Rashomon Gate – A Mystery of Ancient Japan

by Ingrid J Parker

These thoughts preoccupied him, causing him to forget to set the students a topic for their next lesson, and made him stare blankly at Ushimatsu when he asked permission to go to the latrine. Even after the students finally left, he sat looking dreamily into space.

  "Sugawara? May I come in?"

  Akitada blinked and saw to his astonishment the burly music master in his doorway. "Yes, of course, Sato."

  "I took a chance." Sato bowed briefly and cast a glance at the papers scattered over Akitada's desk. "Am I interrupting?"

  "Not at all. Please sit down. A cup of wine?"

  In the slanting light of the setting sun, Sato's large eyes looked like black pools under his heavy brow. He seemed ill at ease. "I won't stay long. No, no wine, thank you. I came to see you on a personal matter." He sat.

  Akitada asked, "What is it?"

  "It's about Oe's murder. That police captain stopped by this afternoon to ask more questions. He sounded… I don't know… it seemed like a veiled threat. He said the case was about to be solved and that you were assisting the police. Is that true?"

  Akitada felt a flash of irritation with Kobe. He had expected more discretion from the man. He said, " Kobe may have exaggerated. It is true that I have shared some of my conclusions."

  Now Sato looked distinctly frightened. "I knew it. You told him about me, and now he thinks I did it! Please, you must believe me when I say that I had nothing to do with Oe's death."

  Akitada raised his eyebrows. "What makes you think I suspect you?"

  "Don't pretend!" cried Sato. "You saw me with Omaki, and I could tell what you thought of me. Then, as my lousy luck would have it, you walked in when my wife was visiting. When I could not explain the situation, you assumed I was entertaining another female, and that Oe was about to dismiss me with good cause. I'm the one with the perfect motive. Believe me, I often fantasized about killing the bastard, but I did not do it."

  "That talented lady was your wife? In the Willow Quarter, I am told, she goes by the name Madame Sakaki."

  Sato bit his lip. "Her professional name. She could hardly work there under my name."

  "I see the problem. But surely you put your wife into an impossible situation? She is a true artist. Could she not have found a more respectable setting for her performances?"

  A look of acute misery passed over Sato's face. "I know she deserves much better, but we are poor and have six small children and two sets of parents to support. My salary here does not begin to feed all those mouths. And I am afraid we are not in the class of those who are invited to the parties of the great."

  Embarrassed by the naked shame in the other man's face, Akitada looked out at the deserted courtyard. The heat shimmered on the gravel, and there was a strange sulphurous hue to the green of the trees. A hot wind was rustling through the dry weeds outside the veranda. "I think," he said, turning back to Sato, "you should tell your story to the president of the university. I have found Bishop Sesshin a very understanding man, and he may be able to help your wife. He has many friends among the great.

  "I wish I could be more reassuring about Kobe. Though I did not discuss your situation with him, he has other sources, and I am afraid he knows that Oe was not the kind of man who would have accepted your wife's occupation calmly."

  Sato looked down at his clenched hands. "That was the main reason for all the subterfuge. But the more we tried to cover up, the more gossip we created. Because I went to the Willow Quarter regularly to watch over my wife, I soon had a reputation of being a drunkard and womanizer. I got Omaki as a student on one of my visits. My wife was against the private lessons, but we needed the money. Oh, that pompous devil Oe would not begin to know what it is to have a family and be poor." He gave Akitada a beseeching look. "But you, Sugawara, you have a mother and sisters to support, I'm told. You must know that I would never do anything so desperate as kill a man. If I were caught, my family would starve to death. Please speak to Kobe for me, will you?"

  They looked at each other. Akitada tried to reassure the man. "I know exactly what you mean and I believe you. Do not worry about Kobe! Go home to your wife and children, and tomorrow speak to Sesshin."

  Tears of gratitude welled up in Sato's eyes. Too overcome to speak, he bowed very deeply and left. His footsteps receded quickly, and silence fell over the courtyard again.

  Akitada sat, thinking of the devotion of those two people to each other and their family. He had himself only just come to understand fully the sacrifice a man made to the one he loved. He, too, would gladly accept any hardship and humiliation to secure Tamako's happiness.

  It was then that the sound of distant thunder startled him. He rose to walk outside. The sun, bright as molten gold, was disappearing over the tiled rooftops of the student dormitories, but the sky northward and to the east was filling rapidly with heavy, roiling black clouds. A storm was moving in, and the long heat wave was finally about to break. Akitada thought worriedly that the weather might keep his visitor away.

  Thunder growled again. Sighing, Akitada returned to his classroom to pass the time till darkness fell by grading his student papers.

  He had to light his oil lamp early. It spread a yellow glow over his papers, but left the corners of the room in murky shadows. There was, from time to time, a far-off rumble of thunder, but the storm seemed to hold off.

  He was not sure how long he had been working when he heard the sound of footsteps crunching on the gravel of the courtyard. When he glanced outside, there was still some faint light in the east. Surely it was too early! And Kobe had not arrived.

  Feeling a sudden twinge of nervousness, he forced himself to remain calm by breathing deeply and concentrating on the coming encounter. The steps ascended the wooden stairs, approached to within a few feet of the open door, and then halted outside in the murky gloom.

  "Please come in!" Akitada called out.

  To his stunned surprise, the tall figure of Ishikawa stepped through his doorway. The student looked positively frightening in the uncertain light and against the backdrop of dark purple clouds. His face was still dreadfully disfigured by swellings and bruises. Both his scalp and his face were covered with stubbly growth that, together with his stained and torn robe, made him look like a cutthroat. Moreover, his sneering expression and distinctly threatening manner signalled that this visit was more than just ill-timed.

  "Working late all by yourself?" the student scoffed, looking about with a mocking grin. "What an admirable devotion to duty!"

  Akitada rinsed out his brush and laid it on its rest. "How did you get out of jail and what do you want?" he asked curtly.

  Uninvited Ishikawa sat down on the other cushion in the room. "Not very hospitable, are you? I had the same problem in our municipal jail. That's why I decided to leave. That and some unfinished business here." He gave Akitada a very unpleasant smile. "You might as well relax! I mean to take my time."

  Akitada's first thought was about Kobe. Did he know the student had escaped? Was he even now out searching the town for him? For a moment he debated whether it would be possible to get rid of Ishikawa, but a glance at the other's face convinced him otherwise. He snapped, "Please be brief! I expect another visitor."

  Ishikawa glanced out the door. "I doubt it. A bad storm is coming. The whole place is deserted." He gave Akitada another of his menacing smiles. "Anything can happen here without a soul being the wiser. Besides, your plans mean nothing to me. People like you are always demanding respect from others, but are nothing but shams themselves. Every day you and the other teachers urge poor fools like me to study hard, but when we have done our utmost and excel, you give the prize to the highest bidder."The wind rustled in the dry shrubs outside, and Ishikawa paused to listen intently. Branches were scraping against the supports of the veranda as lighting zigzagged against the darkening sky. The flame of the oil lamp flickered, causing Ishikawa's eyes to glitter strangely. "I am referring, of course," he continued, "to that rich simpleton Okura who bought first place honors in the la
st examination. He is a secretary in the Bureau of Ranks now and has prospects of even higher office, while I am headed back to the gutter I came from. A prime example that money will buy anything, while a poor man cannot succeed in spite of his efforts and superior intelligence."

  Akitada looked at the student coldly. "If you are trying to justify yourself, it appears to me that you have demonstrated exceptionally foolish and unethical behavior throughout this affair. Get to the point!"

  "The point?" Ishikawa's eyes narrowed to mere slits. "The point is that people like you and the other professors detest students like me! I was someone who wouldn't keep quiet. Oh, yes. I know all about you. Kobe let it slip out that he arrested me on your word. Tell me, have you ever been in jail?"

  Akitada shook his head. No point in telling this young hothead that there were other ways in which a man might learn about such places.

  "Of course not! Well, let me inform you, Sugawara, that the so-called keepers of the peace are low animals. They are ex-criminals who do their dirty work for a daily bowl of rice and what they can extort from the prisoners. They take a sadistic pleasure in inflicting pain."

  "You have only yourself to thank. You are an admitted blackmailer."

  Ishikawa flared up, "Oe owed me."

  "You also prostituted your education by helping Okura cheat."

  "So that's it!" Ishikawa smiled unpleasantly. Outside thunder cracked and rumbled away. When all was quiet again, he sneered, "And that, of course, is the unforgivable sin to you! You make me sick! I've heard all about you from Hirata. The university's perfect graduate, the exceptional student, the promising young official with his foot on the bottom rung of the ladder to greatness!"The student leaned forward, fixing Akitada with his angry eyes. "Let me tell you something: that numskull Okura, who cannot compose so much as a sentence in Chinese without making a gross error and who has neither understanding nor intellectual curiosity, has already surpassed you and will continue to do so by many ranks and degrees. In this world neither excellence nor honesty have any value. Money and influence rule everything. And when I discovered that fact, I attempted to rectify an unfair situation by trading a bit of my intelligence for his money. I consider that an act of justice in an unjust world." He resumed his position with an air of satisfaction.

  Akitada did not respond immediately, watching instead the threatening skies. The wind was picking up, he noted. In a flash of lightning, he saw that small whirlwinds of debris danced about the courtyard andthe treetops tossed their branches. The breeze blew in, almost extinguishing the lamp, and cooled briefly the sweat-soaked back of his robe. "Your act of 'justice'," he said finally, "caused one of your fellow students to take his life. Another poor young man, I believe."

  Ishikawa's face contorted. He jumped up. "How dare you blame me for that!" he screamed. He advanced a few steps, his fists clenched at his side. "I had nothing to do with it, do you hear? He would have lost one way or another! If Okura had not won, I would have." Leaning over Akitada, he shook a clenched fist in his face. "I won't take any more of your sanctimonious drivel, you damned hypocrite! You ruined me! I was the best student these old fogies have had for years. I could not fail!" His voice rose shrilly. "I could not fail until you showed up! Now your damned meddling and your cursed righteousness have cost me the place I had earned with my brains and years of drudgery."

  Akitada met the angry eyes without flinching and without response. After a moment Ishikawa dropped his fist and looked away. Returning to his seat, he said tiredly, "For four years I have sat in my classes all morning, cleaned up after the rich boys in the afternoons and evenings and studied during the night. All for nothing! And what have you gained by ruining me? You have preserved a corrupt system which will continue to grind good people into the dust, while putting power to rule into the hands of the incompetent."

  Akitada snapped, "I disagree. A system is corrupted by its members. With the exception of you and Oe, I have found the rest of the faculty and students to be decent and hardworking people. It was precisely because of your dishonest activities that my friend Hirata asked me to investigate."

  Ishikawa threw back his head and laughed. "You're a fool! There isn't one of your colleagues who wouldn't gladly have taken what Oe did. And it was one of those 'decent' fellows who killed him- a cowardly crime, for the drunken sot was dangling helplessly from Master Kung's neck when his throat was cut."

  "And you made that possible," Akitada pointed out grimly.

  Ishikawa sneered, "Oh, yes! I had my little revenge. When the swine fell flat on his face on the road outside, I helped him into the temple hall. That's when I got the idea. I leaned him up against old Kung, untied his sash and passed it under his arms and around the statue. His trousers fell down, adding an unexpected touch to the tableau. He was babbling and snoring through the whole thing. I took away the trousers, thinking to myself that it was high time that the rest of the august institution saw their great scholar in a new light."

  "You left him to die!"

  Ishikawa jumped up again. "Enough!" he said through clenched jaws. "My career may be over, but you shall not enjoy your little triumph either!" Lunging for Akitada's throat, he seized his collar with one hand and pulled back his fist.

  Akitada flung himself backward, grasping Ishikawa's wrist. The tall student overbalanced and went sprawling across him. For a moment they struggled together on the floor, then Akitada rolled out from underneath, twisted one of Ishikawa's arms behind his back, and knelt on him.

  The room was suddenly filled with people.

  "Good work!" growled Kobe. His two constables flung themselves on Ishikawa.

  "Thank you," said Akitada, rising to his feet. "This visit was somewhat unexpected and I did not know whether you had had time to arrive yet." It occurred to him belatedly that perhaps he had taken too great a chance in relying so completely on Kobe.

  Kobe eyed the captive Ishikawa. "Put the chains on him a bit more tightly this time," he told the constables. "This one takes advantage of good treatment." To Akitada he said, "Well, your trap caught the sly fox! And now we got him on new charges. We heard what he told you. It's as close to a confession as I had hoped. Add the jailbreak and trying to murder you and he's as good as condemned."

  Ishikawa made some gurgling protest as one of the constables knelt on him and the other tightened the thin chains around his wrists and neck.

  "There was no attempted murder!" cried Akitada, shocked. "He brought no weapon and had nothing more in mind than giving me a good drubbing. As it turned out, I was easily able to defend myself. And he only confessed to tying Oe up, not to slashing his throat."

  Ishikawa, jerked to his feet by the constables, protested and one of the constables slapped him viciously, telling him to shut up.

  Kobe watched with great satisfaction as the two constables marched the moaning and grimacing student out of the room and down the steps into the courtyard.

  Akitada said angrily, "Did you hear what I said? There was no need for this violence."

  Kobe grinned. "After the lashing my men got for letting him escape they are understandably put out with Ishikawa. What do you think would happen, if I were to take the prisoner's side against them?"

  "But he did not kill Oe! Let him go with a warning!"

  Kobe looked surprised. "I thought your note made it clear that you meant to trap the killer. Maybe you didn't expect that it would turn out to be Ishikawa, but I believe we got our man. He's too deeply involved to be an innocent bystander." He rubbed his hip with a grimace. "Oh yes, I heard everything the arrogant bastard said. The crawl space under this hall is not very comfortable, but you can hear every word."There was another flash of lightning. "Beastly weather," Kobe muttered, glowering at the sky. "Well, I must be off and you had better go home, too."

  "But you know very well whom we expected tonight."

  "Not 'we.' I never believed there was anything to that," Kobe grunted. Flexing his shoulders, he stalked out. As if to punctuate his ex
it, a long peal of thunder rumbled overhead.

  Akitada opened his mouth to call him back, but thought better of it. Kobe had made up his mind. Shaking his head, he went back to his desk. He no longer seriously believed that the murderer would come, certainly not after all the commotion of Ishikawa's arrest. It would have to wait for another opportunity. But he wished he could get the matter over. He needed to do this as much for Tamako and her father as for himself. There would be no peace for them until Hirata's death was avenged. Perhaps there was still a chance the killer might come. Rubbing fresh ink, he bent over his student papers.

  Time passed slowly. Outside the storm seemed to have stalled. For the past hour, there had been little change. The darkness was now impenetrable except when lightning played behind the clouds, followed by the rumbling sound of thunder. The wind tossed the branches of the pines from time to time, but there was no rain yet. Akitada thought again of leaving. Chances were good that he would not get a soaking if he went now. Perhaps he could have his dinner with Tamako if Seimei kept their secret. They had so much to say to each other that somehow had not been said the night before. It was strange how with the act of lovemaking a relationship became so utterly changed that one had to begin to discover the other person all over again. Akitada smiled, warmed by a joy which was as new to him as it was all-consuming.

  He stared at the paper he was reading. It was dull and full of repetition, and he had a feeling he had scanned the same words for the third time. He made up his mind to leave as soon as he had finished it and had deciphered and corrected another sentence, when suddenly there was again the crunching of the gravel. He froze and listened.

  Light steps, accompanied by a rustling of stiff silk, ascended the wooden stairs and crossed the veranda towards his room. Akitada looked at the open doorway and saw a patch of yellow light growing brighter.

  Short and dapper, Okura stepped in and closed the door. In spite of the threatening rain, he was dressed in a court costume of heavy green silk and his formal hat was tied firmly under the weak chin. In one hand he carried a lantern.