‘I think so. Next to the pachinko parlour?’
‘That’s the one. You know, there’s a chance he might be there, parked near the entrance to the car park. I go there to shop every couple of days; I’ve seen his car a few times now.’
Surveillance?
‘Parked on the street?’
‘That’s right. He’s using one of the side streets, off the main road. Wide enough so his car’s not in the way, of course,’ Meiko said, defending her husband, having misunderstood the question.
‘And he’s in the car, alone?’
‘Yes. I wonder if he’s found someone he’s staking out? I tried calling out to him one time, but he got really angry. Even told me I had to stay away.’
He’d be angry with her again. She’d refused to give out her husband’s mobile number, but that meant nothing now she’d told Mikami where he might be. Although she had volunteered the information herself, Mikami felt awkward, as though he’d taken advantage of her good nature.
‘I’ll try him there, thanks.’
‘Yes, please do. Sorry you had to come all this way.’
‘It’s no problem. I should be the one apologizing, for barging in on you like this. When I see your husband, I’ll tell him I just happened to be passing by.’
Meiko let out a happy shriek. ‘If you wouldn’t mind. He’d probably be angry with me otherwise.’
She didn’t seem overly concerned, even as she said this. A good family. He turned to leave but looked back almost immediately.
‘His car . . .’
‘It’s a dark-green Skyline. A real old banger.’
‘Thanks. Next time I’ll make sure I’m not in such a rush.’
Mikami looked back a final time as he heard a little voice.
‘Bye-bye.’
The little girl shyly hid her face in her mother’s chest, her features an attractive mix of both parents’.
31
Mikami turned right when the lights at the intersection turned amber.
He hadn’t taken everything Meiko had said as fact. If Kakinuma was by himself, he wouldn’t be on official surveillance duty. What was he up to? Mikami mulled over the question as he sped down the bypass.
He crossed into Matsukawa-machi. The area was full of large, out-of-town superstores. As it was December, the streets were bustling. Cars and consumers zipped back and forth with concentrated purpose. Mikami couldn’t miss the gigantic sign announcing the Tokumatsu supermarket. He took a left and made his way down the side of the store before taking a right at the next junction to circle around the back.
His foot came down hard on the brakes.
I’ll be damned . . .
On the left side of the road, parked ahead of five or six cars lined up against one wall of a consumer electronics store, was Kakinuma’s dark-green Skyline. Mikami pressed on the accelerator to approach from behind. He made a quick check of the exhaust. There was a faint trail of white smoke. He edged a little closer. The inside of the vehicle came into view through the rear window. A head, the hair short, sat in the tipped-back driver’s seat. Mikami drove straight on, glancing to the side as he passed by. The profile of a man. Kakinuma. He was looking directly ahead. Less than ten metres away in that direction was the entrance leading into the Tokumatsu car park. A couple of uniformed guards were busy directing the heavy traffic, guiding customers in and out with red batons. Kakinuma’s watching the cars, or the customers. But Mikami dismissed the idea almost as soon as it came. The Skyline was parked too close to the entrance. He was also at the front of the row of other cars, meaning he was in plain sight of anyone driving out. The rules of surveillance suggested his target would be fifteen metres further on – the back entrance to the pachinko parlour. Either that, or the main entrance to the multipurpose building across the road.
Mikami made a left, then another, navigating his way through the side streets until he was behind the line of parked cars. He pulled up behind the last vehicle and cut the engine; he got out of his car and into the street. Guy’s a real detective. The words Meiko had told him sat heavily in the pit of his stomach. He approached the Skyline as though it were an interrogation room. When he reached it, he lightly rapped his knuckles against the driver-side window. He sensed Kakinuma jump. His eyes opened wide when he turned to see Mikami standing there. Open up. Mikami formed the words with his mouth. Kakinuma stumbled over himself, unlocking the door. The car was parked flat against the wall, so the passenger side was off limits. Mikami pulled open the rear door and climbed into the back of the car. He grabbed the fabric of the passenger seat and pulled himself forwards so he could see Kakinuma from the side. The man had gone completely pale.
‘What are you doing here?’
Mikami didn’t give him any time to think up an excuse. Kakinuma managed little more than a grunt in response.
‘Are you waiting for someone? Or keeping your eye on someone?’
Surveillance. Routine mapping. Mikami was sure Kakinuma was engaged in one or the other, but the view through the windscreen didn’t seem to fit now he was inside the car. The car park was, as he’d thought, too close. The interior of the car was in plain sight, almost inviting people to look in. At the same time, the two entrances – those of the pachinko parlour and the multi purpose building – seemed too far away, making it a stretch to keep tabs on someone with the naked eye.
‘We’re moving,’ Kakinuma blurted, letting off the handbrake. He put the car into drive and started to press down on the accelerator. Mikami reached out, pulling the handbrake back up in almost perfect unison, making the car jerking forwards before coming again to an abrupt stop, sending the two of them pitching forwards. One of the men directing the traffic turned around in surprise, having no doubt registered the screech of the tyres.
Mikami sat back in the seat and said, ‘I’m not here to get in the way. Just carry on like I’m not here.’
‘I’m done for the day.’
Done for the day? What did he mean, done for the day?
‘It’s fine, just carry on as you were. I want the kidnapper to see justice, too; no less than you do.’ Mikami heard Kakinuma swallow. ‘I’m here for something else. You can keep looking ahead, that’s fine. Just hear me out.’
‘What do you want?’
Mikami looked into the rear-view mirror. He could see Kakinuma’s eyes. They shied away from meeting his.
‘I went to see Hiyoshi yesterday, the one who used to be in Forensics.’ Mikami held back from saying he’d met him, intimating only that he’d been to his house. Kakinuma was blinking more rapidly now. He would have had warning of Mikami’s attempted ambush from Urushibara’s call, but physical reactions weren’t something you could fully suppress. ‘His mother told me all about what happened. That her son had made a fatal error at Amamiya’s. That the captain – that Urushibara – had yelled at him for being incompetent. This is all correct, I take it?’
‘I don’t . . . I don’t know.’