‘Mobile Command, over and out.’
The screens to the left were showing a rush of activity: a succession of car doors closing. The detectives outside were getting back into their cars. Intercept 6. Intercept 7. Intercept 8. Minegishi tested each of their radio responses. They were all part of the Intercept Unit; their role would be to conceal themselves in areas where there was a high likelihood of the kidnapper showing up, and move in if necessary. If the profiling was based around this being a copycat crime, the cars would have to be positioned near or at the areas designated by the kidnapper fourteen years earlier. They would be points, coming together to form a line. Also . . . right . . . around the area of yesterday’s calls. Mikami took out his notebook, having come up with his first question. He was close enough for Matsuoka to feel his breath.
‘Sir, do you know whereabouts in Genbu yesterday’s calls were made?’
‘The first was Tokiwamachi. The second was the area between Sumamachi and Nagimachi.’
‘Can you give a general description of the areas?’
‘They’re west and east of Genbu’s main station. Tokiwamachi is to the west; it’s a downtown area based around an arcade-type shopping street. Bars, cinemas, that sort of thing. Sumamachi and Nagimachi are to the east, both red-light districts. Hostess bars, sex shops, love hotels, game centres. They’ve got it all.’
Matsuoka’s answer was unguarded, detailed enough to dispel any suspicion that he was holding back. Mikami checked his watch: 10.38. He read through the notes he’d taken. Tokiwamachi. Sumamachi. Nagimachi. The calls, both made from near the station. Details. Exactly what he’d been waiting for. When he called it in, Ochiai would be euphoric. Suwa, the others, too – they would be able to stand tall before the other reporters. The embargo would hold until 10.58. Mikami stared at the second hand of the wall clock, willing time on. Twenty minutes felt different in a place like this. Like sitting on a bed of nails, it felt like a day, an eternity.
He could get more. If he didn’t wait, he could report it all in one go at 10.58.
‘The money – have they got the ransom of 20 million?’
He became aware of cold looks from Ogata and Minegishi.
‘That’s all done. We’ve taken the serial numbers and the notes have been marked.’
‘Has the kidnapper been back in touch?’
‘No.’
‘And investigators – have you deployed people to the nine businesses from the Six Four investigation?’
‘Naturally.’
And Minako? The thought came to him, but it wasn’t the time to ask.
‘And upstream, the Futago river?’
‘Yes. We have officers near the Kotohira bridge, and the Ikkyu fishing lodge.’
That was as far as he got. The vehicle shuddered as the engine came to life.
‘First we go to the house,’ Matsuoka said.
Minegishi nodded in response. He got into a half-crouch and slid open a panel connecting the hold to the driver’s side. Take us out. Vicinity of Mesaki’s home.
The vehicle moved slowly forwards.
‘This is Mobile Command, moving out.’ Ogata used the radio to relay the information to the Investigative HQ.
‘Copy.’
The speakers were silent again. Case information only. Nothing else was permitted.
They pulled out on to a main road. The four wall monitors projected the view on each side. Mikami knew the vehicle received yearly upgrades, that the computers and monitor system – which now enabled high-resolution recording and playback – had been added over time, and that the sensitivity of the directional microphones had also seen huge improvements. Using switches at the rear, they were able to cover the full 360-degree radius. Lying among the apparatus were nine mobile phones, all on a small, rimmed desk so they wouldn’t fall. Each phone had a label: S. Investigations, Station G, Home, Intercept, Pursuit, Outdoors, Locations, S. Ops, Kitou. The numbers had been apportioned so the calls didn’t come into a single phone. Kitou was the chief of Violent Crime, Section Two. He would be hiding in the car with Masato Mesaki and the ransom. Mikami had to wonder why they had included Special Operations. Most likely it was because the majority of work carried out during a kidnapping investigation was of a similar nature to theirs.
Matsuoka had moved Pencil-face to the side and was dividing his attention between two screens. One was a map of the Genbu city limits, the other a map of City D. They were scattered with blinking green and red lights, perhaps marking vehicles or officers in the field. The vast majority were in City D. The two cities were different in terms of size, but even then the distribution was surprising. Mesaki’s home was in Genbu, and the kidnapper’s calls had originated there, too, making it much more likely – under normal circumstances – to be the focus of an initial response than City D. The pattern suggested an emphasis on the Six Four elements of the case, but it felt like a gamble. Mikami wanted to find out the reason, but Matsuoka looked busy.
The vehicle shook. Perhaps because of bad suspension, the jolting was severe each time they crossed a bump or join in the road.
Minegishi was busy talking to the Home Unit on one of the mobiles; they were going through the details of the handover. The kidnapper would have Mesaki’s mobile number from his daughter’s phone. If the plan was to lead Mesaki and the money from point to point, as it had been with Six Four, it was likely he would call directly instead of using the businesses en route. Expecting this, they had attached a wireless microphone to his phone . . .
‘Patching call to speakers,’ Burly said to Minegishi. The voice of the man from the Home Unit echoed through the hold.
‘Testing. Testing. Testing. Connection with target mobile. Repeat. Connection with target mobile.’
Loud and clear, Minegishi said, holding the mobile close to his mouth.
They had fitted a similar device to Mesaki’s home phone. If a call came in, they would be able to monitor it in real time from the command vehicle. It was a different era. They no longer needed anyone on a radio to relay calls, as Mikami had done fourteen years earlier from the passenger seat of Pursuit 1.
He felt no regret. Just as he felt no need to compete with the present. Surrounded by real detectives, he’d have been lying to say he wasn’t interested in their actions, their skills – but he still didn’t feel like he was part of the hunt. His battle was with time. There were six minutes until the embargo lifted . . .
‘Sir, we’re almost there,’ Ogata said. He was pointing at the corner of one of the monitors. His finger traversed away from the front monitor towards the one on the right. A normal-looking detached house on two floors, mortar and wood, behind a smallish area for children to play in. The Mesaki family home.
‘Okay, good,’ Matsuoka said, studying the image. ‘All we need to do is keep the house’s relative position in mind. Take us on to the prefectural highway, towards City D.’