I. Parker: The Emperor's woman

He found the superintendent inspecting the adjoining jail. Few ranking officials in his post would have troubled themselves with such a depressing and disgusting chore. Prisoners came from the dregs of humanity and were not treated very well. They were dirty and crawled with vermin, and their cells stank in spite of frequent cleanings. Kobe felt strongly that the situation would become intolerable if he did not walk through both jails at least once a week and unannounced.

He broke off his inspection when he saw Akitada. They returned to his office, where they took the bad taste out of their mouths with a cup of wine.

“What brings you?” Kobe asked, after smacking his lips and setting his cup down. He was usually abrupt and got to the point quickly.

“Prince Atsuhira,” Akitada said, equally blunt.

Kobe’s face fell. “No. You can’t. Believe me, that’s not for you.”

“I have to disagree. My best friend is involved.”

“Your best friend?” Kobe looked hurt.

“My other best friend.” Akitada smiled. “Kosehira.”

“Oh, him.” Kobe pursed his lips. “If this is about the conspiracy charge against Atsuhira, I have nothing to do with it. And that business is definitely not a good thing to meddle in.”

“I’m really here about Lady Masako’s so-called suicide. But I think the two cases are connected.”

Kobe’s eyes widened, and he sat up. “You can’t be serious. That’s ridiculous! You’re really reaching this time. And how do you come to know about her? Never mind. I see Kosehira told you. He’s another meddler. He should know better than to talk about it.”

“How much of an investigation did you do before shuffling the body off to her family?”

The superintendent flushed. “Are you accusing me of a cover-up?”

Akitada wished he had been more circumspect. Kobe was thin-skinned when it came to his work, and he had a notorious temper. “Sorry. I know there were good and sufficient reasons to protect her reputation and that of Prince Atsuhira.”

“Not to mention His Majesty’s feelings.”

“That too. But the point is, was there anything peculiar about her death?”

“Peculiar? If one of His Majesties women jumps off a cliff, I’d call that peculiar.”

“You know what I meant. She could have been thrown over.”

“What? You think this was murder?” Kobe flushed with anger. “Why do you always assume the worst? And why do you still have no confidence in my methods after all these years?”

Awkward.

Akitada thought of Kosehira. Whatever had happened to the dead lady, it was the living who must be protected. “You’re my friend and I trust you,” he said in a soothing tone. “Please bear with me. I’m just trying to understand the connections. Kosehira is innocent of conspiracy. I know him. He’s simply not political. He’s always stood up for me, and I was never a popular man. I cannot let this happen because he was good-natured enough to be a friend to the prince.”

Kobe grunted. Then he said, “There’s not much to tell. Your friend asked to speak to me privately. Naturally, I accommodated him-because of his rank, but also because he came as your friend. His story was shocking. It involved an affair between an imperial prince and one of His Majesty’s women. Furthermore, this lady was lying dead in Atsuhira’s summer villa, where he’d been meeting her. I used discretion and went to see Atsuhira. He was in a terrible state. Together we rode to his villa where I inspected the corpse, was told of the letter she’d written the prince, retraced her path to the cliff, and climbed down to the streambed where he’d found her. Then I spoke with the old couple who were the caretakers. They knew only that the lady had arrived and gone into the house to await the prince. In other words, there was nothing whatsoever to indicate that she hadn’t committed suicide.” Kobe stopped and looked at Akitada as if he dared him to challenge his findings.

Akitada thought about it. “The letter,” he mused. “It hinges on that letter. Anything odd about it?”

Kobe frowned. “No. Why should there be? The prince told me what it said. It seemed a bit flowery, but you know how emotional women get. All about taking the dark path alone and meeting again in paradise.”

“Hmm. Did she say why she was taking such a step?”

“I asked the prince, who wasn’t altogether rational. He burst into tears, then confessed she was expecting their child, and perhaps her condition had made her unstable. He seemed to think women do strange things at such a time, but he insisted she’d been happy about the child and that he’d planned to take her to wife. Then he started moaning, and I couldn’t get another sensible word out of him.”

“And the body? What injuries did you find?”

“What you’d expect with a fall from that height. She fell at least fifty feet onto a rocky streambed. Broken limbs. Bleeding from the mouth, nose, ears. Badly broken skull.” Kobe frowned. “She must have hit head first,” he added.

“Head first? Surely that’s strange. You would expect her to step off and fall straight down. You’d expect her lower limbs to take the brunt of the impact. Or, if she let herself fall forward, she’d hit flat and face down. Was her face damaged?”

Kobe’s frown deepened. “No. I doubt anyone would dive down a precipice. But Akitada, what does it matter? She died from the fall. All the bleeding proves that. If she’d been dead already and then tossed over, she wouldn’t have bled so much. Besides, there was no sign that anyone helped her to her death. Remember, she’d been alone. The two old people couldn’t have managed such a thing.”

But his voice sounded less certain. Akitada asked, “You checked for tracks?”

“Yes. But it snowed that night, and later the prince and the old man searched for her. They both say they saw no tracks.”

“Ah. Not even hers. The snow was expected?”

“Perhaps it was, but I still don’t see how that matters.”

“Come, Kobe, what do you really think?”

Kobe shook his head. “That it’s far too dangerous to investigate this case. Think of all the people we would offend. The emperor first of all. Then Lady Masako’s father and her family. And Prince Atsuhira. And finally whoever was behind it.” He added quickly, “If someone did, in fact, stage it.”

“Yes,” said Akitada. He felt an inner satisfaction. So Kobe had some doubts after all.

Kobe gave him a look, and silence fell.

“But that doesn’t make it right,” Akitada said.

“No.”

“Then you’re with me on this?”

Kobe glared. “Let’s say I’m dissatisfied with the whole situation.” He paused. “And I’m resentful that I’ve been dragged into it by your friend.” Throwing up his hands, he protested, “What good is it to expect me to investigate and tell me that no one must know about it?”

“Yes, that’s a problem. What did you do with Lady Masako?”

“We-the prince and I-carried her to a nearby monastery. The monks are very holy, and it’s a small community. They prayed and read sutras over her. The prince attended the services, while I hurried back to the capital and sent an overnight messenger to her father. Minamoto Masaie arrived immediately in a state of grief and fury. He and the prince huddled behind closed doors. In the end, Lord Masaie took Lady Masako’s body home to Sagami with him. End of story.”

“I see. But it isn’t really the end, is it? I wish I knew more about the relationship between Masaie and Prince Atsuhira. The prince seems to have calmed down the father’s anger. I wonder how.” Akitada got up. “Thank you, my friend. I’ll try to find out what the prince thinks of all this.”