Chapter 3 The Exorbitant Ransom

Monday afternoon at 3 PM, Sakai Group Building.

Two men came to the front desk through the revolving door. The tall and burly man in the lead said, "Hello, we would like to see President Sakai."

The greeter politely asked, "Sir, do you have an appointment?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't have an appointment. But we have something very urgent and important to discuss with President Sakai."

The greeter looked embarrassed and said, "I'm sorry, President Sakai is very busy. We really can't help you without an appointment..."

The burly man pulled out a business card and continued persistently, "We are friends of Mr. Nakagawa Taku, could you make an exception for us?"

"Please wait a moment while I ask... I'm sorry, Mr. Nakagawa didn't come to work today. Could you two come back tomorrow?"

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid that won't work."

The greeter looked conflicted, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "May I contact the president's secretary, Mr. Shintani, first?"

The man nodded in agreement.

The reception room is on the 7th floor.

Two men boarded the visitor-only elevator.

As they stepped into the elevator, the young man who had been silent behind the tall man let out a long sigh of relief: "Senior Date, the security here is really tight!"

"Takagi, relax. Remember we're in plainclothes, and you must not reveal your identity unless absolutely necessary."

"yes!"

"President Sakai has a heart condition, so please don't say anything inappropriate when you meet him. Just follow my lead, understand?"

"yes!"

The young man named Takagi was a new police officer who had been on the job for less than six months.

This was his first time handling a major case, and he was naturally both excited and nervous about going out to investigate with his senior colleagues.

The tall, experienced colleague, Date, had been working for three years and usually liked to chew on a toothpick. But this time, to appear more serious, he hadn't brought one. He felt a little uneasy, as if something was missing from his mouth.

The elevator numbers climbed to "7", and the two tidied themselves up and went out.

As soon as I entered the reception room, a young man strode up to me.

"Hello, I am Hiroshi Shintani, the secretary of President Sakai."

"Hello, this is Date Wataru. This is my assistant, Takagi Wataru."

Ida shook hands with that person and looked them up and down.

He was dressed impeccably in a suit, his shoes were gleaming, and his hair and beard were neatly groomed.

However, there are two discordant aspects to this meticulously groomed appearance.

Shinya had a band-aid on his chin and on the fingers of his left hand.

Shintani seemed embarrassed by his appearance as well, explaining, "I'm so sorry, I made you laugh. I accidentally cut myself while shaving a couple of days ago, and it's still not healed..."

“Actually, I often cut my face while shaving too. It’s a common problem for men!” Date comforted him, then complimented him, “I never imagined that Mr. Shintani would be so young to be President Sakai’s secretary. He’s truly young and accomplished!”

Shintani smiled modestly and said, "Not at all, I'm actually the secretary's deputy. It's just that Mr. Miyazaki has been hospitalized these past two days, so I'm temporarily taking over as his secretary."

Shinya invited the two guests to sit down and asked, "Mr. Date, what is it that you are in such a hurry to see the president? The president is in a meeting right now and it is inconvenient for him to see you."

Date gestured for the other person to come closer, and he whispered, "In the first half of the year, I sold the prototype of Dr.Virus to Nakagawa. The game sold very well, but he refused to give me a share of the profits. He even said that if I made another one, he would give me five times the price. Now that I've finished it, Nakagawa has disappeared without a trace. He didn't even dare to come to work today. I brought the materials with me. I wonder if President Sakai can keep Nakagawa's promise?"

Date handed the tablet to Shintani and said generously, "Mr. Shintani, you can try it out first."

"You need a fingerprint?" Shintani pressed it without thinking, but he was stunned when he saw the dense array of things on the splash screen. "Mr. Date, what are all these?"

Ida launched into a scathing presentation: "This game is called Dr. Cell. Unlike previous viral games, this one simulates how the eight major systems of the human body coordinate and work, and it can even teach you how to maintain good health. Teachers will definitely love it—it's edutainment! Think about it, how many daily active users do you have now? How much revenue do you generate? Kids playing games will definitely get scolded by adults and teachers, right? But this one is different. We can easily promote it in schools and nursing homes, reaching audiences of all ages!"

Shinya didn't understand games, but he instinctively sensed an opportunity.

"I never imagined Nakagawa was doing this kind of thing behind the scenes."

Shintani felt this was a golden opportunity that could help him rise to prominence, so he said to Date, "I'll go and fetch the president. Please wait a moment."

Seeing that Shintani had left, Date stood up and knocked on the wall to listen for the echo.

Takagi asked nervously in a low voice, "Date-senpai, what are you doing?"

Ida said casually, "This room has good soundproofing."

Then, Date carefully searched the sofa where Shintani had sat. Sure enough, she found a black hair, which she treasured and put into a test tube.

Takagi said thoughtfully, "Date-senpai, are you suspecting Shintani? You were collecting fingerprints earlier, and now you're collecting hair—are you trying to do a DNA test? But Shintani is definitely suspicious. Nakagawa was murdered two days ago, and the perpetrator was left-handed, while Shintani's injury was also on his left hand! However, Mr. Shintani used his right hand when he was serving tea and water earlier. So, isn't left-handed Miyazaki the more suspicious one?"

"Shintani might use his right hand because his left hand is injured, and Shintani looks like a proud and ambitious young man. Do you remember how messy Nakagawa's knife wounds were, and none of them hit any vital organs?"

"Date-senpai, do you mean the culprit might be right-handed, pretending to be left-handed to frame Miyazaki?"

"It's just a guess. Miyazaki is still in the ICU, and the truth is still unknown..." Date sighed softly.

Takagi scratched his head and asked again, "Uh, Date-senpai, actually I've always had a question... why do we need to be in plainclothes?"

"Takagi, what do you think is the father's mentality in not reporting his son missing for three days?"

Takagi frowned in thought, then exclaimed as if suddenly realizing something, "Ah, I know! It must be the kidnappers threatening to kill the hostage if we call the police!"

Date nodded in satisfaction: "Exactly. Think about the two current kidnapping suspects. Number 1, Nakagawa Taku, who is already dead, was the project manager for Dr. Virus, while Number 2, Miyazaki Yu, was his secretary. Both of them had close ties with Sakai, so it's possible that the other kidnappers are also employees of the Sakai Group, or were bribed by the kidnappers. If it's discovered that the police are already monitoring this case, and if that child really dies because of it, can we explain ourselves?"

Just then, the company president, Kazuo Sakai, arrived.

Sakai is 50 years old this year, but she looks older and more haggard than her peers.

"I'm sorry to have kept you both waiting."

"President Sakai, we would like to speak with you privately."

Sakai nodded, gesturing for Shintani to leave.

"Mr. Date, regarding your wages..."

Date waved his hand and said, "President Sakai, I have another purpose for coming here."

"Oh?" Sakai's expression immediately became wary, and his cloudy eyes revealed a suspicious look.

"Your son didn't seem to go to school today. Did he take a leave of absence?"

Sakai gritted her teeth, clenched her fists, and roared, "You?! Didn't you say Wednesday was the appointed time?"

"President Sakai, you've misunderstood. We're not kidnappers who took your son hostage."

Date handed Sakai a glass of water to calm him down.

To everyone's surprise, the other party refused to drink and coldly asked, "Are you police officers?"

Having served in the police force for three years, Date was no stranger to this attitude. However, for Takagi, a newcomer, this was the first time he had experienced such coldness.

Takagi read disdain and anger in Sakai's cold eyes, something he, who worked with the mindset of a public servant, could not understand.

Takagi was genuinely glad that he had come in plainclothes; otherwise, Sakai might have refused to see him.

Ida didn't panic at the questioning. He calmly showed the other man his police ID, then pulled out a photograph and asked, "Is this your son?"

"Yuki! My son! You...you found him? Where is he?"

"This is footage from the vending machine's surveillance camera. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to find your son yet."

Sakai deflated upon hearing this and sat on the sofa without saying a word.

Date asked, "President Sakai, is Wednesday the deadline you mentioned earlier the one the kidnappers agreed upon? A cash-on-delivery settlement?"

Sakai glanced at the other person and said reluctantly, "Officer Date, they won't let me file a police report, otherwise Yuuki's life will be in danger. So if you want to arrest someone..."

"You can rest assured about that; we will naturally prioritize ensuring your son's personal safety."

Sakai nervously rubbed his hands together and said, "Wednesday is the down payment day, but I won't be able to see my son. They only promised to show me the live recording."

What does "down payment" mean?

"Because I couldn't come up with that much money right away, and the other party only wanted gold bars, and large gold transactions are also troublesome. So they said they could give me some time, like a loan, and use an installment payment method with an interest rate of 20%, until all the money is paid off before they can release Youshu."

Takagi bluntly said, "Isn't this just loan sharking?"

Date glared at Takagi and asked, "How many gold bars do the kidnappers want?"

"I estimate it will cost around 500 billion yen..."

This number made both detectives gasp in shock.

Date asked cautiously, "Mr. Sakai, did the other party specify a deadline?"

Sakai shook her head and said, "No. But I will definitely raise enough gold bars as soon as possible to ransom my son!"

Date sighed, unsure whether to utter a sigh of pity for the boundless love of parents, and then said, "Mr. Sakai, we hope you will cooperate with our work. The Metropolitan Police Department will do everything in its power to help you rescue your son!"

Sakai asked suspiciously, "Really? Has Inspector Date found out who kidnapped my son?"

Date frowned slightly and replied, "The police have identified several suspects, but we cannot disclose the specifics yet. Mr. Sakai, we suspect that the perpetrator may have bribed someone close to you to gather information. Therefore, please do not tell anyone about our visit today, including your wife."

"What...what's going on?"

"Mr. Sakai, I'm sure you also hope for your son's safe return soon, right?"

Sakai frowned deeply, but finally nodded in agreement.

“Mr. Sakai, this is my contact information. If the kidnappers make any moves, please contact me immediately. Remember, the kidnappers may still kill the hostage after getting the money, so you must not act alone!”

"Okay, I understand."

Takagi followed Date downstairs, got back into the car, and prepared to return to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Seeing Takagi's dejection, Date comforted him, "Takagi, as police officers, we just need to do our job."

"But Mr. Sakai's malice towards the police runs deep..."

"What's the big deal? You'll see more of the world after a few years and you won't care anymore. Besides, there are people in the police force who don't like the police."

"Huh? How is that possible?"

"Haha, that's definitely possible!"

Takagi then asked, "What are your thoughts on this case, Date-senpai?"

“It’s hard to say. The fact that they only want gold and not money suggests that it’s a transnational criminal gang that’s having trouble exchanging foreign currency. If that’s the case, then this case won’t just be handled by our First Investigation Division.” Date put his familiar toothpick in his mouth, finally feeling relieved.

"What?!" Takagi's legs went weak when he heard that.

"Hey Takagi, this is your first case and you've got a big one like this. Shouldn't you be full of energy and enthusiasm? Cheer up!"

Takagi sighed silently, thinking to himself:

The project manager of a currently popular game kidnapped his boss's son, who was an avid gamer, but ended up being murdered himself!

Takagi never expected that such a "year-end surprise gift package" would be waiting for him in the last month of this year.

"By the way, Date-senpai, why did you insist at the time that the person who called the police was not involved in the case?"

"First of all, Miyazaki was clearly given first aid. Otherwise, he would never have survived until now. So, who else could have been the rescuer besides the person who called the police? Secondly, the kidnappers only wanted the gold bars and certainly didn't want the police involved. Even if it was infighting among accomplices trying to frame someone else, they could have just waited for the police to investigate themselves. There was absolutely no need to call the police. The longer the body decomposes, the more advantageous it is for the perpetrators."

"But the person who called the police is still acting strangely. They used the deceased's phone to call the police, but there were no fingerprints left on the phone. There was only a stray cat at the scene..."

"Maybe it really was the cat demon who called the police," Ida said jokingly, a pair of cat-like blue phoenix eyes appearing before her eyes.

"A cat demon?!" Takagi broke out in a cold sweat.

"Hey, I was just kidding! Takagi, you don't need to be so nervous."

"Would the usually serious Date-senpai ever make a joke like this?" Takagi sighed inwardly. "But I still feel there's something wrong with the person who called the police. Even if he wasn't the murderer, he might have played some role in it."

"I think he might just be a kind-hearted passerby."

"Why?" Takagi asked, puzzled.

With a toothpick dangling from his mouth, Ida replied in a deliberately profound tone, "A detective's intuition."