The Samurai's Wife by Laura Joh Rowland Read Free Book Online Page B

he said. "The need to stay hidden until the critical moment presents complications."
     
     
However, secrecy wasn't the only problem. Reports from Yanagisawa's Miyako agents indicated that Konoe had been the victim of a bizarre murder. Yanagisawa had never investigated a crime, and he felt handicapped by his inexperience. But he'd set his scheme in motion, and he must follow it through to the end. He must apprehend the killer before Sano did, in a manner that created the impression that he'd happened along during the course of his inquiries in Omi Province, observed that Sano was making poor progress, and stepped in to solve the case. No one must guess that Yanagisawa had come here specifically to beat Sano at his own game, or think he'd won by underhanded means, because he didn't want it publicly known that he'd resorted to such desperate tactics. By the time he was finished, Sano's reputation as a great detective would be his.
     
     
"Let's drink a toast for good luck," Aisu said.
     
     
He clapped his hands. Female bodyguards-the only attendants allowed in this most private chamber-silently entered the room. On Aisu's orders, they served wine, then silently departed.
     
     
Aisu raised his cup and said, "Here's to your victory and the sosakan-sama's downfall."
     
     
Yanagisawa and Aisu drank. From the street drifted the laughter and shouts of the Obon crowds; more gongs clanged. The tart, refreshing liquor invigorated Yanagisawa; he smiled.
     
     
Refilling the cups, Aisu proposed another toast: "May you capture Left Minister Konoe's killer the way you did the Lion."
     
     
Malice hardened Yanagisawa's smile. "No," he said, "not quite like the Lion. Remember, this time, Sano won't get another chance to redeem himself."
     
     
Aisu's hooded eyes glistened; his sinuous body squirmed with anticipation. "How shall Sano die?"
     
     
"I don't know yet," Yanagisawa admitted reluctantly. "Nor can I predict the exact outcome of the investigation."
     
     
He leapt to his feet and paced the room in a fever of impatient energy. "Everything depends on the case itself. I must see what happens and use whatever opportunities arise. I don't have enough information to take the next step. However, that problem should be remedied very soon." Yanagisawa halted by the door and gazed out at the dark, lush garden, listening for sounds that would herald the arrival of the news he awaited.
     
     
"Then I'll decide what to do."
     
     
Several long, unproductive hours later, Sano finished interviewing the Konoe clan members. They'd been shocked to learn that the left minister had been murdered, instead of dying from a mysterious disease as they'd thought. They hadn't known he was a metsuke spy, and claimed no knowledge about which of the suspects might have killed him. All Sano managed to learn were two stray facts.
     
     
A cousin of Konoe's said he'd heard on several occasions a much less powerful version of the spirit cry. Afterward, dead birds had been found in the garden. This confirmed Sano's belief that someone in the palace did indeed have the power of kiai. Had he-or she-been practicing for the murder?
     
     
Fifteen years ago, Konoe's secretary, a young man named Ryozen, had been stabbed to death. This was presumably the crime that the bakufu had covered up in order to force Konoe to spy for the metsuke, but Sano found no apparent connection between the incident and Konoe's murder. Nor did Detectives Marume and Fukida glean any clues from the servants.
     
     
Now Sano, Hoshina, and the detectives stood outside Konoe's private chambers, which occupied two adjoining rooms in an inner section of the house. Mullioned paper walls enclosed the space, affording greater privacy than the open plan of classic imperial architecture.
     
     
"Has anything in there been disturbed since Left Minister Konoe's death?" Sano asked the courtier who'd admitted him to the estate.
     
     
"The rooms have been cleaned, but his possessions are still