Another silence fell. Akitada sensed that something was wrong. Perhaps Kobe had heard of his troubles and was too polite to ask, waiting for Akitada to tell him. He sighed.
Kobe leaned forward a little. ‘Is something else on your mind?’
‘Yes. I expect to be dismissed. I’m on a leave of absence because I told the minister a little too frankly what I thought of him.’
‘Ah.’
The ‘ah’ disconcerted Akitada. It suggested that Kobe already knew, but surely a friend should say more than ‘ah’ to such news. He waited.
‘Go on,’ said Kobe.
‘There is no more. Someone close to the chancellor and regent blackened my character, and in response the minister gave my position to an idiot. It reminded me of Soga and his persecution – the same story all over again – and so I lost my temper. Yes, I regret it now, but I’m afraid it’s too late.’
‘The someone close to the chancellor was Kiyowara Kane?’
Akitada raised his brows. ‘Yes. How did you know?’
‘According to his servants, you went to see him yesterday.’
Akitada still felt out of his depth. ‘Yes, I waited quite a long time and finally left without speaking to him. Seimei says he died later the same day.’
‘Can anyone prove that you did not speak to Kiyowara?’
‘What do you mean? I was seen to arrive and to leave. By Kiyowara’s servants. Prince Atsunori and Ono Takamura also saw me in the waiting room. I exchanged a few words with Ono, but frankly, he didn’t strike me as the sort of person who’d pay much attention to anything but his poetry. And the prince did not deign to take notice of me. Why do you ask?’
‘Kiyowara Kane was murdered.’
‘Murdered? How?’
‘Someone hit him on the head. It would help if someone knew you left without seeing him.’
‘Look, Kobe, my visit was embarrassing enough. I certainly didn’t want to draw special attention to myself. I left as soon as I realized that I’d come at a bad time.’
‘A bad time? How so?’
‘Kiyowara was quarreling with someone. They were shouting. I decided to speak to him another time.’ Akitada stopped. The reason for this interrogation had finally hit him. ‘Do you suspect me of murdering him?’ he asked incredulously.
Kobe’s lips twitched, but he did not smile. ‘Someone certainly does,’ he said dryly. ‘I was told of several people in your ministry who are willing to testify that you were furious when you heard that Kiyowara was behind the loss of your position and that you took great pains to find out where he lived. Shortly afterwards, according to Kiyowara’s servants, you arrived at his villa and demanded to speak to him. And when you left, much later, you rushed away in an almighty hurry.’
Akitada shook his head. ‘But that’s ridiculous. I don’t know Kiyowara, and I never saw him yesterday.’
‘Are these people lying?’
‘No.’ Akitada was becoming angry. ‘You should know that all sorts of interpretations can be put on a man’s actions. It is true that I went to see Kiyowara in hopes of clearing up a mistake, but I never got a chance to do so. Killing the man was surely the last thing I would have wanted to do. Now that false report will never be corrected. And apparently I have many enemies.’ He took a deep breath, then said accusingly, ‘I would not have expected you to doubt me, though.’
Kobe relaxed a little. ‘I don’t. Mind you, you do have a temper. In any case, it was my duty to come and ask you about this.’ He lifted his cup, found it empty, and put it back down.
Akitada refilled it and his own. His hand shook a little. They drank. He was shocked at being suspected and wondered if he should mention that the poet had visited Kiyowara’s women’s quarters, but decided against it. His business there might have been as harmless as his own presence. Perhaps he had flirted with one of the maids. ‘That quarrel I heard. It wasn’t long after the hour for the midday rice. Did you find out who was arguing with Kiyowara?’
Kobe shook his head. ‘Apparently, you’re the only one who heard it.’
‘I know that the prince went in to see Kiyowara.’
Kobe shook his head. ‘A man like Prince Atsunori doesn’t need to go to someone’s house to kill him. He has the power to ruin men and send them to their deaths quite openly. And if he killed Kiyowara in a fit of anger, we could not prosecute anyway. Are you sure they quarreled? What did you hear?’
‘I don’t know if the quarrel was with the prince. And I only heard raised voices, not words. One voice was higher than the other. It could have been a woman’s. I’d been there a very long time by then – perhaps as much as an hour after the prince went to see Kiyowara. It might have been someone else by then.’
‘There you are then.’ Kobe looked glum. ‘I would ask you to look into the matter, but I’m afraid that might implicate you further. Someone doesn’t like you. You are the suspect of choice.’
An uncomfortable silence fell as Akitada wondered what other disasters were awaiting him.
Kobe sighed and got to his feet. ‘Well… I must be on my way. Best wishes on the impending birth.’
Akitada walked the superintendent to the steps into the courtyard, then returned to his study. People were in a great hurry to lay the blame for the murder on him. It proved how powerful and dangerous the resentment against him was. The progress from implicating him in the murder to his arrest, trial, and exile required only small steps for those in power. He had relaxed too soon, thinking that his former enemies had either died – like Soga – or lost interest in him. Apparently, recent shifts in the administration had once again created an atmosphere where he became a handy scapegoat for the offenses committed by others.
The worst of it was that this time he had no idea who was behind it.
JIROKICHI, THE THIEF
There were five of them. All were in their teens, but strong and fast. Five against one.
Despite his age, Jirokichi was agile, but they cornered him. Somehow, in his hurry to escape the first two, he took a wrong turn down an alley, which brought him to the abandoned temple, and then there were suddenly five, and he took another wrong turn into the temple grounds, hoping to double back towards a busier part of the city.
But they worked together and herded him into the farthest corner, where he ended up boxed in by walls too tall to scale – though he was agile enough – and now they were walking towards him, slowly, with grins on their faces.
Stray dogs closing in on a rat.
‘Hey, Rat,’ said the one in front, a stringy youth who was their leader, ‘why so unfriendly? We just want to chat. We heard business was good lately.’
Business had been good. He had found gold and a finely carved and gilded Buddha figurine he hoped to sell at a great profit to an abbot of his acquaintance, but these five could not know about that. They were guessing.
They closed in around him, their eyes bright with excitement.
‘What do you want?’ he squeaked. He was small, deceptively frail looking, and when nervous, his voice rose to a piercing squeal.
‘Whatever you got, Rat,’ said the leader, still grinning. He was an ugly kid with a broken nose and a knife scar running from one ear to the corner of his mouth. His teeth were broken, too, and then Jirokichi saw that the fists he clenched had scarred knuckles – from beating up other victims.
Jirokichi shrunk away a little more until his back was against the wall. The boy next to the leader eyed him with a hungry look. ‘Let’s take his clothes off and see what he’s got.’ He fingered the knife in his belt. ‘Maybe we’ll cut off his jewels.’ They laughed.
Jirokichi was close to wetting his pants. He stripped off his jacket and tossed it to them. ‘I’ve got nothing. See for yourselves. You got the wrong fellow.’ They searched the jacket and tossed it aside. He started to undo the rope that held up his pants, but the leader’s arm shot out and grabbed Jirokichi’s wrist. He jerked him forward,
