Black Lotus (12 page)

"It's not a threat," Kumashiro said in that same menacing tone, "just a friendly warning."

The hard sheen of his eyes told Reiko that he was capable of murdering three people and framing an innocent girl. A shiver rippled her nerves. She said to her guards, "Escort him off the premises."

The men seized Kumashiro and propelled him out of the garden. The wind swirled fallen leaves and tossed boughs; raindrops pelted the ground. Reiko knelt beside Haru and put her arms around the girl. "It's all right. You're safe now."

Haru whispered, "I was so scared I wet my kimono." Misery suffused her features. "It's my only one."

"Don't worry about that," Reiko said. "Let's go inside."

As they walked together toward the convent, Reiko picked up the package she'd dropped.

In Hani's room, the orphan girl removed her soiled garment and washed herself. Reiko opened the package and unfolded a fresh white under-robe, a jade green cotton kimono printed with mauve asters, and a mauve sash.

"Here," Reiko said, "put these on."

Haru gasped in amazement. "They're for me? But you're too generous. I can't accept."

"Oh, they're just old things of mine." In fact, the garments had never been worn. Although her kind gesture was sincere, Reiko hoped the gift would oblige Haru to be honest with her. She helped Haru into the clothes. "There. How pretty you look! Do you feel better now?"

The girl nodded, her eyes bright with happiness. Stroking the fabric, she said, "I've never worn anything so beautiful. A thousand thanks."

Although Reiko hated to spoil Hani's pleasure, it was time for serious business. "Hani-ran," she said, "we must talk."

Haru knelt opposite Reiko. Apprehension furrowed her brow.

"Were you and Commander Oyama lovers?" Reiko asked, keeping her voice gentle.

Haru twisted the ends of her new sash. "No. I only said so because that was what Kumashiro wanted me to say."

Tentative relief eased the doubt that the priest had fostered in Reiko. "Then you weren't with Oyama the night before the fire? You didn't go to the cottage to meet him?"

"No, I wasn't. I didn't."

In her mind Reiko heard Kumashiro's voice: "Don't believe everything you hear" --- and Sano's: "Don't be too quick to take the side of a suspect." Reiko said, "If you don't remember anything from that night, how can you be sure what you did?"

Hurt and confusion welled in Hani's eyes; her lips trembled. In a high, teary voice she said, "I didn't kill anyone. I didn't set the fire. I could never do those terrible things."

Feeling like a bully, having serious misgivings about the girl, Reiko forced herself to continue: "Why is Kumashiro so determined to make you confess?"

"He's afraid that people will think he killed Commander Oyama," Haru said. "They hated each other. I don't know why, but I often saw them arguing. And he hates me. He wants to get me in trouble so I'll have to leave the Black Lotus Temple."

If Kumashiro and Oyama had indeed been enemies, the priest had a motive for at least one of the murders. But Reiko could not ignore the inconsistency in Hani's story. "Yesterday you said that you love everyone in the temple, and they all love you. Why didn't you tell me about Kumashiro?"

Haru squirmed, twisting the sash; her gaze darted. She ventured hesitantly, "I forgot about him?"

The flimsy excuse increased Reiko's misgivings. "I've spoken with Abbess Junketsu-in and Dr. Miwa," she said, then related the pair's description of Haru as a troublemaker. "They think you're unfit to be a nun, and they blame you for the fire. Did you forget them, too?"

Reiko heard her voice rising in agitation, while Haru looked crestfallen. "Are they inventing lies to get you in trouble," Reiko pressed, "or did you do the things they said?"

Tension vibrated the atmosphere in the room. Rain pattered on the roof and dripped off the eaves. Reiko heard Hani's rapid breathing. Then the girl hung her head and mumbled, "It was so long ago… I thought I'd counteracted my bad karma."

Buddhists believed that a person's actions produced karma --- energy that affected life in present and future existences --- and that misdeeds could be exorcised by doing good. Foreboding touched Reiko's heart.

"What bad karma?" she said, wary of what she was going to hear.

"When I first came to the Black Lotus orphanage, I was a very difficult girl," Haru said in a voice laden with shame. "I had no religious faith. I only went to the temple because I had nowhere else to go. I was upset about my parents dying, and angry at my bad fortune. I hated the food and the chores. I wouldn't obey the rules. I was rude and disobedient. I was so lonely that I… I would meet boys at night and let them touch me."

Reiko's face felt numb, as if too many shocks had obliterated the sensation in her skin. But inside, painful emotions roiled. "You should have told me these things yesterday, when I asked about your life at the temple and who might want to hurt you," she said. "Instead, you misled me."

"But I didn't," Haru protested. She must have seen disbelief in Reiko's expression, because she hurried to explain: "I mean, I'm different now. I don't do those things anymore. High Priest Anraku showed me that I was wrong to act the way I did." Her eyes glowed with the same joyful radiance as when she'd spoken of the sect leader yesterday. "He taught me that I must rid myself of worldly desires and follow the path of the Black Lotus out of suffering to Buddhahood. So I reformed, I worked hard to make up for the trouble I'd caused and prove I could be a good nun."

A part of Reiko wanted to excuse Haru's behavior as the actions of a grieving child who'd had trouble adjusting to convent routine and wanted to forget a difficult period of her life. Still, Reiko was disappointed in Haru for withholding important information, and angry at herself for minimizing the possibility that Haru might be lying. Had the abbess and doctor neglected to mention the change in Haru, or had Haru not really reformed?

"I'm sorry," Haru quavered. Tears watered her eyes. "I should have told you."

Reiko's shaky self-confidence waned. Maybe her break from detective work had impaired her judgment, and she should quit the investigation, as little as she liked the idea. Abruptly she rose and walked to the window. The rainy landscape outside blurred before her eyes as she sorted out her thoughts. Before admitting her mistake to Sano, she must correct it, or he would have every right to forbid her to continue the investigation.

She turned to Haru, who huddled on the floor, watching her anxiously. "Tell me about Commander Oyama," Reiko said.

Haru shook her head. "I didn't --- "

' Reiko silenced her with a warning gaze. "If you want my help, you have to tell me the truth. Did you know Oyama?"

Drawing a deep, tremulous breath, Haru lowered her eyes and nodded. "I met him in the summer," she said. "He would talk to me when I was doing my chores. All the while, his eyes would be looking over me. He made me nervous, and I wished he would leave me alone. But he was an important patron, and I had to be polite to him. So when he asked me to come to the cottage one night, I obeyed."

Uneasiness stole through Reiko as she wondered if the incident Haru was describing had happened months ago, or right before the fire.

"When I got there," Haru continued, "he was waiting in the room. The lanterns were lit. There was a futon on the floor. He told me to sit, and he offered me some sake from a jar on the table. I said, 'No, thank you; I'm not allowed to drink.' So he drank the sake himself. Then he started undressing. I looked away and said, 'I think I should go back to the dormitory.' He said, 'Not yet.'

"Then he started touching my body. I begged him to stop, but he tore off my clothes and threw himself on top of me. I struggled, but he was too strong. Then he --- he --- "

Haru entwined her legs and crossed her arms over her bosom, as if trying to defend herself against the remembered attack. Reiko winced as she vicariously experienced Hani's pain and terror. She said, "Why didn't you tell me this yesterday?"

"I couldn't." Sobs heaved Haru's chest. "I was afraid you would think I killed Commander Oyama."

Reiko pondered the evidence against Haru. The girl had been in the cottage and raped by Oyama at least once. That gave her reason to hate him. What if he'd raped her again on the night before the fire? That would explain Haru's bruises. Maybe, while struggling with the girl, Oyama had fallen and hit his head. Then Haru had panicked, set fire to the cottage, and later blocked out the memory.

Or maybe Haru had plotted revenge, lured him to the cottage, and struck him down in cold blood.

Weeping into her sleeve, Haru said, "I'm innocent, but everyone will think I'm guilty. It's no use hoping to be saved. I know what I must do." She lifted her head and spoke bravely: "I'm going to confess."

"What?" Reiko said, surprised.

"I owe a great debt to the Black Lotus sect for taking me in. If they want to blame me for killing those people and burning the cottage, then it's my duty to confess," Haru explained. Bowing, she said, "Thank you for trying to help. I'm sorry to cause you so much trouble, but I must ask a favor. Will you take me to the police? I'm afraid to go alone."

Reiko was caught between opposing impulses. On one hand, she now had much proof of Haru's dubious character, but none of anyone else's involvement in the crimes. Maybe Haru was guilty, and Reiko should let her accept the punishment she deserved. On the other hand, Reiko still thought that Kumashiro, Abbess Junketsu-in, and Dr. Miwa warranted further inquiries, as did the two unidentified victims. She wanted to know what High Priest Anraku had to say about the crimes, and whether Sano had discovered more suspects or anything to substantiate the novice monk's claims, before she made up her mind about Haru. She shouldn't condemn someone on the strength of inconclusive evidence or denouncements from enemies.

Reiko faltered. "I don't think you should confess."

"Then you believe I'm innocent?" Eager hope gleamed in Haru's streaming eyes.

"The investigation isn't finished," Reiko said, compromising between honesty and tact.

Desolation shadowed Haru's face: She wasn't deceived by Reiko's hedging. She hurried to the cabinet and removed a worn cotton blanket, a comb, a pair of chopsticks, and a wooden bowl. She spread the blanket on the floor and set the other items on top of it.

Reiko frowned, perplexed. "What are you doing?"

"I can't stay here. Kumashiro will come back. If I don't confess, he'll kill me." The words poured from Haru in a frantic rush as her fingers fumbled to tie the blanket around her meager possessions. "I must go."

"But where?" Reiko said, dazed by events happening too quickly, spinning out of her control.

"I don't know."

Likely, she would end up begging in the streets. The thought appalled Reiko, as did the idea of letting Sano's only suspect go. Perhaps Haru was manipulating her by volunteering to confess, then threatening to run away, yet she saw only one possible course of action.

"Come with me," Reiko said, taking the bundle from Haru. She put her arm around the girl's trembling shoulders, although aware that her affection for Haru had waned. "I'll take you to a safe place."

Afterward, she must continue investigating the Black Lotus sect --- even if it meant breaking her promise to Sano.

10

There is only one truth.

There are not two, nor three, nor a million.

The others are not the truth.

----FROM THE BLACK LOTUS SUTRA

"Well,
Sosakan
Sano, what progress have you made in your, ahh, investigation?" said the shogun.

He sat on the dais of Edo Castle's Grand Audience Hall, whose floor was divided into two levels. On the higher level immediately below the dais, in a row to the shogun's right, knelt the five members of the Council of Elders, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's chief advisers and Japan's supreme governing body. Sano knelt near the end of this row. Opposite knelt the abbot of Zōjō Temple and four high priests. On the lower level sat a delegation of Edo's city elders: commoners who relayed communications between the townspeople and officialdom and supervised the neighborhood headmen. Sentries guarded the doors. Secretaries occupied desks along the walls. The shogun's personal attendants awaited his orders, while servants poured tea for the assembly and brought metal baskets of lit coals for tobacco pipes.

Sano said, "I've learned that all three victims were murdered before the fire," and described their injuries. "The woman and boy haven't been identified yet; citywide inquiries have begun. So far, the orphan girl remains the only suspect. There are reports that Haru is a troublemaker who had a grudge against Commander Oyama." Sano related the statements of Abbess Junketsu-in, Dr. Miwa, and Oyama's son. "However, she claims that she can't remember anything between the time she went to bed and the time she was found at the fire. One of my detectives is working with her to recover her memory."

The thought of Reiko stirred lingering worry inside Sano. Their compromise last night hadn't restored their intimacy. Reiko had spurned his amorous advances, saying she was tired, but this morning he'd watched her practicing
kenjutsu
. Her every movement seemed to proclaim her determination to prove she was right about Haru. Now Sano wondered uneasily what would happen when Reiko visited Haru today.

"We're continuing the search for witnesses and other suspects," Sano finished. "I shall have more to report soon."

His audience's reaction confirmed his fear that his results sounded paltry. The priests and the Council of Elders regarded Sano with veiled disapproval; the shogun took his cue from the others and frowned. The city elders watched their superiors in complicit silence.

"I expected better from you,
sōsakan-sama
," remarked Senior Elder Makino Narisada, whose pallid skin stretched over the prominent bones of his face. Since the truce between Sano and Chamberlain Yanagisawa, he'd taken over the role of Sano's chief detractor. "You should certainly have solved the mystery by this time; yet you've accomplished very little."

Murmurs of agreement came from the other council members. Sano's spirits began a familiar descent. Men in the
bakufu
were always trying to gain by making someone else look bad.

"Also, your activities have thoroughly disrupted the temple district," Makino said. "Isn't that correct, Honorable Abbot?"

"Our routines have been interrupted by detectives searching for clues and interviewing everyone." The abbot of Zōjō Temple spoke reluctantly, in a humming voice trained by years of chanting surras. He was a serene, statuesque priest whom Sano had met many years ago when he'd been a student at the Zoj5 Temple school. Now he gave Sano an apologetic glance: While he didn't want to make trouble for Sano, he couldn't contradict a man as powerful as Makino, and he was understandably concerned about the effect of the investigation upon his domain. "But of course, the
sōsakan-sama
has our full cooperation, and we trust that the matter will be concluded quickly."

"Thank you, Honorable Abbot," Sano said, feeling pressured by this hint to speed up his progress.

A faint smile cracked lines in Makino's skull face. He addressed the shogun: "May I invite the city elders to express their concerns about the situation?"

"Permission granted," said Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. His worried gaze moved over the assembly while he tried to read the conversation's undercurrents.

The delegation on the lower level stirred. An elderly man with sparse white hair inched forward on his knees, bowed to the shogun, and said with visible nervousness, "A thousand thanks for the privilege of speaking, Your Excellency. During the past few months there have been fires in the Suruga, Nihonbashi, and Kanda districts, causing thirty-four deaths." The old man glanced at Makino. "We fear that the fires may be related to the one at the Black Lotus Temple."

Sano was alarmed by this theory that the Black Lotus fire might be the latest work of a habitual arsonist. However, he deduced that it was Makino who had planted it in the minds of the elders and brought them here to help make Sano's failure to solve the case seem more reprehensible.

"I thank the city elders for the news," Sano said evenly. "While there's no evidence that the Black Lotus fire involves anyone or any place outside the temple, I shall certainly check into the possibility."

"That sounds like a good, ahh, plan," the shogun ventured, as if afraid to contribute his opinion to an argum'ent he didn't understand.

A flicker of annoyance in Makino's eyes acknowledged that his ploy hadn't worked the way he'd hoped. "You exhibit an astonishing indifference to the concerns of our citizens,
sōsakan-sama
. Perhaps you do not care about their safety. Is that why you're taking so long with your inquiries?"

The shogun frowned in confusion, but Sano felt his lord's approval swaying toward Makino. Sano said, "A thorough investigation requires time. Perhaps the Honorable Senior Elder would prefer that the job be done poorly?"

"An honorable man does not evade the blame for his mistakes." Although Makino's expression didn't change, anger radiated from him. "Nor does a good detective ignore what is before his eyes. The orphan girl is the obvious culprit, but she hasn't been arrested yet. She's free to set more fires and kill again."

The other council members nodded. The abbot gave Sano a sympathetic glance. Indecision puckered the shogun's brow.

"The evidence against Haru is a matter of circumstance and hearsay."

Sano said, forced to defend the girl despite his suspicion of her. "There's no proof of her guilt."

"Why do you need proof when a confession would suffice? Are you saying that you're incapable of getting the truth out of a fifteen-year-old female peasant?" Makino emitted a cackle of laughter. "Perhaps you need a lesson in interrogation techniques."

Sano swallowed a sharp retort that would demonstrate bad manners and offend the shogun. "If Haru didn't commit the crimes, then torturing her would do us no good and her much undeserved harm. Executing an innocent person won't serve justice or protect the public."

"Yes, you must, ahh, protect the public." The shogun echoed Sano's words with the breathless relief of a man who has just run a long distance to catch up to his comrades.

Sano watched Makino hide his chagrin by puffing on his tobacco pipe.

"Therefore, you should have arrested Haru long ago," the shogun continued, giving Sano a reproachful look. "Your, ahh, procrastination makes the
bakufu
look weak. We cannot afford to let the citizens think they can get away with, ahh, murder. Haru should have already been punished as an, ahh, example of what happens to anyone who breaks the law. I am extremely disappointed in you,
Sosakan
Sano."

Anxiety filled Sano as he saw Makmo's veiled glee. He said carefully, "I'm sorry, Your Excellency. Please be assured that I have the
bakufu's
interests at heart. Please allow me to point out that we could lose tremendous face if more fires and murders occurred after Hani's execution because the real culprit escaped justice."

"Ahh."

Comprehension brightened Tsunayoshi's face. Makino's ugly features darkened. Everyone else gazed at the floor.

Then the shogun said, "However, I must demand action,
Sosakan
Sano. Either prove that the girl is guilty, or find out who is. Otherwise I shall put someone else in charge of the, ahh, investigation." The shogun looked around the room, and his gaze settled upon Makino.

The senior elder's humble bow didn't hide his satisfaction.

"If you do not produce results immediately," the shogun continued to Sano, "I shall also have to reconsider your, ahh, position at court."

Makino flashed a triumphant look at Sano, who realized with dismay that this case could destroy his career. He also understood that the surest way to save it was to prove that Haru was guilty, and do it fast.

"Dismissed," the shogun said, waving his fan at the assembly.

Back at his mansion, Sano summoned four detectives to his private office and said, "I have a new assignment for you: secret surveillance on the Black Lotus sect."

He'd picked these men because they hadn't been part of the arson investigation yet, and they weren't known at the temple. Now he turned to Kanryu and Hachiya, former police officers some years his senior. "You two will disguise yourselves as pilgrims and loiter around the tem-ple."

"What are we looking for?" said Kanryu. His sleepy appearance concealed a talent for spying.

When Sano related the novice monk's story, the detective exchanged glances with Hachiya, a muscular man whose friendly disposition inspired trust, often to the detriment of people with something to hide. The pair bowed to Sano, observing the samurai tradition of unquestioning obedience to their master, but he sensed their skepticism.

"I know it sounds unbelievable," he said, "but if there is anything wrong at the temple that may have any bearing on the arson and murders, we need to know." To the two other detectives he said, "I want you to infiltrate the sect."

The two men, Takeo and Tadao, were brothers in their late teens, from a family of hereditary Tokugawa vassals, apprentices to Sano. They shared similar daring spirits and handsome faces. Now they listened attentively as Sano said, "You'll pose as religious youths who want to enter the Black Lotus monastery. Get accepted as novices and find out what goes on inside."

"Yes, master," Takeo and Tadao chorused, bowing.

"Kanryu-san, you're in charge of the surveillance," Sano said. "Report to me on everyone's progress."

"Will you be at the temple today?" Kanryu asked as the detectives prepared to leave.

After a moment's hesitation, Sano said, "Later, perhaps. I've got some business to take care of."

Kojimachi district occupied the central ridge of Edo, just west of the castle, along the road that led to Yotsuya, home of the secondary branches of the Tokugawa clan. Here, in a narrow corridor between the compounds of Tokugawa daimyo and retainers, commoners plied their trades. Merchants sold and delivered food; restaurants and teahouses served travelers; Hirakawa Tenjin Shrine hosted one of Edo's few evening markets. Behind the businesses thrived a populous residential area.

As Sano rode past a shop redolent of fermenting miso, light rain fell from the gray sky; umbrellas sprouted in the crowds around him. Trepidation weighed upon his spirit. He'd promised Reiko that he would personally investigate the Black Lotus, and sending detectives instead seemed a betrayal of her trust. And he hadn't told her that he was going to check Haru's background. Although he deemed this necessary for assessing the girl's character, he didn't want Reiko to think he lacked faith in her judgment or was persecuting Haru.