by I. J. Parker
“Disturbance?” Akitada glared. “It was an assassination attempt that cost one man his life and wounded two of us. Watamaro intended to burn us to death. I shall report the matter as an attack on an imperial official.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
Akitada took the imperial orders from his sleeve. “As I told you, I have authority to investigate the illegal activities in this province, and more precisely, in your prefecture. Normally, I would present these documents to the governor, but he also seems to have disappeared.” He extended the papers.
Munata touched his head to the floor, then received them with both hands, raising them briefly to his forehead. He unrolled the documents, read quickly, and returned them with another bow. “I’m completely at your service, Excellency. As for the governor . . . I imagine you haven’t heard. He is in seclusion in the capital. He mourns the death of his only son.”
Astonishment and dismay washed over Akitada. “What?”
“You met Yoshiyo at my house. It was a terrible shock and grief to me to hear of his death. I loved that boy. Everyone loved him.” Munata looked away and raised a sleeve to his eyes. “Forgive me. I’m not myself.”
The man did look terrible. Was he to be foiled again from prosecuting charges against the governor, Munata, and perhaps Otomo? The professor, too, had claimed affection for his pupil.
“What happened?”
“Yoshiyo was deeply upset because his father had forbidden him to buy out a courtesan he had met. He made up his mind to defy his father, but the girl killed herself. Alas, when he found out, he decided to follow her on that dark path.” Munata sighed deeply. “Even in the midst of their robust lives, the young are close to death.”
Yes, so it had been with his own small son, Yori. Akitada did not know what to say. A deep sadness seized him, and with it pity for those who had loved the two young people. Then he gave himself a mental shake. There had been no one to love Akogi except that unfortunate boy who had brought her death. It strengthened Akitada’s conviction that she had been murdered, and his heart hardened against the governor.
What to do about Munata and the other culprits was another matter. On one hand, Munata had finally acknowledged imperial authority and was cooperating. On the other, it was likely that he had allowed Watamaro to escape. Of this, however, there was no proof.
“What do you know about Nakahara’s and Otomo’s involvement in the piracy matter?” Akitada asked him.
Munata straightened and made an effort to attend to his own problems. “Nothing, Excellency. I swear by Amida. I realize that the burden of guilt rests most heavily on me because I should have known what was going on in my prefecture. Nakahara is my friend and an honest man, if perhaps not a very efficient administrator. Professor Otomo I don’t know as well, but he’s respected and trusted by the governor. I should think that piracy is not really his area of interest. He’s a scholar.”
“He’s a descendant of Korean immigrants. And the recent piracies involve goods shipped through Korean merchants.”
Munata sighed. “Even so, I don’t know of anything that would link either man to the pirates, Excellency.”
Akitada pondered this. If Nakahara was innocent, the most obvious suspects were his clerks. “You mentioned Nakahara’s carelessness in his duties. He has two clerks. Both were in a position to gain information and pass it to Watamaro.”
“Yes, that could be the answer. Those two!” Munata paused and thought. “Nariyuki comes from the capital. Nakahara brought him along when he first came here. I think he’s a nephew or cousin. Nakahara’s much too lenient with him. I rarely see that young man do anything but have a good time in town. That kind of life costs money and brings him in contact with undesirable elements.”
Akitada raised his brows. “If you suspected him, you should have mentioned it to me from the start.”
“I had no proof. Still don’t. How can I accuse a man of a heinous crime without more than a vague suspicion? Or disapproval of his life style.”
“Hmm. What about Tameaki?”
“He’s the opposite of Nariyuki. Tameaki works hard even though Nakahara doesn’t like him and treats him badly. He belongs to a local family. His father was a clerk, too. They were poor but saved and scraped to send him to good schools. It was I who recommended him to Nakahara.” Munata shook his head. “I may not have done either a favor. Tameaki is very ambitious. Given that and the poor treatment he has received, one has to wonder why he stayed.”
“Yes, precisely.” Akitada’s opinion of Munata rose. The man was a shrewd observer of human nature. Tameaki’s efficiency and his subservient manner had indeed been unnatural. “You say his family used to be poor? What has changed?”
“They have come into some land recently. If you like, I’ll have the police check on both young men.”
“Please.”
A brief silence fell. Then Munata asked, “What about me, Excellency?”
“I must report what has happened. If you are in fact guiltless, I doubt you’ll receive more than an official reprimand for not having reported irregularities.”
Munata breathed a relieved, “Thank you, Excellency.”
Akitada went from the prefecture directly to Nakahara’s office. He wanted to confront the guilty party now rather than wait for the painstaking investigation by the police.
Nakahara was at work. Perhaps his fear of punishment had had a good influence on his work habits. Both clerks attended him, their brushes busy copying documents.
When he saw Akitada, Nakahara paled and stumbled through a greeting. He made an awkward comment on the Watamaro incident, murmuring, “What a shocking thing!”
Akitada cut him off. What have you done with the letters my clerk sent to me?”
“What letters? There have been no letters except for one. You got that.”
“Sadenari sent me regular progress reports.” Akitada let his eyes move over the clerks. “Someone in this office has intercepted them. One of you has been working for Watamaro.”
They stared at him. Nakahara gasped, “What do you mean?”
Nariyuki cried, “Working for Watamaro? Whatever for?” He turned to Tameaki. “Is that why you were forever carrying papers to his place? I didn’t know you were working for him, too. You’re a regular glutton for work.”
A shocked silence fell. Nariyuki was clearly not very bright. Nakahara understood, though. He flushed and looked at Tameaki.
The thin, pale Tameaki had grown several shades paler. “I wasn’t working for Watamaro,” he cried. His voice was shrill. “I was told to take those papers to him.”
Nakahara rose in outrage. “That’s a lie, Tameaki. How dare you accuse me, you repulsive little worm? I never liked you, but you seemed grateful and you worked hard. I see now it was all pretense so you could sell Watamaro information about orders and shipping details.” He shook a finger at the clerk. “It was you all the time! You won’t get away with this. I’ll have you arrested.”
Tameaki jumped up, looked about him like a cornered rat, then made a move toward the door.
“Running won’t do you any good, Tameaki,” Akitada said. “You’ll be found and it will all come out. The police are already investigating you.”
The clerk turned on Nariyuki. “You brainless, good-for-nothing idiot!”
Nariyuki grinned.
With a shout of fury and balled fists, Tameaki rushed him. The taller, stronger Nariyuki rose with surprising speed, caught him, flung him to the floor, and sat on him.
It had all come apart quite easily.
*
Tora knocked on the door of a shabby house in the poorest quarter of Naniwa. He had asked people living near the official hostel for directions. The door opened, and an old crone came at him with a long knife in her hand. Tora backed away.
“Careful, granny,” he said. “You might hurt someone.”
She lowered the knife. “I’d like to hurt the fat bastard that married my daughter. I thought you were him. W
hat do you want?”
“Would that be the fat bastard who runs the official hostel?”
“Runs? The good-for-nothing bum sleeps there to rest up from beating his wife and child.”
“That’s the one. I’m Tora. I came to see the little girl.”
Her face wrinkled up. She wailed, “Oh, the poor child. What he did to her! Asoko, come here.”
A younger female crept up behind the old one and peered timidly over her shoulder. She had greasy hair, two black eyes, a swollen nose, and a split lip.
“My daughter,” said the old one and added, “He says he’s Tora.”
The woman nodded and gave him a tiny smile that revealed broken front teeth.
The old woman held the door open. “Come in then and see what he’s done, the devil.”
Tora stepped into the dry stench of abject poverty. They lived in one room and probably did their cooking outside-when they had food. In a dark corner, a bundle of dirty clothes lay on the dirt floor. The old crone gestured to them, and Tora went closer. At first he did not know what he was looking at, then he saw a pair of eyes gleaming like two black beads. Her face was as gray as the rags she lay on, but the feverish eyes were fixed on him.
She whispered, “Tora?”
“Yes, it’s me, little one.” His heart contracted. “What’s wrong?” he asked the women. They did not answer. He knelt beside the child. “What’s wrong, Fumiko? Are you in pain?”
A small, dirty hand emerged from the folds of fabric and crept toward him.
The grandmother said harshly, “The devil broke her arm and hurt her back so she can’t stand. He beat her with a piece of lumber. They brought her to her mother on a board.” She turned to her daughter. “You stupid slut, you should’ve come to me long ago, but you had to stay with your man and master. Even after he near killed Fumiko.”
The younger woman wailed, “I begged him to get a doctor.”
“As if that bastard cares what happens to either of you. So he beat you up, too. Serves you right.” She spat. Her daughter started to weep noisily.
The little girl watched them all without blinking. Tora peeled back the blanket and saw that her right arm was badly swollen and lay at an unnatural angle.” Reaching into his sash, he drew out some money. “Here,” he said to the old woman. “Get the best doctor you can find, and have him bring something for her pain.”
The grandmother bobbed her head and hurried out. Tora and the little girl’s mother waited. After a while, the mother sat down on the child’s other side. They did not speak. There was nothing to be said.
*
Akitada returned to a scene of violence outside the hostel. Screams reached his ears long before he saw the people gathered around its entrance. Still shaken from the night before, he started to run. Then he saw Tora. He was swinging a rope at the bloody back of the fat man who hung, tied by his arms to one of the rafters and with his toes barely touching the veranda floor. With every smacking impact of the rope, he convulsed violently and uttered a high-pitched scream. The onlookers encouraged Tora with shouts, and the rope returned with another whack. The fat man swung and screamed, the rope withdrew, returned to coil across his back, and he swung and howled again.
Akitada roared, “Tora!”
Tora did not turn, but he lowered his arm. The bloody rope curled in the dirt beside his boots.
The fat man went on screaming.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Akogi
“You should’ve seen what that brute did to her. To them,” said Tora defensively.
“When I got there, the two women were in fear for their lives. And the poor kid was . . . more dead than alive.” He shook his head and looked at Akitada with deeply troubled eyes. “How can a man hurt a little child like that?” He looked at his hands as if they had suddenly turned into the claws of a wild beast. “You saw her, sir. She’s so little and weak. He’s starved her and beaten her and made her young life a hell. What sort of punishment would you give a man for that?”
“I don’t know, Tora, but you cannot take the law into your own hands in such a
public manner. It reflects poorly on us and encourages people to do the same without justification.”
Saburo snorted. Akitada shot him a repressive glance. “And you stood by and let it happen. I had hoped for better sense from you.” The comment about monkeys falling from trees still rankled.
Both of them looked offended now.
Saburo said, “Lecturing a man like that fat slob is like reading a sutra to a horse. Tora taught him a lesson he understands.”
“And how will you protect the mother and child after we leave here?”
They were silent.
Akitada relented a little. “Oh, well. I suppose the crowd outside was sympathetic. I’ll mention the situation to the prefect.”
Tora asked, “How did your visit go, sir?”
“Munata has decided to cooperate.”
Tora whistled. “Thank heaven. I thought we’d fallen among all the devils in hell. What about Watamaro?”
“He seems to have taken flight. I’ll report to the court, but the matter is out of my hands.”
“And the local officials?”
“They, too, will have to face charges. At the very least, negligence in carrying out their duties; at worst malfeasance. I doubt if anyone can prove plans for an insurrection.”
“Lots of weapons in that warehouse,” Saburo pointed out. “Why collect them if not to outfit an army?”
“True, but the warehouse burned.”
Silence fell again.
After a while, Tora brightened a little. “So, shall we go home?”
“Not quite yet. There is still Akogi. We have to go back to Eguchi.”
*
The following day, Akitada rode again through the gates of the River Mansion. He was more elegantly attired than last time. The fine blue silk robe and white silk trousers were the only clothes he still owned and had been intended for the few official occasions when formal clothing was required. Tora and Saburo, both neatly dressed in blue cloth robes, dark trousers, and small black caps, rode side by side behind him. They, in turn, were followed by ten armed soldiers from the prefectural guard.
The lady’s servants rushed to help Akitada down and take his horse. Betto Kakuan hurried down the steps of the main building. He led him to a small reception room close to the river.
The sounds of water traffic and shouts from passing boats drifted in through the open doors and should have cheered him. But the day was distinctly chilly, the sky overcast. A cold rain had fallen overnight. Autumn showed its harsher side, hinting at the snows to come. The year was drawing to a close.
Dreary, rainy days always cast him into a somber mood, and recent events made his thoughts more bitter and funereal. At home, the memories of Seimei would surround him. He would finally have time to grieve. Not even holding his wife and little daughter in his arms again would ease that pain.
He had come because of Akogi, a young life extinguished before she could taste it. He had no proof that she was murdered, but his every instinct and what he had learned convinced him that she died horribly. Most likely, she had been held under water until she stopped struggling.
The door opened, and the lady of the River Mansion tripped in, followed by another female. On this occasion, the lady’s costume was strictly formal and proper for a ranking court lady of mature years.
Her companion carried a small folding screen, prettily painted with wisteria blooms overhanging a pond with playing koi. This she set up between her mistress and Akitada before taking her own seat in a corner of the room.
“A pleasure to welcome you again, my Lord,” the lady said from behind her pretty screen and an open fan. “I was disappointed by your abrupt departure the other night.”
Perhaps she expected an apology or a comment on his discovery of Sadenari. Akitada ignored her. With his sternest face, he said coldly, “I have been told, Lady Kazuko, that you arrang
ed meetings between Oga Yoshiyo and the girl Akogi. As a result of those meetings, both have died.”
She made a startled movement. “Oh, that poor young man,” she said softly. “I grieve for him. He was the son I never had. Such a sweet boy. It is a great loss to his father.”
“I doubt his father thanked you for introducing him to Akogi.”
“But I did not,” she cried. “At least not directly. The governor knows that very well. It was he himself who asked my help in the matter.”
“Perhaps you’d better explain.”
She moved her head impatiently. “I don’t understand. Why should I explain to you? And why did you come here with armed soldiers? I belong to the great chancellor’s family and live here under imperial protection.”
“I serve under special orders from the Minister of the Right. The prefect supplied the escort. As for this visit: during my investigation into local ties to piracy, the case of the murdered child courtesan came up. Since her murder involves the highest-ranking official in the province, I thought it best to look into it.” This skirted the question of his authority. He hoped she would be nervous enough not to demand proof.
She did not. Instead, she pleaded with him. “Murder? I know nothing about any murder. Oga is a doting father, and the boy was his only son. He wanted the best for him, but Yoshiyo always had his head in his books and talked about taking the tonsure. That handsome boy!” She paused to shake her head at the shocking thought. “His father has been a guest at some of my little parties and thought I could show the lad what he’d be missing in a religious life. I obliged him. I invited the reigning choja, this year’s queen of the courtesans in Eguchi, and several other exquisite women. The boy came with his father. He was shy around the women, but he did speak to the young girl who attended the choja.”
Akitada knew what was coming and waited.
With a small sound of impatience, she continued. “Yoshiyo returned the very next day. Without his father. He asked me to arrange meetings with the young one. I argued. To no avail. There were difficulties. The woman who runs the Hananoya wouldn’t hear of it, at least not without being paid the presentation money. He paid it and forgot all about becoming a monk. The two lovers met here, in the pavilion overlooking the river. They made a charming couple, and I thought all was well, but then the young fool went to his father to ask for money to buy her out. He wanted to make her his wife. You may imagine what happened next. The governor raged down here like a fiery dragon. He swept in and threatened me. Me!” She shuddered at the memory.