The Cloud Pavilion si-14

by Laura Joh Rowland

  "What is it?" Sano asked.

  "I did see someone."

  "At the temple?" Sano's pulse began to race in anticipation.

  "No, not there. And not then. It was the day before. Outside the convent."

  Maybe the kidnapper had had his eye on the nuns. Maybe he'd been spying on the convent, lying in wait for his chance to kidnap one. "Tell me what happened," Sano said urgently.

  "It was after morning prayers. I sneaked outside." Ume's face flushed. "The monks walk past the convent on their way to the city. There's one that I-well, when he goes by, he smiles at me." Pleasure and guilt mingled in her voice. "That day, I missed him. But I saw a man standing in the street."

  "Who was he?"

  "I don't know. I'd never seen him before. Nor since."

  "Can you describe him?"

  "I didn't get a very good look. As soon as he saw me, he turned and walked away." Ume squinted, trying to bring the remembered glimpse of him into focus. "He was tall and strong. His hair was so short, the skin on his head showed through. He was old, about thirty."

  Sano winced: He himself was forty-three, which she probably considered ancient. "What was he wearing?"

  "A dark blue kimono."

  Every commoner in Japan owned a cotton kimono dyed with indigo. And many of them cut their hair short to discourage fleas and lice. "Did his face have any distinctive features?"

  "He looked like he hadn't shaved in a while." Ume brightened at a fresh recollection. "He had a big scab, here." She touched her right cheekbone. "I remember thinking he must have been in an accident or a fight."

  That wasn't unusual, either. Sano pressed for more details, but Ume could provide none. "Did you see an oxcart?"

  "No. I'm sorry," she said, gazing unhappily at Tengu-in, who prayed, rocked, and apparently had not heard any of the conversation.

  But the oxcart could have been parked nearby, out of sight. The man she'd seen could have been the driver, who might have kidnapped Tengu-in, Chiyo, and Jirocho's daughter, too.

  "You've been very helpful," Sano said.

  "You'll catch him, won't you?" she said, with touching faith.

  "I will," Sano vowed. He dared to think that he had a lead at last.

  14

  The marketplace in Ueno extended along the approach to the foot of the hill where Kannei Temple stood. Hirata rode past shops that sold boxwood combs and ear-cleaners and teahouses where customers ate rice steamed in lotus leaves, a local specialty. The street widened into the Broad Little Road, home to stalls and booths crammed with all sorts of goods. A few dancers, puppeteers, and acrobats entertained crowds diminished by the rain. Beneath the lively, colorful bustle of the market, Hirata saw its dark underpinnings.

  Tattooed gangsters roamed, looking for any traders who didn't belong there, keeping an eye out for thieves. This was Jirocho's domain. He controlled the allocation of the stalls, shops, teahouses, and booths, collected rents from the vendors, paid tributes to the temple and taxes to the government, and kept a generous cut of the profits for himself. Here his daughter had sought refuge after he'd turned her loose.

  Hirata rode down the aisles of stalls, looking for a twelve-year-old girl on her own. The market swarmed with children unaccompanied by parents. The orphans of Edo flocked to its temple markets in hope of food and alms. Children with dirty faces and dirtier bare feet, dressed in rags, grabbed scraps of food dropped outside the stalls and begged coins from the customers. They were such a usual part of the city scene that Hirata had never paid them much attention. Now he scrutinized the girls for some hours until he found one who looked to be the right age. She squatted on the ground, gnawing a rice ball. Long, matted hair hung over her face. She wore a white kimono printed with green leaves; it was torn and muddy.

  "Fumiko-san?" Hirata called.

  The girl looked up. She had elfin features marred by fading bruises around her eyes and scabs on her cheeks. Surprised to hear her name, frightened by the sight of Hirata, she crammed the food into her mouth and ran.

  Hirata jumped off his horse and chased her. Fumiko was quick, darting through the crowds. But his longer stride gave Hirata an advantage, and he could follow the unique, starburst pattern of her energy. He tracked her to the narrow back streets where local brothels employed illegal prostitutes. Dressed in their trademark aprons, the women bargained with customers outside their rooms. Hirata cornered Fumiko in a doorway. She stood with her hands inside her sleeves, panting and trembling.

  "Don't be afraid," Hirata said.

  Her eyes gleamed with feral panic. After two months of living on the streets, she already looked more animal than human.

  "I'm not going to hurt you." Hirata introduced himself, then said, "I want to help you."

  Incredulity wrinkled her dirt-smeared brow. Hirata wasn't surprised that she didn't believe him. Why should she trust any man, after one had kidnapped, raped, and apparently beaten her, and her own father had cast her off?

  His heart went out to the girl. Extending his hand, he said, "Come with me. I'll take you to a place where you'll be safe, and-"

  Fumiko whipped her right hand out of her sleeve. She lashed at his face with a knife clutched in her fingers. Startled, he leaped backward just in time to avoid a nasty cut. Fumiko lunged around him and fled.

  "Hey!" Hirata called. "Wait!"

  But she was gone.

  Sano arrived home in late afternoon. The sun was a pale, shimmering pearl behind gray clouds. In the courtyard, grooms took charge of his and his men's horses, which were spattered in mud from hooves to flanks. On the veranda of his mansion, servants rid Sano of his wet hat and cape. His secretary appeared and said, "Major Kumazawa is here to see you."

  Sano was surprised that his uncle would come, without advance notice or invitation. They'd not parted on very good terms yesterday. "Show him into the reception room."

  "I must inform you that the treasury minister and the judicial council are ahead of him in the queue."

  "I'll see Major Kumazawa first."

  Sano felt a strange attraction to his uncle, the pull of blood to blood, even though they didn't get along. He discovered in himself a yearning for the sense of family that had been diminished when he'd moved out of his parents' home, when his father had died, when his mother had remarried. The Kumazawa were his closest senior kin in town.

  In the reception room, he found Major Kumazawa marching slowly back and forth like a soldier at a drill. His face was as stern and hard as ever, but his restlessness told Sano how distraught he still was about his daughter.

  "I wanted to ask if your investigation has made any progress," Major Kumazawa said. "My apologies for showing up like this, but I thought I'd save you the trouble of another trip to Asakusa." He sounded much more polite than before, but of course this was Sano's territory.

  "You knew where to find me," Sano said.

  His tone hinted at the fact that his uncle had kept track of him since his birth. He saw a glint of antagonism in Major Kumazawa's eyes, but the man simply nodded and said, "I've been here before. When this place belonged to Yanagisawa."

  That his uncle had been in his house, without his knowledge until this moment, gave Sano an eerie feeling, as if he'd just learned that his home was haunted by a ghost whose presence he'd never suspected. He recalled the vision he'd had at Major Kumazawa's house. He still didn't know what it meant.

  "Please allow me to welcome you back," Sano said evenly.

  They exchanged wary glances, both bracing for another clash. But Sano was determined to keep things civil. He didn't want a quarrel that would be overheard by his subordinates, or bad blood with his uncle to contaminate the peace of his home.

  "How is Chiyo today?" he asked.

  "I went home to check on her this afternoon. She was asleep. The doctor had given her a potion." Major Kumazawa's expression was grim. "My wife says that after your wife came to see Chiyo, she was very upset."

  His gaze accused Reiko, and Sano, of upsetting Chiy
o. Sano refused to seize on the pretext for another argument. "It stands to reason that she would be upset by talking about the crime. But if I'm to catch the man who kidnapped her, I must know as many details about it as possible. However, I may not need any more help from Chiyo. I discovered some clues today."

  "Oh?" Major Kumazawa's eyebrows and tone lifted in surprise. "What sort?"

  Sano couldn't help feeling pleased that he'd exceeded his uncle's expectations. He told Major Kumazawa about the oxcart spotted by the witness.

  "An oxcart." Major Kumazawa looked disappointed, and skeptical. "If nobody saw Chiyo put into or thrown off it, how can you be sure it had anything to do with what happened to her? Even if it did, there are hundreds of oxcarts in Edo. They all look alike, and you said your witness didn't see the driver. How are you going to find the right one?"

  "I'll find it." Sano had people out searching now. He'd expected Major Kumazawa to find fault with his results, but that didn't make the carping any less unpleasant. He would almost rather be working for the shogun, who always complained about his lack of progress and threatened him with death, but sometimes appreciated his efforts.

  Sometimes.

  At least Sano could tell himself that the shogun was a fool. Criticism from someone more intelligent was harder to stomach.

  "I've also made another discovery: Two other women were kidnapped before Chiyo was." Sano told Major Kumazawa about the gangster boss's daughter and the nun. "The kidnappings may be related."

  After he described what he'd learned at the convent, disapproval crossed his uncle's features. "You said you were going after the man who kidnapped my daughter, but you've been investigating this other woman?" Major Kumazawa said.

  Nettled by the implication that he'd wasted time, Sano said, "The other crime is a new source of clues."

  "I suppose so, but it doesn't sound as if you got anything out of the nun. With all due respect, you would do better to concentrate on Chiyo. Especially since you can't be sure that the crimes are related."

  "I found other witnesses at the convent, and there are similarities between Chiyo's case and the nun's," Sano said, his patience slipping. "Both women are from samurai families. Both were kidnapped at places of worship, then found nearby."

  "What about the gangster's daughter?"

  Sano was at a disadvantage because he hadn't any information about that. "My chief retainer is investigating her case. I expect news from him soon."

  "So maybe the cases are related," Major Kumazawa said. "Or maybe you're going down the wrong path."

  Fed up now, Sano spoke more sharply than he'd intended: "Maybe you're not qualified to decide how this investigation should go."

  They exchanged stares in hostile silence. Then Major Kumazawa said, "By the way, I met your father a few times."

  Sano felt his muscles tense, but he said coolly, "I can guess when that was. When he asked your parents for my mother's hand in marriage. At the miai where he was formally introduced to her. Then, at their wedding."

  Those were the instances when social custom had forced the Kumazawa clan to associate with the lowly rnin who'd married Sano's mother.

  Major Kumazawa nodded. His eyes narrowed, scrutinizing Sano. "You take after your father."

  Sano knew that Major Kumazawa wasn't referring to the physical similarities. His uncle was implying that he'd inherited bad character traits, chiefly his determination to follow his own will. And Major Kumazawa was blaming heredity on his father's side for what Major Kumazawa perceived as Sano's mishandling of the investigation. Sano burned with rage, and not only because Major Kumazawa would disparage his bloodline.

  "It's obvious you didn't get to know my father very well," Sano said coldly. His father had been an old-style samurai with conventional notions about duty and bowing to authority and a distaste for individual initiative-everything Sano was not. "Making snap judgments about people based on limited acquaintance isn't very smart. Perhaps you take after your father."

  Now it was Major Kumazawa's turn to bristle. "Perhaps I was wrong about you, Honorable Chamberlain. Perhaps you're more like your mother."

  He must think that was the ultimate blow, to be compared to a disgraced woman. But Sano had reason to be proud of his mother, of her blood that ran in his veins. "If you say so, then I must thank you for the compliment. My mother did a great service for Japan." She'd been accused of murder and, in a startling instance of irony, emerged a heroine. "The shogun holds her in the highest esteem. He's pronounced himself in her debt forever."

  The shogun had not only attended her recent wedding; he'd insisted on providing her dowry. He'd given her and her second husband enough gold to support them for the rest of their lives.

  "My mother has managed to distinguish herself," Sano said, "probably more than anyone else in her family has." The bitter antipathy in Major Kumazawa's eyes said he resented Sano for pointing out the truth that his mother had risen above her estranged clan. Before Major Kumazawa could retort, Sano thought of something he'd been wanting to know. "After my parents were married, did you ever see my mother again?"

  Caught off guard, Major Kumazawa said, "… No."

  Sano didn't miss the pause before his answer. "Did you ever see me when I was a child?"

  "Of course not."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Are you calling me a liar?" Major Kumazawa demanded.

  "Only if you deserve the name," Sano said evenly.

  "I never saw her, or you," Major Kumazawa said. "That's the truth, whether you believe it or not."

  But Sano knew his uncle was lying. He was sure now that he had been to the Kumazawa house, had seen his uncle and aunt, who had seen him, too. He didn't know when or why, but he intended to find out, later.

  Major Kumazawa started to speak, but Sano raised a hand. "That's enough about the past. Our main priority is catching the kidnapper. We should put our differences aside and concentrate on the investigation."

  "I couldn't agree more," Major Kumazawa said with controlled hostility. "And since you insist on pursuing the matter of those other women, I will lead my own troops in a hunt for the man who raped my daughter."

  "I've been meaning to speak to you about that," Sano said. "When I was looking for Chiyo, I came across many people that you and your men had bullied and threatened while you were looking for her."

  "So we shook them up a little," Major Kumazawa said. "I did what I had to do."

  "That's not the way to conduct an investigation," Sano said. "At best, it'll make people less willing to cooperate than if you treated them politely. At worst, you'll get false confessions, punish innocent folks, and waste your time. If you keep on, you'll only make my job harder. So don't interfere."

  Major Kumazawa glared. "It's my daughter who was hurt. It's my right to avenge her."

  "I certainly understand your position." If Akiko were hurt, Sano wouldn't let anyone stand between him and her attacker. "But I'm not going to change mine. Stay out of the investigation. That's an order."

  Major Kumazawa flushed with humiliation because Sano had pulled rank on him yet again. "And if I don't obey?" he said, even though they both knew he must.

  "You saw all the people in my anteroom. Hundreds of them come to see me every day. They all want me to do things for them. I don't need this investigation to keep me busy."

  Now Major Kumazawa laughed, scorning Sano's hint that he would abandon the quest for justice for Chiyo unless Major Kumazawa cooperated. "No, but you won't walk away from Chiyo. Everybody knows your reputation. Once you've committed to doing something, you don't give up. You're an honorable man, I'll give you that. You would never break your word."

  That had always been true in the past. Sano kept his promises and stayed the course even at the risk of his life. But things had begun to change when his mother had been accused of murder and Sano had learned that his background was different from what he'd always believed. During his investigation into the murder, he'd done things he'd never thought hi
mself capable of; in particular, staging the trial and execution of Yoritomo, his onetime friend. Sano felt as if discovering the truth about his family had altered him in some fundamental way.

  He no longer knew what he would or wouldn't do.

  He wanted justice for Chiyo, but he was vexed by how his uncle treated him even while he was doing the Kumazawa clan a favor. Come to think of it, Sano was fed up after years of other people, the shogun among them, demanding service from him while throwing obstacles at him. Bushido dictated that he do his duty to his lord and his family without minding how they treated him or expecting rewards, but still…

  Might he walk away from this investigation before it was done?

  It wouldn't hurt to let his uncle think so.

  "There's always a first time," Sano said.

  15

  Shinobazu Pond was a popular attraction in the Ueno temple district. Lotus plants bloomed on its wide expanse. A causeway led from the shore to an island in the middle, upon which stood a shrine dedicated to the goddess Benten. Along the embankments around the pond, teahouses offered splendid views and rooms for lovers to spend the night.

  Today Hirata found the pond desolate in the rain that had started to fall again. Egrets stood like white specters among the lotus leaves in the mist. Lumber lay piled in the mud near the approach to the causeway. Teahouse proprietors stood on their verandas, gloomily surveying the scene. When they saw Hirata climb off his horse and walk toward them, they brightened and called, "Welcome, honorable master!"

  One youthful, agile man with an ear-to-ear smile ran from his teahouse and intercepted Hirata. "Come in, come in. May I serve you a drink?"

  "Yes, please," Hirata said, glad to get out of the rain.

  Inside a room that smelled of mildewed tatami, the proprietor heated sake over a charcoal brazier. Two other men wandered in, perhaps hoping to woo Hirata to their establishments later. Hirata drank. The liquor was cheap and harsh, but it relieved the chill of the wet day. Introductions were exchanged; then Hirata said, "I'm investigating the kidnapping of Jirocho's daughter."