The young retainer’s face was haggard with misery. “I can’t believe Ichiteru is the killer,” he repeated for the third time since he and Sano had met outside Edo Castle and compared the results of their inquiries. Now, as they rode into the Official Quarter, he stubbornly championed his seducer’s innocence. “Maybe Danzaemon is wrong about what he thinks he saw.”
Controlling his impatience, Sano cast his eyes up the hilltop. The late-afternoon sun bronzed the palace rooftops and enflamed the trees in the forest preserve. Blue shadows crept outward from the barracks that lined the street, immersing the district in premature dusk. Sano was tired and hungry; he wanted a hot bath to wash away the pollution of the eta settlement. He longed to see Reiko and share with her the successful conclusion to the case. The last thing he needed was more trouble from Hirata.
“Ichiteru isn’t going to evade interrogation any longer,” Sano said with an air of finality. “By now Lady Keisho-in will have explained to the shogun about our misunderstanding. He’ll have reopened the Large Interior to us.” He paused, then added, “There’s too much evidence against Ichiteru. You’ll have to give up your partiality toward her whether you like it or not.”
“I know.” Hirata’s hands twisted the reins. “It’s just-I can’t accept that I could be so wrong about someone who… I still have this feeling that she didn’t do it. All day I kept hoping to find some evidence that would prove I wasn’t a fool. I convinced myself that Lieutenant Kushida was the killer, and I’ve been looking all over town for him.” They dismounted outside Sano’s estate. In the courtyard, a groom took their horses. A pained sigh issued from Hirata. “But now…”
Outside the barracks, the detectives and their families often socialized before the evening meal. Today a group of boys fought a mock battle with wooden swords, while the men cheered them on and women chatted. A mother played ball with a toddler. Sano said, “Everyone makes mistakes, Hirata. Let it go.”
But Hirata wasn’t listening. He stood frozen in the courtyard, staring at the mother and child, a stunned look on his face. “Oh,” he said, then repeated with strange emphasis, “Oh.”
“What’s wrong?” Sano asked.
“I just remembered something.” Excitement animated Hirata’s face. “Now I know Lady Ichiteru didn’t kill Harume.”
Sano regarded him with exasperation. “Hirata, don’t. Enough is enough. I’m going to get cleaned up and have a word with Reiko. Then we’ll go to the Large Interior.”
Turning, he entered the house. Hirata ran after him. “Wait, sosakan-sama! Let me explain.” As they exchanged their shoes for cloth slippers in the entryway, he said, “I think I saw the killer the other day.”
“What?” Sano paused with his hand on the door.
Words tumbled from Hirata in a rapid, incoherent flood: “When I went to see the Rat, I thought it was something different, but now I see what was going on, I should have guessed.” Fairly bouncing with anxiety, he burst out, “She wasn’t selling anything, she was paying him!”
“Slow down so I can understand you,” Sano said. “Start at the beginning.”
Hirata gulped a deep breath. He patted the air in an effort to subdue his agitation. “I paid the Rat to keep an eye out for Choyei. Later I went back to see whether he’d learned anything. There was a woman in the room with him. They were bargaining-making a deal. When the Rat came out, he said she’d just sold her deformed child to his freak show.” Speaking with deliberate slowness, Hirata explained, “Seeing Detective Yamada’s wife playing with their son reminded me.
“Then the Rat told me he couldn’t find Choyei. He returned the money I’d paid him. I suspected that he’d actually found Choyei, who had bribed him to keep quiet. Now I’m positive it was the woman I saw-offering the Rat money, not the other way around. She disappeared while we were talking. It must have been the killer, not a mother selling a child. She must have seen the crests on my clothes and guessed who I was and what I wanted, when I asked the Rat about Choyei.”
“But Ichiteru is the only female suspect.” Even as Sano spoke, he recalled otherwise.
The light of vindication shone in Hirata’s eyes. “I’ve never met Lady Miyagi. What does she look like?”
“She’s around forty-five,” Sano began.
“Not very pretty, with a long face and droopy eyes and a deep voice?”
“Yes, but…”
“And black teeth and shaved eyebrows.” Hirata laughed exultantly. “Just think, I had the evidence all along!”
“That’s an interesting theory,” Sano admitted. “Choyei’s landlord thought he heard a man in the room where the peddler died; he could have been fooled by Lady Miyagi’s voice. But we haven’t placed Lady Miyagi at the scene of the dagger attack. She could have poisoned the ink, but we’ve no proof that she did. And what’s her motive?”
“Let’s go and see if I can identify Lady Miyagi as the woman I saw,” Hirata pleaded. “The Rat must have found out she was Choyei’s customer and tried to blackmail her. She probably meant to kill the Rat the way she did Choyei. I probably saved his life by arriving just then.”
Hirata bowed. “Please, sosakan-sama, before you decide Ichiteru is guilty, give me a chance to prove I’m right. Let me question Lady Miyagi!”
Seeking to avert a chase in the wrong direction, Sano said, “Reiko went to see the Miyagi today. Let’s find out if she learned anything.” He entered the corridor, where a manservant came to greet him. “Where’s my wife?”
“She’s not home, master. But she left this for you.”
The servant proffered a sealed letter.
Tearing it open, Sano read aloud:
“Honorable Husband,
I had a very interesting visit with Lord Miyagi, and I believe he killed Lady Harume. He and his wife have invited me to view the autumn moon with them at their summer villa tonight. I must use this opportunity to question the daimyo further and obtain proof of his guilt.
Don’t worry-I’ve taken Detectives Ota and Fujisawa along, as well as my usual escorts. We’ll be back tomorrow morning.
With love,
Reiko”
Suddenly the idea of investigating the daimyo’s wife didn’t seem so bad. If there was any chance that she was the killer, Sano didn’t want Reiko traveling to a remote location with her, even under armed guard.
“I guess Ichiteru can wait a little longer,” Sano said. “We’ll try to catch up with Reiko and the Miyagi before they leave town.”
In a thunder of hoofbeats, Sano and Hirata arrived at Lord Miyagi’s gate. Sano cast an anxious glance up and down the street. “I don’t see Reiko’s palanquin,” he said, 'or her escorts.” Against his will, he began to believe that Hirata was right-Lady Miyagi was the killer they sought. And Reiko, who didn’t know about Danzaemon’s evidence, thought it was Lord Miyagi. A band of worry closed around Sano’s heart.
“Calm down,” Hirata soothed. “We’ll find her.”
Leaping off his horse, Sano accosted one of the two gate sentries. “Where’s my wife?” he demanded, grabbing the man’s armor tunic.
“What do you think you’re doing? Let go!”
The guard shoved Sano; the other gripped him in an armlock. Hirata rushed to explain. “The sosakan-sama’s wife was supposed to go to the villa with Lord and Lady Miyagi. We want to talk to them. Where are they?”
At the mention of Sano’s title, both guards tensed and stepped away from him, but didn’t answer.
“We’re going inside,” Sano told Hirata.
The guards blocked the gate, expressions fearful but obstinate. Their defiance triggered an alarm in Sano: Something was wrong here.
“There’s no one home,” said a guard. “Everyone’s gone.”
Seized with an overwhelming fear that something had happened to Reiko in the house, Sano drew his sword. “Move!” The guards leapt aside, and Sano threw open the gate. With Hirata following, he ran across the courtyard, through the inner gate, and into the mansion, calling, “Reiko?”
Silence veiled the long, dim tunnel of the corridor. The ancient smell of the house filled Sano’s lungs like a noxious gas. He pounded along floors that groaned under his footsteps, calling his wife’s name. He heard the guards
