somber. 'She was lying on the ground. Her clothes were torn and she was bleeding between her legs. I recognized her right away. She used to hang around here a lot.'
'She was always either by herself or with some young toughs from her father's gang,' Kanroku the proprietor said. 'I thought it was wrong for Jirocho to let her run wild like that.'
'Me, too,' old Hachibei said, 'but who are we to tell a gang boss what to do?'
'I always said Fumiko would get in trouble someday, and I was right,' the proprietor said wisely.
'People are saying that she wasn't kidnapped, that she went with a man, and then he got tired of her and dumped her,' Geki said. 'If it's true, then Jirocho was right to throw her out. I'd have done the same.'
People were eager to blame the victim for the crime, Hirata thought. He asked, 'When you found her, did you see anyone else around?'
'Not until I called for help and people woke up and came outside. Then I sent a servant to tell Jirocho. He came and took her home.'
And then, upon learning she was damaged goods, he'd punished her.
'Did you hear anything?' Hirata asked.
Geki shook his head, then stopped as a look of sudden, surprised recollection came over his face. 'Wait. I did.'
Hirata felt a stir of excitement. 'What?'
'Wagon wheels clattering,' Geki said. 'An oxcart.'
Maybe it was the same one that had been sighted in the alley where Sano's cousin had been dumped. 'But you didn't see it or the driver?'
'Not then,' Geki said, 'but maybe the day before. It could have been the fellow who brought that lumber outside.'
'Who was that?'
'I don't know his name.'
'Can you describe him?' Hirata said hopefully.
'He was about twenty-five,' Geki said. 'He had two missing teeth.' He pointed at the two teeth to the right of his own big, yellowish front ones.
'Yes, that's right,' the proprietor said. 'I saw him, too. If he's the man that hurt Fumiko, I hope you catch him, the bastard.'
After Major Kumazawa left, Sano felt simultaneously fatigued and riled up, as if he'd been in a fight that had no winner. And so he had. He rolled his shoulders, easing tense muscles. He'd put off his usual business of governing Japan, and he still had a long day of work ahead of him. He received the rest of his callers. By the time everyone was gone, it was late in the evening. Seated at his desk, Sano reviewed the most urgent reports and correspondence until his secretary came to the door and said, 'Toda Ikkyu is here.'
'Bring him in.'
Toda entered, knelt, and bowed. He resembled a shadow in his gray clothes, in the dim light, his nondescript face bland.
'What have you to report, Toda-san?' Sano asked.
'I spent the day following our friend Yanagisawa.'
'How did you manage that?' Sano's own men had been unable to follow Yanagisawa very long before he shook them off his trail.
'It's easy when you know the art of stealth,' Toda said. Most samurai looked upon stealth as a dark art, unworthy of the Way of the Warrior. But that never bothered Toda, or Yanagisawa. 'If he goes inside a building, don't wait for him at the front door; he'll come out the back. Don't expect him to look the same as he did when he went in-he'll have put on a disguise. And you should change your own appearance occasionally, or he'll spot you. You don't need a fancy disguise; a different hat will do.'
'Thank you for the tips,' Sano said. 'I'll pass them on to my men. Where did Yanagisawa go?'
'To a teahouse in Hatchobori district, for what appeared to be a secret meeting.'
Intrigued, Sano said, 'With whom?'
'Two old ladies.'
Sano had expected to hear that Yanagisawa had met with some daimyo, presumably to enlist their support in another bid for power. 'Who were they?'
'I don't know,' Toda said. 'They were already secluded inside the teahouse when Yanagisawa and I arrived. And I didn't get a good look at them when they left. He called them 'Lady Setsu' and 'Lady Chocho.' But those are false names. He said as much. I did overhear some of their conversation.'
'And just how did you manage that?'
Amusement crinkled Toda's eyes. 'You don't want to know.'
'What did they talk about?'
'The possibility of a marriage between someone connected with the ladies and someone connected with Yanagisawa.'
'That doesn't sound like anything out of the ordinary,' Sano said, feeling let down. 'Yanagisawa does have four sons, including Yoritomo, all single and all of marriageable age.'
'And a daughter. Don't forget Kikuko.'
Sano would never forget Yanagisawa's beautiful but feeble-minded daughter, Kikuko. She'd once almost drowned his son. And her mother-Yanagisawa's deranged wife-had once tried to kill Reiko. When Yanagisawa had been exiled to Hachijo Island, his wife and daughter had gone with him. When he'd escaped, they'd stayed behind, but they'd recently returned and he'd installed them in a mansion in Kamakura. Sano had spies watching them, in case they should come back to Edo and threaten his family again.
'It stands to reason that Yanagisawa would want to marry off his children,' Sano said.
Toda nodded. 'He needs to make politically advantageous matches for them.'
'But why the secrecy?' Sano said.
'Your guess is as good as mine.' Toda shrugged.
Sano thought about how oddly Yanagisawa had been acting. Maybe he had decided that if he couldn't seize power by military might, he would achieve it through marriage. But with what family? A quick mental review of prominent clans and their eligible sons and daughters didn't provide the answer. There were so many, and no apparent explanation for why marriage negotiations with them should need to be kept under wraps.
'Continue your surveillance on Yanagisawa,' Sano said. 'Find out who those women are and who's the prospective bride or groom.'
'Will do.' Toda bowed and rose.
As he left the room, Sano wondered if there was anything Toda had heard or seen but neglected to mention.
As he mounted his horse outside the teahouse at Shinobazu Pond, the witnesses waved to Hirata from the veranda. He waved back and had started to ride away in search of other witnesses who'd seen the oxcart, when a sudden strange sensation came over him. It was an energy aura so powerful that the damp, drizzly air throbbed and scintillated. Not he, not even his teacher or the other venerable mystic martial artists he knew, had an aura as strong. Filled with awe, he yanked on the reins, brought his horse to a stop. He looked around for the source of the energy.
The embankment was deserted and dark. The teahouse proprietors had gone inside their buildings, and there was no one in sight. Rain pelted the lotus leaves in the pond. All appeared as peaceful and desolate as before. But Hirata felt alarm raise every hair on his body. Someone he couldn't see was watching him. His hand instinctively flew to his sword. His heart began to race, his own energy gathering in preparation for combat. He'd seldom had cause for fear; there were few men in all of Japan that he couldn't beat. But then why did he feel so certain that he was in the presence of danger?
The impulse to flee vied with the impulse to hunt for the person whose aura threatened him. Before Hirata could succumb to either urge, the aura vanished as suddenly as if some great, cosmic machine had ceased to run. All Hirata heard or felt was the rain. He was alone.
Down the corridor from Sano's office, Masahiro crouched on the floor, lining up his toy soldiers. He watched the man dressed in gray come out of the office. As the man walked away from Masahiro, he looked over his shoulder and smiled faintly before he vanished around a corner.
