Laura Rowland - The Incense Game

Riding away from the house, Hirata paused to look in the direction that Tahara, Kitano, and Deguchi had gone, across debris piles, falling snow, toward the distant hills. What else hadn’t they told him? Hirata vowed to do what he should have done before he’d joined the society-find out more about them. Since he didn’t trust them to tell him, he must look elsewhere for information.

“We need to find the incense teacher’s apprentice,” Sano told Detective Marume as they rode with their troops along the highway toward the city. “As soon as we get back to the castle, you’ll organize a manhunt.”

“All right,” Marume said.

Sano wished Marume would show some interest in the case, some sign of his old self, but Marume rode like a sleepwalker propped in the saddle.

Snow filled the gray air. It covered the empty streets by the time Sano and his party reached the city. Sano blinked flakes out of his eyes as he watched nature obscure the ruins. He pictured seasons passing, the trees, grasses, and vines shooting forth during springs and summers to cover stone foundations, the rains rotting wood and dissolving plaster, until there remained no evidence that humans had ever lived here. Sano felt guilty because he’d spent the morning investigating the murders when he should have been rebuilding Edo.

In the daimyo district, he heard the muffled cadence of horses’ hooves. Through a veil of falling snow he saw an army of mounted samurai approaching. The leaders wore helmets with curved horns. Their troops flew banners from poles on their backs. The army bristled with swords, spears, bows, and quivers of arrows.

Sano’s heart began to race with the dread and excitement that preceded a battle. His samurai blood rose up as if in the memory of other battles before he was born, those his ancestors had fought. He and his troops reined in their mounts. The army halted some twenty paces away. Sano spied the symbol on the nearest banner, a large dot circled by eight smaller dots-the Hosokawa clan crest. Lord Hosokawa lifted his hand in greeting. He left his comrades and rode toward Sano. He looked different in his horned helmet-sterner and stronger. Sano rode out and met Lord Hosokawa in the middle of the space between their parties.

“I was on my way to see you,” Lord Hosokawa said. “To ask whether you’ve made any progress.”

Sano glanced beyond Lord Hosokawa. He recognized the three other men wearing horned helmets. They were Lords Mori, Maeda, and Date. They acknowledged him with stiff, formal bows. Sano realized they were the daimyo who wanted to overthrow the Tokugawa regime, who were courting Lord Hosokawa’s support. They numbered among the wealthiest lords with the largest domains and armies.

“Do they know?” he asked Lord Hosokawa.

“About our bargain?” A humorless smile thinned Lord Hosokawa’s mouth. “No. Your finding out who killed my daughters isn’t in their interest. I haven’t told them, and I won’t.”

“If they knew, they would sabotage my investigation so that I’ll fail and you’ll support their revolt,” Sano deduced.

Lord Hosokawa shrugged, impatient. “Well? Is there any progress?”

“I’ve found some potential suspects.”

Lord Hosokawa pounced on the words like a starving man seizes food. “Who are they?”

“I can’t tell you yet.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want you chasing after people to take revenge on them before I’ve ascertained whether they’re really guilty,” Sano said. “I won’t let you hurt someone who turns out to be innocent.”

“Why do you think I would take such a rash, foolish action?” Lord Hosokawa said, offended as well as incredulous.

“I didn’t think you would blackmail me into solving your daughters’ murders or consider revolting against the Tokugawa regime,” Sano said.

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll-”

“What? Tell your friends to count you in on their revolt? And start it now?” Sano’s temper flared. “Who’s going to hunt for your daughters’ murderer during a civil war?”

“Don’t you mock me!” Lord Hosokawa glanced over his shoulder at the other daimyo waiting in the snow with their troops.

“Are you going to ask them to kill me?” Sano said. “Do you have that much control over them?”

“Yes, fortunately for you.” Lord Hosokawa laughed, an ugly sound of disgust directed at himself as well as Sano. Sano could see that he didn’t like the man he’d become since he’d learned of his daughters’ murders, but he was powerless to change. “Because I’m all that stands between them and the shogun.”

He galloped back to the other daimyo. Sano sat alone, astride his horse, watching them and their troops ride off. He expelled his breath against snowflakes that smote his face. As he returned to his own troops, he happened to glance at a street that intersected the avenue. There, between crumbled walls, stood a small party of mounted samurai, watching him. Hoods and wicker hats obscured their identities, but Sano recognized the hunched figure of one man.

It was Ienobu.

Reiko climbed out of her palanquin in the courtyard at home. The estate looked even bleaker than usual, with the snow coating the debris piles and the damaged mansion. Sano rode up with his troops, and she was reluctant to tell him what she’d learned.

“I didn’t expect you back this soon,” she said.

“There’s been a development,” Sano said as he leaped off his horse.

Reiko could tell from his manner that the development wasn’t as good as he would have liked. “Is it about the incense master? Didn’t you find him?”

“I did.” As they went into the house and hung their outdoor garments in the entryway, Sano described his meeting with Mizutani. “He had plenty of reason to hate Usugumo, and possibly enough to kill her, although I’m not certain he’s guilty. There’s still Korin, the missing apprentice. Except for him, I haven’t any other leads.”

“I have, but I’m afraid you won’t like them.”

“Mama! Papa!” Akiko met them in the corridor. “Come see my new house!”

Delighted to have both parents home in the daytime for once, she seized their hands and towed them into their chamber. There she’d created a house under a table that rested atop two stacks of iron trunks. Four dolls sat on the floor in the space, miniature dishes arranged in front of them. Akiko scrambled inside and knelt by the dolls. “We’re having a party.”

Reiko and Sano smiled. “That’s very clever,” Sano said.

Children were better than adults at enduring the conditions caused by the earthquake, Reiko thought. They could make a game of it. Reiko described her visit to the Hosokawa estate and the animosity between Lord Hosokawa’s wife and concubine. She related the maid’s story about the rivalry between the two sisters.

“I’m afraid that if I had to guess how the murders happened, I would say that either Kumoi or Myobu put the poison in the incense, in an attempt to kill the other,” Reiko said. “And she ended up killing herself and Madam Usugumo.”

“It doesn’t matter whether I like that scenario. The problem is Lord Hosokawa. I met him on my way home. He was with the daimyo who want to start a rebellion.” Sano gave Reiko the gist of their conversation.

Reiko sensed that Sano hadn’t told her everything. “What else?”

“Ienobu saw me with Lord Hosokawa.”

Dismay chimed in Reiko because she knew Ienobu had wedged himself into the shogun’s inner circle and that Sano didn’t trust him. “Did he hear what you and Lord Hosokawa said?”

“I don’t think so. He wasn’t close enough. But I think he knows something is going on between Lord Hosokawa and me.”