Death Sentences Read Online Free PDF Page A

not supposed to read it, so we're turning it in as is, as material evidence."
    "Do that."
    Sakamoto hung up.
    A coin dropped into the change slot.
    As he fished it out and slipped it into his pants pocket, Sakamoto took a leisurely look out over the darkening city.
    The stuff hadn't turned up.
    At least we were on the right track.
    Maybe our timing was off.
    Yet the problem wasn't just one of our timing.
    Sensing danger, she would have gotten the stuff out of the house right away. Then she would have hidden it somewhere.
    If she was using the print kit, no doubt she made quite a lot of copies.
    She wouldn't just toss them in the trash. That would only put her in greater danger. With the new regulations on the use of photocopy machines, which demanded that all copies be numbered and accounted for, people had begun reproducing the stuff manually, copying it by hand or using old-fashioned mimeographs.
    As a result, the number of reproductions circulating illicitly had fallen to about one tenth of what it had been with the use of photocopies.
    That meant a hike in price.

    Reproducing the stuff was a serious offense. Sakamoto and his detectives, as members of a covert deputation of Special Police, had pretty much free rein when it came to dealing out justice.
    It was unlikely, then, that after running such a serious risk, she would simply let it go.
    Especially not now that she had a buyer.
    She had to be hiding it.
    She was going to palm it off.
    Sakamoto was sure of it.
    That's why she'd gone to such great lengths to clean her apartment. Miura Sachiko was planning to fly the coop.
    He couldn't let her get away.
    Sakamoto pulled his right hand out of his pocket and felt along the left side of his coat. Feeling his piece there, he began to walk.
    The Corolla with his partner sat at the edge of the road like a watchdog.
    No one had gone in the shop since she had. No one had come out.
    After carefully buttoning his coat, Sakamoto opened the door.
    The waitress greeted him sullenly as he entered.
    "Take any seat that suits you."
    Miura Sachiko looked up anxiously.
    She quickly looked away.
    Ignoring her, Sakamoto went past her and eased into a booth.
    A glass of water and a hot towel were plunked down in front of him.
    "What'll it be?"
    "Hot coffee."
    The waitress went in the back.
    Sakamoto stretched across to pick up the sports page from the creased newspapers on the seat next to him.
    It was yesterday's. Covered with stains.
    He folded it so he could read part of it.

    The coffee soon arrived. It must have been reheated many times; it looked thick as mud. You don't often see coffee that bad these days.
    Without so much as a sip, he knew how it'd taste. That's how coffee had been in the old days, when he was a kid. It didn't occur to him to complain. He didn't care all that much for coffee anyway.
    He stirred in lots of cream and sugar and took a sip.
    Just then-
    The door opened.
    A man entered.
    Miura Sachiko looked up and nodded at him.
    It was him-Sagara.
    It looked like this investigation was really on the right track after all.
    Sakamoto took a big gulp of the syrupy liquid.
    Until about a year ago, Miura Sachiko had worked in an administrative building at one of the city colleges.
    Sagara had been Sachiko's boss at the same college. He was assistant director of education.
    The two began an affair. Nobody knew exactly when it started.
    As a matter of fact, the investigation hadn't really started in earnest till yesterday around three. By four they'd had a tap on her phone.
    There hadn't been any real evidence till then. Actually, from the very beginning, there hadn't been much to go on.
    It had all been a hunch.
    But that's how Sakamoto's team worked.
    Whatever it took to get the job done.
    Four days ago they'd begun with "whatever it took." Completely by coincidence, one of the team on a stakeout had caught wind of something.
    Before long they had a name-Sachi. Initially, though, they didn't know if Sachi was a man or a