Lady Joker, Volume 1 by Kaoru Takamura (lightest ebook reader .txt) 📕

careless remarks. Finally, you did not recognize any of the voices. Correct?”

“Yes.”

“And yet I wonder,” the investigator continued, his tone shifting unexpectedly, “you said that during your fifty hours of confinement at the hideout, while your eyes were blindfolded and your mouth was taped shut, you listened with desperation for whatever words might come from the two men. They spoke as little as possible, always sticking to the script. You must have listened to their voices for any clues, racking your brain to figure out who they could be.”

“At first, yes. But I could not come up with anyone.”

“Even so, didn’t you try to guess what kind of men they were?”

“I tried, but I didn’t have the slightest idea.”

“What did you imagine, for example?”

“I can’t recall specifically. I could tell that they were not the type of men who belonged to the same stratum of society as I do, but otherwise I had no idea.”

“Perhaps it was someone who held a grudge against you or the company? Or maybe they were after some money?”

“Of course I thought about these and many other things, but I couldn’t figure it out,” Shiroyama replied, wondering if the police had to pry into every such detail.

“You said the men did not belong to the same stratum of society, but did you base that judgment solely upon the voices you heard?”

“Yes.”

“Next”—the investigator mechanically flipped through his notebook—“you said that after you were taken into the hideout, you were told that they would not harm you. They provided you with a futon and a blanket, and then you fell asleep. When you came to, you were taken to the bathroom where you did your business, the restraints on your hands were untied and the duct tape over your mouth was pulled off, and you were given oolong tea and a rice ball. During that time, you did not feel that you were in any physical danger?”

“No.”

Even as he replied, Shiroyama was again aware of the three pairs of eyes that seemed to be piercing right through him, and he had to ask himself if something was amiss with his response.

“You said that every time they pulled off the duct tape from your mouth so you could eat, you repeatedly asked them what they were after and at first they did not respond. But eventually, the older man mentioned that they wanted money, and when you asked how much, he told you six hundred million in cash. Shocked when you heard the amount, you wondered how the company could ever respond to such a huge demand . . . Is that an accurate description of what you said?”

“Yes.”

“At that point, why did you immediately assume that they were demanding money from the company?”

“I didn’t think it was feasible they would demand six hundred million from an individual.”

“If that’s true, when you determined that they were demanding money from the company, did you ask them why they were extorting Hinode Beer?”

That’s right, Shiroyama thought. He realized that while he was held captive, that was one question he had never asked. Why had the perpetrators chosen him, the president of Hinode Beer? Why did they choose Hinode from among the myriad companies that existed? These questions had been on the tip of his tongue, but perhaps what nagged at him and prevented him from asking was the memory, somewhere in the recesses of his mind, of his niece and her family’s blunder from four and a half years ago. Feeling as if he were again staring into an abyss of melancholy, Shiroyama grasped for an answer and all he managed to come up with was, “I asked but they didn’t reply.”

“Did you ask them just once?” the investigator swiftly followed up.

“Several times.”

“Let me go back to the ransom. You told us the only thing the perpetrators ever said was that they wanted money, six hundred million in cash, and they did not offer any further details. Does that mean they didn’t reply to any of your other questions?”

“That’s right.”

“What else did you ask them?”

“I asked them why they were doing this and . . . I told them six hundred million was too much . . .”

“And the perpetrators did not reply, right? When one of them started gathering up trash and vacuuming, another one told you that you were being released and they would be in touch about how to deliver the money. And right after that you were taken out of the hideout—Is that right? Did I get everything they said to you then accurately?”

“Yes.”

“Did the perpetrators say anything else to you?”

“No.”

“Did you say anything else to them?”

“No. My mouth was taped shut.”

“When the one perpetrator began cleaning up and the other one told you that you were being released, and so on, did you notice any sudden changes in either their demeanor or way of speaking? Did they seem anxious or hurried at all?”

“I was blindfolded, so I don’t really know.”

“Were there any signs of sudden commotion?”

“No. There didn’t seem to be.”

“How did you feel when the perpetrators told you they would be in touch about how to deliver the money?”

“I felt a little relieved to hear that the money had not yet been delivered.”

“During your confinement, did it ever occur to you that you might be the hostage in a kidnapping for ransom?”

“I did.”

“Then weren’t you suspicious or concerned that they were letting you go without the money being delivered?”

“No. I was just so relieved to hear that I was being released, I was in a daze.”

“How do you feel now?”

As Shiroyama cast his gaze downward, three pairs of eyes drilled into his forehead. Occasionally their scrutiny transformed into suspicion. Their eyes were like daggers, and Shiroyama their target; his previous physical discomfort was now compounded by a sense of abhorrence. All the while, he found himself indulging in untimely self-reflection, remembering that for most of his life forbearance had never been his strong suit. Now that he was on thin ice, forced to stack