“No,” he said. “I told my men to wait for me at the gate. Then I went through the back entrance of the ageya, and upstairs. I thought I might be able to have a moment with Lady Wisteria. I didn’t want to leave Yoshiwara without seeing her.”
A crimson flush colored Nitta’s pale cheeks, like blood dropped onto the surface of virgin snow. This first sign of passion in him told Sano that the man had feelings for Wisteria, in spite of his denials, and that he craved more from her than just carnal satisfaction.
“I stood at the door of the guest chamber and listened,” Nitta continued. “Lord Mitsuyoshi was known to drink heavily, and I thought that perhaps he would be asleep, and I could speak to Wisteria.”
Sano pictured the treasury minister hovering outside the chamber, his face engorged with desire and jealousy, longing for his lady while she pleasured his rival.
“I heard her whispering. And him whispering in reply. They laughed together.” Nitta’s eyes burned fever-bright with outrage, as if he thought the couple had been mocking him, the cheated lover. “I couldn’t bear to listen anymore.”
Then he seemed to realize that he’d exposed his private feelings. His expression turned deliberately neutral. Squatting, he gazed past Sano. “I stole out of the ageya, then joined my men at the gate. We paid the guards and began the journey home.”
Excitation quickened in Sano, because Nitta had placed himself at the scene where the murder had occurred, at the crucial time. 'You didn’t go into the chamber?” he said.
“I did not,” Nitta said with asperity. “Haven’t I made that clear enough?”
“Did you see Lord Mitsuyoshi at all?”
“I did not. But the fact that I heard them means Lord Mitsuyoshi was alive when I left.” Nitta arranged his body in a kneeling posture, his complexion its normal hue again, his emotions hidden behind a smug smile. “Therefore, I am not the killer you seek.”
The male voice Nitta had heard might have belonged not to Lord Mitsuyoshi, but to his murderer. “Was there anyone present who can confirm what you heard and did?” Sano said.
Nitta shook his head. “The corridor was quite empty.”
So he could have entered the room, Sano thought, and stabbed Lord Mitsuyoshi. The treasury minister could have lied about hearing a man’s voice. Sano had only Nitta’s word as proof that he’d left Mitsuyoshi alive, and no witnesses to say otherwise.
“What about Lady Wisteria?” Sano said. “Did you see her that night?”
“I already told you I’d given up my appointment with her, and I left without seeing her.” Nitta’s look accused Sano of denseness. “Furthermore, what difference does it make whether I saw her or not?”
“Lady Wisteria is missing,” Sano said. “She seems to have vanished around the time of the murder.”
A heartbeat passed. “Indeed,” Nitta said. His silver eyebrows lifted; his tone reflected concern. “And no one knows where she is?”
“I was hoping you could tell me.” Sano couldn’t determine whether Nitta really hadn’t been aware of Wisteria’s disappearance, or was pretending surprise.
“Unfortunately, I’ve no idea.” Now the treasury minister regarded Sano with incredulity. “Sosakan-sama, do you harbor the absurd notion that I am responsible for Wisteria’s disappearance, as well as the murder of the shogun’s heir?” His voice rose on a shrill note of scorn. “Such acts would be pure stupidity, and no man rises to my position by being stupid. Even if I did love Lady Wisteria, I would never steal a courtesan from Yoshiwara. Nor would I commit treason on her account. Even if I’d hated Lord Mitsuyoshi, I would never risk my life and honor just to eliminate him.”
Yet a man in a jealous rage could act on violent impulse, regardless of his intelligence or desire for self- preservation. And Sano could well believe that Wisteria was a woman capable of inspiring violent impulses. He’d not loved her himself-their relationship had been primarily physical-but he guessed that a man who did love her would do anything to gain exclusive possession of her.
“What route did you take to the gate?” he asked Nitta.
“I walked up Nakanocho.”
“Did you pass anyone who knows you?”
“Perhaps. But I didn’t notice, because I was in a hurry.” Nitta laughed, a dry, mirthless chuckle. “Surely you don’t think that I abducted Lady Wisteria and hid her somewhere? Or that I killed her and hid her body?”
Someone had done one of those alternatives, Sano believed. “If you didn’t, then you’ll permit me to search your property and question your household.”
Nitta looked affronted. “As you wish,” he said, rising. “But you’ll discover nothing worth your while.”
Sano and his detectives searched the whole estate, including offices, parlors, bathchambers, cellar, and kitchen, barracks, storehouses, stables, garden pavilion, and the family’s and servants’ quarters. They opened chests, barrels, and cabinets large enough to contain a person, and hunted for secret rooms. But they found no sign of Lady Wisteria, nor any evidence to connect Treasury Minister Nitta to her or the murder. They questioned Nitta’s retainers, wife, concubines, relatives, and servants-some eighty people in total-and all told the same story: Nitta had arrived home from Yoshiwara with the retainers who’d accompanied him there, and no one else. Finally, Sano and his men regrouped in the courtyard.
“Maybe everyone’s lying to protect Nitta,” said Detective Fukida, a serious young man. “Their first loyalty is to him, not the Tokugawa regime.”
“Ask the checkpoint guards whether he brought a woman into the castle when he came home,” Sano said. “He might have bribed them to ignore Wisteria.”
“But if she’s here, Nitta must have made her invisible, because otherwise, we’d have found her.” Detective Marume had the strong build of an expert fighter, and a jovial manner now sobered by disappointment. “Did he seem upset to learn that she’s missing?”
“Not very,” Sano said.
“Maybe he knows where Wisteria is,” Fukida said.
“He could have had an accomplice remove her from Yoshiwara and shelter her away from here,” Sano said.
“That would have posed less risk to him than smuggling her out of the pleasure quarter and into the castle,” Marume agreed.
“And if he did, Wisteria would be someplace nearby, where he can have easy access to her,” Sano said. He gave orders to his other detectives: “Watch Nitta. Follow him wherever he goes, and perhaps he’ll lead us to Wisteria. Order troops to begin searching Edo. They should go neighborhood-by-neighborhood and arrest any women who aren’t listed on the residential records kept by the headmen.”
The door of the mansion opened, and Nitta emerged. His face wore a look of vindication. “Are you finished here, Sosakan-sama? Am I free to go about my business?”
Sano nodded; he and his men bowed, conceding defeat.
“His Excellency won’t be pleased to hear that you’ve wasted so much time on me, instead of pursuing his heir’s killer,” Nitta said with sardonic pleasure. “But just to show you that I bear no hard feelings toward you, I shall give you a bit of advice. If you’re looking for a likely culprit, you might consider a hokan named Fujio.”
A hokan was a male entertainer who sang and played music for guests in Yoshiwara and for wealthy nobles and merchants around Edo. “Why should I?” Sano said.
“Fujio was a client of Lady Wisteria when she first became a courtesan. His love for her is the subject of his most popular songs. But when Wisteria rose to the rank of taju, she rejected him in favor of samurai clients. This made Fujio very angry at her, and jealous of her new lovers, who included Lord Mitsuyoshi.”
The treasury minister spoke in a tone heavy with significance, as if to make sure Sano understood that Fujio had reason for killing Mitsuyoshi and Wisteria. However, it was obvious to Sano that Nitta sought to divert suspicion from himself by implicating the hokan.
“Fujio performed at the party in the Owariya,” Nitta continued. “He could have slipped into the bedchamber, stabbed Lord Mitsuyoshi, and abducted Lady Wisteria.”
Yet perhaps Nitta had killed Lord Mitsuyoshi himself, and now wished to destroy another man who’d enjoyed the favors of his courtesan.
“Thank you for the information,” Sano said, keeping his expression neutral. Though he didn’t trust Nitta, he desperately needed leads. He intended to pay Fujio a visit, whatever Nitta’s motive for casting suspicion on the
