At the door, Akitada met a familiar figure just coming in: a tall, middle-aged official who had a neatly trimmed beard and wore a formal silk robe and court hat.
“Sugawara,” he cried, his face breaking into a big smile. “Here I am. Don’t look so glum! All will be well.”
“Kobe,” said Akitada weakly, coming to a stop. Little did the man know that nothing was well, or would be in the end. Still, he was touched that Kobe had come in person and seemed in a friendly mood. Becoming aware that his greeting was lacking in welcome, he bowed quickly and returned the smile. “I was coming to see you. I hope you didn’t take my request amiss?”
“Of course not! What are friends for?”
Akitada regarded him uncertainly. “That is very good of you. I didn’t want to trouble you, but since you know both Tora and me, I thought you might be willing to help. It’s a cursed affair, and Tora was flogged before I could get to him. I was afraid using my influence would do nothing but make matters worse.”
Kobe laughed-a nice, relaxed laughter. “Come, come! Why act the stranger when I expected to see an old friend? Of course I know Tora couldn’t have done such a thing. It’s all a mistake, though I expect Tora was meddling again. Sorry to hear about the flogging, but he was cheerful enough when I talked to him.”
“You have been to see him? That was very kind of you.”
“Not at all. Prisoners come to me, not I to them. I ordered his transfer. It took a while. Confounded paperwork. But you know how it is.”
“Yes. I’ve been tied up all day myself. Thank you.”
“If you’re free now, shall we pay him a visit?”
Akitada hesitated. Kobe’s open support might give his enemies an opportunity to charge him with favoritism. He said, “I don’t like to impose further on your goodness.”
“You’re not. I like Tora. Come, you can tell me what you think about the case on the way.”
Akitada still hung back. “What if… certain people use this kindness to make trouble for you?”
Kobe raised a brow. “Ah, so you’ve heard the rumors. Never mind that. And you, of all people, warning me about getting into trouble?”
That made Akitada smile. “Who better?”
“Nonsense. If you can break a few rules, so can I. We’ve been in the business of catching villains long enough to know that one has to use one’s own judgment sometimes. I’m just doing my job. Besides, I’m interested.”
Akitada gave up. They crossed the Greater Palace grounds together. The rain had cooled the air a little after the oppressive heat of the previous week, and there was still enough light to see by. The moist air intensified the scent of honeysuckle drifting over the wall of one of the ministries, and at the Shingon Temple, young monks laughed as they swept the water with brooms from the steps of the gate.
Suddenly Tora’s situation did not seem so bleak anymore. Akitada thought of what Kobe had said and snorted.
Kobe threw him a glance. “Something funny?”
“In a way. It seems that I’ve finally broken the rules once too often. Today Soga forced me to resign and then had the gall to announce that he expected me to cover for him for an unspecified period of time. I’m to run the ministry until his return. I’ve been promoted and dismissed in the same breath.”
“You’re joking!”
“Not at all. And I’ve never worked as hard or as cheerfully. Of course, my situation is not really amusing, but sometimes it’s easier to laugh at your troubles.”
“But what will you do?”
“I don’t know. At the moment Tora’s problem is more important.” He told Kobe what he had learned, and they became involved in the discussion of Tora’s case. Akitada barely noticed the archivist Kunyoshi waving from the other side of street. He waved back.
Clouds of small gnats hovered in their path. Officials and clerks, on their way home from ministries or the imperial residence, tottered along on tall wooden geta, skirting puddles and holding up their fine silk trousers.
As they passed the main gate of the imperial residence, its thatched roofs sodden black from the rain, Kobe nodded to one of the guards, the son of a powerful family. Kobe had truly risen in the world, and Akitada felt a little less guilty about accepting his assistance.
After leaving the Greater Palace, they turned northeast. In this part of the city were public buildings and the palaces and mansions of court nobles. The Sugawaras, though sadly come down in the world, had lived here since the capital had been built.
When they saw the bleak walls and gate of the Eastern Prison ahead, Kobe said, “A fascinating case. I shall look forward to your solution.”
“It’s difficult to think of it as a mental exercise when it may mean a friend’s life.”
“Come, come,” said Kobe bracingly. “We’ve worked ourselves out of muddles before, you and I. Don’t be so downcast. We’ll have Tora free in no time.”
Kobe’s kindness was touching, but Akitada remained uneasy. They had never quite seen eye to eye in the past, and while he knew Kobe to be scrupulously honest and in his own way as dedicated to justice as he was, the superintendent could become very stubborn when they disagreed. Besides, there was the threat to Kobe’s career. Few enough officials were both able and incorruptible. He hoped that Tora could be cleared quickly before someone took notice.
The conditions of Tora’s imprisonment had improved dramatically. They found him sitting cross-legged on a clean straw mat, gobbling food from a heaping bowl and looking a great deal more cheerful than that morning. On a gesture from Kobe, the guard left.
Tora greeted Akitada with a wide grin, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and put aside the bowl. He bowed to both of his visitors, then said to Akitada, “Thank you, sir. This is a great deal better, and the food isn’t half bad either. But, as I told the superintendent, I need to get busy solving the murder. Have you had any news?”
Tora’s meal reminded Akitada that he had not eaten since the night before. No wonder he felt light-headed. He said, “No news at all, I’m afraid. Soga has taken it into his head to leave the city for a while and I was trying to catch up on the work he left behind. I’m on my way home now for my evening rice. After that I’ll think about what is to be done next.”
“Well, well,” said Tora, “I guess you may be the next minister then. And here you’ve been worried about losing your job.”
“Actually, I shall have to present my resignation on the minister’s return.”
Tora’s jaw sagged. Then he exploded. “Why, that dirty scoundrel! That lazy piece of dung! How dare he do that to you when you’ve been doing all his work for months? He’s just another stinking official. Rotten to the core!”
Akitada bit his lip and glanced at Kobe.
But Kobe merely raised an eyebrow. “I’d like my men to be as loyal as yours. Of course, he had better not have the judge hear him say things like that.”
“Judge?” asked Tora, blanching a little.
Kobe nodded. “I have requested that your case be heard tomorrow.” He turned to Akitada. “Around midday. I hope that’s convenient? Can you attend?”
“I will make time. It was very good of you to push Tora’s case forward. Who is the judge?”
“Masakane.”
“Oh.” Akitada knew the man from past court cases he had observed, and Masakane had never liked him. But he nodded. “Masakane is fair.”
Tora looked nervously from one to the other. “What will happen? There’s no evidence to clear me yet. And they haven’t arrested anybody else. What’s to keep the judge from sentencing me?”
Akitada said, “It’s only a hearing. We will ask to have the trial postponed and you released into my charge. With a little luck I hope to make a good case for further investigation. But you must be completely frank with us about your relationship with the woman.”
“You know all there was. I liked her, but there was nothing between us. She didn’t want that.”
Akitada gave him a hard look. It sounded as though Tora had tried. What had possessed him? Tomoe hardly met his usual requirements.
Kobe remarked, “From what I’ve gathered, there was some mystery about this woman.”
Tora said eagerly, “That’s right. And I bet if we figure it out, we’ll have her killer. She was different from other street people. Like she didn’t belong. She was polite, but she never talked about herself. It took me two months to get her to open up a bit. And she’d never have let me walk her home if she hadn’t been scared.”
“Perhaps she had committed some crime,” Kobe wondered.
Tora adamantly denied the possibility, but Akitada thought of the expensive cosmetics box and the silver. It was quite possible that Tomoe had worked with a gang of thieves-in which case her killer could have been one of her accomplices. He said, “Tora, you must consider the possibility. If she worked with gang members, it explains why she protected them.”
“No.” Tora shook his head stubbornly. “You don’t know her the way I do.”
“But you said yourself that she did not tell you everything.”
Tora flushed. “You haven’t believed me from the start, sir, but I know that she was neither a harlot nor a thief. I know that as well as I know you.”
Akitada had a strong conviction that nobody had truly known Tomoe, but he did not say so. He turned to Kobe. “What do you think should be done first?”
“I can have my people check on gangs.” Kobe grinned. “Now that you’re running things at the ministry, my sending across police documents shouldn’t raise any eyebrows.”
Akitada thought of the nosy Sakae and hoped that young man was too preoccupied with filling Akitada’s shoes to have any time or interest in spying on his now very temporary superior. “Thank you. That would be very helpful. There is also the cosmetics box. If it was stolen, someone may have reported its loss. And if not, perhaps that young police lieutenant Ihara might try to trace it to its maker. It was of particularly fine workmanship and seemed an odd thing for her to have.”
Kobe nodded. “I know Ihara. I’ll pass along the word.”
“Of course, if Tora is released, he can do some work himself. He knows his way about the city and is clever about mixing with all sorts of people. Apart from having been fond of the woman, he will want to clear himself of these ridiculous charges.”
Kobe grunted. “Well, I suppose that’s all then. Tora’s biggest problem will be convincing the judge of his good character. He doesn’t have much respect for authority.” But he winked at Tora.
As they walked through the prison’s gate into the street, Kobe asked, “Did Soga tell you why he left the city?”
“No. I thought it was very strange, even for him.”
“Well, perhaps he was afraid you’d think him a coward. He’s taking flight to his country estate because there is smallpox in the capital.”
“Good heaven! My wife mentioned something of the sort a few days ago. I did not believe it. Is it a serious outbreak?”
“Some cases among the nobles, and a few in the city. It’s being kept quiet to avoid panic. One very highly placed person is already getting better. You know as well as I that we have the occasional case. Keep it to yourself. It seems a woman who used to help out at the Soga residence got the disease. When Soga heard she died, he decided to move to the country. He’ll look very foolish when it all comes to nothing.”
They parted after that, and Akitada turned homeward. He was touched by Kobe’s friendship but began to fret again about his situation. Soon the news would be out that he had lost his post and had no hopes for another. Meanwhile, how would he tell his wife? Akitada had never questioned Tamako’s loyalty, and she had reminded him of it just this morning. Or rather, last night-so much had happened in the meantime! But his wife was also a mother and the mistress of his household. After some reflection she would see how his loss of influence at court would hurt Yori’s future. And the economizing that must follow his loss of income would soon be a daily reminder of his failure. Tamako would come to blame him for their misery.
If he could avoid serious censure from Soga, he might find a clerkship in one of the other ministries or a post as supervisor of one of the bureaus. The thought of shuffling more paperwork depressed him. Another man in his situation would turn to his friends. Akitada had made many in his time, but some were gone and others had cooled toward him. And the ones who were left and in positions of sufficient influence to help him were overwhelmed by favor seekers every day of their busy lives. He could not bear to join the throng of abject men who prostrated themselves, holding humble petitions above their heads, every time the great personage emerged from the inner chambers of his residence.
When he got home, Yori was again practicing with the straw dummy. The figure had lost most of its stuffing and no longer produced those satisfying thwacks but Yori had adjusted his style to the pitiful limp figure that sagged against the fence. He now used his sword to stab viciously at various vital parts, shouting out each target before attacking. “Slit the throat… slice the arm… slit the peach.” This last accompanied by a vicious stab at the dummy’s nether regions.
Split the peach? That sounded like some of Tora’s gutter language.
“Yori.”
The boy swung around, cried, “Father,” and then dashed across the courtyard swinging his sword and shouting, “Father’s home! Father’s home!” He threw himself at his father with such force that Akitada had to take a step back. Picking up his son, he demanded, “Where did you learn such language?”
Yori clutched his neck and giggled. “What language? Did you visit the market? Did you buy me something? I could use a helmet. When’s Tora coming back?”
Akitada gave up on the offensive phrase. Yori spent almost all his free time with Tora and Genba. And he was a boy, after all. It would be different with a girl. So he hugged his son and said, “I hope Tora will be home soon. Maybe tomorrow even. And I have been too busy to go to the market. Perhaps later in the week. Have you studied hard today?”
Yori made a face. “That old Seimei! He’s such a fuss-body. He says, ‘No, no. You must do that character again. Hold your brush just so. Make the tail of the stroke curve up like the tail of a drake.’ Mother always likes what I do.”
His father smiled. “Now that you mention it, I believe Seimei gave me the same advice about the tail of the drake when I was your age. And it turned out, he was quite right. I could never have managed to get into the university if my character had not had the tail of a drake.”
Yori looked impressed. “Truly?”
“Truly.”
Genba trotted toward them from the stable, his round face anxious. He bobbed a perfunctory bow. “Any news, sir?”
At the main house, Seimei and Tamako had come out. Akitada realized that they must all be worried about Tora. Because of Soga he had forgotten to send them a message.
He told Genba, “I’ll try to have Tora released into my custody tomorrow. The case looks complicated.”
“That’s all right then.” Genba heaved a sigh of relief and grinned. “Might have known you’d take care of it, sir. Didn’t know what to think when your lady told us what happened. Not that she knew very much.” He looked at Akitada expectantly.
“Let me eat something first.”
Genba bowed. “Please take your time and enjoy your meal.”
Akitada set Yori down and took his hand. Together they walked to the main house.
Tamako murmured, “Welcome home. You have been awaited anxiously.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry I could not send a message. Tora should be home tomorrow. I will tell you what happened in a little while. At the moment, I’m very hungry. If cook has anything ready, have her bring it, please.”
Tamako’s eyes widened with concern. She hurried away on soft, stockinged feet, her layered silk robe billowing behind her as it swept across the gleaming wood floor. Akitada admired, not for the first time, his wife’s elegant bearing and grace. Tamako was the only child of one of Akitada’s professors and had been raised by him after her mother’s death. She could easily have become spoiled or self-absorbed, but had instead grown into a calm, intelligent young woman and, he thought, the perfect companion for a man of his temperament. The fact that her father had indulged her by teaching her things normally reserved for men-she read and wrote Chinese, for example, and was well-versed in the five classics-had proved a boon because Akitada could not abide stupidity and enjoyed talking with her about all sorts of things a man normally only discussed with other men. Now he was miserably aware that she deserved much better than a dismissed official who had not achieved middle rank yet and probably never would.
Seimei took Yori from him and promised to bring fresh tea. With a sigh, Akitada went to his study. Someone had folded away his bedding. He untied his court hat and put it away in its box, rubbing his neck where the strings had bitten into his skin. He needed a shave. And a bath. But first food and his report on Tora. And then he would have to tell them of the resignation.
Pushing back the sliding doors to the garden, he walked out onto the veranda. In the small pond, the koi rose to the surface, expecting to be fed. His whole household expected sustenance. Even his own belly demanded to be filled. How would he take care of all of them?
He could apply for a post in one of the provinces, as a secretary in one of the provincial administrations close to the capital. Taking orders from someone of his own class could not be worse than dealing with Soga’s insults. And it would spare him the stares of his colleagues here. But Tamako would be very unhappy. She had not had an easy time during the bitter winter of Akitada’s northern assignment, nearly losing the child she carried while they lived in fear for their lives. Here, with her own household, she had been contented. She enjoyed the respect of friends and family, and had the company of Akitada’s married sisters and of her female friends. He sighed.
Seimei brought the tea. He handed Akitada a small cup of steaming greenish liquid. “It’s a special blend. I added some orange zest and a little honey and a few other good things to restore your spirit and soothe your empty belly.”
Akitada was touched. Seimei, like the others, had never shown him anything less than love and support. He tasted. “Excellent.” He emptied the cup. “Yes. I feel better already.”
Seimei, glowing with pleasure, poured again.
And the food, brought in by his wife and her maid, was even more welcome. Akitada ate like a starved man, hardly caring what they handed him. They watched him in awe. When he finally pushed the last empty bowl away with a sigh, Tamako poured some warm wine.
He looked at them all. “Thank you for being so patient. Seimei, please call Genba now.”
When everyone had gathered, Akitada told them about Tomoe’s murder and the case against Tora. Their faces lengthened.
Tamako said loyally, “Tora would never hurt a woman, especially not a blind one. He likes to pretend he can solve crimes like you and was simply trying to discover who was terrorizing the poor woman.”
Genba nodded. “It’s just like Tora to want to help someone like that.”
“There is to be a hearing tomorrow,” Akitada told them. “I hope to get him released into my custody until the trial. I’m afraid he must try to clear himself of the charge because I’ll be tied up at the ministry. Soga has decided to move to the country for a while and left me in charge.”
Seimei and Genba smiled and nodded as if this were the most natural thing in the world, but Tamako’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t trust that man,” she said. “He’s hatching some plot again. Be careful. He wants to get rid of you.”
Here it was. Akitada sighed. “There was no need for any plot.” He looked from one face to another, wondering what they would think of him. “I’ve offered him my resignation as soon as he returns.”
Nobody spoke. Genba looked puzzled, his large, kindly face contorting as he tried to understand. Seimei’s mouth was slack with surprise.
But Tamako nodded and said, “Good. I’m glad.”
“Yes, indeed.” Seimei now found his voice. “It’s a pity that the minister has never given you the encouragement you deserve, sir. Master Kung warned us that without his superior’s support an official will be unable to govern.”
Genba, whose mind always worked along simple lines, asked, “But why did you offer, sir?”
“The minister expressed his dissatisfaction with me, Genba. It seemed proper to resign.”
“And what will you do next?” Genba persisted, brushing aside the minister’s dissatisfaction like a pesky gnat. “His Majesty will not announce any more appointments until the first month of next year.”
“For the time being I’m still at the ministry and very busy. Later I shall have to look for another post somewhere.”
Seimei gave Genba a look and said, “As soon as people hear what has happened, you will be overwhelmed with offers, sir. You can take your pick then.” Genba brightened and nodded, and Tamako summed up cheerfully, “It will all work out for the best.”
When Akitada was alone with his wife, he took her hand and said, “Thank you, Tamako. I know how you must worry about the future.”
“Do you?” She pulled her hand from his and looked at him searchingly. “If you think so little of me, I shall be ashamed to be your wife. You used to honor me with your confidence, but lately you have distanced yourself. I wish you would tell me what I have done to deserve it.”
He was dismayed. “You misunderstand. You have never done anything but what is right.”
She shook her head. “You’ve been edgy for many months now. I have watched you push your favorite foods away with little appetite, and you’ve left my bed to pace on the veranda or in the corridor. And many nights you stayed away, while I waited and watched your light burn all night in your study. But you have not spoken to me about what troubled you. If I have lost your confidence, then the fault must be mine.”
He said weakly, “There seemed no point in worrying you.” The truth was that he had lost confidence in himself and had been too ashamed to tell her for fear of disillusioning her. But he could not say it and instead felt the hot blood rise to his face. He knew his cursed weakness only too well and had no right to beg for her sympathy. Unlike other, better men, he could not put aside his self-doubts long enough to take decisive action in times of trouble, or to find contentment in his hard-won successes. Sharing this secret would make her regard him with disgust.
She said reproachfully, “My husband’s trust is never a trouble.”
But the Great Sage counseled that a man had best keep his innermost thoughts to himself or risk destroying the harmony of his family. Akitada said firmly, “Never mind. I’ve just been overworked and tired lately. You mustn’t be foolish and take my moods personally.”
Tamako, who had reached out to touch her husband’s hand with hers, withdrew it again. “Forgive my foolishness,” she said, tonelessly. “I shall have the maid spread your bedding and wish you a good rest then.” She made him a formal bow and left, closing the door softly behind her.
Akitada looked at that door for a long time, wondering why he always managed to say the wrong thing.