The prisoner finally opened his lips and croaked, “What do you want, Superintendent?”
Kobe grinned unpleasantly. “I? Nothing. I am here because this gentleman has some questions to put to you.”
The man turned to look at Akitada warily.
Akitada did not like the cat-and-mouse game. He said brusquely, “My name is Sugawara. Yoshiko has told me of her visits here.”
That brought a reaction. The prisoner jerked and his eyes grew large with shock. A slow flush rose from his neck into his face. He said hoarsely, “It was nothing. The young lady took pity and brought food a few times. A charitable act to please Buddha. If some people have chosen to put a dishonorable interpretation on her generous gesture, it only shames them. The guard can testify that nothing passed between us but a few rice cakes.”
“I am not here to discuss my sister’s visits, but to see if you can be helped in some way.”
A sudden wild and joyous hope flashed in the man’s eyes. “You mean to help us?”
Akitada snapped, “You make a mistake. If I have anything to say in the matter, you will never see my sister again. A union between your family and mine is, as you have been told before, out of the question.” He saw the light die in Kojiro’s eyes without regret. It was best to be brutally frank in such matters.
The prisoner said tonelessly, “I see. Or rather, I don’t see. Why bother to come, in that case?”
Akitada cleared his throat. “My interest in your case predates the recent revelations about your… acquaintance with my sister, as Superintendent Kobe will verify. In fact, we met once briefly at the temple gate. It was raining, and you were with your sister-in-law.”
Kojiro nodded. “Yes. I do remember now. However, that still does not explain your interest in me, my lord. It is, of course, very good of you, but I must beg you to leave the matter alone. Under the circumstances, you will find it only distasteful, and I have nothing to lose.” He turned away from them to face the wall. They could see the large dried bloodstains on the back of his shirt now.
Akitada bit his lip. If his sister had not meddled, this man might not have been tortured. He said, “My distaste extends only to injustice,” with a glance at Kobe, who pursed his lips and studied the ceiling of the cell. “I have been told that you confessed to the murder of your sister-in-law, but later withdrew that confession. Are you innocent?”
Without turning around, the prisoner said, “Guilt or innocence, my lord, are relative terms. Of all the people I know, only one is truly innocent, your sister. The rest of us manage to gather enough sins of the flesh or against our fellow creatures to make suitable game for the demons of hell.”
Akitada stared at the bloodied, chained, sagging figure of the man. Where had a man of his class learned such language? And why was he so uncooperative when his life was at stake? Instead of eagerly accepting the proffered help, he had made Akitada uncomfortably aware of his own shortcomings, and—in view of recent events—of those of his parents. He thought fleetingly about their sins and their likely fate at the hands of the mighty judge of the dead. Noami’s hell screen depicted vividly the punishments in the netherworld, and he recalled his nightmare in the temple. The chained and bloodstained Kojiro looked little better than Noami’s persecuted souls in the hell of the sharp knives. The human world also had its demons.
Struggling for control, and for patience with this obstinate man, he said, “I was there that night, though I did not stay in the visitors’ quarters. I heard a woman scream. I am not convinced that you killed Mrs. Nagaoka. If you will allow me, I shall do my best to find out what really happened. I am afraid the evidence against you is too strong to clear you of the crime, but perhaps we may find the real killer.”
Kojiro turned around. He looked at Akitada and then at Kobe. To Kobe he said, “Have you changed your mind also, Superintendent?”
Kobe shook his head. “Not at all. But I am a fair man.”
Kojiro turned back to Akitada. “I cannot fathom your motives for wishing to clear me, but I am prepared to do what I can. Mind you, I still do not care what happens to me, but she would wish me to. She hoped once that you would take my case. For her sake, I shall tell you what I remember and answer all your questions, but do not expect much. There was a time when I thought I was guilty.”
Akitada was irritated by the renewed reference to Yoshiko but decided to overlook it. “Begin by telling me about your relationship with your sister-in-law.”
“My brother met his wife on one of his periodic buying trips in the country. Nobuko was the daughter of a retired academician with a small country estate. She was younger than my brother, but eager to find a husband of suitable background and income.” Kojiro grimaced slightly. “Some young women,” he said, “seem to wish for a life of luxury, and the trade may, after all, be a fair one. My brother was middle-aged and, no doubt, rather dull company for a pretty and lively young woman. But he had two advantages. He had money and he resided in the capital. Her father’s motive was more complicated, I think. Professor Yasaburo is an educated man who struggled to make ends meet and could not afford to pay for a dower for his daughter. No doubt he wished to provide for his only child. In any case, she came to my brother’s house and I acquired a sister-in-law. I liked Nobuko very much at first. She was close to my age and talented in music. On my visits, we used to play the lute and sing songs together while my brother watched and listened.” A sadness passed over Kojiro’s face. “My brother was deeply attached to Nobuko. He could not take his eyes off her, and I was glad. But this soon changed.” The prisoner moved uncomfortably and sighed.
They were all uncomfortable standing there on that filthy, cold floor, thought Akitada, but Kojiro, chained and in pain, was much the worse off. Still, there was nothing to be done about it. To hurry the tale along, Akitada urged, “What changed?”
Kojiro said bleakly, “One day my sister-in-law asked me to make love to her. She claimed that my brother could no longer … satisfy her and that she could not sleep for love of me. I was appalled and immediately left my brother’s house. From then on I stayed away as much as I could, but my brother would send for me. I could not tell him what had happened.”
“You never acceded to her wishes?”
“Never. I detested that woman from the moment she offered to betray my brother.” Kojiro’s hard stare dared Akitada to doubt it. “I avoided her like the smallpox.”
“Hah!” Kobe interrupted suddenly. “That is part of the string of lies you told us. If you had been avoiding her so much, why did you go off with her on trips around the countryside, eh? And without a maid or chaperone? I tell you what you really did: You seduced your brother’s wife and when diddling her got a bit difficult in his house, you took her on little excursions. You intended to take your sexual pleasures at the temple. The night of her death, you both got drunk, and you killed her. Maybe it was an accident, or maybe she refused you. When you saw what you had done, you panicked and slashed her face, so she wouldn’t be recognized and you could get away. But you didn’t make it. The wine proved stronger.”
Kojiro gave Kobe a contemptuous glance. “No,” he said. “I have done nothing but think about that night. I do not know how I got into her room, but I did not drink anything but tea at the temple, and I certainly had no desire to make love to my brother’s wife. I went on the trip because my brother asked me to accompany her, and I could not refuse without telling him why. Her maid did not come with us because she was violently ill the day we left. Nobuko insisted on going, and my brother supported her. He will confirm this.”