Laura Joh Rowland - Sano Ichiro 07 - Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria

by Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria(lit)

  "She did?" Reiko said, surprised. "How?"

  Courtesans were forbidden to leave Yoshiwara, except in special cases. A tayu could only go home to visit fatally ill parents, and that circumstance didn't apply to Wisteria.

  "I came home from shopping," Madam Yue said, "and I found Wisteria in my room. She was all grown up, and beautiful, and dressed in the highest fashion." The murderous look darkened the woman's features again. "She was slashing my clothes with a knife. There was a big pile of shredded fabric on the floor around her.

  "I said, `How did you get here? What do you think you're doing?' Wisteria said, `I've been freed. And I'm paying you back for what you did to me.' Then she urinated on my ruined clothes. I shouted, `Get out of here!' She laughed and said, `May you be reborn into the life of degradation that I suffered.' And she swept out of the house. That was the last I've seen of her. And good riddance!" Madam Yue snorted; fury glinted in her eyes.

  Though Wisteria's violence and crudity disgusted Reiko, she could sympathize with the courtesan's need for revenge. And the story offered a possible clue.

  "Who was it that freed Wisteria?" Reiko asked.

  "She didn't say. Later I heard he was a wealthy, high-ranking official."

  One aspect of the story perplexed Reiko. She said, "If this man freed Wisteria, why did she return to Yoshiwara?"

  "I don't know." An unpleasant smile twisted Madam Yue's lips. "But I'm glad she did."

  Reiko decided she must find out the identity of the man. Perhaps he and Wisteria had kept in contact, and he knew where she was. "Did Wisteria have any close friends I might talk to?" Reiko meant to continue probing Wisteria's past, which seemed a rich source of enlightenment.

  "There was a girl named Yuya. She lived down the street when she and Wisteria were young. I heard she went bad, too, but I don't know what became of her."

  "If you should see Wisteria, or hear from her, will you please send a message to my husband's estate at Edo Castle to let me know?" Reiko said.

  "Oh, I certainly will," Madam Yue replied, with a nasty chuckle that conveyed how much she would like to turn her daughter in to the shogun's sosakan-sama. "Does your husband think Wisteria killed Lord Mitsuyoshi?"

  "He's investigating the possibility," Reiko admitted.

  "Well, you can tell him that she's mean and spiteful and cunning enough to be the murderer," Madam Yue said. "And when he catches her, I'll be plenty glad to say so at her trial."

  19

  The guards at the Court of Justice opened the broad, carved door for Sano. He and four of his detectives entered the cavernous room, which was filled with men kneeling in rows all the way up to the shirasu, an area of floor covered with white sand, symbol of truth. There knelt Treasury Minister Nitta. Head bowed, his wrists shackled, he faced the low dais at the front of the room. On the dais, flanked by two secretaries stationed behind desks equipped with paper and writing implements, sat Magistrate Aoki.

  Sano and his men knelt at the back of the audience. The magistrate addressed Nitta in a cracked but resonant voice: "We have just heard evidence that you stole from the treasury." His face reminded Sano of a bitter-melon-tapering and deeply wrinkled, his eyes like black stones embedded in furrows. He wore black ceremonial robes adorned with gold crests. His bald scalp reflected light from the lanterns above the dais. "You may now speak for yourself if you wish."

  "I confess that I took the money, betrayed my lord's trust, and dishonored myself," Nitta said. His quiet words conveyed no feeling, but his shoulders slumped in despair. The penalty for stealing from the Tokugawa was death, as everyone knew.

  "I hereby pronounce you guilty of embezzlement and treason," said Magistrate Aoki.

  Sano drew a breath to ask that Aoki delay the execution until he solved the murder case. He might need more information from Nitta, and he wanted all the suspects alive until he determined who was the killer. But the magistrate spoke first.

  "I will wait to sentence you because you are accused of yet another serious crime," he said to Nitta. "You will now undergo trial for the murder of Lord Mitsuyoshi."

  The treasury minister jerked upright, as if pierced by shock. Disbelief stunned Sano. Magistrate Aoki intended to try Nitta here, today, for the murder, and hadn't even notified Sano! Then Sano realized he should have expected this. The magistrate aspired to a loftier status than his present post, and he never gave up trying for a promotion. He always insinuated himself into high-level bakufu business, hoping to impress the shogun. Unsatisfied with condemning Treasury Minister Nitta for embezzlement, he'd seized the chance to prosecute Nitta as the murderer of the shogun's heir.

  Magistrate Aoki now stared across the room at Sano, defying him to object.

  "Honorable Magistrate, with all due respect, I must ask that you postpone the murder trial." Despite his anger, Sano spoke politely because he knew the danger inherent in his request. Heads swiveled toward him, and he recognized important bakufu officials among the audience. "I also ask you to defer Treasury Minister Nitta's sentence for embezzlement and keep him under house arrest for now."

  "Why is that?" Magistrate Aoki's stony eyes glinted.

  Sano saw the treasury minister gazing at him in avid hope of reprieve. Nitta's normally pale skin had acquired the same gray color as his hair; he looked to have aged a decade since Sano had last met him.

  "The murder investigation isn't finished," Sano said, although alarmed to take the dubious position of protecting a criminal from the law. "It hasn't yet been established whether Treasury Minister Nitta or someone else is the killer. And I need him to be available for interrogation."

  "Your request is noted-and regretfully declined." Magistrate Aoki's manner was deferential, but laced with enjoyment. "I remind you that a magistrate has the right to schedule trials and sentences at his discretion."

  While Sano enjoyed high status in the bakufu because he belonged to the shogun's inner court, his actual rank was ambiguous. Whether he had authority over other officials was a matter of constant debate.

  "The court shall proceed," Magistrate Aoki continued. "Whatever punishment I deem appropriate for Treasury Minister Nitta shall be meted out today."

  "His Excellency the Shogun has given me the responsibility for identifying the killer of Lord Mitsuyoshi," Sano said, struggling to control his rage. "For Treasury Minister Nitta to be tried for murder and punished for embezzlement today will interfere with my duty."

  "I begin to think that you wish to delay justice for your own sake." Menace lurked beneath Aoki's even voice; the audience stirred in uneasy anticipation. "Would you rather see the murderer of His Excellency's heir go unpunished than have someone other than yourself determine whether Treasury Minister Nitta is guilty?"

  This was tantamount to an accusation of treason, and Sano knew that if he persisted in opposing the trial, the accusation might stick. Defeated, he shook his head and seethed in silence. What bad luck that Aoki was on duty this month, instead of Reiko's father! Magistrate Ueda wouldn't place self-aggrandizement before reason.

  "We shall hear the first witness," Magistrate Aoki said.

  Mixed feelings beset Sano. He didn't want to see Aoki prove Treasury Minister Nitta's guilt when he himself couldn't; but if the magistrate served justice by convicting Nitta, then Sano had no right to complain. Much as he would hate to lose face and the shogun's regard if Aoki solved the mystery, an end to the investigation would quiet the unrest in the bakufu and save Sano trouble even if his reputation suffered. Furthermore, Sano was curious to see what the trial revealed.

  One of the secretaries said, "Kacho, courtesan of Yoshiwara, is ordered to come forward."

  In the front row of the audience, a woman shuffled forth on her knees and stopped near the shirasu. Sano recognized her as one of the courtesans who'd entertained party guests at the Owariya the night Lord Mitsuyoshi died.

  "Are you acquainted with Treasury Minister Nitta?" the magistrate asked her.

  She bowed and replied meekly: "Yes, Ho
norable Magistrate."

  "Was he so much in love with Lady Wisteria that he reserved all her appointments because he didn't want any other man to have her?"

  "Yes, Honorable Magistrate."

  "Let it be noted that Treasury Minister Nitta is a jealous man who went to great lengths to keep Lady Wisteria all to himself," Magistrate Aoki said to the assembly. "This witness is dismissed. We shall hear the next one."

  Sano's objection to the trial gained force because Magistrate Aoki had used the witness as a puppet to confirm his own statements, which set Treasury Minister Nitta up as the murderer. Virtually all trials in Japan ended with a guilty verdict, and this one was looking to be an example of how Aoki maintained the trend.

  The second witness was the proprietor of the Owariya. Magistrate Aoki asked him, "Did Treasury Minister Nitta keep his appointment with Lady Wisteria the night of the murder?"

  When the proprietor replied in the negative, Magistrate Aoki said, "Why not?"

  "Lord Mitsuyoshi requested Lady Wisteria's company, and Treasury Minister Nitta yielded to him," said the proprietor.

  "Was the treasury minister angry and upset because Lord Mitsuyoshi took his appointment with the woman he loved?"

  "Very angry. Very upset."

  "Let it be noted that Treasury Minister Nitta's anger toward the victim and bad mood were ample reasons for murder," said Magistrate Aoki.

  Sano experienced a sense of vindication because Magistrate Aoki hadn't produced any new evidence against Nitta, and dismay that he sought to convict a man based on evidence that Sano had discovered and thought inadequate.

  "How long was Treasury Minister Nitta in the Owariya that night?" the magistrate asked.

  "Several hours, Honorable Magistrate," said the proprietor.

  "Even though he couldn't have Wisteria and he knew she was upstairs with Lord Mitsuyoshi?" The wrinkles in Magistrate Aoki's face expressed feigned surprise.

  "Yes."

  The magistrate nodded in satisfaction. He said to the assembly, "Treasury Minister Nitta stayed because he wanted revenge on Lord Mitsuyoshi. He had ample opportunity to sneak upstairs and kill his rival."

  The next two witnesses were the guards from the Yoshiwara gate. Under Magistrate Aoki's questioning, they testified that Nitta had bribed them to let him out after curfew.

  "Obviously, Treasury Minister Nitta broke the law and left because he was anxious to flee the scene of his crime." Turning to Nitta, the magistrate said, "Have you anything to say in your own defense?"

  "I didn't kill anyone." Nitta's high-pitched denial trembled with vehemence. "I'm a thief, but not a murderer."

  "A samurai who is depraved enough to rob his lord is capable of murdering his lord's cousin," Magistrate Aoki said. "I pronounce you guilty of the murder of Lord Mitsuyoshi."

  Nitta clambered to his feet, scattering the white sandals. "I didn't kill him!" he shouted. A ripple of excitement passed through the audience. "Whatever else I've done, I'm innocent of that!"

  Two courtroom guards grabbed him and forced him to his knees. Whether Nitta was telling the truth, or was just trying to avoid further dishonor to his family name, Sano could keep silent no longer.

  Rising, he said, "Honorable Magistrate, you mustn't convict on such meager evidence."

  Magistrate Aoki glared as if he would like to throw Sano out of the court, but he couldn't because of Sano's high status. "It is the right of a magistrate to appraise evidence. I have decided that the evidence against Treasury Minister Nitta is worthy to convict him of the murder."

  "You can't convict me!" Nitta struggled against the guards. "I'm innocent. I swear on my ancestors' honor!"

  "You've not even presented the evidence which indicates that he is innocent," Sano protested.

  He heard murmurs in the audience, saw faces avid with interest turned on him, and sensed the officials speculating on what would happen to him for taking the side of a confessed traitor. He knew there were people who would be eager to see him executed along with Nitta. His pursuit of the truth always led him into such peril! Yet he couldn't allow the investigation to end with Nitta's conviction and significant odds that the real killer might escape justice.

  "I've presented all the evidence I deem relevant," the magistrate said. "It's more than enough to satisfy the law."

  This was true: Countless defendants were condemned, wrongly or rightly, on the basis of less evidence than Aoki had presented against Nitta, with the full sanction of the bakufu.

  Sano said, "You've no witnesses to say that Treasury Minister Nitta went inside the room where Lord Mitsuyoshi died. And there was nothing in that room to prove he did."

  The magistrate dismissed this argument with an impatient wave of his hand. "Either he removed all traces of his presence, or you failed to find them. His love for Lady Wisteria is enough evidence that he seized his opportunity to murder the rival who spent that night with her."

  "I don't love her!" Nitta wailed in desperation. "If I'd wanted her so badly, I would have bought her freedom and married her. She wanted me to, but I refused. And I would never kill my lord's cousin for a prostitute!"

  "There's reason to believe he's telling the truth," Sano said, aware that his every word allied him more strongly with Nitta and impugned his loyalty to the regime. "The treasury minister enjoys other courtesans besides Wisteria. He even financed a ritual bedding display for one of them."

  "You see?" Nitta demanded of the magistrate.

  "Quiet," Magistrate Aoki said, then turned to Sano. "Whether he enjoys a million other courtesans is irrelevant. Yielding Wisteria to Lord Mitsuyoshi upset him enough to argue with the proprietor, then kill in revenge."

  "I was upset because the Owariya charged me for the appointment I lost," Nitta said furiously.

  "The musician Fujio is also a suspect, as is Wisteria's chaperone, Momoko, who is under arrest for the murder." Sano advanced up the aisle between the rows of seated men, toward the dais. "You could just as well have prosecuted one of them."

  "But neither of them is a convicted traitor." Magistrate Aoki regarded Sano with veiled glee.

  That the treasury minister's bad character made him a likelier culprit wasn't the main reason Aoki had chosen him instead of the others, Sano understood. Magistrate Aoki wasn't evil enough to condemn someone on a whim, and he didn't want the blood of Fujio or Momoko on his hands because he realized they might be innocent. Treasury Minister Nitta, who'd already earned the death penalty by embezzling, was a safe scapegoat. The magistrate could tack a murder conviction on him with a clear conscience-and without much concern that the real culprit could be still at large.

  If Lord Mitsuyoshi had been the killer's sole target, the killer would have no reason to kill again. The shogun would be satisfied by the conviction of Treasury Minister Nitta. The magistrate would win the promotion he craved.

  His ruthless scheming chilled Sano's blood.

  "Then condemn Treasury Minister Nitta if you will," Sano said, "but delay the execution." Given some time, he could learn the truth about the murder, and refute Nitta's conviction if necessary. "A few days is all I ask."

  "You have already trespassed too far into the purview of the court," Magistrate Aoki said, vexed. "Justice will not be delayed on your account." Turning to Nitta, he said, "I sentence you to death by ritual suicide," then nodded to the guards. "Take him to the execution ground."

  A series of gasps and moans came from Nitta. His eyes went wide with horrified realization that all hope was lost. As the guards hauled him toward the door, his legs crumpled; he dangled between the guards like a corpse.

  In desperation, Sano stood in the aisle, blocking their progress. "Stop," he commanded.

  His four detectives rose and joined him. The guards halted, looking to Magistrate Aoki for orders, as more guards rushed to their aid. Confused murmurs swept the audience.

  "I'm taking Treasury Minister Nitta into my keeping," Sano told the magistrate.

  He grasped the hilt of his swo
rd; his detectives and the courtroom guards followed suit. As the two sides faced off, the spectators leapt up and pressed themselves against the walls, clearing space for a battle.

  Magistrate Aoki's eyes blazed with an ire that told Sano he'd made a permanent foe. "I'll not allow bloodshed to foul my court," he said. At a gesture from him, the guards let go of their weapons and released Nitta, who collapsed on the floor. "You can prevent his death by force if you wish. But I advise you to think hard before you do."

  Deadly quiet stilled the courtroom while Sano foresaw the potential consequences of his actions. Taking Nitta seemed the only way to buy himself time to solve the case. But he would face severe criticism for protecting a traitor. Whether Sano had the power to overrule Magistrate Aoki was beside the point. Interfering with the legal process would brand him an opponent of justice. His own loyalty to the regime would be questioned, his reputation ruined. The treasury minister was officially guilty of the murder of the shogun's heir, and many people would therefore believe Nitta really was the killer. If the shogun believed it, Sano would be exiled at the least, but more probably executed. Even if the shogun spared Sano's family, Reiko and Masahiro would share his disgrace. Their lives would be ruined.