The Masuda Affair (32 page)

‘I wish I knew. Every time I turned around I saw one of those begging monks. Maybe it was just one guy. Anybody could hide under one of those basket hats.’

Akitada frowned, remembering the monk in the warden’s office in Otsu. He had identified the boy as belonging to the Mimuras. And had there not been an itinerant monk outside the doctor’s house on the day of the murder? ‘Where did you see all these monks?’

‘The first one was outside Sadanori’s residence. I told him it was a stupid place to beg. He wanted to know if I worked there. Then, at the shrine market, he was talking to the fan seller right after Ishikawa. I caught up with the bastard in the capital—’

‘Wait. How do you know it was the same man every time?’

‘I don’t. But they were all about the same size and height. Anyway, his basket hat came off then and he was a stranger. I let him get away. But then, there he was again the next day, right outside Little Abbess’s place. Right after her murder.’

‘What? Did you speak to him?’

‘No. He ducked into the crowd when he saw me.’

Akitada shook his head. ‘Strange. A monk was also seen outside the doctor’s place. Hmm. I’m not sure about this monk, but I have a feeling he’s part of Peony’s story. In any case, the facts now point to Ishikawa and Sadanori. You were right all along. I have other news. The doctor’s notes show that he may have been killed because he knew someone poisoned young Masuda.’ He smiled. ‘You’ve done excellent work.’

‘Thank you, sir.’ Tora cheered up a little. ‘What’s next?’

‘Get some rest. It’s time I paid Lord Sadanori a visit.’

A
kitada went to tell his wife about Tora’s news. She listened, interrupted a few times to ask a question, but did not offer any comments until he was done. ‘Oh, that poor, poor young woman,’ she murmured. ‘Rejected by everyone. And the boy. You must bring him to us, Akitada, whatever happens. We cannot let him down again.’ Bypassing Tora’s exciting tale of monks and murder, she had gone straight to what mattered most to her: the lost child.

He nodded reluctantly. ‘Yes, I suppose so.’

Her eyes widened at his tone. ‘I thought you were quite determined. Have you changed your mind?’

How could he admit his selfishness to her? ‘My efforts have been grossly misinterpreted,’ he said evasively.

‘But that is nonsense. You cared for the child because your heart is kind.’

‘No, Tamako,’ he said bitterly. ‘I was not kind. I was lonely and behaved like a spoiled child who wanted an expensive toy. I was going to buy him. Now all our funds are gone, and so is my career. And the child doesn’t even like me.’

He knew he had sounded petulant and started to leave, but Tamako caught his sleeve. ‘No. You’re wrong. You missed Yori and wanted someone to love again. I, too—’ She took his hand and begged, ‘Can we not try together to accept what happened?’

Akitada had no words, but he squeezed her hand and nodded.

She said, ‘It helps to reach out when we stumble.’

Emotion choked Akitada. He made an effort and managed to say quite steadily, ‘Yes, well, I’ve certainly fallen down
many times on this case. But remember, if the child is really the son of Peony and Masuda, he has a family. Though it may be impossible to prove it, now the maid is dead and Mrs Ishikawa has been spirited away by her son.’

‘Mrs Ishikawa is the key. Tora said her son expects to marry Sadanori’s daughter.’

A misalliance, if ever there was one. ‘It’s hardly likely that Sadanori would agree.’

‘He might if he were forced to,’ insisted Tamako.

‘Sadanori is very secure in his position at court. Besides, I don’t see a man like Sadanori taking such risks. Seduction and abduction, even rape of women from the amusement quarter, are more in his line. Nobody pays attention to a man’s sexual peccadilloes.’ But that was not entirely true. He, Akitada, was under sharp scrutiny at this moment for sexual misconduct. However, he was hardly of Sadanori’s rank and connections.

‘What do
you
think?’ asked Tamako.

‘I don’t know what to think. Ishikawa is repulsive, but I’ve never thought him capable of murder. When he cornered me six years ago at the university, he could have killed me, but he intended only a beating.’ Akitada would always feel a remnant of sympathy for the handsome and brilliant student whose ambition and poverty had led him into crime.

‘We must find Mrs Ishikawa.’

‘Yes. You’re quite right. I’m on my way to speak to Sadanori. After that we’ll know better how to proceed.’ Akitada rose with new energy. ‘Thank you. You’ve been most helpful.’

Tamako gave him a trembling smile.

Akitada changed into his second-best silk robe and clean silk trousers before calling on the great lord. At the Sadanori compound, Akitada checked the gate for begging monks, but saw none.

Fujiwara Sadanori received him formally in the main house. The reception hall was lit by several candles on tall stands. Sadanori sat on a cushion on a thick grass mat, one elbow on a lacquered armrest and a
go
board by his side as if he had been interrupted in a game against himself.
He returned Akitada’s bow, calculated carefully to be just less than polite, and gestured to another cushion.

‘Have I had the pleasure?’ he asked with the vagueness of a great man who cannot be expected to remember those who seek his favor every day, but his eyes were watchful.

‘No, sir.’ Akitada made no attempt to add the customary flattery, and the watchful eyes sharpened.

Sadanori was in his early forties and slightly corpulent. He had a round, smooth-shaven face with thin lips that turned downwards when he was not smiling. He was not smiling now. ‘In that case, perhaps you will be brief. I am very busy.’

‘Yes, I see. Briefly then: one of the women in my household claims that you had her abducted and confined in a house in the
Gojibomon
quarter. She managed to escape the day after the abduction. I found the story difficult to believe and came to verify the matter.’

Sadanori was clearly startled, but then his face cleared. He said coldly, ‘An extraordinary story. I wonder you troubled to come here.’

‘Her name is Hanae. She used to be a dancer in the Willow Quarter. I believe you know her?’

Sadanori laughed. ‘Did you buy the girl? My compliments. She is a charmer, though I found her less than accommodating myself.’

Akitada corrected him. ‘I did not buy her. She is the wife of one of my retainers. Perhaps you might care to answer my question.’

The other man snapped, ‘I don’t like your tone. And I certainly have no intention of answering rude and ridiculous questions.’

‘You just admitted to knowing Hanae well enough to have made her an offer of sorts, and I believe you own the house she was taken to.’

Sadanori’s hands clenched. ‘I have nothing to say to you,’ he said. ‘This visit was ill-advised.’

‘I have seen the house myself and thought it perfectly suited for a concubine,’ remarked Akitada, making no move to leave. ‘I was particularly struck by the theme of
the decoration. Peonies. Wasn’t there a first-class courtesan called “Peony” a few years ago? Her sudden disappearance raised many eyebrows.’

Sadanori jumped up and pointed a shaking finger at Akitada. ‘Get out!’ he shouted. ‘How dare you – you, a man who plays with little boys. Aren’t you in enough trouble already?’

Akitada rose with a smile. Sadanori had been involved with Peony – deeply involved, to judge by this outburst – and he had known all along who Akitada was and why he had come. In fact, Akitada now suspected that Sadanori had been behind his troubles with the chancellor. He would have liked to pursue the matter, but Sadanori’s raised voice had brought the servants, and so he bowed and left.

When he got home, he found Tamako dressed for travel. She greeted him with the news that she wished him to go to Otsu with her.

Akitada gaped at his wife. Tamako had withdrawn so completely from all outside interests after Yori’s death that this new forthright demand startled him. She used to have a mind of her own, charmingly most of the time and irritatingly so when they had first begun to quarrel, but she had never taken matters into her own hands and issued commands to her husband.

‘A … a delightful offer,’ he stammered helplessly, because he did not want to destroy their hard-won reconciliation, ‘but there is another urgent matter.’

She gave him a questioning look.

‘Sadanori. Tora was quite right to suspect him. We must find Ishikawa’s mother and find her quickly.’

Tamako frowned. ‘Is she in danger?’

‘Perhaps, though I don’t think Ishikawa would kill his own mother. More importantly, Sadanori knows that I suspect him.’

Tamako protested, ‘But no one seems to know where she is. Surely you won’t be searching the temples for her?’

Since this had crossed his mind, Akitada said defensively, ‘I thought Tora and I could visit a few near the capital.
Most likely she would leave an offering, and those are recorded. We would eventually catch up with her.’

Tamako shook her head. ‘I think getting the child is more important.’

Her sudden, high-handed decision dismayed Akitada, but he called Tora, who arrived looking more rested and cheerful, and explained the situation to him.

Tora glanced from Akitada to Tamako, saw the firm set of his lady’s chin, and said, ‘I bet Ishikawa’s taken his old lady to Uji, to Sadanori’s mother.’

‘To Uji?’ Akitada considered this. ‘By heaven, yes. Why didn’t I think of that?’

‘He has taken his mother to Lady Saisho?’ Tamako asked. ‘But why?’

‘He thinks we won’t look there.’ The more Akitada thought about it, the better he liked it. ‘Tora, you’ve outdone yourself. I should have realized that the pilgrimage story was meant to throw us off the track.’

Tora grinned complacently.

‘We can go to Otsu via Uji,’ Tamako decided. ‘It will make a pleasant journey.’

Akitada agreed meekly.

Uji had long been the refuge of the wealthy and powerful from the hectic life of the capital. The air was clean and pine-scented, and the sun glinted off the burbling waters and gilded the trees. Here and there, a maple already showed the first touch of red, and birds seemed to sing more loudly, perhaps to compete with the roar of the river.

At Lady Saisho’s house, Tamako dismounted before Akitada could assist her and ran to admire the view of the river gorge.

Tora said, ‘It’s not like this at night, sir. It’s dark as hell itself, and that noise gives you gooseflesh. You can’t hear what’s creeping up on you. You couldn’t pay me to live here.’

Akitada watched Tamako. ‘Yours is not a poetic soul, Tora,’ he said. ‘You probably only thought of demons and specters.’

Since this was true, Tora did not answer. Instead he belabored the gate.

Akitada found another reason to be grateful for his wife’s presence. The servant at first refused to admit them, but upon being informed that Lady Sugawara was of the party, he disappeared for instructions. He returned to take Tamako and Akitada to Lady Saisho’s pavilion.

There, the sun slanted in through the open veranda doors and the sound of the river filled the room. Paintings of picturesque trees and rocks, waterfalls, river bends, and steep cliffs mirrored the scenery outside.

Lady Saisho was elegantly and elaborately gowned in multicolored silks and brocade. She had not bothered with screens and was with Mrs Ishikawa, who sat beside her in her customary black and with a distinctly nervous look on her plain face.

Akitada had not met Sadanori’s mother before, but he knew that she had been lady-in-waiting to the emperor’s mother until her marriage to Sadanori’s father. She was still very handsome, though her long hair was white. She studied Akitada and Tamako as she made polite conversation.

Tamako pleased her by praising the view and reciting softly some famous lines from the novel
Genji.

Lady Saisho smiled. ‘Yes, I dearly love this place and find the river’s sound soothing, but Lady Murasaki’s hero was troubled by it, I think. There are those who cannot bear the unceasing roar. They claim it is so deafening they cannot sleep.’ She glanced at Mrs Ishikawa, whose face reddened.

Akitada, impatient with pleasantries, said quickly, ‘Mrs Ishikawa and I are acquainted, and I am very glad to find her here. I tried in vain to speak to her a few days ago in Otsu.’

Mrs Ishikawa’s hands clenched, but Lady Saisho was interested. ‘Really? How very auspicious your visit was in that case. Would you like some privacy?’

‘Not at all. I only have a small favor to ask.’ Akitada smiled pleasantly at the ladies. Mrs Ishikawa’s hands relaxed slightly. ‘It concerns a little boy I found near Otsu. He has lost his voice and cannot speak for himself. I’ve been trying
to find his family and think he may be the son of a dead woman who had ties to the Masuda family. If so, Mrs Ishikawa can identify the child.’

Mrs Ishikawa cried, ‘Oh, no, I couldn’t. I know nothing of the child. I cannot speak about the matter.’

This astonished Lady Saisho. ‘My dear,’ she said, ‘calm yourself and allow Lord Sugawara to explain. We must try to assist him.’

Akitada told about finding the child, and Lady Saisho was enchanted. Oh, the poor boy. What a very moving tale!’ She turned to Mrs Ishikawa. ‘Why were you told not to speak about this?’

‘I … I m-made a mistake,’ Mrs Ishikawa gasped. ‘It had nothing to do with that boy.’

She was not a good liar.

‘I think,’ said Akitada, ‘that the senior lady of the Masuda household did not wish the name of the boy’s mother mentioned. Her name was Peony, and she was a former courtesan from the capital. Lady Masuda’s young husband kept her in the lake villa.’ He paused. ‘Peony was quite famous in her former life.’

Lady Saisho stared at him. ‘Peony was in Otsu? How old is this child?’

‘I guessed about five, but Mrs Ishikawa will know more precisely.’

They all looked at her. She flushed and cried again, ‘I know nothing. Why ask me? I told you it’s all a mistake. It has nothing to do with me.’