troubles. He can’t fight a war.”
“That’s what he wanted to do at first. He wanted an honorable victory. But he’s come up with a new plan.” Lieutenant Asukai continued with breathless urgency, “The spy we caught wasn’t the only one he had here. There are more.”
Reiko’s lips parted in shock. Just when she thought she’d dispensed with that particular threat! “How many?”
“Nine of them,” Asukai said. “My friend doesn’t know who they are. Lord Matsudaira didn’t say. But here’s the worst part: They’re not just spies anymore. They’re not looking for information, and setting traps for them won’t work this time. Lord Matsudaira has sent them new orders. Their job is to assassinate Chamberlain Sano. If one man tries and fails and gets caught, the others are to keep trying until Sano is dead.”
As Reiko’s shock turned to horror, anguish showed on Lieutenant Asukai’s face. He said, “I’m sorry to be the bearer of such bad news, Lady Reiko, and I’m sorry to say that’s not all. I’ve come to warn you: Lord Matsudaira has ordered his assassins to kill you and the children, too. He doesn’t want your son to grow up and come after him for revenge, so he’s decided he’d better wipe out your whole clan.”
25
“Solving Tadatoshi’s murder should be easier with Lord Matsudaira under arrest,” Hirata said.
“Thank the gods for that stroke of luck,” Sano said, “and that the shogun doesn’t know about my role in the power play, at least for now.”
They sat in his office, where they’d taken refuge after the debacle at the palace. Hirata poured sake. “I propose a toast to Lord Matsudaira. With friends like Lord Arima, he doesn’t need enemies.”
Sano and Hirata drank. “We might as well enjoy this moment. It won’t last long,” Sano said, for the exposure of Lord Matsudaira’s campaign to seize power would cause him new difficulties. “And we have a new crime to solve.”
“The tutor’s murder is a complication we didn’t need,” Hirata agreed.
“But every crisis creates opportunities,” Sano said. “I can think of at least one new line of investigation to follow.”
They discussed strategies. Sano said, “My wife will be anxious for news. I’d better go tell her what’s happened.” But he was interrupted by moans in the passage, accompanied by heavy footsteps that shook the floor. Something bumped the wall. Sano and Hirata hurried to the door. They saw Detectives Marume and Fukida carrying Sano’s mother on a litter. She was swaddled in a blanket that held her body still, but her head tossed as she moaned.
“Mother!” Sano was glad to see her home, but disturbed by her condition. “What’s happened?”
“There was a fire near the jail,” Marume said. “The prisoners were let out.”
The law stated that when fire threatened the jail, the prisoners must be freed, to save their lives. It was a rare instance of mercy toward criminals, due to the Great Fire, when the main neighborhood gate near Kodemmacho was closed to prevent the prisoners from escaping. All the prisoners, and many neighborhood residents-some twenty thousand people-had been trampled and killed in the crush at the gate. Now prisoners were released under strict orders to return when the fire was out. Usually they did, with a few notable exceptions.
“Mother, are you all right?” Sano asked anxiously.
Her eyes welled huge and black. They seemed to look through Sano at horrors visible to her alone. “The fire is coming,” she cried. “We have to go across the river before it’s too late.”
She was reliving the Great Fire, Sano thought. As the detectives carried her down the passage and he accompanied them, he asked, “Was she hurt?”
“No,” Fukida said. “Dr. Ito sent her to the castle with the men you left to guard her. We saw them waiting in the line to get inside. We brought her here.”
“I’m grateful,” Sano said, “but how did you get her past the sentries?”
“I talked them into letting her in,” Marume said.
“Good work.” Sano could imagine the fast talking and intimidation that Marume must have employed.
“It helped that there’s a lot of confusion in the castle,” Fukida said as he and Marume maneuvered the litter around a corner. “Everyone is running around like ants whose hill has been stepped on. What’s the matter?”
“The shogun found out that Lord Matsudaira has been trying to take over,” Hirata said. “Lord Matsudaira is under house arrest.”
The detectives set down the litter in the guest chamber and stared in disbelief. “Well, well, I guess we’ve been away too long,” Fukida said to Marume.
“We didn’t find any witnesses, and we missed all the fun,” Marume lamented. “How did it happen?”
“I’ll fill you in.” Hirata led the men out of the room, leaving Sano to tend to his mother.
The door between the room and the adjacent one slid open. Sano saw Reiko standing on the other side. Behind her, the children sat with Lieutenant Asukai and their old nurse, O-sugi. Everyone beheld Sano and his mother with surprise.
“Grandma’s back,” Masahiro said, rising from the table where he’d been playing chess with Lieutenant Asukai.
He ran over to her, and Akiko followed, leaving her dolls with O-sugi. When Sano’s mother muttered and wailed, the children backed away, puzzled and curious.
Reiko was relieved to see her mother-in-law out of jail, but the old woman’s condition and Sano’s expression made it obvious that all was not exactly well. “What happened?”
Sano explained about the fire, then told her how and why Lord Matsudaira had been arrested.
“I know about Lord Matsudaira,” Reiko said. “Lieutenant Asukai heard and told me.”
Since then, Reiko had not let the children out of her sight. She’d kept Lieutenant Asukai and O-sugi with them for additional protection. They were the only people in the household that she could completely trust.
So far nothing had happened, but of course not enough time had passed for Lord Matsudaira’s plan to be set in action.
“Do you think Lord Matsudaira will fall?” she asked, hopeful that he would before his assassins could strike.
“I’m not going to count on it,” Sano said, “and I’m not off the hook yet.” He told Reiko about how he and Hirata had found the tutor dead. “Not only do I now have two murders to solve, I’m a suspect in this one, even though Lord Arima has been implicated. As long as it’s his word against mine and that of two men who are dead, my name will never be clear.”
The fear that had plagued Reiko since she’d heard of Lord Matsudaira’s plan resurged in the wake of her disappointed hope.
“In the meantime, we’d better make my mother comfortable,” Sano said.
“I’ll fetch a maid to fix her bed,” Masahiro volunteered.
“No!” Reiko said. “Stay here!”
Sano’s and Masahiro’s eyebrows flew up in surprise at her sharp tone. Reiko said, “I’ll make the bed. Masahiro, you can help.”
“All right,” Masahiro said.
While Akiko returned to her nurse and her dolls, he and Reiko hauled the futon out of the cabinet and laid down quilts. Sano loosened the blanket around his mother, lifted her from the litter, and eased her into bed. Reiko drew the quilt over her, noticing how much weight she’d lost in the past few days.
“Can I go now?” Masahiro said. “My friends from Papa’s army are coming to say good night to me, and I want to talk to them before I go to bed.”
He’d made friends among Sano’s younger troops, whose company he preferred to boys his own age. Reiko had never minded before; she and Sano had thought they were good examples for him. Now she feared that Lord Matsudaira’s assassins numbered among them.
“No,” she said.
“Why not?” Masahiro was disappointed.
