Death Sentences Read Online Free PDF Page B

when it was time to rope him in, they'd rope him.
    So far they'd read it dead-on.
    Now here they were-Miura Sachiko and Sagara at the table.
    3
    "How's things?"
    "Urn. .."✓
    He could hear their words, faintly.
    The conversation was utterly meaningless, though.
    From behind his newspaper, he intently watched their hands.
    But there was no sign of anything passing between them.
    Anyhow-
    Miura Sachiko carried only a small shoulder bag. There was no way she could bring many copies of the stuff in it.
    That meant that something was going to happen.
    Maybe she was planning on taking him to the hiding place. Or was it going to be a more elaborate operation?
    The two had been very cautious, even on the phone. Both of them probably had their suspicions, but Miura Sachiko at least had clearly anticipated the possibility of police surveillance.
    They couldn't afford to be careless.
    They'd wait until the very last minute.

    The two sat silently.
    The coffee Sagara had ordered arrived.
    Sagara made a show of taking a sip, grabbed the check, and stood up.
    Miura Sachiko stood, too.
    She cast a suspicious look at Sakamoto.
    Sakamoto deliberately looked right back. He looked her over carefully, head to toe.
    She turned away abruptly.
    She went out of the shop right behind Sagara.
    Sakamoto did his best to restrain himself; taking a deep breath, and then another, he stuck to his seat.
    He then drained the rest of the coffee in one big swig, hopped out of the booth, and went to the register.
    The waitress returned to the front with a sour look on her face.
    Sakamoto pulled a few coins from his pocket and hustled out.
    The Corolla stood right in front.
    His partner flicked a finger to indicate their direction.
    Apparently, they'd doubled back into one of the lanes to the left.
    They were heading toward the love hotel area.
    Sakamoto took off in pursuit.
    Just when he thought he'd lost them, he spotted them ducking into a hotel.
    Sakamoto paused.
    He waited a full minute.
    They didn't come out. They must have gotten a room.
    He casually went over to the hotel.
    He ducked under a mass of vines covering the entrance and went in.
    A chime sounded.
    A small window slid open to the left of the entrance.
    "Just one person today?" The voice from behind the low-set window was that of an older woman.
    "Can ya get me a woman?" he asked roughly.

    All the while, out of the corner of his eye, he watched the numbers on the elevator just inside.
    Number three stayed lit.
    "May I ask who sent you here?"
    The woman's voice had a hard edge.
    "Nobody, it's just, you
    "May I see some kind of identification?"
    Sakamoto selected a business card from among the many fake ones he kept with him, just in case, and slid it inside the window.
    A call to the number on the card would connect to an operator at headquarters. The operator would make up something to go along with the number.
    "May I see another?"
    She was a shrewd one.
    There were those who would use someone else's business card as a front.
    Sakamoto acted a bit angry and tossed a handful of the same cards inside the window.
    "You want to see my ID, too?"
    "That's all right. It's just that we don't do that kind of thing here. Not our business ..."
    "Sure, but you can work something out, can't you?"
    If this didn't work, he was going to have to reveal himself.
    The problem was, he wanted to keep it all as quiet as possible.
    Otherwise, everything would come out in the open.
    "Well, sir, you're welcome to get a room for yourself. That's no problem."
    "And?"
    "Get yourself a room, then try a call to this place."
    With the key that she pushed through the window was a flashy card.
    Below "Massage-Real Live Girls!" was a phone number in large print.
    "Sure, I get you."
    Sakamoto swept up the key and the card.

    The key was for a fourth floor room.
    "You see, we aren't that kind of place. We don't want that kind of reputation, not around here."
    Suddenly, she sounded all business.
    "I get you. You mind if I stay