Sano Ichiro 6 Black Lotus (2001)

by Laura Joh Rowland

  "But I saw him," Reiko said, confused. "I spoke with him. He was real. Where is he?"

  Raising his eyebrows, Sano turned his hands palms up. "I did find a novice nun called Yasue. She was not only alive, but apparently happy at the temple. And she has no brother."

  "That could have been a different person with the same name as Pious Truth's sister," Reiko said.

  Hirata cleared his throat. "Sumimasen --- excuse me," he said. "Today at police headquarters, I interviewed many citizens who say that the Black Lotus kidnaps children, enchants followers, and attacks families that try to get them back. Even if this person who called himself Pious Truth isn't a novice at the temple, he may be right about the sect."

  "There!" Reiko exclaimed. "Witnesses to confirm my suspicions."

  "Haru's guilt or innocence is a separate issue from whatever the sect has allegedly done," Sano said to Hirata. "Hearsay about the Black Lotus doesn't necessarily weaken the case against Haru."

  "Yes, Sosakan-sama." Hirata's strained expression indicated that he wasn't convinced, but his samurai loyalty required him to agree with Sano. "I just thought I should mention what I discovered."

  "Who cares about you?" Midori blurted. Everyone turned toward her, surprised, as she addressed Hirata with disdain: "You're not as smart or important as you think you are."

  Hirata's jaw dropped. Reiko noted with dour amusement that Midori had begun her new scheme to regain Hirata's interest. She could have chosen a better time, but at least she'd gotten his attention.

  Sano ignored this little drama. "Until we have more clues besides tales from superstitious peasants and mysterious vanishing monks that the Black Lotus is involved in illegal activities, we cannot charge them with any crimes."

  "But we do have more clues," Reiko said.

  She described Dr. Miwa's and Abbess Junketsu-in's criminal records.

  As she summarized her talk with Minister Fugatami, incredulity dawned on Sano's face.

  "You barged in on the Minister of Temples and Shrines?" she said.

  "I was granted an audience. He wants you to go to Shinagawa with him tomorrow to investigate the latest complaints against the Black Lotus." Reiko took the letter out from beneath her sash and handed it to Sano.

  He read it, and his expression darkened. Then he crumpled the paper. Rising, he paced the room, regarding Reiko as if she'd lost her wits. "Imposing on Minister Fugatami was a dangerous breach of propriety. Survival in bakufu politics depends on good relationships with colleagues. High officials are quick to take offense. How could you place my career and our livelihood at risk?"

  Reiko stood and followed Sano; Hirata and Midori sat watching them. "Please accept my apologies," Reiko said, now aware of how seriously she could have compromised Sano. "But Minister Fugatami was glad to see me. I wish you would go to Shinagawa and decide for yourself whether the complaints are valid. Surely his opinion counts for something."

  "Minister Fugatami has a reputation for being overzealous," Sano said in an icy tone. "Many in the bakufu frown upon him as a fanatic because he has criticized, hounded, and tried to abolish sects that later turned out to be perfectly harmless and legitimate. Chances are, he's persecuting the Black Lotus for no good reason as well."

  Reiko had been so awed by Minister Fugatami that she hadn't questioned his judgment. Was he wrong to believe the peasants' stories? Was she wrong to have believed him?

  "By approaching Minister Fugatami you obligated me to him." Sano stopped pacing. "I can't go to Shinagawa because that would further obligate me to support his crusade whether or not I should. But if I don't go, I'll make an enemy. You've put me in a bad position." - Favors were the currency of the bakufu, and Reiko knew that Sano must pay his debts or lose the goodwill of colleagues. Guilt spurred her to reassure him. "Minister Fugatami asked nothing except a chance to convince you that he deserves your support. He understood that you might not be able to go. He said I could go in your place."

  Shaking his head, Sano said, "Absolutely not. That would violate propriety, and you've done enough harm already."

  Yet Reiko couldn't waste the lead she'd discovered. "If I don't go to Shinagawa, how will we get the truth about the Black Lotus?"

  Hirata suggested hesitantly, "I could go."

  "No," Sano said, his manner decisive. "Sending any representative is the same as going myself, with the same consequences. Besides, there's no need for anyone to go. We'll soon have a report from the surveillance team at the temple."

  "By that time it may be too late," Reiko said. In spite of Sano's failure to locate Pious Truth, she still believed he was a novice at the temple, and in danger. "How many people must suffer before you intervene?"

  "If anyone has suffered, I'll need evidence before I can take official action," Sano said, "and the detectives are more likely to provide it than are complaints from the public. I shall wait for their report."

  His tone defied argument, but Reiko said, "I'll look around the temple after I see High Priest Anraku tomorrow."

  "We agreed that you would restrict yourself to getting information from Haru," Sano reminded her. "You've already broken your promise." Then suspicion narrowed his eyes. "Just how did you intend to get an audience with Anraku?"

  He wasn't going to like the answer, Reiko thought unhappily. "Lady Keisho-in agreed to accompany me to the temple and order Anraku to see me," she said.

  "You asked the shogun's mother for this favor?" Now Sano's face took on the dazed look of a man beholding the wreckage after an earthquake. "How could you have the nerve, especially when you know that her favors don't come without a price?"

  Reiko knew all too well, but she said, "I think the investigation is worth it."

  Sano stared at her, uncomprehending. "Why is that girl so important that you're choosing her over your safety and my career?"

  "I'm not!" Reiko cried, but his question struck close to the truth. Though she loved her husband with all her heart, her choices had in a way placed Haru before him. Somehow, events had swept her beyond reason. Perhaps they'd affected Sano, too.

  "You're at least as prejudiced regarding Haru as I am. May I ask why it is so important for you to condemn her without a thorough inquiry?" Reiko went on. "Are the shogun and the Council of Elders pressuring you to convict her?"

  She read in his eyes that he was indeed under pressure, and had a disturbing thought that Sano was no longer the principled, idealistic man she loved. She said, "Can you be forsaking truth and justice for the sake of politics?"

  Fury leapt in Sano's gaze, and Reiko realized to her dismay that he'd perceived her rashly spoken questions as an attack on his honor. As she and Sano stood paralyzed, gazes locked, the air around them compressed into a dense, stormy space; Midori and Hirata watched them in helpless consternation.

  "I'm sorry," Reiko stammered, aware that she'd had much else to apologize for recently, but nothing as bad as this. "I didn't mean…"

  With slow, deliberate movements that betrayed his battle for control over his temper, Sano walked back to his desk and sat. His face hardened into a stony, emotionless mask. "I forbid you to go to the Black Lotus Temple or to Shinagawa," he said in a quiet tone that vibrated with suppressed rage. "Now please leave me."

  Numb with shock, Reiko staggered blindly from the room.

  Midori followed her. Hirata came hurrying down the corridor after them. "Midori-san," he said, "wait. I want to talk to you."

  "Well, I don't want to talk to you." Midori tossed her head.

  Trembling and sick inside, Reiko walked into her private chamber and knelt on the floor. Would that she could relive the past moments differently!

  Midori burst into the room. Radiant with joy, she exclaimed, "I did what you suggested, and it's working!" She knelt near Reiko and giggled. "For the first time in ages, Hirata-san really noticed me." Then she took a closer look at Reiko, and her jubilation subsided. "What's wrong?"

  Silent weeping twisted Reiko's mouth. How she envied Midori, who'd obviou
sly understood little of what had happened in Sano's office. How wonderful to be so young, frivolous, and absorbed in romance!

  Midori said soothingly, "The sōsakan-sama was very angry, but don't worry --- he'll forgive you."

  Reiko wanted to believe Midori, but she couldn't.

  "What are you going to do?" Midori asked.

  To restore peace with Sano, Reiko knew she should end her inquiries; yet circumstances had locked her into defending Haru, for right or wrong, in spite of everything she'd learned about her.

  "Tomorrow I'm going with Lady Keisho-in to see High Priest An-raku," she said. "Afterward, I'll travel to Shinagawa." Resolve calmed Reiko; she wiped her tears on her sleeve.

  "But won't that make the sōsakan-sama even angrier at you?" Midori said, her face a picture of concern.

  "I'm afraid so," Reiko said unhappily.

  Carrying on her investigation against his will might permanently estrange her from Sano. The knowledge chilled Reiko. But this case now involved more than just discovering who'd committed the crimes at the Black Lotus Temple. Sano had imperiled his honor by allowing political concerns to influence him. Reiko had a duty to protect it by convincing him to pursue real justice instead of seizing the quickest solution to the case, and to save his career by preventing him from making a mistake that would disgrace the whole family.

  And she was determined to find out the truth about Haru once and for all.

  "Then you're going to disobey anyway?" Midori said.

  "I can't stand by and see my husband ruined and Haru incriminated while a killer goes free," Reiko said. The investigation had produced two alternative culprits --- Haru or the Black Lotus --- and Reiko felt justified in her choice, which her intuition still favored. "I must do what's right."

  "Then let me help you." Eagerness lit up Midori's eyes. "We can go out together tomorrow, and you can teach me to be a detective. We'll show the men what we can do!"

  Humor leavened Reiko's unhappiness. She smiled at Midori, who apparently saw the situation as a contest of men versus women, with Hirata's love the prize.

  "Many thanks for your generous offer, but I don't want to get you in trouble, so I'd better go by myself," Reiko said. Then, seeing Midori's disappointed expression, she fibbed, "I'll try to find something else for you to do."

  "Oh, good!" Midori beamed.

  Sano sat in his office, his elbows propped on the desk, shaken and horrified. How could Reiko speak such insults? How could he feel such rage toward her? An evil spirit had invaded their home, breeding discord and malice.

  Its name was Haru.

  With the impassioned regret of hindsight, Sano wished he'd never involved Reiko with Haru. He knew better than to think that Reiko would give up trying to exonerate the girl. Yet even as Sano wondered how he could separate Reiko from a murder suspect, a needle of self-doubt pierced his conscience. In his perpetual insecurity about his po-sition, was he indeed succumbing to political pressure to arrest Haru because she represented the quickest way to solve the case? Sano cradled his head in his hands. He'd thought himself a man of honor and objective judgment, but now he questioned his own character.

  Was Reiko right about him, and Haru, and the Black Lotus?

  "Sosakan-sama, there's something I must say," Hirata said.

  Jolted out of his troubled reverie, Sano looked up at his chief retainer, who sat opposite him: He'd not noticed Hirata enter. "Go ahead," he said.

  "Those citizens I interviewed were so sure that the Black Lotus is evil, I started to believe it," Hirata said haltingly. "If you'd met them, I think you would, too. I didn't want to say this earlier, but…" Hirata's face reflected deep conflict within him. "Their testimony is serious indication that the sect is involved in bad business. I'm sorry to disagree with you."

  "That's all right." Sano endured the sting that Hirata's words caused him. The duties of a chief retainer included voicing unpleasant, necessary truths to his master.

  "Ignoring the signs could ruin the investigation," Hirata added.

  "I know." Sano could admit to Hirata what he couldn't to Reiko. "We'll have to check out those stories about the sect." He thought for a moment, then said, "I'll decline Minister Fugatami's invitation. I don't think a trip to Shinagawa is necessary yet, because we can tap another source of facts about the Black Lotus."

  "Who is that?" Hirata asked.

  "The prime suspect herself," Sano said. "It's time for another visit with Haru."

  * * *

  16

  They who defy the Law of the Black Lotus

  Will have the whip laid upon them,

  Their bodies will be beaten and cuffed,

  They will suffer grief and pain,

  To the point of death.

  ----FROM THE BLACK LOTUS SUTRA

  Night enfolded the Zōjō temple district. Diffuse moonlight frosted the roofs and treetops, but darkness saturated the deserted alleys. Sleep had silenced ten thousand voices, slowed heartbeats, stilled movement. The autumn wind's hushed breath absorbed the exhalations of slumber.

  Priest Kumashiro stood in an underground room beneath the Black Lotus Temple. In a corner huddled the monk Pious Truth. Ropes bound his wrists and ankles; swollen bruises discolored his face and naked body. Two priests, holding wooden clubs, stood over him. Pious Truth was panting, slick with sweat, his terrified gaze focused on Kumashiro.

  "Has he confessed?" Kumashiro asked the priests.

  They shook their heads. Pious Truth cried, "I didn't tell her anything, I swear!"

  But Kumashiro believed Pious Truth had indeed revealed Black Lotus secrets to Lady Reiko. She must have told the sōsakan-sama, whom Kumashiro had seen prowling the temple grounds today. Entrances to the subterranean complex were well hidden, but Kumashiro had to learn the full extent of the breach in security.

  He crouched before the monk and said in a quiet, menacing voice, "What did you say to her?"

  Pious Truth cowered, but spoke defiantly: "Nothing."

  Kumashiro struck the monk across the mouth. He yelped in pain. "I'm loyal to the Black Lotus," he protested, drooling blood. "I would never tell an outsider anything!"

  Rising, Kumashiro contemplated the monk who'd already withstood two days of torture. It was time for stronger coercion. "Bring him to the medical chamber," Kumashiro ordered the priests.

  They dragged Pious Truth out of the cell, following Kumashiro down a tunnel just high and wide enough for men to walk upright and two abreast. The walls and ceilings were reinforced with planks; between these, tree roots veined the soil. Hanging lamps lit the way, casting weird shadows.

  "What are you going to do to me?" Pious Truth said anxiously.

  No one answered. The pulse of the hand-operated bellows that pumped in air from concealed vents was a continuous, rhythmic clatter. Rancid odors tainted the air. Pious Truth mewled. Kumashiro led the group into one of a series of connected rooms in a branch tunnel. At the center of the room stood a table. A vast hearth, with a huge basin set on a charcoal brazier below a stone chimney, occupied a corner. Muted voices, clatters, and the burble of liquid issued from an adjoining room, out of which sidled Dr. Miwa. When he saw Kumashiro, wariness tensed his pocked face, but his. squinty eyes brightened at the sight of Pious Truth.

  "Is this a patient for me?" he said.

  "He's a runaway." Kumashiro beheld the doctor with undisguised revulsion. "I want you to make him cooperate."

  Bowing, Dr. Miwa displayed his uneven teeth in an ingratiating smile. "Certainly."

  The priests heaved Pious Truth onto the table. He struggled, yelling, "Let me go! Help!"

  No one aboveground would hear him, Kumashiro knew. The priests tied the monk down, then left. Dr. Miwa fetched a cup of liquid and held it to Pious Truth's mouth.

  "No!" Pious Truth shrieked. "I don't want it!"

  Kumashiro forced Pious Truth's jaws apart. Dr. Miwa poured. Although the monk gurgled and spat, most of the liquid went down.

  "I've given him an extract of
Jan xie yie leaves, ba dou seeds, and morning glory," Dr. Miwa said. "It will purge excessive spiritual heat and evil influences from him."

  "Spare me the medical gibberish," Kumashiro said, annoyed by Miwa's pretense that what they were doing constituted a genuine cure. "He's not a patient. Nor are you a healer."

  Anger flushed the doctor's muddy complexion, but he remained silent, too much a coward to contradict a superior.

  "You were a failure as a physician, and if you think High Priest Anraku respects your credentials, think again." Kumashiro found pleasure in wounding Miwa's vanity. "He only tolerates you because you're useful to him."

  The same applied to everyone in the sect, including Kumashiro. They were all here to serve Anraku's purposes, but Kumashiro didn't mind because if not for Anraku, he would be dead, destroyed by the life he'd led.

  A son of a high retainer of the Matsudaira branch of the Tokugawa clan, Kumashiro had grown up on the Matsudaira estate in Echigo Province. As a boy he'd excelled at the martial arts, but his teachers had criticized his spiritual disharmony, which blocked his progress along the Way of the Warrior. Kumashiro himself perceived something wrong inside him --- an emptiness; a sense that real life lay beyond a locked magic door. This angered and frustrated him. He grew more and more aggressive during practice sword matches. Other boys on the estate avoided him because he picked fights and beat them; his own mother was terrified of his temper. Violence eased the gnawing emptiness in Kumashiro, but didn't open the door. However, Lord Matsudaira was impressed with his fighting skill and, when Kumashiro was thirteen, took him to Edo as a guard at the clan's city estate.

  In Edo, Kumashiro received a new pair of swords. The law permitted samurai to test blades on peasants without being punished, so Kumashiro wandered the crowded streets of Nihonbashi, seeking a suitable target, until a beggar accidentally bumped him.

  "Humble apologies, master," the beggar said, bowing.