Laura Rowland - The Fire Kimono

“Perhaps not on her own,” Doi said, “but she didn’t act alone. She had an accomplice. He was Tadatoshi’s tutor, a young Buddhist monk named Egen. They wanted to extort ransom money from Tadatoshi’s father.”

“How do you know?” Sano said.

Maybe it’s true, the detective part of his mind whispered. You can’t decide that a suspect is innocent just because you want her to be. And how well do you really know your mother?

“I overheard Egen and your mother talking,” Doi said. “They said they needed money and Tadatoshi’s father was rich. Your mother said, ‘He’d do anything to save Tadatoshi.’ Egen said, ‘We’ll watch Tadatoshi and wait for the right moment.’”

The dubiousness of this evidence didn’t ease Sano’s fears for or about his mother. “This conversation took place when?”

“About a month before Tadatoshi disappeared.”

“That would be forty-three years ago,” Sano said. “What a memory you have, if you can remember an entire conversation after that long.”

“My memory is good,” Doi said, refusing to be shaken.

“Then let’s test your memory a little further. Did you actually hear my mother and this tutor say they were going to kidnap Tadatoshi and collect ransom?”

“Well, no,” Doi admitted reluctantly. “But that’s what they meant to do.”

“If so, then why didn’t you stop them?” Sano said. “You were Tadatoshi’s bodyguard. Why did you just twiddle your thumbs and let him be kidnapped?”

“I didn’t realize what their conversation meant,” Doi said, defensive now. “Not until yesterday, after the skeleton was found. Before then I’d always thought Tadatoshi died in the Great Fire. So did everyone else. But now I know better.”

“Was there any ransom demand ever made?” Sano said.

“Well, no, but-”

“You didn’t hear my mother and the tutor admit they killed Tadatoshi, did you? Because if you did, you’d have taken action against them then.”

Doi’s testy expression was his answer. “When they kidnapped him, something must have gone wrong and they killed him instead of ransoming him. He was murdered, and she did it.”

He pointed at Sano’s mother. Lord Matsudaira and Lord Arima nodded judiciously. The shogun followed their example.

“Those are some pretty big leaps from a vague conversation you heard forty-three years ago to kidnapping to murder,” Sano said disdainfully. The shogun frowned as if vacillating, and Lord Matsudaira started to look wary. “Have you any proof that things happened as you expect us to believe?”

“I don’t need any.” Doi’s posture stiffened with anger. “I know what I know.”

“That’s not good enough.” Sano said, “Your Excellency, this man has made up his whole story.”

“That’s a lie,” Doi declared. “Why would I?”

Sano couldn’t say, Because you’re Lord Matsudaira’s lackey and it would benefit him if my mother was condemned. For the shogun to learn about their fight for control of the regime would be worse for Sano than for Lord Matsudaira, whose blood ties to the shogun might shield him from execution for treason. He could live to fight another day, but Sano, an outsider, would be put to death.

Instead Sano said, “Maybe you feel guilty because Tadatoshi died on your watch and you need someone to blame. But I bet you have an even more personal reason for accusing my mother. You killed him, and you’re trying to protect yourself.”

“I didn’t!” Offense darkened Doi’s face. “I was loyal to Tadatoshi. I would never have touched him!”

“My findings indicated that Tadatoshi was hacked to death with a sword. Does my mother look capable of that? It sounds more in your line.”

Doi tightened his features, masking alarm. The shogun said timidly, “Sano-san has a good point.”

“Sano-san is just trying to save his mother,” Lord Matsudaira said. “Don’t listen to him. She killed Tadatoshi. She deserves to be condemned.”

“Not on such flimsy evidence from a man who looks to be an even better suspect,” Sano said.

“I’ll vouch for Colonel Doi’s truthfulness, Honorable Cousin,” Lord Matsudaira said with a narrow-eyed glare at Sano. “I advise you to execute this woman at once. Furthermore, the murder of your relative constitutes treason. By law, her whole family should share her punishment. That includes her son-Chamberlain Sano.”

Sano’s men, who’d been listening in appalled silence, stepped forward to protect him. Lord Matsudaira’s men surged at them. Sano was sick and tired of being threatened with death during investigations. He swore a private oath that this was the last time Lord Matsudaira would ever put him in that position. But first he had to get out of this mess.

“Don’t let your cousin or his flunky manipulate you, Your Excellency,” Sano said. “Don’t let me, either. Use your own judgment. Look at my mother. Does she seem guilty to you?”

“Well, ahh-” The shogun walked around her, inspecting her from all angles. She huddled, forlorn and passive. “I must say she looks like a nice, harmless old lady.”

Lord Matsudaira started to speak, but Sano said, “Would you want your mother condemned to death based on forty-three-year-old hearsay?”

Everyone knew the shogun was devoted to his own mother. Stricken, he said, “Certainly not. Perhaps I’ve made a mistake.”

He spoke as if that were something new. Sano dared to think his mother was safe. So did Lord Matsudaira and Colonel Doi, judging by their sour expressions. But the shogun said, “Sano-san, forgive me if I mistreated your mother, but I’m taking very seriously the, ahh, charges against her. You may continue your investigation, but if you don’t exonerate her, I will be forced to execute you both.”

“Don’t forget his wife, his children, and all his close associates,” Lord Matsudaira said, brightening. “In the meantime, I’ll take his mother to await her fate in Edo Jail.”

Sano was alarmed at the thought of her in that hellhole. “She belongs to a samurai clan. That entitles her to house arrest instead of jail. With your permission, Your Excellency, I’ll take her to my estate.”

“Granted,” the shogun said.

Sano gently raised his mother. “It’s all right, Mother, you’re coming home with me.”

She leaned against him as he walked her toward the door. Colonel Doi watched, his eyes calculating losses and strategies, like a commander on a battlefield. She didn’t look at him or anyone else. Sano couldn’t begin to think how to exonerate her. His first concern was her health.

“Don’t let her get too comfortable at your estate,” Lord Matsudaira said, confident that although he’d lost this battle with Sano, he would win their war. “She won’t be staying there long. And neither will you.”

“Excuse me, Lady Reiko?” said Lieutenant Asukai. He hovered in the door of her chamber.

“Yes?” Reiko knelt at her dressing table, where she’d just finished applying her makeup. “What is it?”

Asukai’s expression was somber. “Bad news, I’m afraid.”

Reiko glanced at the open wall partitions. In adjacent rooms, Masahiro recited a lesson to his tutor, and Akiko teased the maids while they swept the floor. Reiko pointed to the children and put her finger to her lips as she beckoned Asukai to enter.

“One of my informants has told me that Lord Matsudaira has a spy planted in this house,” he whispered.

The news didn’t exactly surprise Reiko. She knew that Sano had spies in the Matsudaira house, people who worked there but were also secretly in Sano’s pay. Why shouldn’t Lord Matsudaira have done the same? But Reiko was dismayed nonetheless.

“Who is it?” she asked.