – no, it was already three hours – earlier.
‘You need to make sure the agreement is signed, without delay.’
Mikura’s voice sounded from above, completely lacking any self-awareness. Without delay. Mikami looked at him through upturned eyes.
‘How dare you.’
‘Hmm?’
‘It’s been three hours since the kidnapping was reported. After this long, and with a flimsy sheet like this, do you really think they’re going to just smile and play along?’
‘I don’t see why not. Besides, it’s my understanding that a provisional agreement comes into effect automatically, the moment we notify them of a kidnapping.’
‘That’s right.’ It was a safety measure, to stop the press from taking advantage of the time between notification and the signing of the agreement. ‘But what do you propose if they decide not to sign? If they refuse after having discussed the terms, the provisional agreement ends and they get a free reign on reporting. What you need to understand is that they only agree to our terms because we promise to give them detailed intel from the investigation, and at the earliest opportunity.’
‘And you have it now.’
Mikami struck the papers in his hand. ‘This is barely even an outline. I need all the details covering the last three hours – on the progress of the investigation, and everything you know about the kidnapping. The moment the press hear of this you’ll have hundreds of reporters and camera units charging in from Tokyo. You won’t be able to control them with this kind of attitude.’
‘Well, of course not,’ Mikura answered, sounding offended. ‘If necessary, I am able to supply extra information myself, to the extent of my knowledge.’
‘Okay, good. Then give me some more. First, I need full names. Let’s start with the victim herself.’
Suwa fumbled for his memo pad. His pen remained still in his hand.
‘I can’t give you their names.’
‘What?’ Mikami’s anger spilled over. He’d read the files on the press and kidnapping. There were no precedents for any headquarters giving the press anonymous information. ‘Why not?’
‘It can’t be helped.’
‘Why?’
‘Because . . . there’s a chance this is a hoax. That someone’s just pretending to copy Six Four.’
‘A hoax? You think it’s a hoax just because it resembles Six Four?’
‘Not just that.’
‘Then tell me why. The calls were made from the victim’s mobile, right?’
Mikami glanced down at the papers. Call made from C’s mobile. No ambiguity. Which meant that the parents’ home phone had caller-display functionality. And that the investigators had already finished confirming the record with the phone companies.
In which case . . .
‘So you’ve got reason to believe that the kidnapper found, maybe stole, the daughter’s phone? You’ve got something that suggests that?’
Mikura gave a churlish sigh and shook his head.
‘No, that’s not what I mean. Just that, at the moment, we can’t dismiss the possibility that this is the girl’s own doing.’
Her own doing? Mikami drew back. The daughter staging her own kidnapping?
‘She has issues, you see. She hardly goes home, only when it’s to ask for money or pick up a change of clothes. She’s registered with the high school, but spends all her time – day and night – hanging around with friends. The truth is, her whereabouts have been unknown since she left home a couple of nights ago. It’s our view that she’s either teamed up with a man she knows, or that someone’s putting her up to this. We don’t know if she’s making a real attempt at getting the 20 million or if she’s just done this as a prank. She’s capable of either.’
It didn’t sound right.
‘The girl’s seventeen. Are you saying this boyfriend looked fourteen years back to research Six Four?’
‘With a mobile, she could contact someone in their fifties, even local Yakuza, in just minutes. Even if the guy was younger, it’s easy to find out about Six Four. You only need enter “kidnapping” into your computer . . . it’s all Six Four. And unsolved means successful, so it’s easy to see why they’d choose it as a model.’
Mikami didn’t agree. The idea didn’t hold together. It sounded made up, a fancy born of hypothesis and conjecture.
‘That’s why you can’t give me the girl’s name?’
‘It’s cause enough. It will be fatal if we were to announce her name to the public – bearing in mind she’s a juvenile – and then have the case turn out to be a hoax.’