Sano Ichiro 4 The Concubine's Tattoo (1998)

by Laura Joh Rowland

  The daimyo intoned:

  "High on the bough hangs the ripe fruit,

  Safe beyond the reach of man; untouched

  A wasp pierces her downy flesh

  And drinks of the sweetness within-

  From below, I celebrate the wedding

  With my own ecstasy."

  He bit into the rosy pulp of a fig, never taking his gaze from Reiko. With a sinuous movement, he lifted a hand to her head. Reiko gasped. The concubines tittered; Lord Miyagi chuckled. "Don't be afraid, my dear. A leaf has become tangled in your pretty hair-let me remove it."

  His fingers trailed over Reiko's temple and down her cheek before falling away. There was no leaf in them. The daimyo's touch left a damp sensation, like a snail's track. Hot with angry embarrassment, Reiko looked away. As a sheltered upper-class girl, she'd had little contact with men outside her immediate household, and none had dared treat a magistrate's daughter with such disrespect. Thus, she had no idea how to handle Lord Miyagi's vulgar attentions. The only thing she could think to do was pretend she didn't know what he was doing.

  "You have an admirable turn of phrase," she said weakly, then looked to Lady Miyagi for assistance. If the woman had any pride or sense, she would stop the daimyo's outrageous flirtation now! How could any wife bear seeing her husband make advances toward another woman? Reiko herself would kill Sano if he ever behaved this way.

  Yet Lady Miyagi merely watched and nodded; her stiff smile never wavered. If she felt any jealousy, she kept it well hidden. "Do you enjoy poetry, Lady Sano?" Sunlight slanted through the pavilion's lattice walls, revealing the mustache hairs on her upper lip. At Reiko's helpless nod, she said, "So do I."

  They discussed famous poets and quoted classic poems. Lady Miyagi recited some of her own verse and invited Reiko to do the same. Licking his fingers, Lord Miyagi watched. Reiko hardly knew what she was saying. As the food soured in her churning stomach, her mind whirled with questions. What had happened between the couple and Lady Harume? Was this how it had started? Had it led to the concubine's death?

  However, Reiko had lost whatever control she'd had over the interview. None of Sano's explanations or advice had prepared her for the actuality of this situation. She couldn't figure out how to direct the conversation back to the murder case without arousing suspicion. Despair worsened the sickness that washed over her in hot and cold waves. The morning took on the dimensions of a nightmare. Lady Miyagi's eyes shone as she recited haiku. Reiko squirmed beneath Lord Miyagi's tactile gaze. At last she could bear her distress no longer.

  "I've imposed upon your hospitality for too long," she choked out. "Now I must be going."

  The daimyo sighed regretfully. "So soon, my dear? Ah, well... partings are inevitable, the joys of life ephemeral. The frost claims even the freshest, loveliest blooms."

  Again the dark excitement swelled in his voice. Reiko felt the spirit of Lady Harume hovering over the garden. Her gorge rose.

  Then Lord Miyagi's eyes brightened, like sunlight reflecting off polluted water. "Tonight we are making a trip to our villa in the hills, to view the autumn moon. Would you be so good as to accompany us?"

  No! I never want to see you again! Let me out of here! The vehement refusal would have burst from Reiko's lips, had she not been pressing them together in an attempt to contain her sickness. She knew the danger she courted during every moment spent with a man who found pleasure in the death of a young woman.

  "Please do come," Lady Miyagi urged. "Your poetic talent will find much inspiration in the beauty of nature."

  Sano had told her to be careful, and the thought of going anywhere with the Miyagi terrified and repulsed Reiko.

  "The occasion will provide us a chance to become better acquainted, my dear." The daimyo's lazy smile suggested a night of bizarre, forbidden thrills. "So far from the city, nothing shall disturb us."

  Yet Reiko had no proof that Lord Miyagi had poisoned Harume. Her own certainty wouldn't convict him. She needed evidence, or a confession. To obtain either, she must take advantage of the chance to see Lord Miyagi again.

  "Thank you for the kind invitation." Reiko forced the words past the sour bile in her throat. "I gladly accept."

  Fighting nausea, her skin cold and clammy, she nodded as her hosts discussed and settled upon travel arrangements. "Now I must be on my way to finish my calls and prepare for the journey. Good-bye!"

  The walk through the daimyo's estate to the street lasted an eternity. Dizzy and faint, Reiko jumped into her waiting palanquin, not at all sure she could control herself until she got home. As the vehicle bounced with the bearers' steps, her stomach heaved.

  "Stop!" Reiko cried.

  Leaping out, she ran into an alley, crouched, and vomited, raising her sleeve to shield herself from public view. Relief was instantaneous, but dread followed immediately. How could she bear to spend an entire night with the Miyagi? Stumbling back to the palanquin, Reiko consoled herself with the knowledge that she had the rest of the day to prepare for the ordeal. She couldn't let Sano down, when failure to solve the case would ruin them. Somehow she must deliver Lord Miyagi to justice.

  If only her courage-and stomach-didn't fail her.

  34

  The Tsubame Inn, where Lady Harume and Lord Miyagi had trysted, was located in a quiet lane on the outskirts of Asakusa, away from the busy Kannon Temple precinct. Its low, thatch-roofed buildings clustered behind a high bamboo fence. Across the street, an earthen wall surrounded a minor temple. The blank facades of warehouses comprised the immediate neighborhood.

  Dismounting outside the inn's gate, Sano surveyed the empty street.

  A short distance away, birds soared above rice fields. Harume and the daimyo could not have chosen a more private, out-of-the-way place for a rendezvous. However, Sano hadn't come here to investigate their affair. He was playing a hunch.

  He stepped through the gate. Inside, an artfully landscaped garden of evergreens, cherry trees, and red-leafed maples signaled a high class of clientele, none of whom was visible. The buildings' doors were closed, their windows shuttered. But Sano heard the murmur of voices through thin walls; he could smell food cooking. Steam issued from the bathhouse. Sano suspected that a raid on the inn would expose the illicit liaisons of some of Edo's most prominent citizens. He hoped that the solution to the mystery of Lady Harume's murder also hid here.

  The entranceway of the front building sheltered an alcove tastefully decorated with branches of red berries in a black ceramic vase instead of the usual list of prices for room and board. When Sano rang the bell, the proprietor emerged from his living quarters.

  "Welcome to the Tsubame Inn, master," he said. "You wish lodgings?" His grave mien and somber black kimono conveyed the utmost discretion.

  Sano introduced himself. "I need some information about one of your former guests."

  The proprietor's haughty eyebrows lifted. "I'm afraid it's against our policy for me to supply any. Our clients pay for privacy, and we take pains to ensure it."

  Sano understood this to mean that the man paid the authorities not to look too closely into the inn's operations. However, his own power superseded that of petty local officials. "Cooperate, or I'll arrest you," he said. "This is a murder investigation. And since the guest in question is dead, she can hardly mind if you talk about her."

  "All right." The proprietor shrugged in annoyed resignation. "Who was she?"

  "Lady Harume, the shogun's concubine. She came here to meet Lord Miyagi of Tosa Province."

  The proprietor brought out the guest register and made a show of consulting it. "I'm afraid that those individuals have never patronized this inn."

  "There's no use hiding behind a list of false names." Sano knew that the proprietors of such establishments took care to find out who their clients were. Guessing the reason for the man's evasion, he said, "Don't worry about Lord Miyagi punishing you for talking to me. I'm not interested in him right now. What I want to know is this: Did Lady Harume meet a
nyone else here?"

  If she'd had a secret lover, the concubine would have had to see him outside Edo Castle. She'd had limited freedom, little money of her own, and probably nowhere to go for illicit meetings. How better to arrange liaisons than during the same outings when she'd escaped her guards to meet Lord Miyagi, at the inn where he'd paid for the room? Therefore Sano had come to the Tsubame Inn in search of an unidentified potential suspect. Now creative deduction reaped its reward.

  "Yes," the proprietor admitted, "she did meet another man."

  "Who was he?" Sano asked eagerly.

  "I don't know. Lady Harume sneaked him in. I only found out about him by accident-the maids heard a man and woman coupling in the room, which was unusual, because Lord Miyagi always stayed outside. Later I had the man followed, but was unable to learn his name, occupation, or where he lived, because he always got away."

  Was jealousy of Harume's lover the daimyo's motive for killing her? "What did the man look like?" Sano said.

  "He was a plainly dressed samurai in his twenties. That's all I can tell you. He was careful to avoid observation-as are many of our guests." The proprietor gave a sardonic smile. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

  So the lover wasn't Lieutenant Kushida, but definitely a man, not a woman. Sano said, "Can I see the room they used?"

  "It's occupied now, and has been thoroughly cleaned since Lady Harume's last visit."

  "Would you recognize the man if you saw him again?"

  "Maybe." The proprietor looked doubtful.

  He might be someone from Edo Castle. Sano considered taking the proprietor there to try and pick out Harume's lover. But he might also be someone she'd met outside, or known before she became the shogun's concubine. "I'll post a detective here in case the man comes again," Sano told the proprietor. "Don't worry; your guests won't be bothered."

  As Sano left the inn, disappointment drained his initial elation. Confirming the existence of Harume's lover brought him little closer to solving the case. Other troubles weighed heavily on his mind. He wondered whether he'd done the right thing concerning Hirata. Should he have removed Hirata from the investigation, lest he cause more problems? Or assigned other detectives to check his results on the scene of Choyei's murder and the dagger attack on Harume? But that would betray their mutual trust, possibly driving Hirata to ritual suicide. And as for Reiko...

  Sano's heart swelled with love for his wife. But love brought worry, like a net that arrested the joyful flight of his soul. He yearned to know how she was faring with Lord Miyagi. Though he couldn't think what else he could have done and still preserved the spirit of their marriage, he regretted sending Reiko on such a hazardous mission. If the daimyo was the killer, he'd already destroyed one young woman. Reiko, like Lady Harume, was beautiful and sexually appealing-tempting prey.

  Then Sano's practical side countered his fears. Reiko had promised to be careful. The daimyo wouldn't dare attack the wife of the shogun's sosakan-sama. In any event, the more likely suspect was Lieutenant Kushida.

  However, it was all Sano could do to keep from rushing off to defend his beloved. He fought the impulse, reminding himself of the promise he'd made Reiko and the cost of betrayal. Then he forced his attention back to the matter at hand.

  He couldn't help believing that the key to the mystery lay in this place that had harbored Lady Harume's secrets. Instead of mounting his horse, he looked around. His gaze lit on the placard hanging from the gate across the street. It read, "Hakka Temple." Sano recalled the printed prayer he'd found in Harume's room. She must have bought it there before or after meeting Lord Miyagi at the inn. With a sense of impending discovery, Sano entered the temple precinct.

  The humble worship hall stood in quiet isolation, with no entertainment district to attract crowds. All the priests must be out begging alms. Yet Sano felt Lady Harume's presence, like a ghost tugging at his sleeve. Heading toward the hall, he heard voices from the rear and followed them to a small cemetery. The leafless boughs of willow trees drooped over the grave markers; stone shafts nestled in dead grass. Four men stood by one large marker, conferring over something spread upon its flat top. Two wore dirty, ragged clothes. Their grimy faces bore the stamp of poverty. The other men looked clean and well fed, dressed in padded cloaks. As Sano approached, he heard one of these say, "Five momme for the whole lot."

  "But these are fresh, master," said a ragged man. "We got them yesterday."

  "And they came from a young woman," added the other. "Perfect for your business, masters."

  The second customer said, "I'll give you six momme."

  An argument ensued. Moving closer, Sano saw the objects of trade: ten human fingernails, arranged in a row beside a pile of black hair. Sano recalled the nails and hair he'd found in Lady Harume's room. He felt a glow of satisfaction as a piece of the puzzle dropped into place.

  The dealers were eta corpse handlers who robbed body parts from the dead. The customers were brothel servants, buying the relics for the courtesans to give clients as love tokens, so they needn't mutilate their own hands or coiffures. Lady Harume must have wandered into the temple after leaving the inn. She'd found the eta and bought their wares to give men, as her mother the nighthawk prostitute must have done. Sano's initial guess was confirmed. But what, if anything, did this have to do with Harume's murder?

  Silver coins changed hands; the customers departed. The eta, catching sight of Sano, prostrated themselves on the ground. "Please, master, we weren't doing anything wrong!"

  Sano understood their terror: a samurai could kill outcasts on a whim, without fear of reprisal. "Don't be afraid. I just want to ask you some questions. Get up."

  The eta obeyed, huddling together, eyes respectfully downcast. One was old, the other young, with similar bony features. "Yes, master," they chorused.

  "Did a young, pretty lady dressed in fine clothes ever buy hair and fingernails from you?"

  The younger blurted, "Yes, master."

  "When was this?" asked Sano.

  "It was in the spring," said the young man, despite his companion's frantic shushing gestures. Wide, dull eyes gave him a look of na‹ve stupidity.

  "Was a man with her?"

  The older eta hit the youth, who said, "Ouch, Father, why did you do that?" He withdrew into hurt silence.

  "Tell me what you know about the lady," Sano said.

  Something in his voice or manner must have emboldened the young man, because he cast a defiant glance at his father, then said, "Our chief happened to be with us that day, making his tour of inspection."

  In Japan's rigidly controlled society, every class was organized. The samurai occupied ranks under their lords; merchants and craftsmen had their guilds; the clergy their temple communities. Peasants belonged to groups of households that governed one another. Every unit had a leader, and not even the eta escaped regimentation. Their chief held the hereditary name and position passed down from father to son. It was his privilege to wear two swords and don ceremonial dress when he appeared before Edo's magistrates on official business. With this honor came the responsibility of monitoring the activities of his people. Now Sano had a premonition of how the outcast chief fit into the mystery.

  "While we were bargaining with the lady," continued the young eta, "she kept looking at our chief. He looked back at her. They didn't speak, but we could tell that something was happening between them, couldn't we, Father?" The older man cowered, hands over his face, obviously ruing his son's betrayal of their superior and wishing himself far away. "After the lady bought the hair and fingernails, our chief ordered us to go away. She stayed.

  "But we were curious, so we stood outside the wall and listened. We couldn't hear what they said, but they talked for a long time. Then she went to the inn across the street. He waited at the back gate until she let him in."

  Delight filled Sano. His hunch had paid off. Lady Harume's ghost had led him to the surprising identity of her secret lover: Not a high official with a good rep
utation to protect, but a man whose outcast status had appealed to the low taste Harume had learned from her mother.

  Danzaemon, chief of the eta. His two swords had misled the innkeeper to believe he was a samurai.

  "Honorable Master, I beg you not to punish our chief for violating a lady from the castle," the older eta pleaded. "He knows he did wrong. Everyone tried to warn him of the danger. If the shogun found out, soldiers would kill him! But he couldn't help himself."

  "They went on meeting. And now she's dead." The youth sighed. "Such a beautiful story," he said wistfully. "Just like a Kabuki play I once heard while I was cleaning the street in the theater district."

  The beautiful forbidden love that had endangered the outcast leader had threatened Lady Harume no less, Sano knew. Any infidelity would have incurred the shogun's wrath, and resulted in Harume's death. But an affair with the eta chief? Punishment would have also included brutal torture at Edo Jail; an angry mob hurling stones and insults at Harume and her lover along the way to the execution ground; their bodies displayed by the highway for passersby to revile and mutilate, as a warning to other criminals. Now Sano understood the true meaning of phrases from the hidden passage in Harume's diary: