The Emperor's Woman (Akitada Mysteries)

by Parker, I. J.

  “Oh, I’ve had such fun, Tamako. No wonder my brother gets involved in every murder he comes across. You should have seen me. I asked questions, put my nose into matters that shouldn’t have concerned me, told such fibs, and flattered so grossly that Akitada would have been proud of me. And I got results. I wish he were here. You know, I sometimes get the feeling he hasn’t a great deal of respect for me.”

  Tamako blinked. “Oh, I’m sure you’re wrong. It’s just that his mind is always on other things.”

  “Yes, that’s true. The man cannot pay attention. I have a notion I may be much better at this than he is.” Akiko grinned. “I do wish women could get about more. Perhaps I could specialize in crimes committed in the women’s quarters. I think I’d be very good at that.”

  Sumiko came with the tea, and the ladies sipped. Tamako found that she had relaxed and regarded her sister-in-law fondly. “Thank you for coming,” she said simply. “I needed your visit.”

  Akiko waved that away. “You and I always got along. I give Akitada credit for choosing the right wife. Even Mother agreed. Now let me tell you what I found out.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Well, I visited Lady Kishi yesterday. She seemed in good spirits, and we talked a bit about children. I said I worried every day about securing the futures of my mine. She made suggestions for the boys, and we drifted quite naturally to the fate of girls, then to marriage and husbands who have outside interests.” Akiko paused to giggle. “You and I don’t have that problem, but I pretended I was familiar with her predicament.”

  “Akiko! How can you speak that way of your husband who is the best of men?”

  Her sister-in-law preened herself a little. “I make sure he stays interested. But to go on, her main worry is also for her children. She says she’s decided to ignore the prince’s escapades and wait for the day when a son of hers will gain enough power to provide his mother with the status she desires. So, I don’t think she would have bothered with having the emperor’s woman killed. It doesn’t make sense. Kishi knows what’s good for her.”

  “Her name is Lady Masako,” Tamako corrected. “She never was in His Majesty’s bed. And you cannot believe everything people tell you.”

  “How do you know she’s not shared his bed?” Akiko raised her brows quizzically.

  “Well …”

  “She was a woman. And as you pointed out, you can’t believe everything. Women don’t tell their lovers the truth. It’s entirely possible the child she carried was the emperor’s.”

  “Oh, Akiko. How horrible! Surely she wouldn’t have gone to the prince while expecting His Majesty’s child.”

  Akiko smiled and shook her head. “His Majesty’s still a boy. He’s not nearly as dashing as Prince Atsuhira, a mature male with the most extraordinary good looks.”

  “You have seen the prince?”

  “Certainly. His looks are common gossip among women. I saw him years ago when I was peeking out of a carriage at some festival. And I’ve seen him since when calling on his wife.”

  Tamako pursed her lips as the pondered this. “But what motive would her killer have had in that case? Punishing her for her infidelity?”

  “No. The succession, of course.”

  “Akiko, this is becoming more dangerous by the minute. And now Akitada has gone missing. I think we must stop.”

  “Nonsense. Akitada will be back soon, and I love a good story. Anyway, I didn’t say anything about my suspicions to Lady Kishi. Instead I asked her help to find out more about Masako. She told me that Masako had an attendant assigned to her in the palace. She is Nagasune Hiroko. A good family but without influence. And the girl is plain. The two were supposedly close. I shall try to pay her a visit next.”

  “In the palace? Oh, I don’t know, Akiko. I think perhaps you should wait. I have an awful feeling about all of this.”

  “Silly, she’s not in the palace any longer. She’s gone home to her family. She lives with her uncle Kintada. He’s a colleague of my husband’s brother in the Bureau of Palace storehouses. I think that’s how he got her assigned as an attendant. You can imagine the man’s disappointment when his niece ended up serving Masako who’d been rejected by His Majesty. Still palace service is palace service. It pays well, and there’s always a chance that His Majesty may take notice or else some nobleman might take her to wife. It’s a chance to meet people when the rest of the young women are hiding in their homes. I shall certainly try to send both of my girls to court.”

  Tamako smiled a little at the skill and expertise with which Akiko analyzed people’s motives. Perhaps Akitada’s father had passed on certain talents not only to his son and heir but also to at least one of his daughters. For better or worse, Akiko embodied traits of both her parents. “You will be careful?”

  “Oh, of course. Now here is what I was thinking: if Masako and this Hiroko were really close, Hiroko will know all about the affair. And that’s the sort of thing Akitada’s interested in.” She paused a moment. Then, her eyes shining, she added, “For all you know, I may be able to solve his murder case for him.”

  Tamako began to suspect that Akiko’s resentment of her brother was due to envy rather than ill humor. Akiko wanted to be like Akitada.

  “Akiko,” she said hesitantly, “I think you’re very proud of your brother, but he is a man. He can go places where no woman is allowed to be. Let him solve the crimes.”

  “I can go places where he cannot go,” Akiko cried. “Men are just as limited as women are. In fact, if you made an effort to be more sociable with the right people, you’d be a big help to him.”

  So much for kinder feelings toward Akiko. Tamako flushed with embarrassment and hurt. “He hasn’t complained,” she said coolly.

  “No, of course not. Men like obedient wives who stay home with their children. I like an obedient husband. But I must be on my way. We are to have guests tonight. Be sure to send someone the moment Akitada returns.”

  Tamako did not mention that she had no one to send. She thanked her sister-in-law and saw her to her palanquin.

  The Hungry Mountain

  Tora clung to the side of the mountain. He had looked carefully at the wall of rocks and loose debris above him without finding the foot- and hand-holds he had used on his precipitate trip down. Everything looked different from this angle. He did not know how to climb up again.

  But there was also no way down. Or at least none he could see beyond one more move. This he accomplished with the greatest care. It put him below the outcropping that had hidden his master’s lifeless figure on the ledge below. It brought him a little closer, but now he was cut off from a view of the top and from help.

  The voice of the old woman came to him faintly, “Don’t move!” she shouted. “The mountain is hungry. It’s already swallowed two people.”

  Tora shouted back, “Get help. I see my master, but he’s unconscious, and I can’t reach him.”

  She shouted back, but he could not make out her words. Then all became silent. How and where she might find help, he did not know, seeing that she had been unable to so far.

  He clung to the rock and peered down. From this position, he could see blood under his master’s head. It might well be from a fatal injury. He’d seen corpses that had lain in such a pool of blood which had poured from their ears, noses, and mouths as they expired. He bit his lips and tried to think positive thoughts. After what seemed a long time, he risked calling out softly, “Sir? Please don’t move. Help is on the way. Just lie still.”

  Nothing happened.

  He thought it could not hurt to continue the conversation. It gave him something to do and might have a soothing effect on Akitada if he were even a little bit aware. So he talked about meeting Saburo and their visit to see Genba. He interspersed his narrative with repeated warnings to lie very still, followed by assurances that help was coming.

  He did not have much faith in the old woman but, being by nature hopeful, he made his chatter as cheerful as
he could under the circumstances.

  Circumstances deteriorated. It started to rain. This time of year and in this place, rain meant a drastic drop in temperatures and a chill wind. Tora was soon shivering.

  Wet and increasingly desperate, he made up his mind that he must climb back to the top to get help. This undertaking had become much more dangerous in the rain. All the surfaces of the mountain had become slippery.

  He told the still figure below him, “I’ll climb back up now for a little while, sir. Will you promise to lie very still while I’m gone?” And as he peered down through the rain, he thought he saw one of Akitada’s fingers twitch. Maybe it had been his imagination or the effect of the rain and the moistness in his eyes, but Tora preferred a happier interpretation. His heart sang for a moment at the thought that his master was not dead after all. He repeated his warning and began the dangerous climb to the top.

  It soon became hopeless. His fingers slid off surfaces that felt as if they had been covered with oil. Under his feet, rocks shifted, leaving him breathless with panic. He had managed to get past the overhang, when he heard a shout from above.

  “Ho!”

  A man’s voice. Tora peered upward, blinking against the rain. An irregular line of round boulders rimmed the top of the rock wall. One of them must surely be a head. He blinked again and decided that there were more heads up there, looking down at him.

  “Don’t do that,” shouted the first head. “We have ropes.”

  Tora said a quick prayer to the god of the mountain and two more to Buddha.

  “Hurry up. I’m getting wet,” he shouted back.

  A snort of laughter, and some rude comments about peeing your pants floated back. But then the rope appeared, dangling and whipping about in the wind. Tora caught it and almost slipped again. Being more careful, he tied it around his chest, tested the knot, and began his ascent once more.

  He was greeted by a group of wet policemen who were grinning in spite of the weather. More banter ensued and was interrupted by Superintendent Kobe, who strode into the group with a sharp, “Order!” and asked Tora, “Did you find him?”

  Tora noted the anxiety in the question and nodded. “He’s just below the outcropping.” He pointed down. “I couldn’t reach him. He wasn’t moving, or maybe just a bit. A couple of fingers. But I couldn’t be sure. There’s blood.”

  The lump in his stomach was back, and he swallowed.

  Kobe looked over the side and shouted commands about more ropes. Tora watched the constables scramble about, then said, “I’m going back down.”

  “No,” snapped Kobe. “This is work for experts. And you’re tired and wet.”

  “I’m going back down.”

  Akitada became aware of voices gradually. He had drifted in and out of silence for a long time. Once he had heard Tora’s voice and taken it for a dream. Tora seemed to be strangely agitated. He had felt a sense of danger. And discomfort. But now he also heard other voices. He drifted off again.

  “Don’t move!”

  Easily done, he thought fuzzily. He lay relaxed and was very sleepy. But he was cold, and something was wrong with his head. Never mind. He would check later. He had time.

  Later came sooner than he cared for.

  Someone shouted near his ear, “He’s alive!”

  Hands touched him, and pain shot through his body. Two people spoke. Tora and a stranger.

  “Sir? Sir, can you hear me? Where are you hurt?”

  That was Tora. Where was he hurt? He tried to shake his head and groaned. More hands on his body, feeling his legs and arms, poking his back. More agony.

  “We’ll get you up to the top, sir. Don’t you worry.”

  That was Tora again. The hands stopped touching him. Akitada sighed and relaxed. He was not worried. Tora was taking care of the situation.

  But what followed rattled him into greater and far more painful awareness that something was very wrong. He was pulled about and man-handled as someone tied him up. He tried to shout but got no answer. Then the hands pushed and pulled him off his bed, and he felt ropes bite into this chest and hips as he was suddenly raised. The hands were back, guiding, but he bumped his way upwards until there was no longer any point in dozing off, and he opened his eyes.

  What he saw was disconcerting, part of a nightmare. But this time he was wide awake. Below him was the face of a stranger, of a young man with his wet hair plastered against a face red with effort, and beyond that the world dropped off into an abyss, into a gray cauldron of swirling rain and mist. He closed his eyes again, and tried to comprehend.

  A sharp crack against his head and a shout from Tora, brought him back. More shouts to be careful. More pushing and tugging. More pain. More strain on the ropes that bound him. And then finally he understood.

  Akitada cursed.

  “Well, he sounds all right.”

  That had been Kobe. Akitada was surprised at his presence. He had reached the top by then and could feel solid ground under him again. Someone dragged him a little ways, and then they untied the ropes. He muttered against the jarring pain, and looked up into the faces of Kobe and Tora.

  “I slipped,” he said.

  “You mean it was an accident? Nobody pushed you over?” Kobe sounded disappointed.

  Akitada did not answer. He was concentrating on various parts of his body. There was still some pain, but it was not unbearable, and he could move both legs, though his left arm would not obey. And his head hurt. He raised his right hand to check. He was wet, but there also seemed to be a cut and a swelling. He tried to sit up, but a jarring agony in his left shoulder stopped him. He groaned and fell back.

  “A litter,” said Kobe. “He can’t ride in this condition. I wish he wouldn’t go off on these wild excursions by himself. It makes work for everyone.”

  “Sorry,” muttered Akitada. “You shouldn’t have bothered. Tora and I could’ve managed.

  Kobe snorted his derision and walked away.

  Akitada bit his lip. Kobe had, after all, come to his rescue. No doubt the excursion had caused untold trouble to a lot of people. He wondered if he should apologize, but there was the matter of Genba. And besides he had not been on a wild excursion.

  That reminded him. Someone had tried to kill him.

  “Tora?” His voice was thick and he seemed to have no strength to raise it.

  But faithful Tora was beside him. “Yes, sir?”

  “There’s a bo. It was used on Lady Masako.” He took a breath and tried again. “A little ways down the mountain. Caught on a small pine.”

  Tora frowned. “A bo?”

  “Yes. A short fighting stick. There’s some blood and hair on it.”

  “Not in this rain,” Tora remarked, but he went to look. Then he went to speak to Kobe. Together they walked to the edge and looked over. In the end, a constable was lowered with one of the ropes. He brought up the bo.

  Akitada almost smiled. It had not been in vain.

  Kobe came over, carrying the bo. “What makes you think that’s what killed Lady Masako? She fell to her death quite a distance from the house.”

  “The killer hit her. Inside the villa. Then he carried her to the promontory.” It was a big effort to say this much.

  Kobe shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. Besides, the bo is clean. It could have been tossed over at any time.”

  Akitada closed his eyes.

  The descent from the mountain was excruciatingly painful. Two sturdy constables bore the litter and kept up a stumbling trot downhill. This caused a constant bouncing of Akitada’s head and shoulder. They had bandaged his head after a fashion, but even with the added padding, Akitada made efforts to raise it. His neck muscles eventually hurt as badly as his head. Neither pain was as awful as that of his injured shoulder.

  They had inspected it and caused him to shout at them not to touch him. Tora had muttered something to Kobe and both looked worried. They ignored his protests long enough to strap his left arm to his body. Akitad
a assumed his upper arm or the shoulder joint were broken.

  When he was not groaning or drifting in and out of consciousness, he called himself every kind of fool imaginable. He was not about to mention his attacker to Kobe.

  Bashan Returns

  Ever considerate, Superintendant Kobe sent one of his men ahead to tell Tamako that her husband was alive and on his way home. The constable had orders not to frighten the lady with gruesome details of the rescue and Akitada’s condition.

  Tamako thanked the young man and sent Sumiko to the kitchen to tell cook to have something warm and filling ready for Kobe’s men.

  Only then did she ask the constable, “Have you seen my husband?”

  The youngster said proudly, “Yes, I have, my lady. And I helped bring him up, too.”

  “That was very good of you. I take it he had taken a fall?”

  “Oh, yes. Horribly far down it was. And the cliff was very steep and slippery in the rain.”

  “You must be a very good climber.”

  The constable said modestly, “We had ropes, my lady. Too bad his lordship didn’t. He must’ve been on that ledge all night and part of the morning. We had a terrible time bringing him back up when he could do nothing for himself.”

  “I see. My compliments and thanks for performing such a difficult rescue. Are the others far behind you?”

  “Oh, yes. It’s impossible to hurry with a litter on steep mountain roads, and the bearers have to take turns. Besides, his lordship cannot take any shaking.”

  “Well, thank you. Now go to the kitchen for some wine and food.”

  When the youngster had left, Tamako tried to suppress another panic. The news, while reassuring as to Akitada being alive, was not at all hopeful about his condition. The fall had clearly been a bad one, and he was helpless and severely injured. She set about spreading his bedding and sorting through her medicines with shaking hands. Then she sent Sumiko for their physician. And finally, she wrote a note to Akiko and had the boy deliver it.