Chapter 13: Signing Night

Daigo Kitamura turned his head toward the pillar.

Emi kept her face over the tea and did not breathe.

The phone kept buzzing against the saucer, a small angry insect.

She slapped her palm over it.

"Excuse me," the young man in the yellow jacket said. "Is someone there?"

"It's a student," Daigo said, without looking again. "They sleep in cafes."

He stood up and buttoned his coat.

"Ten o'clock," he told the young man. "Go home. Take the coffee."

They left by the front door, one after the other, and the bell rang twice.

Emi sat with her hand on the phone until her fingers stopped shaking.

Then she stopped the recording.

Four minutes of audio, clear as a radio play.

She saved it twice, and sent a copy to Haruka, who was pacing outside the window.

Haruka burst in.

"Did you get it?"

"I got it."

"Was he as evil as he looks?"

"He was worse. Come on."

They ran for the station.

It was nine twenty, and the Kitamura building was ten minutes away on a good train.

The train was not good.

It stopped between stations for ninety seconds while a recorded voice apologized for the inconvenience.

Emi stood against the door with her phone in both hands and read Misaki's message again.

Then she typed with her thumbs: I have proof. Don't let her sign. Stall.

The message showed as delivered and never as read.

"Idols hand their phones in at ten," Haruka said. "Every fan knows that."

"I know."

"The tablet, then."

"Misaki doesn't read her tablet when Daigo is in the room."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I've watched her not read it for three weeks."

They came out of the station at nine fifty-one and ran the last block.

The lobby with the gold wall was lit but empty, except for a guard behind the desk.

He stood up as Emi came through the door.

"Visitors need an appointment."

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