Laura Joh Rowland - Sano Ichiro 07 - Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria

by Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria(lit)

  "Masahiro-chan," Reiko said, "look who's here."

  He saw Kikuko and gave a happy chortle. The girl smiled. Letting go of her mother's hand, she hurried over to kneel beside Masahiro and his blocks. O-hana bowed to Lady Yanagisawa, who studied the maid for a moment, then ignored her.

  "Me do," Kikuko said, piling blocks in an untidy heap.

  "No," Masahiro said. "Here. Like this."

  He showed her how to build a wall, and they began working together. Kikuko, docile and clumsy, chewed on a block. Lady Yanagisawa impassively observed the game without a change of expression, but Reiko feared that the glaring contrast between their children would upset her guest.

  "Masahiro-chan, how about showing Kikuko-chan some of your other toys," Reiko said.

  The little boy went to a cabinet and took out wooden animals and soldiers. Kikuko examined each with lively curiosity. Lady Yanagisawa knelt, apparently content to watch the children, and Reiko relaxed, spared the onus of making conversation and glad not to be the focus of her guest's attention. Soon the children began tumbling and wrestling. Now Kikuko's greater age and strength showed to advantage. She picked up Masahiro and spun around with him until he whooped in joyous excitement, while a slight smile leavened Lady Yanagisawa's stern aspect.

  A pleasant hour passed in this manner. Then Lady Yanagisawa said, "I am afraid we've outstayed our welcome. Kikuko-chan, it's time to go home."

  The little girl obediently rose from the floor, where she and Masahiro were turning somersaults. "Good-bye," she said to Masahiro.

  Reiko escorted her guests to the entryway. Lady Yanagisawa donned her sandals and cloak and helped Kikuko put on hers. "Many thanks for your hospitality," Lady Yanagisawa said, bowing.

  "Your presence did me an honor." Reiko also bowed, thinking that Lady Yanagisawa seemed as aloof and unfathomable as when they'd first met.

  "Perhaps you will bring your son to see Kikuko-chan and me someday," Lady Yanagisawa said.

  "Yes. I will." Though Reiko still had doubts about the prudence of associating with the chamberlain's wife, courtesy required her agreement.

  "The days are often long and melancholy when one is alone, and your company is most cheering. I must thank you for your friendship."

  The pauses in Lady Yanagisawa's speech lengthened the farewell ritual. Reiko, suddenly overwhelmed by fatigue, wished to be alone, but waited politely.

  Then Lady Yanagisawa said, "This business of Lord Mitsuyoshi's death. Please excuse my candor when I say that I know you collaborate with your husband on his inquiries into such matters, and I know the peril that now threatens you both." Face averted from Reiko, she hushed her voice. "I shall do whatever I can to assist you in your endeavors."

  "Your generosity is much appreciated." Reiko hid her surprise: Nothing had prepared her to expect that the chamberlain's wife would offer help in the investigation. "A thousand thanks."

  As Reiko stood in the doorway and watched her guests climb into their palanquin, she wondered if a woman like Lady Yanagisawa, isolated in her home, with few friends and no talent for talking to people, could possibly provide any worthwhile information. Reiko sighed and returned to the nursery, where she sat watching Masahiro play and waited for Sano to come home.

  11

  Music and laughter drifted across the dark countryside from Yoshiwara, while latecomers queued at the gate. Through the streets of the pleasure quarter marched a long procession. Lantern-bearers led a shy young girl dressed in elaborate kimono, female attendants, and a horde of spectators eager to see the young courtesan make her debut. More spectators craned their necks from balconies as she stopped at teahouses to solicit business. But Hirata paid scant attention.

  He walked alone down Nakanocho, his mind preoccupied. After the miai, he'd escorted his parents to their home in the hatamoto district north of Edo Castle. He'd tried to talk to them about what had happened at the theater and persuade them to allow his marriage to Midori in spite of it; but they had proved intractable.

  "Lord Niu is a vile monster," his father had said. "Never mention him or anyone connected with him to me again."

  Hirata's mother had bowed her head in assent.

  "You've wasted far too much time on your foolish romance," Hirata's father said. "Go back to your work and forget that girl."

  The impossibility of their marriage had only shown Hirata how much he loved Midori. But although he longed to see her and hated to leave matters as they stood, he decided to resume the murder investigation. He felt he'd already shirked his duties today, and he mustn't let Sano down.

  But when Hirata had gone to Edo Castle, he'd been unable to find Sano or any of the detectives assigned to the case. He didn't know what they'd learned during his absence, or what he should do. Feeling left out and guilty, Hirata had come to Yoshiwara in the hope of catching up with the investigation. Yoshiwara was a gathering place for people from all around Edo as well as points distant, and thus a lode of news that Hirata had often mined for tips about crimes and criminals during his career as a doshin. Now he strolled along Nakanocho, seeking acquaintances who'd been helpful in the past.

  Loud drumming throbbed from a teahouse. Hirata peered under the doorway curtain and saw a group of men seated in a circle, clapping in time to the drummer's beats. In the center of the circle, three young women dressed alike in red kimono minced, whirled, and gestured in a flirtatious dance. Their tense smiles and awkward movements told Hirata that they weren't courtesans. They were odoriko-girls from peasant families who scrimped and borrowed to buy dance and music lessons for their daughters, then put them on display. The object was to attract rich men who would marry the girls or hire them as household entertainers. At the edge of the audience Hirata saw an older woman he recognized, a gossip who had her nose in all the business of Yoshiwara.

  He entered the teahouse and knelt beside her. "Hello, Nobuko-san," he said.

  She turned a homely, pleasant face to him. "How nice to see you again," she said with a bucktoothed smile.

  "What brings you here?" Hirata gestured toward the dancing girls. "More daughters to marry off?"

  "Yes, indeed," Nobuko said with a gloomy sigh. "Why was I cursed with five girls? If they don't marry soon, we'll all starve." She ventured hopefully, "Do you need a wife?"

  "No, thank you. But I do need your help." Hirata explained that he was investigating the murder of Lord Mitsuyoshi. "What have you heard?"

  Though usually glad to share gossip, Nobuko hesitated. She held up her fan to shield her mouth, and whispered in Hirata's ear: "They say that Lord Mitsuyoshi owed money all over Yoshiwara because his family cut off his spending allowance. But nobody could refuse to serve him, or force him to pay."

  Because he was a Tokugawa clan member and the shogun's heir, thought Hirata. Had an angry proprietor killed Mitsuyoshi to punish him and stop his freeloading?

  "Who in particular had a grudge against him?" Hirata asked.

  Nobuko turned away and fixed her gaze on her dancing daughters. "I've already said too much."

  Clearly, she didn't want to incriminate the owners of the establishments where her daughters performed. And although Hirata welcomed a new clue, his heart sank because pursuing this one would take him into dangerous territory. The shogun had forbidden Sano to investigate Lord Mitsuyoshi, and hunting the dead man's enemies would constitute disobedience. Regretting the shogun's orders, Hirata thanked Nobuko and left the teahouse.

  Through the crowds ambled a man clutching a bucket filled with jars and cloth soap bags in one hand, and a wooden staff in the other. A bell hanging from the top of the staff tinkled as he stepped. His head was bald, his gaze sightless.

  "Yoshi-san," Hirata called. "Isn't it a little late for washing hair? All the courtesans must be dressed by now."

  The blind shampoo man paused, and recognition illuminated his face. "Ah, it's you, Hirata-san. I was just heading home. Is there something I can do for you?"

  Hirata knew that Yoshi was privy to many secr
ets because he worked inside the brothels. The courtesans seemed to think blindness equaled deafness and talked in front of him. When Hirata asked him for news associated with the murder, the blind man replied with the same caution as had Nobuko.

  "A certain young dandy made himself unpopular among my customers," he said, avoiding the use of Mitsuyoshi's name and protecting himself from accusations of treasonous slander. "He would promise to free a courtesan and take her home as his wife if she satisfied him. She would do her best, but when he tired of her, he would drop her."

  Hirata wondered whether Mitsuyoshi had tricked Lady Wisteria. Had she killed him in revenge for his faithlessness?

  "I know tayu who must now spend years longer in Yoshiwara because they refused other clients to serve him," Yoshi said.

  "Give me their names," Hirata said, and pressed coins into the blind shampoo man's hand.

  "Thank you, master. They are Lady Columbine, Lady Takao, and Lady Kacho."

  "Not Lady Wisteria?"

  "I don't know, master."

  Yoshi trudged off, his bell tinkling. Hirata bought rice dumplings from a street vendor and leaned against a wall, eating as he watched drunks flirt with courtesans seated in the window cages, and reviewed what he'd just accomplished. He'd identified three more suspects and could probably find others by canvassing the quarter; yet the shogun's prohibition seemed like a stone wall protecting the murderer. Hirata must find a different path to the truth.

  A stout man dressed in a thick padded cloak and wicker hat rushed by. Fast on his heels followed a younger, smaller man with a wiry frame and pugnacious expression.

  "Get lost, you scum!" the first man shouted over his shoulder.

  "There's only one way to get me off your tail," the second man shouted back.

  Hirata recognized the pursuer as a "following horse"-a debt collector hired to hunt down people who owed money in Yoshiwara and chase them day and night until they paid. And he recognized this one as his old friend Gorobei.

  The following horse grabbed hold of the debtor, who turned and began throwing punches. While they scuffled, pedestrians gathered round, egging them on. Hirata, anxious to prevent a brawl, wrenched the combatants apart. The debtor escaped into the crowd, and Gorobei faced Hirata.

  "You let him get away!" he said, his jaw jutting in rage. "I've just lost my commission." Then, as he recognized Hirata, dismay came over his face. "Oh. It's you. What do you want with me? I've done nothing wrong."

  "Maybe not this time." Hirata had once arrested Gorobei for his sideline occupation-selling stolen goods. Gorobei made a habit of carrying small items on his person, in case he happened to meet a customer, and Hirata noticed an unnatural bulge at Gorobei's waist, under his coat.

  "What have you got in there?" Hirata said.

  Gorobei leapt away from Hirata's reaching hand. "Nothing. I'm just getting fat in my old age."

  "Give it over." Hirata yanked on Gorobei's coat, and out dropped a gold Buddha statue. "Ha! Either you've just given birth to the Buddha, or you're up to your old tricks."

  "I bought and paid for that with my own hard-earned money," the following horse exclaimed, picking up the Buddha and dusting it on his sleeve.

  "A likely story. You're under arrest."

  Panic gleamed in Gorobei's eyes. "Can't you give me a break this time?"

  Hirata wasn't really interested in small-time theft, or in arresting Gorobei. The following horse collected something else besides debts: information that he picked up around town.

  "That depends on you," Hirata said.

  Gorobei's expression turned cunning. "I can give you something you need more than my pitiful self."

  "Oh?"

  "Your master wants to find the person who killed the shogun's heir, doesn't he?"

  "So what if he does?" Hirata feigned indifference, but his heartbeat quickened.

  Gorobei thrust out his jaw and looked wise. He spoke in a low voice so passersby wouldn't hear: "Maybe I can tell you something about that."

  "Then tell," Hirata said, "before I haul you off to jail."

  Holding out his palm, Gorobei said, "A man's got to live."

  The nerve of him, expecting payment in addition to his freedom! "Well, I've got the law to uphold," Hirata said, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword. "Come along."

  "Wait! What I have is so good, you should be glad to pay what it's worth." Gorobei added slyly, "If you don't, I bet Police Commissioner Hoshina will."

  Hirata puffed out his breath. Clearly, Gorobei knew about the rivalry between Sano and Hoshina. If Hirata didn't pay, Hoshina would jump to buy information that might help him solve the case before Sano did. Hirata couldn't let that happen. Nor did he want to leave Yoshiwara empty-handed.

  "All right," he said grudgingly.

  They went into an alley behind a cookhouse where men labored over steaming pots, preparing food for brothels. Smoke that smelled of garlic and roasting fish drifted through the alley. Hirata and Gorobei haggled over the price. The following horse insisted Hirata pay cash in advance. Hirata reluctantly agreed; coins changed hands.

  "This had better be good," he said.

  Gorobei rummaged inside his coat and removed a wad of papers, which he handed to Hirata.

  In the dim light from the cookhouse doors, Hirata examined the papers. They consisted of small pages of fine white rice paper, covered with black characters and folded in half. When Hirata unfolded them, he saw that their edges were ragged, as though they'd been torn out of a binding. Oily stains blotched the outer sheet.

  "A beggar I know found it the morning after the murder," Gorobei said, "while he was scavenging food out of the garbage containers behind the Owariya."

  Hirata read the beginning of the top page:

  Life in Yoshiwara can be such a bore. Even though I am Lady Wisteria, the favorite of the quarter, I see the same people and do the same old things time after time. But last night, something interesting happened.

  A thrill of excitation coursed through Hirata. This was a segment of the missing pillow book.

  12

  The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria

  Life in Yoshiwara can be such a bore. Even though I am Lady Wisteria, the favorite of the quarter, I see the same people and do the same old things time after time. But last night, something interesting happened.

  I was at a party, playing cards with the guests, and I was tired and wishing I could just go to bed, when I felt someone watching me. I looked up and saw a man standing in the doorway. He was so handsome that my heart began beaming fast and hard. I stared at him. He stared back, with a little smile on his face. I turned away because I was ashamed that this stranger had seen my feelings. But I can tell when a man wants me, and I knew he did. While I dealt cards, I waited for him to approach me.

  "Who is that man in the doorway?" I whispered to one of the other courtesans.

  "What man?" she said.

  When I looked up again, he was gone.

  I have seen him often since that night. Three days ago he was standing on a balcony, watching me promenade to the ageya. Two days ago he came to another party where I was entertaining. Yesterday, while I was dressing in my room, I looked out the window and saw him pacing the street in front of the house. But he always vanishes as soon as he knows I've seen him! He never speaks to me. No one seems to know who he is, and I've asked everyone. What does his strange behavior mean? I fear him, but not as much as I want to know him. I, who have known so many men and never cared about any of them!

  Today I was shopping with my yarite in the marketplace, when I sensed him near me. Instead of looking at him, I turned and hurried away through the stalls. I heard him following, but I didn't look back. I didn't stop until I reached the alley inside the back wall. I turned around. There he stood, so handsome and strong, his smile so mysterious.

  "Who are you?" I said, frightened and out of breath. "Why are you doing this?"

  "I am the Herd Boy," he said in a strange accent. "You are the W
eaver Girl. Today we finally meet on the River of Heaven."

  He was referring to the legend about two constellations that are supposed to be lovers. They cross once a year in autumn. Well, I've heard a lot of poetic speeches from men, including that one. Usually I just laugh inside because they sound so silly. But there was something about him that made my legs go weak and my heart pound. We stood there gazing into each other's eyes. Then I heard my yarite calling me.

  "I must go," I said.

  He nodded and bowed, and I left.

  But we had already fallen in love.

  He's from Hokkaido, in the far north, and that's why his accent is strange. I won't write his name, because someone might read this, and I would rather keep him as much to myself as I can. I don't want every nosy gossip in Yoshiwara chattering about us. Since that day in the alley, we've been meeting often, always in secret, because he has no money for appointments with me. I sneak out of parties to the alley where he waits. When my clients fall asleep, I steal downstairs and let him in the back door. We make love behind the screen in my room, careful to be quiet so we won't wake up my client.