The Shogun's Daughter: A Novel of Feudal Japan (Sano Ichiro Mysteries)

by Laura Joh Rowland

  Almost hidden by the leaves, Deguchi sat on the roof ridge, gazing across the street. He and Hirata had a good view inside the estate that Deguchi had walked around. Its barracks enclosed a garden where flowerbeds bloomed amid grasses and shrubs. Gravel paths led to a two-story mansion. Hirata turned back to Deguchi. Deguchi hadn’t moved. If he knew Hirata was near, he gave no sign. He waited patiently. Curious, Hirata delayed attacking Deguchi, although this might be his only chance.

  What was Deguchi up to?

  * * *

  TAEKO SAT ALONE on the floor of the room she shared with her little brother and Akiko. Her mother had taken away her painting things and the other children’s toys. She had nothing to occupy her. She couldn’t even look outside. Her mother had shut the doors to the veranda. She could only eavesdrop on conversations.

  “Locking her inside her room for three days seems a little extreme,” Reiko’s voice said.

  “It won’t hurt her,” Midori answered crossly. “She has to learn her lesson.”

  Akiko’s voice said, “Can I play with Taeko?”

  “No,” Midori said. “She’s being punished.”

  Soon Taeko heard thumps, scuffling, and giggles beneath the floor. Akiko and Tatsuo were playing in the crawl space under the house, between the foundation posts. She remembered the times she’d wanted to be alone to paint, but she longed to join them now.

  “Akiko! Tatsuo!” Midori yelled. “Come out! Didn’t Reiko and I tell you not to play under the house because of the poisonous spiders?”

  A long, loud spate of hammering interrupted Taeko’s eavesdropping. “… have to find out if Yanagisawa and Yoshisato knew.” Sano’s voice.

  “How?” Reiko.

  Akiko and Tatsuo began stomping and whooping through the house. Midori yelled at them to be quiet.

  “… wonder what she knows.” Reiko again. “I can write to her and ask her to visit me.”

  “He’ll never let her.”

  “It can’t hurt to try.”

  Taeko wondered who they were talking about. She heard Sano leave the house. She listened for Masahiro. He didn’t seem to be home. She hadn’t meant to get him in trouble. How could she make him forgive her? Locked in her room, Taeko sighed.

  It was going to be a long three days.

  * * *

  AFTER CONDUCTING TRIALS until noon, Sano rode with Detective Marume to the Nihonbashi merchant district. Now he sat alone in the private back room of a teahouse. Through the barred window he could see into the yard of the inn across the alley. The yard was crowded with women cooking on outdoor hearths. Wet laundry draped over clotheslines. Sano smelled charcoal smoke, fermented tofu, and sewage. Many people whose homes had been destroyed by the earthquake now resided, for exorbitant prices, at the inns that had reopened. Sano listened to the women argue. Two hours passed before a man appeared at the door.

  “Come in, Ishida-san,” Sano said.

  Ishida was a tall, powerfully built samurai. His wicker hat shaded features that looked chiseled from wood. He wore garments with no identifying crests. He looked nervously outside before he shut the door. “I’m sorry to be late.”

  Sano picked up a sake decanter from the table and poured a cup for his guest. “You’re paid generously to show up on time when you’re called.”

  “I know, but I was on duty,” Ishida said. “If Yanagisawa catches me sneaking away, I’ll lose my post.” He was one of Yanagisawa’s personal bodyguards. He drank the sake, then rubbed his mouth. “If he finds out that I’m spying on him for you, I’m dead.”

  “All right, never mind,” Sano said. It had taken ages to find someone close to Yanagisawa who was willing to inform on him. “What’s Yanagisawa been up to lately?”

  “He’s being more careful than usual about talking in front of his own people.”

  “How are he and Yoshisato getting along?” Sano asked, thinking of his extraordinary conversation with Yoshisato last night.

  Ishida fidgeted with his hands. “Fine, I guess.”

  The trouble with spies was that they didn’t always see, or tell Sano, everything. Sano broached the important question. “Did they mention that the shogun’s daughter was pregnant?”

  Ishida’s stiff, wooden features slackened with surprise. “Was she really?”

  It was obvious that he hadn’t heard the news from Yanagisawa, Yoshisato, or anyone else. Sano said, “Can you ask around and find out if they knew?”

  The door scraped open. Sano looked up to see Yanagisawa and Yoshisato walk into the room. “Find out if who knew what?” Yanagisawa asked.

  A triumphant smile twisted his mouth. Yoshisato’s expression was tight, controlled.

  Dismayed, Sano turned an accusing gaze on Ishida. “You let him follow you here?” Ishida’s expression was simultaneously brazen and sheepish, as if he’d pulled off a dirty practical joke. “You told him you’re my spy?” Sano demanded.

  Ishida moved to stand beside Yanagisawa. “Yes. He’s known all along.”

  “He’s been feeding you false intelligence about me,” Yanagisawa said placidly.

  Sano knew the risks of employing spies, but the betrayal angered him nonetheless. He glanced at Yoshisato, who stood an arm’s length from Yanagisawa. It apparently wasn’t all peace and harmony between the two.

  “What were you and Ishida talking about?” Yanagisawa asked.

  “The shogun’s daughter was pregnant,” Ishida said. “He wants to know if you knew.”

  Sano saw Yanagisawa’s brows fly upward and lips part. A split instant later, when Sano shifted his gaze to Yoshisato, the youth wore an identical expression of shock. Their reaction was so immediate that Sano didn’t think it could have been faked.

  “This is the first we’ve heard of it. All these years, everyone thought Tsuruhime was barren, and now, surprise.” Yanagisawa spoke as if he’d narrowly escaped a fatal accident. He said to Ishida, “Wait for us outside.”

  Ishida left the teahouse without looking at Sano.

  “It’s good for you that the child died with her and can never compete with Yoshisato to be the next shogun,” Sano said, glancing at Yoshisato again.

  Yoshisato was regarding Yanagisawa with dismay, which he wiped off his face as soon as he saw Sano’s attention on him. Did he suspect that Yanagisawa had known about the pregnancy and ensured that it never reached fruition? Maybe Yanagisawa had. And maybe Yoshisato didn’t have any part in Tsuruhime’s murder.

  “Come, come, Sano-san,” Yanagisawa said. “It wouldn’t have made any difference to me if Tsuruhime had lived to bear the child. It couldn’t have supplanted Yoshisato. He’s the shogun’s acknowledged son.”

  Maybe the death of the child was just a lucky break for Yoshisato and Yanagisawa and neither had engineered it. Sano couldn’t dismiss the possibility, but he wanted Yanagisawa, if not Yoshisato, to be guilty.

  “A grandson with an undisputed pedigree could very well have been a threat to a son of dubious origins,” Sano reminded Yanagisawa. “You don’t need another potential heir for your enemies to rally around.” Especially when your own protégé is balking at your control. Sano doubted that Yanagisawa had any inkling of the proposition Yoshisato had made him. He threw a quizzical look at Yoshisato.

  Yoshisato gazed impassively back at him. Sano was of two minds about mentioning the proposition and seeing how Yanagisawa reacted. Was there more advantage in keeping it secret or in trying to drive a wedge between Yanagisawa and Yoshisato? Caution held Sano’s tongue.

  “We didn’t know Tsuruhime was pregnant. You’re stupid if you think we risked killing the shogun’s daughter on the off chance that she might be a threat someday,” Yanagisawa said.

  “You’re ruthless enough,” Sano said.

  Yanagisawa said with growing vexation, “For the last time, I didn’t kill Tsuruhime.”

  “Neither did I.” Yoshisato’s calm demeanor hid whatever he thought of Yanagisawa’s claim of innocence. “You might as well stop trying to prove we did.”
As far as the murder investigation went, he and Yanagisawa were united against Sano.

  “I won’t stop trying to get justice for the shogun’s daughter. If you did it, you’ll pay.” Sano looked pointedly at Yoshisato, for whom his words carried a double meaning: If Yoshisato proved to be guilty, he could forget about an alliance with Sano.

  Yoshisato nodded in curt acknowledgment. Yanagisawa noticed the exchange; he frowned slightly, puzzled, then said, “There’s a rumor that Tsuruhime isn’t the shogun’s blood daughter.”

  “Oh, and if the shogun isn’t Tsuruhime’s father, then he won’t care about her pregnancy or murder,” Sano retorted. “I think you just started the rumor yourself.”

  Yanagisawa shrugged. “It doesn’t matter what you think. What matters is whether the shogun believes the rumor.”

  Knowing how gullible the shogun was, Sano felt his spirits sink. But he said, “Go ahead, manipulate His Excellency. In the meantime, I’ll continue my investigation.”

  Displeasure showed on Yoshisato’s face. Yanagisawa said with a malevolent smile, “I gave you a chance to cooperate. You’re going to wish you’d taken it.” He added, “It would be a pity if the same thing that happened to Tsuruhime’s child happened to Lady Reiko’s.”

  21

  IN HER ROOM, Reiko knelt before an open chest. She smiled as she lifted out a tiny pink kimono printed with white clover blossoms. Thinking about the baby and preparing for its birth was a happy respite from her troubles. She couldn’t wait to hold her newborn child. She hadn’t decided on a name for a boy, but if it was a girl, she would name it Yuki—snow.

  Akiko, standing beside her, said, “What’s that?”

  “This is what you wore when you were a baby.” Reiko had saved some of Akiko’s and Masahiro’s nicest baby clothes. She laid out a row of colorful garments.

  “They’re pretty. Can I have them for my doll?”

  “They’re for your new baby sister or brother,” Reiko said.

  Akiko’s face bunched into a pout. “I said I don’t want a new baby.”

  “You’ll feel differently when it comes,” Reiko said, trying to convince herself as well as Akiko. “A live baby is more fun than a doll.”

  “No, it’s not.” Akiko looked ready to cry.

  Distressed by her daughter’s unhappiness, Reiko said, “All right, you can have this one.” She held out the pink kimono.

  Akiko slapped it out of her hand. “I don’t want it anymore.” She stomped out of the room. Reiko sighed. This was a pattern for them. Akiko got upset; Reiko tried to console her; Akiko rejected Reiko.

  A maid came to the door. “There’s a visitor to see you. A Lady Someko.”

  Reiko was astounded. She hadn’t expected Lady Someko to accept the invitation she’d sent this morning. Wild with curiosity, she hurried to meet the mother of the shogun’s heir.

  Two of Sano’s guards stood outside the reception room where Lady Someko sat by the alcove. She wore a reddish-bronze silk kimono. Her spine was straight, her chin lifted proudly. A cinnabar comb anchored her smooth, upswept black hair. Reiko entered the room and knelt opposite her. They bowed solemnly, like rival generals facing each other across a battlefield.

  While Reiko offered refreshments and Lady Someko politely refused, they engaged in mutual scrutiny. Lady Someko was very attractive, her skin smooth across her wide face, her hair untouched by gray. But her body, although sleek and firm, lacked the softness of youth. Her tilted eyes had a hard, mature glitter. Reiko saw them note her beauty, her pregnancy.

  “I didn’t think you would come,” Reiko said.

  Lady Someko’s lips curved in the condescending smile with which Reiko had seen other older women express their envy of her. “Life is full of surprises.”

  “Why did you come?”

  “One reason is that I’ve heard a lot about you, and I’m curious.”

  Reiko could imagine what Lady Someko had heard. Tales of her exploits in the service of Sano’s investigations had long fed the high-society gossip mill. It was probably still churning with the story of how she’d killed a criminal outside the palace last year.

  “The curiosity is mutual,” Reiko said. “Many thanks for accepting my invitation.”

  Mirth briefly dimpled Lady Someko’s cheeks. “You’re not what I expected.”

  “What did you expect?”

  “Someone bigger and tougher and less feminine,” Lady Someko said. “You don’t look strong enough to lift a sword.”

  “You’re not what I expected, either,” Reiko said.

  “What did you expect?”

  “Someone weak and easily dominated.”

  That was the stereotype of concubines. Reiko thought Lady Someko would react with scorn at this notion of herself, but Lady Someko looked faintly distressed, as if Reiko’s judgment had hit too close to home.

  “Another reason is that we have a lot in common,” Lady Someko said. “We’re both mothers of sons.”

  “Our men are on opposite sides of a feud,” Reiko said. “I suppose you could call that something else in common.”

  Lady Someko smiled as if mischievously pleased to be consorting with the enemy. Reiko did feel a certain comradeship with her. The feud between Sano and Yanagisawa must be affecting Lady Someko’s life as well as Reiko’s.

  “Won’t Chamberlain Yanagisawa mind your talking to me?” Reiko asked.

  “Of course. But he doesn’t control everything I do.” Lady Someko gave a husky laugh. “Does your husband tell you to go out and kill people, or do you take it upon yourself?”

  Reiko wasn’t about to discuss her marriage with a stranger who might tell tales to Yanagisawa. “Are there any more reasons why you came?”

  For the first time Lady Someko seemed less than confident. She said in a falsely casual tone, “I heard that your husband is investigating the murder of the shogun’s daughter.”

  “You mean, you want to know if Yoshisato is a suspect and whether my husband has evidence that he’s guilty?”

  “If it were your son whose half sister had been murdered, wouldn’t you want to know whether someone had evidence against him?” Lady Someko retorted.

  Despite her prickly manner, Reiko sympathized with her. She must be terrified that Yoshisato would be implicated in and punished for Tsuruhime’s death. She obviously didn’t think he was safe just because he’d been accepted as the shogun’s son. The shogun had never been tested to see if he would let his son get away with killing his daughter. This was an unprecedented, volatile situation.

  “I’ll make a bargain with you,” Reiko said. “I’ll tell you what’s happening in the murder investigation, if you’ll answer a question for me.”

  Distrust narrowed Lady Someko’s eyes.

  “Who is Yoshisato’s real father? The shogun or Yanagisawa?”

  Lady Someko let out a puff of laughter. She didn’t seem surprised or offended that Reiko would try to trap her into a compromising revelation. She seemed amused, as if by the antics of a clever child. “The shogun, of course. Now it’s your turn.”

  “Not yet. Did you really sleep with the shogun? He prefers men.”

  “He preferred me for long enough to impregnate me.”

  “You lived with Yanagisawa while you were pregnant. Were you sleeping with him, too? Couldn’t Yoshisato be his?”

  “I was pregnant by the shogun before Yanagisawa took me in.” Lady Someko said suddenly, “Who’s the father of the child you’re carrying?”

  Startled, Reiko said, “My husband.”

  “If it wasn’t him, would you tell me?” Lady Someko read Reiko’s face. She smiled meanly. “I didn’t think so. You wouldn’t want me blabbing it around and your husband finding out you’d cheated on him. He would divorce you. So why would you think I would tell you that the shogun isn’t my son’s father even if it were true?”

  Reiko believed as wholeheartedly as Sano did that Yanagisawa was Yoshisato’s father. But she knew that if Lady Someko confessed her fraud, s
he would face much worse consequences than divorce. The shogun would have her and Yoshisato put to death.

  “That’s a good point,” Reiko said. “But I figured I might as well try.”

  “You can stop trying my patience. Tell me about the investigation.”

  Reiko watched Lady Someko closely as she said, “My husband thinks the shogun’s daughter was deliberately infected with smallpox.”

  Lady Someko looked disappointed. “Tell me something I haven’t already heard.”

  “A witness found a sheet stained with blood and pus hidden in Tsuruhime’s room.”

  “Who is the witness?” Caution crept into Lady Someko’s voice. “Where is this sheet?”

  “I’m not at liberty to say.” Reiko didn’t want to admit that the sheet was missing or reveal the witness’s identity.

  “Ah.” Lady Someko’s expression suggested that the evidence was fabricated. She relaxed slightly.

  “Have you heard that Yanagisawa is a suspect?”

  “Yes. Did your husband whip up the murder investigation just to get him in trouble?”

  Reiko was angry that Lady Someko dared accuse Sano of such a reprehensible motive. But of course Lady Someko needed to believe Yanagisawa was innocent. Her fate and Yoshisato’s were tied to his. Reiko said, “Yanagisawa had good reason to kill Tsuruhime. She was pregnant when she died.”

  Lady Someko’s painted eyebrows flew up. “How do you know?”

  “I’m not at liberty to say. Did Yanagisawa know?”

  Lady Someko was silent. Reiko couldn’t read the thoughts behind the glitter in her eyes, Had Lady Someko known about Tsuruhime’s pregnancy? “What’s the matter? Are you upset by the idea that Yanagisawa killed a pregnant woman, for political reasons?”

  “You’re the one who ought to be upset,” Lady Someko said, recovering her sly humor. “Your husband probably murdered Tsuruhime himself, in order to frame Yanagisawa.”