'Can you hear me?'
There was no response. The novice gave a faint, desolate sigh. The abbess said sadly, 'I warned you.'
But Sano couldn't give up. 'Tengu-in, I'm Chamberlain Sano. Tell me what happened when you were kidnapped.'
She continued her silent praying. Her face was expressionless, animated only by the flickering candlelight.
'Who took you?' Sano persisted. 'Was it someone you recognized?'
No answer came.
Sano appealed to the kind nature that the abbess had said Tengu-in had once possessed. 'I believe this man has kidnapped and attacked two other women besides you. One of them is my cousin. I must catch him before he hurts anyone else. And I need your help.'
His words didn't penetrate the invisible shell into which she'd retreated. In an attempt to reach her, he spoke louder, urgently: 'What did he look like? Where did he take you?'
'It's no use,' the abbess said as Tengu-in prayed, rocked, and ignored everyone. 'Even if she's listening, she won't speak.'
Sano rose, reluctantly. He didn't want to leave empty-handed. 'I need to question everyone who was with Tengu-in on that trip to Zj Temple.'
'Ume was.' The abbess beckoned to the novice.
The girl crept over to Sano and bowed, her eyes open wide with anxiety.
'What happened?' Sano said. 'How did Tengu-in just suddenly disappear?'
'I don't know,' she said in a barely audible whisper. She clenched her hands under her sleeves and cast a nervous glance at the abbess.
Sano said to the abbess, 'I'd like to speak with Ume privately.'
Disapproval crossed the older woman's face, but she couldn't deny his request. She said, 'I'll be right outside,' and departed.
Sano said, 'Whatever secret you don't want her to know, it's safe with me.'
The girl's face crumpled. Tears shone in her eyes. 'It's my fault Tengu-in was kidnapped.'
Sano couldn't believe that this innocent-looking girl was in any way responsible for the crime. 'How so?'
'We were supposed to stay with her. I should have watched out for her.' Ume sobbed as she gazed down at Tengu-in, who seemed oblivious. 'Instead, I ran ahead with the other novices. She was too slow. She couldn't keep up.'
Sano envisioned the old woman hobbling through the temple grounds in the wake of the young, exuberant girls. Perhaps they had been negligent, but he said, 'You're not to blame. You couldn't have known she was in danger.'
'But I was doing something I shouldn't have been.' Shamefaced yet eager to unburden herself, Ume said, 'There was a group of novices from the monastery down the street. We-the other girls and I…'
The picture became clear to Sano. The girls had wanted to flirt with the young monks, so they'd run away from their chaperone. Joining a religious order didn't rid people of their natural human desires.
'I feel so guilty,' Ume said as she wept. 'I wish I could make up for what I did.'
'Here's your chance,' Sano said. 'Help me catch the man who hurt her. When you were at the temple, did you see anyone or anything that looked suspicious?'
'No,' Ume said, wiping her tears on her sleeve. 'I've tried and tried to remember, but I don't.'
Whoever had kidnapped Tengu-in couldn't have just suddenly appeared out of nowhere, swooped down on her like an eagle from the sky, and spirited her away, Sano thought. He would have had to single her out of the crowd, to await an opportunity to take her without anyone seeing.
He must have been watching her.
'Think back to the time before you and the other girls left Tengu-in,' Sano said. 'Did you notice anyone paying particular attention to your group?'
Ume pondered, then shook her head.
'Anyone following you?' Sano persisted.
'No. I'm sorry. I was busy looking at the monks.' Then she frowned, as if startled by a memory forgotten until now.
'What is it?' Sano asked.
'I did see someone.'
'At the temple?' Sano's pulse began to race in anticipation.
'No, not there. And not then. It was the day before. Outside the convent.'
Maybe the kidnapper had had his eye on the nuns. Maybe he'd been spying on the convent, lying in wait for his chance to kidnap one. 'Tell me what happened,' Sano said urgently.
'It was after morning prayers. I sneaked outside.' Ume's face flushed. 'The monks walk past the convent on their way to the city. There's one that I-well, when he goes by, he smiles at me.' Pleasure and guilt mingled in her voice. 'That day, I missed him. But I saw a man standing in the street.'
'Who was he?'
'I don't know. I'd never seen him before. Nor since.'
'Can you describe him?'
'I didn't get a very good look. As soon as he saw me, he turned and walked away.' Ume squinted, trying to bring the remembered glimpse of him into focus. 'He was tall and strong. His hair was so short, the skin on his head showed through. He was old, about thirty.'
Sano winced: He himself was forty-three, which she probably considered ancient. 'What was he wearing?'
'A dark blue kimono.'
Every commoner in Japan owned a cotton kimono dyed with indigo. And many of them cut their hair short to discourage fleas and lice. 'Did his face have any distinctive features?'
'He looked like he hadn't shaved in a while.' Ume brightened at a fresh recollection. 'He had a big scab, here.' She touched her right cheekbone. 'I remember thinking he must have been in an accident or a fight.'
That wasn't unusual, either. Sano pressed for more details, but Ume could provide none. 'Did you see an oxcart?'
'No. I'm sorry,' she said, gazing unhappily at Tengu-in, who prayed, rocked, and apparently had not heard any of the conversation.
But the oxcart could have been parked nearby, out of sight. The man she'd seen could have been the driver, who might have kidnapped Tengu-in, Chiyo, and Jirocho's daughter, too.
'You've been very helpful,' Sano said.
'You'll catch him, won't you?' she said, with touching faith.
'I will,' Sano vowed. He dared to think that he had a lead at last.
14
The marketplace in Ueno extended along the approach to the foot of the hill where Kannei Temple stood. Hirata rode past shops that sold boxwood combs and ear-cleaners and teahouses where customers ate rice steamed in lotus leaves, a local specialty. The street widened into the Broad Little Road, home to stalls and booths crammed with all sorts of goods. A few dancers, puppeteers, and acrobats entertained crowds diminished by the rain. Beneath the lively, colorful bustle of the market, Hirata saw its dark underpinnings.
Tattooed gangsters roamed, looking for any traders who didn't belong there, keeping an eye out for thieves. This was Jirocho's domain. He controlled the allocation of the stalls, shops, teahouses, and booths, collected rents from the vendors, paid tributes to the temple and taxes to the government, and kept a generous cut of the profits for himself. Here his daughter had sought refuge after he'd turned her loose.
Hirata rode down the aisles of stalls, looking for a twelve-year-old girl on her own. The market swarmed with
