Black Arrow sa-4 Page 16

  Genba made a growling noise inthe back of his throat and moved forward, but Hitomaro held him back. “No,brother,” he said in a low voice. “Stay out of this! If I’m not much mistaken,this is no ordinary brawl.”

  Hitomaro pushed aside thepeople in front of him and went to the body. Getting on one knee, he checkedthe victim. The beggar had been stabbed once in the chest and was quite dead. “Whathappened here?” he asked, getting to his feet.

  The handsome gentleman raisedhis brows. “Who are you?” He took a paper tissue from his sleeve and wiped hisfingers.

  “Lieutenant Hitomaro,provincial tribunal. Who are you? And what happened?” Hitomaro gestured to theinert figure on the ground. “Did you kill him?”

  “Ah, Lieutenant,” said theelegant stranger. “So many questions. It is difficult to guess your rankwithout your uniform. Yes, I’m afraid I had to kill the villain. A drunken loutwho attacked me. I’m Sunada.”

  The name rang a bell, andHitomaro gave him a sharp glance before bending over the body again. The deadman had the look of a ruffian and had been knifed through the heart.Straightening up, Hitomaro extended his hand. “The weapon?”

  Sunada sighed but handed over adully gleaming blade with a beautifully made silver handle. Hitomaro ran histhumb over the blade. “A dangerous toy,” he commented, tucking the knife intohis own sash. “Yours or his?”

  Sunada snorted. “Don’t beridiculous, man! Does he look like someone who can afford a fine blade likethat?”

  “Then the victim was unarmed?”

  “How should I know? And if hewas, so what?”

  “I’m wondering why you stabbedan unarmed person.”

  Sunada rolled his eyes. “Oh,you would try the patience of the Buddha himself! Look here, Lieutenant-if youare a lieutenant-I told you, he attacked me. I simply defended myself. Now geton with your duties. Have someone take the body away and write up your report.I’ll put my seal to it, and be on my way. I am already late for an importantmeeting. In case it is of interest, the governor has asked for my support withthe local business leaders. He will not thank you if you delay me.”

  Hitomaro shook his head. “Sorry,sir. There are regulations. It will take more time than that.”

  Sunada snapped, “It is urgent.We are trying to find ways to avert open rebellion in this city. Clearly youpeople at the tribunal are unable to handle anything.”

  Hitomaro smiled through grittedteeth. “There are rules to be followed in a case of violent death. Andquestions to be answered. For example, why and how did this man attack you?”

  “Dear heaven, what athickheaded fellow! I’m a rich man, and Koichi’s poor, as any idiot can see.”Sunada clenched his fists in anger and turned to the crowd. “Tell him,” hecried. “You all saw it, didn’t you?”

  The crowd began to inch away.Some people shook their heads.

  “You there!” Sunada pointed toa tall laborer. “Come here and tell this officer what happened.”

  The laborer shuffled closer,bowing many times to both Sunada and Hitomaro. “It is true what Mr. Sunadasays,” he said humbly and attempted to slink back.

  “Wait.” Hitomaro stopped him. “What’syour name?”

  With an anxious glance atSunada, the man muttered, “Rikio. A fisherman, sir, from Wild Swan village.”

  “All right. What did you see?”

  The fisherman pointed at thebody. “I saw him. Koichi. He was in front of Mr. Sunada. He looked angry. Hishands were waving, and he cursed. Koichi is a very bad person. A jailbird.”

  “Did he hit Mr. Sunada? Put hishands around Mr. Sunada’s throat? Throw stones? What did he do? What did hesay?”

  The fisherman looked at Sunadaand twisted his hands together. “He may have been hitting. I couldn’t hear thewords.”

  At this point, another man inthe dark brown ramie robe of a well-to-do merchant pushed through the crowd.After bowing to Sunada, he said to Hitomaro, “I am Tsuchiya, sake wholesaler. Ilive in the big house over there and saw everything from my upstairs window.Poor Mr. Sunada here was just walking along, when this dirty person stepped inhis way. Mr. Sunada was trying to pass, speaking calmly, but the man wasshouting and raising his arms. I myself thought he was mad and would kill Mr.Sunada. Thank heavens Mr. Sunada was quick. A great blessing to us all! What aloss Mr. Sunada’s death would have been to this city! I will gladly testify toMr. Sunada’s total innocence and to his excellent reputation in this province.”

  Hitomaro regarded the sakemerchant dubiously. Turning back to Sunada, he said, “What is your trade?”

  Sunada flushed angrily. “Everybodyknows I buy and sell rice and other goods here and in other provinces. Mywarehouses are in Flying Goose village near the harbor, and I keep a fleet ofsailing ships at anchor there. Now are you satisfied that I’m an honestcitizen?”

  Hitomaro ignored the question. “Didyou know the victim?”

  “I don’t keep company withcriminals.”

  “If you have never seen the manbefore, how did you know his name? Koichi, I believe, you called him?”

  “Of course I had seen him andknew he was called Koichi. Everyone in this town knew him as a dangerouscriminal.”

  “Ah! Have you ever beenattacked by him before?”

  “No, but as you saw, I alwayscarry a weapon.”

  Hitomaro nodded. “Very well.The rest can wait till later. You and your witnesses will follow me to thetribunal.” He looked about, saw two brawny bearers mingling with the crowd andwhistled to them. Before he could tell them where to take the body, Sunadaseized his arm.

  “Are you deaf or stupid? I toldyou that I don’t have the time,” he snapped. “If I can manage it, I shall stopby the tribunal sometime tomorrow.” Looking over Hitomaro’s shoulder at thesake merchant, he bowed slightly and said, “Good night, Tsuchiya. Give my bestto your family.”

  “Hey, where do you think you’regoing?” Hitomaro caught Sunada’s elbow just as the man was turning and spun himaround roughly. Sunada’s hand went to his empty sash. Hitomaro bared his teethand said, “Not this time, my friend. So. Resisting an officer of the law andthreatening him with bodily harm? I believe I shall put you in jail.”

  Sunada stepped back, his facepale with fury. He scanned the crowd, then raised his left hand, making a curiousgesture with his thumb and forefinger.

  The ones close to them fellsilent and moved back. Their places were taken by men in rough working clothes,brawny men with the deep tans of life outdoors, men with bulging shoulders andsinewy arms, men with the stubborn, dangerous faces of hired thugs.

  And there was Boshu, Sunada’soverseer. Boshu had a large iron spike in one hand and was tapping the palm ofthe other with it. “Mr. Sunada, sir,” he said to his master without taking hiseyes off Hitomaro, “we wondered if there was any trouble.”

  TWELVE

  THE TWISTED WAYS OF LOVE

  The early morning gathering in Akitada’s icy private office was subdued. Day wasbreaking outside, but the shutters were closed against the cold and a candleflickered in the drafts. Akitada himself sat white-faced with fatigue, hisshoulders hunched against the chill, his shaking hands tucked into his widesleeves. Tora had been nodding off and jerking himself awake earlier but wasstaring at Hitomaro now, who had just finished his report and was waiting withthe rigid face of a man expecting a reprimand.

  When Akitada said nothing, Toracould not restrain himself. “You mean you let that bastard walk away from acold-blooded murder? Committed in broad daylight in front of a large crowd? Bythe same man who sent his thugs after you once before? I can’t believe you’d beafraid to teach him a lesson when you caught him in the act!”

  Hitomaro, who was seatedstiffly next to him, compressed his lips but did not take his eyes from Akitada’stired face. “If I have acted improperly, sir,” he said, “I offer myresignation.”

  Outside the wind splattered wetsleet against the shutters like fistfuls of small pebbles.

  Akitada shivered again andblinked. “No, no. Pay no attention to Tora. He
is half asleep with exhaustion.You did quite right. A confrontation would have availed nothing and innocentpeople would have been hurt. Sunada is not going to abscond.” He gesturedtoward some documents on the desk. “I’ll have a look at the depositions later.”He sighed. “At the moment we have a more urgent problem. The Uesugi servant’sgrandson has disappeared. Tora and I spent the night turning Takata manor andthe surrounding country upside down.” In a weary voice he told Hitomaro oftheir investigation.

  Hitomaro relaxed a little. “Theboy must be dead or you would have picked up some trail.”

  Akitada clenched a hand. “Irefuse to believe that. It’s what they want us to think. Sooner or later therewill be a clue.”

  “In that case,” grumbled Tora, “Iwish you’d gone home when the doctor did, instead of wasting a whole nightsearching that accursed foxes’ den.”

  Hitomaro frowned hisdisapproval of such insolence, but Akitada said quite calmly, “It served itspurpose. After we talked to everyone and searched everywhere, neither Uesuginor his steward will dare punish the maid for reporting the disappearance. Andit may have gained us some goodwill from the servants. They seemed genuinelyfond of Toneo.”

  “Well,” muttered Tora after ahuge yawn, “I don’t care what you two do next. I’m going to bed. Send for melater if you have any orders.” He got up and stretched, yawning again.

  “Tora!” hissed Hitomaro.

  “Sit down, Tora. Hitomaro isnot finished.” Akitada’s voice was flat with exhaustion. “Go ahead, Hitomaro.You met Genba later, after you had taken the depositions?”

  “Yes, sir. Genba stayed in thecrowd to watch and listen.” Hitomaro smiled a little. “If there had been aconfrontation, Sunada’s thugs would’ve had their second surprise. You would notrecognize Genba. He’s huge and can toss a grown man farther than I can jump. Hewill win that match, I’m sure of it. After he saw that I was letting Sunada andhis goons go, Genba went to Flying Goose village. The fisherman Rikio”-Hitomarotapped the depositions on the desk-”is one of Sunada’s men. He got in debt andSunada helped him out. Now he’s working off the debt in Sunada’s warehouseswhen he’s not fishing. A lot of fishermen are in the same … er … boat.”

  Nobody chuckled. Akitada wasrummaging among the papers on his desk. “Yes, I thought so,” he muttered,shivering. “No doubt the sake merchant is equally obligated to Sunada. Where isSeimei? Is there any hot tea? Wine will put me to sleep and there is too muchwork to be done.”

  Hitomaro rose to call for Seimei.The old man arrived quickly, bowing to Akitada, and placing the tea utensils onthe desk. Coughing, he muttered something about hot water and left again.

  “I wish there were even thesmallest sign of support for imperial authority,” Akitada said peevishly. “Idislike the idea of serving as high constable, although there is both precedentand cause for it. If I could count on just a small faction to oppose Uesugi, Iwould gladly forgo that dubious honor.”

  Seimei reappeared with asteaming pot and prepared the tea.

  “Well, there’s the doctor,”Tora offered.

  Akitada said, “Yes. Thank youfor reminding me, Tora. Oyoshi is a good man and a loyal friend, I think.”

  Seimei poured water and offeredAkitada a steaming cup. “Friendship is a rare jewel,” he said, suppressinganother cough. “It may take more than a year to make a friend, but only amoment to offend him. Remember that, Tora.”

  “Thank you, Seimei.” Akitadadrank, then warmed his stiff fingers on the cup. “Tell me about the victim,Hito.”

  “His name is Koichi. He was aporter when he could get work, but he had a bad reputation and severalconvictions for theft and robbery.”

  Akitada clapped his hands andshouted, “Hamaya!” When the senior clerk bustled in and knelt, he asked, “Doyou remember a defendant by the name of Koichi?”

  “Koichi the porter? Oh, yes.Theft, robbery, intimidation, assault, and rape. A familiar face in thecourtroom and a man who does not seem to feel the pain of the bamboo. Ahardened case, sir. Is he in trouble again?”

  “He is the murdered man broughtin yesterday. I suppose Sunada will claim to have performed a civic duty.”

  Hamaya looked astonished. “Koichiis the man Mr. Sunada killed? That is strange!”

  “How so?”

  “Mr. Sunada employed Koichiafter his last jail term. I thought it most generous because Koichi’sreputation is well known. And now he attacked his benefactor!” Hamaya shook hishead in amazement.

  “Thank you, Hamaya.”

  When the clerk had left,Akitada remarked sourly, “The reports of Sunada’s good deeds multiply likeflies on a dead rat.”

  Seimei, on his way out, pausedat the door. “This Sunada sounds very suspicious to me. Best watch out for him.He is the kind they call a devil chanting prayers.” He coughed again and left.

  Silence fell. Akitada hunchedmore deeply into his robe and stared into space. Tora snored, began to topplesideways, and came awake. “Wha … ?”

  “Tora,” said Akitada, “go getsome sleep. We’re done for now.”

  Tora nodded groggily andstaggered from the room.

  “Sir, I am unworthy of yourgreat trust,” Hitomaro said, as soon as they were alone. He shifted to hisknees and touched his forehead to the floor. “I have let a personal matterinterfere with my duty.”

  Akitada smiled a little. “Donot look so worried. I have no doubt that you will rectify whatever troublesyou.”

  “Thank you, sir. I shall tryharder in the future.” Hitomaro paused, then said, “What Seimei said aboutfriendship, sir? I shall not forget it again.”

  “He meant it for Tora,” Akitadasaid, surprised.

  “I know, sir. But I almost hitGenba yesterday, and he was very kind …” Hitomaro broke off, overcome withthe memory of his friend’s generosity.

  Akitada got up and touched hisshoulder. “Never mind, Hito. These are difficult times for all of us.” Hesighed deeply. “That little boy asked my help. I cannot forget his eyes.”

  Hitomaro stood. “What can I doto help, sir?”

  Akitada pulled his earlobe andfrowned. “I wish I knew. There is Judge Hisamatsu. I am not sure he is mad-hestruck me more as a fool-but what you told me about his association with Chobeiis very strange. He is close to Uesugi and his home is on the road to Takata.You might see if you can find out anything.”

  Hitomaro nodded.

  “But first there is the matterof the fishmonger and his missing brother. It is time that case was settled.Arrest the fishmonger, and ask Captain Takesuke for more information about thebrother.”

  ¦

  Hitomaroglanced at the sky. The clouds were as low and thick as ever, and gusts of winddrove painfully sharp grains of sleet into his face and the backs of his hands.His armor was covered with a straw rain cape, and instead of a helmet he wore astraw hat which the wind would have torn off if he had not tied it on firmly.As it was, icy blasts pulled at the bow and quiver he had slung over hisshoulder and blew wisps of straw into his eyes.

  Back at the tribunal, Torawould be snoring in his warm quilts, and their master, no doubt, had alsoretired. Hitomaro did not begrudge them the rest after their night scouringTakata for the boy, but he, too, had lost sleep, though far more pleasantly. Infact, lost sleep had been a matter of both joy and shame to him for many daysnow.

  He intended to do penance byworking harder.

  The garrison gates stood wideopen in a welcoming manner. Hitomaro looked for guards and, finding theminexplicably absent, walked in.

  Inside the palisades, among thewooden barracks and on the exercise fields, was more evidence of relaxeddiscipline, if that was the word for it. Garbage was stacked in corners, thecourtyard was littered with horse droppings and dirty piles of snow, and thegarrison flags, slapping wetly against their poles, were tattered and torn.

  Hitomaro located theadministrative building and entered. In the large hall, groups of soldiers weregathered about braziers, throwing dice, drinking, talking, or sleeping. After acasual glance at his bow
and the sword protruding from under the straw cape,they paid no further attention to him, and Hitomaro walked past them to acorner that was screened off by makeshift stands covered with reed mats.

  He had guessed that this mustbe the commander’s office. Pushing aside one of the screens, he found CaptainTakesuke engaged in mutual fondling with a round-faced boy recruit. Theyoungster wore only a light robe and a loincloth, but the cold did not seem tobother him; he was flushed with wine or desire, and slow to disengage when bothbecame aware of Hitomaro.

  “What do you want?” snappedTakesuke. “Who sent you in here?”

  Hitomaro suppressed hisdisapproval, snapped to attention, and saluted. “Sorry, sir. There was nobodyat the gate, and the men outside seemed occupied. Lieutenant Hitomaro from thetribunal, on orders of the governor.”

  Takesuke pushed the half-nakedyouth away. “Well, Lieutenant,” he growled, “what is it that you want?”

  Hitomaro avoided eye contactand instead kept his gaze just above the captain’s right shoulder. “You aremissing a soldier by the name of Ogai, and we have a mutilated body at thetribunal. Goto, a local fishmonger, has identified it as that of his brotherOgai. This Goto has laid murder charges against a neighbor, but we have reasonto believe that Goto lied about the body. His Excellency has sent me for Ogai’smilitary documents.”

  “Ogai? That lazy bastard?”Takesuke glowered. “You mean he’s not dead after all? By the Buddha, he’ll wishhe were when I get my hands on him. Absent without leave again! He’s deserted,that’s what he’s done. And that sly weasel of a brother has made up the storyto save his own skin.” He slapped his hands on his knees. “If only there weresome action. That would keep the men out of trouble. Don’t you worry,Lieutenant. We’ll take care of the matter for his Excellency.”

  “May I ask, sir, why Goto wouldtell such a lie?”

  Takesuke stared. “Are youjoking?”

  Hitomaro shook his head. “Ofcourse not, sir. I am puzzled why a man would lay a false murder charge againstanother man. That’s an offense punishable with a hundred lashes.”