AHMM, May 2008
Page 17
Listening to his story, Hanshichi understood the reason for their vendetta and for Yashichi and Okichi's elopement. But what about the suspicious boxes that Yashichi had deposited with Okichi?
"Those are his family heirlooms,” Gengoro explained.
When Toyotomi Hideyoshi decided to conquer Korea,[9] a certain Takashima Yagoemon—Yashichi's ancestor ten generations back—had followed his lord and signed on with Hideyoshi's invading army. Subsequently, as his share of the spoils, Yagoemon had received the objects in question—two shriveled heads, one human and one belonging to some unknown creature, which a Korean priestess had used for performing black magic and chanting spells; it seemed they were considered extremely sacred. Never having seen anything like them before, Yagoemon had brought them back to Japan with him, but no one could tell him exactly what they were. Be that as it may, they had been passed down from generation to generation along with other family treasures. There was no one in their home province who had not heard of them. Once, Yashichi had even allowed Gengoro to look at them. Presumably, this unusual treasure was the first thing that Yashichi had given to Okichi for safekeeping when he decided to leave his lord's mansion.
[FOOTNOTE 9. The invasion was ordered by Hideyoshi on April 24, 1592, and an army of nearly 200,000 troops was assembled. The Japanese invaders captured Seoul on June 12 of the same year, but retreated in May 1593 under an onslaught by Korean guerilla fighters and a Chinese army.]
Gengoro knew nothing about the sharkskin, he said. Yashichi's grandfather had been stationed in Nagasaki for a long time, so he'd probably acquired it from a foreigner. Yashichi must have sold it because he needed the money, but the other two items would have been impossible to sell. Moreover, as old family heirlooms, Yashichi would probably have wanted to take them with him when he and Okichi eloped. Where were the two of them now, as they wandered about the countryside carrying the heads of a human being and a dragon? Somehow, it was both amusing and pathetic at the same time. Certainly, it was a “lovers’ journey” to rival any in the kabuki drama of the past.
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"I have to admit now it was too late for me to back out,” old Hanshichi said, rubbing his forehead. “There I was, waving my truncheon about the place—it was most inexcusable. But that samurai Gengoro was very understanding about it all. In fact, we had a good laugh together afterward, and that put an end to the whole affair. The other one, Yashichi, never did return to the mansion in Azabu, nor was Okichi ever heard from again. There were rumors that their journey took them as far as Kanagawa, where they went into hiding. I wonder what happened to them after that? I never heard, either, what became of that fellow Ichijiro and his vendetta. Gengoro was not sent back home after all, and he often used to drop by the bathhouse to say hello. The ronin who robbed the pawnbroker's turned out to be entirely different people—they were later arrested in the Yoshiwara. During the Meiji era, I once asked someone about that bizarre human head, and he said he thought it was probably some sort of mummy; but I really wonder.... Anyhow, it was the strangest thing I've ever seen in my life."
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Department: THE LINEUP
Gary Alexander's last story for AHMM was “Sangria” (January/February 2007).
Booked & Printed columnist Robert C. Hahn reviews mysteries for Publishers Weekly and New York Post, among other places.
Toni L.P. Kelner won the Agatha Award last year for her story “Sleeping with the Plush” (AHMM, May 2006). She is the author of Without Mercy, published by Five Star.
Okamoto Kido's Inspector Hanshichi stories first appeared in 1917 in Bungei Kurabu (The Literature Club). By 1937 Kido had published sixty-nine such stories.
R.T. Lawtonis the president of the Rocky Mountain chapter of Mystery Writers of America. “The Bondholder” is his fifteenth story in AHMM.
Ian MacDonald holds a Ph.D. in Japanese literature and art history from Stanford and was awarded the Shizuoka International Translation Prize in 1997. His latest translation, The Budding Tree by Kitahara Aiko, a collection of stories about women set in the Edo period, has just been published.
Jas. R. Petrin's last story for AHMM was “Car Trouble” (December 2007).
James Powell has published stories in AHMM, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, and Playboy. His last story for AHMM was “A Tale of Two Dickens” (January/February 2006).
J. Rentilly is a Los Angeles—based journalist who covers film, music, and literature for a variety of national and international publications.
"Table for None” is B.K. Stevens's twenty-fifth story for AHMM since 1988. Her last story to appear in the magazine was “Death on a Diet” (May 2006).
(c) Lisa Spindler/Graphistock
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Department: COMING IN JUNE 2008
THE LATIN BEAT by Loren D. Estleman
DEATH AT THE KERAMIKOS CEMETARY by Marianne Wilski Strong
SOLDIERS by Mike Wiecek
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