Laura Rowland - The Iris Fan

“Did you see anyone?” Sano wanted to know whether a witness he hadn’t located yet had seen Madam Chizuru and could corroborate her story.

“No.”

“It must have been dark. How did you find your way?”

Her breath made a little hitching sound. “I took a lamp with me. I forgot to say.” She hurried on. “I went in the shogun’s chamber.” Her jowls trembled, the loose flesh like empty, shaken sacks. “I–I shone the lamp on the bed. The shogun was asleep. I–I drew back the quilt. And then I took the fan and I stabbed him.” She sounded relieved to finish rather than upset because she was guilty of attempted murder.

“How many times?” Sano asked.

Panic glazed Madam Chizuru’s eyes. “Why, I–I don’t remember. I just did it. Then he started screaming, and I ran away.”

Sano wondered whether the number of stab wounds was a detail missing from the news that had spread through the castle. He urgently wanted a reason to believe her confession. “Let’s back up for a moment. When did Lord Ienobu ask you to stab the shogun?”

“A few days ago?” She spoke as if she hoped it was a good answer.

“How did he ask you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Did he come here to speak with you? Did you go to see him?” Those were events that might have been witnessed by someone.

The fear in Madam Chizuru’s expression deepened. “Lord Ienobu sent me a letter?”

“How was the letter delivered? By messenger?”

“I–I don’t know. I found it in my room. He-he must have had someone put it there.”

“Where is this letter?” Sano asked skeptically.

“It said to burn it after I read it. So I did.”

Disappointed, and more skeptical than ever, Sano asked, “Where did you get the fan?”

“In a shop in Nihonbashi.” She sounded as if she were on firmer ground.

Sano had seen similar fans for sale in the merchant district. She probably had, too, even if she’d never bought this one. “Which shop?”

“I don’t remember.”

“What is the design on the fan?”

Her hands twisted together like a small, frightened animal under her sleeves. Sano thought she didn’t know because she’d never seen the fan and hadn’t heard about the painted irises. She blurted, “Why must you ask me all these questions?”

“I’m trying to make sure you’re telling the truth.” And the truth was in the details.

“I am!”

Never had Sano met a criminal so determined to convince him of her guilt or so inept at it. “Did somebody put you up to confessing?”

“No.” Madam Chizuru met Sano’s gaze for a moment before averting her eyes. “It was my own idea.”

Sano leaned out the door to ask the guard if anybody had visited Madam Chizuru since yesterday. He saw the crowd of people eavesdropping in the passage-Masahiro, Detective Marume, and Yanagisawa’s troops.

“I’m not answering any more questions!” Madam Chizuru cried. “I stabbed the shogun. I confessed. That should be enough.”

“It’s enough for me,” Lieutenant Haneda told Sano. “Arrest her. Tell the shogun.”

“Not until I’ve checked out her story,” Sano said. “It’s as full of holes as your head.”

Glowering at the insult, Haneda advanced. “If you won’t, I will.”

Madam Chizuru moaned and covered her mouth with her hands. She seemed to realize for the first time what trouble she was in. Sano blocked the door and said, “You’re not in charge of the investigation. Get out.”

“Sano- san , listen.” Marume inserted himself between Sano and Haneda. “She confessed. The shogun deserves to be told.”

“This is our chance to get Lord Ienobu!” Masahiro called over Marume’s shoulder.

Now Sano found himself set against his son and his retainer. “I won’t let her or Lord Ienobu be condemned until I’m sure they’re guilty.” According to his code of honor, even Ienobu, damn him, deserved fair play.

“It’s not up to you,” Haneda said.

Yanagisawa’s other men invaded the room and dragged Madam Chizuru out. She began howling. Her legs collapsed. The troops carried her down the corridor. Women emerged from their chambers, gasping and murmuring as they watched.

“Lock her in the tower,” Haneda told the troops. “Tell Yanagisawa- san what happened. I’m going to the shogun.” He said to Sano, “You and your people can come if you like.”

* * *

The physician met Sano, Marume, Masahiro, and Lieutenant Haneda at the door of the shogun’s bedchamber. “His Excellency is asleep. He shouldn’t be disturbed.”

“He’ll want to wake up for this.” It was Yanagisawa, arriving with Yoshisato, both short of breath from running and jubilation.

“Did you force Madam Chizuru to confess?” Sano asked. When he saw Yoshisato, he did a double take. Yoshisato was groomed as a samurai-shaved crown, oiled topknot, and silk robes. Except for the tattoos, it was as if he’d never left the court.

“You give me too much credit,” Yanagisawa said. “Not even I could make that tough old bag put her neck on the chopping block.”

He swept past the physician into the chamber where two bodyguards sat by the shogun’s bed. Yoshisato followed; he seemed occupied with his own thoughts. Sano eyed him curiously as he entered with Marume and Masahiro.

Yanagisawa knelt beside the shogun. “Your Excellency?”

The shogun opened sunken, crusted eyes in a gray face. He’d declined since morning. A different smell tainted the air-the smell of decay.

“Good news,” Yanagisawa said. “The person who stabbed you has been arrested.”

Interest animated the shogun’s groggy expression. “Who is it?” His voice was a croak.

“It’s Madam Chizuru, the otoshiyori . She confessed.”

Sano stepped forward. “It’s not certain she’s guilty. Her confession-”

The shogun spoke over him. “Why did she do it?”

“Excuse me, Your Excellency,” Sano said, “but her confession is extremely dubious.”

“Because Lord Ienobu told her to,” Yanagisawa said. “He wanted you dead so that he could be shogun. He sent Madam Chizuru to assassinate you.”

“Merciful gods, it’s true.” The shogun’s face turned grayer. “My nephew is responsible.”

“She couldn’t tell me how many times you were stabbed,” Sano said. “She couldn’t describe the fan.”

Detective Marume whispered, “Sano- san , for the love of all of us, be quiet.” Masahiro whispered, “Father, please.” Yoshisato observed the spectacle with dawning distrust.

Sano was well aware that he was arguing against his own interests, but his hunger for justice had become so entrenched. He was too stubborn to change, or too old. “I think it’s because she doesn’t know. She may be innocent, and so may Lord Ienobu.”

“Yesterday you were ready enough to believe that Ienobu was responsible for the attack.” Yanagisawa gave Sano a look that reminded him of their pact, threatening him with mayhem if he didn’t cooperate.

The opium spread blankness across the shogun’s expression. Yanagisawa hurried to press his case. “It’s for Your Excellency to decide. Madam Chizuru confessed. Either she’s guilty and she’ll be punished, or she’s not and you may never get revenge on the person who stabbed you.”

“Those aren’t the only outcomes,” Sano said, sick and tired of Yanagisawa’s fast talk. “If Your Excellency accepts her confession without letting me verify it, you could be condemning innocent people while letting the real assassin go free.”

The shogun’s gaze moved back and forth between Sano and Yanagisawa, his eyes skittering like pebbles in their hollow sockets. “Nobody in her right mind would confess if she were innocent. She must be guilty.” He moaned at a spasm of pain.