11

Late at night, Reiko sat in her chamber, drying her freshly washed hair at the charcoal brazier. Her old nurse, O-sugi, came to the door and said, “Your honorable husband has arrived.”

“Good.” Reiko eagerly looked forward to hearing news of his investigation and telling him what she’d discovered.

When Sano didn’t appear at once, she went looking for him. She found him outside the kitchen, a low building near the back of the estate, where cooks prepared the vast quantities of food required to feed everyone in the household. He and two servants stood in the yard that contained a well, outdoor hearths, and cooking paraphernalia. Sano held a lantern, while the servants moved a huge wooden tub.

“There it is.” Sano pointed to a trapdoor in the ground where the tub had sat. “Seal it up right away.”

“Yes, master,” chorused the servants.

Icy wind chilled Reiko as she watched them from the veranda. “What are you doing?” she called to Sano.

“I’m plugging a hole in our defenses. Anyone who managed to climb the wall could sneak through this trapdoor, into the cellar, and then into the rest of the house.”

Reiko beheld the trapdoor with surprise. “I never knew it was there.”

“I only learned about it today,” Sano said.

“How?” Reiko said.

“From Lord Matsudaira’s nephew Daiemon. But it’s a long story. Let’s go inside, and I’ll tell you.”

In their chamber, a maid brought them sake, which Reiko heated and poured into cups. They drank, and Sano described the events of his day.

“So now Daiemon and Chamberlain Yanagisawa are both definitely suspects in the murder,” Reiko said, alarmed by the dangerous turn the investigation had taken. “Whichever you pursue, you’ll be in trouble.”

Sano nodded. “And it’s looking as though Yanagisawa is the likelier culprit.”

“You’ve proved that Makino was going to defect and the chamberlain had reason to assassinate him?” Reiko said.

“Not exactly proved,” Sano said. “I did find the hidden gate that Daiemon claims he used to sneak out of Makino’s estate. That suggests there’s some truth in what he said. And I’ve talked to my informants in the bakufu. They say they’ve heard rumors that Makino and Yanagisawa had a falling-out.”

“Could the rumors have been spread by the Matsudaira clan to mislead you?”

“Possibly. That would explain why they’ve surfaced only now, after Daiemon became a suspect and needed corroboration for his story. But I can’t ignore them just because I don’t want to believe them.”

Coals hissed in the brazier and the wind buffeted the mansion as they contemplated Chamberlain Yanagisawa as a primary suspect. Although Lord Matsudaira was just as ruthless, Reiko would rather have Sano pitted against him, because she feared Yanagisawa more. Yanagisawa, not Lord Matsudaira, had conspired to destroy Sano in the past. If Sano accused Yanagisawa of the murder, their truce would end.

“The fact that Yanagisawa has been implicated doesn’t clear the members of Makino’s household,” said Reiko. “According to what you’ve just told me, they had the most obvious opportunity to kill Makino. And their stories about that night leave plenty of room for doubt. Can you apply more force to get the facts from them?”

“I will,” Sano said, “but too much force can produce false confessions. I want the truth about this crime.”

Reiko carefully chose her next words. “If one of them should prove to be guilty, that would solve many problems.”

Sano nodded as he understood her hint that he could benefit by fixing the blame for the murder within Makino’s household. “Even though Yanagisawa and Lord Matsudaira would each prefer that I pronounce the other guilty, each would be less angry at me if I persecuted somebody else than if I went after him. But I’ll not risk punishing an innocent person for the murder.” His tone was adamant. “Not even to serve my own interests.”

“Nor would I want you to,” said Reiko. “But will you at least continue investigating the suspects in Makino’s own household?”

“Of course,” Sano said. “While they’re in his funeral procession tomorrow, I can search their pasts for clues to their guilt or innocence.”

“I’ve learned some things that might help you with that,” Reiko said. “Today I called on some friends. They say that Makino’s wife was once an attendant at Asakusa Jinja Shrine. And his concubine once lived with a merchant named Rakuami.”

Sano raised his eyebrows, signifying interest and approval. “That gives me a place to start investigating the women.”

“I just wish I’d been able to learn what went on in Makino’s house that might have led up to the murder,” Reiko said. “But the folk there keep to themselves. Nobody could tell me anything about the relations between Makino and the people closest to him.”

“Nor could my informants tell me,” Sano said. “Only the people in his estate were privy to their own business with Makino. And since they’re all suspects or potential suspects, I can’t rely on anything they say.”

Sano compressed his lips in frustration. “I had considered planting one of my detectives among the servants as a spy. But the residents aren’t likely to trust a strange man who suddenly appears while they’re under suspicion of murder.”

A sudden idea occurred to Reiko. Her heartbeat quickened with excitement, daring, and trepidation. “What if you had a spy who was practically invisible?”

“If I did, I could solve the mystery in no time.” Sano laughed, taking her suggestion as a joke.

“I’m serious,” Reiko said. “You do have such a spy.”

Sano regarded her with puzzlement. “Who is it you’re talking about?”

“Myself,” said Reiko.

“You?” Surprise inflected Sano’s voice.

“Yes. I could disguise myself as a ladies’ maid and wait on the women.” Animated by enthusiasm, Reiko ignored the shocked look Sano gave her. “Maids are hardly noticed by their employers. People say and do the most private things in front of them. If you could arrange a post for me in Makino’s house, I could spy to my heart’s content and no one would suspect me of working for you. No one would even take a second look at me.”

“I notice the maids,” Sano protested. “A samurai is always aware of who’s near him.”

“Which of our maids brought us our sake?” Reiko challenged.

Sano pondered. Confusion clouded his eyes.

“It was O-aki,” Reiko said, vindicated. “You don’t remember because you didn’t notice her.”

“You did,” Sano pointed out.

“I’m different from other people. I have Lady Yanagisawa to thank for that.” Only by closely observing her maids, and weeding out those who showed too much interest in her, could Reiko rid herself of Lady Yanagisawa’s spies.

“But I never talk about anything confidential when the maids are around,” Sano said.

“That’s because your life has accustomed you to being discreet,” Reiko said. “But I think Makino’s wife and concubine are probably just as careless as most people.”

“All right, you win that argument,” Sano conceded reluctantly. “But for an official like me to disguise his wife and send her out spying-” A gesture of his hand negated the very idea.

Reiko gave Sano a glance that reminded him how often they did things that weren’t done by other people. “I could call on the wife and concubine, and ask them outright questions, but even a fool would know better than to admit anything to the wife of the sōsakan-sama. And if one of those women killed Makino, she was smart enough to alter the scene of his death and hide what happened to him.”

“If someone in that house is the murderer, then it’s too dangerous for you to go spying there,” Sano said. “Someone who dared kill a man as important as Makino would certainly kill you to avoid exposure if you were to get caught spying.”

“I would be careful not to get caught,” Reiko insisted. “Besides, I’m trained in the martial arts. Makino’s wife and concubine aren’t. I can handle those women.”