“It’ll take more than a thousand to excuse you,” Lord Matsudaira said, his fury mounting. “Do I understand correctly that you assigned hundreds of army troops to escort duty?”
“Yes,” Sano admitted. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hoshina enjoying his discomfiture. “With an assassin at large and the officials afraid to leave home, it seemed the only way to keep the government running.”
The shogun nodded in timid agreement, but Lord Matsudaira ignored him and said, “Well, it’s obvious that you didn’t stop to think that security would be drastically reduced after you pulled those men from their regular posts. While they were playing nursemaid to a bunch of cowards, who was supposed to keep order in the city?” His complexion was so livid with rage that he looked ready to burst a blood vessel. “Do you think we have an unlimited supply of troops?”
“I’ve sent for more from the provinces,” Sano said in a futile attempt to defend himself. Yoritomo wrung his hands. “I’ve ordered the daimyo to lend their retainers to patrol the streets.”
“Oh, you did, did you? And do you know what’s happened in the meantime?” Lord Matsudaira surged to his feet, unable to contain his temper. “While I was riding through town this morning, I was ambushed by a band of rebel outlaws. My bodyguards were outnumbered. There wasn’t a soldier in sight.”
Sano stared, speechless with alarm that he’d inadvertently endangered Lord Matsudaira.
“Fortunately, Police Commissioner Hoshina and his men happened to come along, and they fought off the rebels,” Lord Matsudaira said. “If they hadn’t, I would be dead now.”
Sano turned his astonished gaze on Hoshina, who flashed him a grin of triumph.
“How convenient for you,” Sano said. He wouldn’t be surprised if Hoshina himself had arranged the attack, with the aim of rescuing Lord Matsudaira and making him so grateful that he was willing to forgive Hoshina any errors.
“Yes, it was convenient.” Hoshina’s eyes sparkled with malicious amusement. “All the outlaws were killed in the fight, in case you were wondering.”
Which meant that they couldn’t reveal whether Hoshina had hired them, Sano realized. Hoshina was safe. He’d taken advantage of all the misfortune that Sano had suffered during this investigation.
“I heard that this morning you commandeered more troops, Chamberlain Sano,” Lord Matsudaira said, ignoring the exchange between Sano and Hoshina. “What in hell do you need them for? Why would you worsen your stupid, dangerous mistake?”
“I need them to search for the assassin you ordered me to capture.” Growing angry at Lord Matsudaira’s insulting treatment, Sano heard the edge in his own voice. How else could he have protected the officials? “I know who he is now. His name is Kobori. He belonged to my predecessor’s elite squadron. To run him to ground, I need more manpower besides my own personal troops.”
The news that Sano had identified the Ghost startled Lord Matsudaira into silence and wiped the scowl off his face. Yoritomo gave Sano a relieved, delighted smile.
“So you’ve, ahh, solved the mystery.” The shogun beamed at Sano. He cast a smug glance at Lord Matsudaira, clearly gratified that Sano had scored a point against his cousin, even if he didn’t understand what was going on. “My congratulations to you.”
“Don’t believe him, Your Excellency,” Hoshina said quickly. “It may not be true that this man Kobori is the assassin. Remember that Chamberlain Sano thought it was Captain Nakai, who proved to be innocent. He could be wrong again.” Hoshina appealed to Lord Matsudaira. “I think he’s so desperate to please you that he’s trying to pin the murders on someone who’s probably dead.”
“Kobori’s alive,” Sano countered. “I can place him in Edo as recently as two days ago. Last night I raided the inn where he’s been hiding. I only just missed him. He’d skipped out the day before.”
“What proof do you have that he’s the assassin?” Lord Matsudaira looked torn between skepticism and his wish to believe that the capture of the Ghost was imminent.
Sano described the events at the Jade Pavilion.
“Well, even if Kobori is the assassin, you let him get away,” Hoshina said, anxious to discredit Sano. “He could have left Edo by now. Honorable Lord Matsudaira, why send troops to search the stable after the horse is already out? We need them to maintain security and hunt down rebel outlaws.”
“We can’t assume that Kobori is gone just because you want to believe it,” Sano said. “And he’s a more important target than the other rebel outlaws.”
Hoshina laughed in scorn. “They’ve killed a lot more people than he has.”
“But he’s aiming at the regime’s top echelon,” Sano said. “Let me remind you that he’s already assassinated five high-ranking officials. Unless we concentrate on catching him, he’ll chip away at us until morale is so weak that the regime falls. We need to catch him before he kills again.”
He felt the mark of death upon himself. Involuntary flinches twitched his body, as if telltale bruises were cropping up all over his skin. His head ached, and he wondered if his brain had started bleeding. The uncertainty and waiting were so difficult to bear, he almost wished he knew for sure that Kobori had touched him. But if he should die tomorrow, who would protect the regime from men like Hoshina, so driven by their own ambitions that they would let a deadly force like Kobori run free?
“Someone in this room could be his next victim.” Sano appealed to Lord Matsudaira’s and the shogun’s self- interest. “Let me borrow the troops for two more days. That should be enough time to catch Kobori.”
“I think that sounds like a, ahh, good compromise,” the shogun said, eager to end the quarreling.
Lord Matsudaira weighed the arguments for only an instant before saying, “Chamberlain Sano is absolutely correct that catching the Ghost should have high priority.” Hoshina’s face fell. “But Police Commissioner Hoshina is also correct that we can’t let security lapse in order to chase one of many criminals,” Lord Matsudaira continued. “Take the troops off the search and send them back to their regular duties, Chamberlain Sano. Do the best you can without them. And remember that I’m counting on you.”
Hoshina grinned, recognizing that this decision promised failure for Sano and more advantage for himself. Sano saw that there was no use arguing further with Lord Matsudaira. Only one person could override him now.
“Your Excellency,” Sano said, “this issue is so important that perhaps you would like to settle it instead of leaving it to us. You said you thought it was a good idea to have the troops search for the Ghost. If that’s your opinion, you can make it an order, and it will be done.”
The shogun looked alarmed to be put on the spot, yet gratified by the thought of his own power. Lord Matsudaira and Hoshina glared at Sano. Yoritomo leaned close to the shogun to whisper in his ear.
“A certain person had better keep out of this,” Lord Matsudaira announced in a quiet tone replete with menace. “Or else there may be a fatal accident to a certain other person on a certain distant island.”
Yoritomo sat back and bowed his head at the threat to his exiled father.
“Well? What do you say?” Lord Matsudaira asked the shogun. “Will you follow Chamberlain Sano’s advice or mine?”
Bereft of the support he needed to stand by his opinion, the shogun wilted. “Yours, Cousin,” he murmured, avoiding Sano’s gaze.
Sano accepted defeat with a frustration he could barely conceal. Hoshina relaxed. Lord Matsudaira said, “Before you leave, Honorable Chamberlain, I have one other problem to discuss with you. I hear that you’ve been absent from your office these past few days. Quite a few officials have mentioned that you’re never available to meet with them, you don’t answer your correspondence, and you’re letting your staff handle business they’re not qualified to handle.”
Sano turned on Hoshina. The police commissioner must have put his new friends up to informing Lord Matsudaira. Hoshina shrugged and smirked.
“You seem to think that the duties of second-in-command over the nation are beneath you,” Lord Matsudaira told Sano. “Unless you change your attitude, His Excellency may be forced to replace you, as quite a few of his officials have recommended. Is that understood?”
Stifling his anger, Sano said, “Yes, Lord Matsudaira.” He shot a venomous look at Hoshina, who sat gloating and eager to inherit his post. If he lived, Sano resolved, he would find a way to rid himself of this enemy, no matter how little he liked political warfare.
“It’s time to adjourn this meeting,” Lord Matsudaira told the shogun.
“This meeting is adjourned,” the shogun said.
“What do we do now?” Marume asked Sano as they walked through the palace garden.
