The question was a good one – where was the kidnapper trying to take him? Pencil-face was scrolling through the map on the screen. It was still too early to dismiss the Aoi Café. The ring road headed north, arrow-like, until it crossed the state road four kilometres on. From there, turning left at the Isogai intersection would lead south and back towards downtown and Aoi-machi. The route from there was the reverse of Six Four. Mesaki would pass Mahjong Atari first, then Four Seasons Fruits, before finally reaching Six Four’s first stop, the Aoi Café.
But taking that route would be considerably longer than travelling straight down the prefectural highway. The switch had only taken Mesaki from one trunk line to another, so it couldn’t have been designed to lose any cars in pursuit. And the kidnapper had gone so far as to make him do a u-turn . . . maybe he was thinking of the industrial area to the east. Or was he going to make Mesaki take a right off the state road, then a left off the prefectural highway, which would send him north and back on to the original route, the road from fourteen years ago that led to Neyuki, snaking into the mountains . . . to the Kotohira bridge . . . to the mercury lamps . . .?
Mikami had to shake his head. He felt like he’d reached his limit. It wasn’t just the drowsiness now. The vehicle kept jerking him awake, and he was getting adrenalin rushes, periods of feeling low. Each came without warning. He remembered something and called out. 11.51! The embargo was already up on Mesaki’s crossing the Kuwabara intersection.
He fumbled, opening his phone. His hands froze. Wait. Kuwabara . . .? It seemed ridiculous. Mesaki had made a u-turn and was now racing down the ring road. Was Mikami to report that he was still heading towards Aoi-machi, down the prefectural highway? He’d be misleading them, as though he were taking part in some kind of sick prank. I can’t. He would skip that particular report. He would call once the embargo was cleared about the kidnapper telling Mesaki to make the u-turn and join the ring road. There was no value in knowing he’d passed the Kuwabara intersection . . .
No . . . Wait . . .
He was wrong. Missing the point. It wasn’t his job to assign value. That was for the people on the outside to determine. Wasn’t that exactly what he’d learned?
The police weren’t the entire world. They weren’t at the centre of any universe. Outside, time was standing still. Mesaki had left the house . . . but he hadn’t moved a metre since. Mikami needed to set him in motion. He was the only one who could.
He called Suwa. He fed him the information about the Kuwabara intersection, said he’d follow with more, and ended the call. ‘It’s a lot more like a normal conference now,’ Suwa had said before he’d hung up. The feeling of achievement served as encouragement. I’m more than just a spare part here. With his eyes and ears, he would pay witness to everything that happened. And he would recreate it for the people on the outside.
75
‘Mobile Command, this is Pursuit 1. Mesaki now at seventy-two. Approaching state road junction in 500 metres.’
The pursuit units had pulled back, having successfully lowered Mesaki’s speed.
‘Copy. Make sure you’re positioned to follow, whether he goes left or right.’
– Have you got to the state road?
The helium voice. It set Mikami on edge; there was no way to stop it from ricocheting right through him.
– I’m almost there. Should I go on? Do you want me to turn?
The tension inside was palpable. Which would it be?
– Go right.
To the north, then. That meant the industrial area to the east was no longer viable. The kidnapper was planning to follow Six Four’s original route.
‘Incoming Call. DoCoMo. Caller still in vicinity of the Yuasa Radio Tower.’
Suggesting the kidnapper had an accomplice.
He would need one, if the handover point was to be near Neyuki, as it had been during Six Four. There were no decent roads linking the area and Genbu. There were a few minor routes you could take through villages and the forest, but the kidnapper wouldn’t make it in time even if he left now. Mesaki was going to join the state road and speed north; it wouldn’t be possible to reach Neyuki before him.
‘Do you know of any helipads near the Yuasa Radio Tower?’ Mikami asked Pencil-face.
‘No.’ The man had regained his businesslike look and tone.
There had to be an accomplice at the handover point. But where? It was a difficult question. The kidnapper had designated the Aoi Café, but then skipped it, and the next two points of the Six Four route. It wasn’t even clear if the kidnapper was still mimicking Six Four. Getting Mesaki to throw the suitcase off the Kotohira bridge. Collecting it at Dragon’s Hollow. Was something else waiting for them, something no one had thought of yet, something even more inventive than the idea behind Six Four? It didn’t feel real. It felt made up. Was that because some part of Mikami knew the kidnapping was a hoax after all?
‘Mobile Command, this is Pursuit 1. Mesaki has turned right on to the state road. He’s northbound.’
– I just made the turn . . . what next? Keep going forwards?
– Are you familiar with the area?
– Here? No . . . not at all.
– Keep going straight. I’ll get back to you with more instructions.
– Where am I going?
– Just get a move on. You don’t have much time.
– O–okay!
‘Mobile Command, this is Pursuit 1. Mesaki is picking up speed again. Eighty. Eighty-five. Ninety . . .’
– I just want Kasumi back, okay? I’ll do anything. I just want her back!
– If you want to see her again, you will do everything I tell—
Everyone listening in sat bolt upright. The voice had changed, flattening and twisting around see her again, almost fully reverting to normal by everything I tell. A man’s voice. Mikami had been right.
The line went dead. The helium had worn off.
‘Kitou! Now’s your chance. Get Mesaki to calm down, and he needs to drive more slowly. Make sure to keep your head down.’
‘Copy.’
‘Get Forensics on to the voice analysis.’
‘Copy.’
Mikami had both feet firmly on the floor, bracing himself against the vehicle’s erratic movement. He’d have done so even without the shaking – that was the effect of the shock coursing through him. It hadn’t been the man’s natural voice. The helium had held, just, maintaining the thinnest shield.
Even then . . .
. . . it felt like he’d actually heard it . . . the voice of the Six Four kidnapper. The voice of a man in his thirties or forties, slightly hoarse, with no trace of an accent. The voice that none of the detectives had heard, all those years ago. The Six Four kidnapper, re-enacting his own crime. He’d never considered it a possibility before. He still didn’t, even after hearing the voice. There was only a sense of other-worldliness. The sense of having heard a voice calling from a place where no one was supposed to exist. Of having heard something from somebody. It felt like the shapeless uncertainty that had been smouldering inside him had multiplied and taken on the clear sound of footsteps.
‘Have requested voice analysis. Noise analysis just in for the longer call. No echo detected. Other background sounds unclear due to the high noise levels in Mesaki’s car.’
‘Mesaki. You need to stay in control. Drive a bit slower.’
Kitou’s voice sounded through the speakers. The connection picked up Mesaki’s shrieked response.