I. Parker - Death on an Autumn River

They stared at him and looked at each other, then shook their heads. Kunimitsu said cautiously, “A lot of people take that shortcut. And people get into fights.” He paused. “Was it you who wounded them?”

“Never mind what happened. Do I take it that you know nothing of these two?”

Kunimitsu frowned. “As I said, this is a legal establishment. I don’t allow weapons here. You’ll have to look elsewhere for your robbers.”

It had been a long shot and Kunimitsu’s answer might or might not be true. Akitada was almost certain that the man knew the two thugs, though he might not have knowledge of the attack or had a hand in getting them away. He looked at Kunimitsu’s companions. All but one looked back at him with blank faces. The one who was preoccupied with picking a scab on one of his feet, was the small one with the sharp features of a weasel.

Akitada missed Tora more than ever and decided that he would send for him. Experience had taught him painful lessons about meddling in the affairs of violent men. The last time he had taken matters into his own hands, he had angered a gang in the capital. They had buried him alive.

A shout outside made up his mind for him. With a nod to Kunimitsu, he hurried from the hostel.

Lieutenant Saeki stood in the street, looking around. When he saw Akitada leave the hostel, he came quickly.

“Thank heaven,” he said, adding sternly, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you, sir. It’s not safe for you to go about alone. Especially not after what happened to you earlier.”

The man was right, but the remark chafed. Akitada hated being thought of as a helpless official. He snapped, “Never mind that. Have you found out anything?”

The lieutenant looked offended, but he nodded. “An old crone in the house at the end of the street claims she saw something.”

The old one received them, enthroned on a barrel in front of her tiny home. She was surrounded by a group of women and children, their eyes wide with curiosity. Dressed in a plain brown cotton dress and barefoot, she had thrown a piece of old quilted bedding around her shoulders and from the distance, the colorful fabric looked a little like the costly, embroidered Chinese jackets worn by highborn ladies at court. Her long white hair hung loose and added to the aristocratic impression.

She watched them as they walked toward her and maintained a noble reserve when they arrived, but her eyes were quick and bright with interest.

Lieutenant Saeki addressed her. “Tell this gentleman what you told me, auntie.”

She studied Akitada’s tall figure in a leisurely fashion. He had the odd fancy that she searched for outward signs of depravity in his face, proof of physical weakness in his body, and bad taste in his clothes. When he cleared his throat, her eyes came back to his face, and she cackled.

He said, “Please, grandmother, if you have any news of the young man I lost, tell me. He is my responsibility. I must account for his welfare to his parents.”

She nodded. “Good! Parents should take care of their children. Children should take care of their parents. The Ancient One teaches this.” Her voice was high and strident, and she spoke in a singsong rhythm.

He said, “I also admire Master Kung-fu-tse. I see you are a wise woman.”

She pursed her lips. “He didn’t have any liking for women, the Ancient One.”

“Possibly his only mistake,” said Akitada politely.

He must have passed the test, for she decided to answer his question. “I sit here most days. I like to watch the sailor boys come and go.” She cackled again. “Such bodies! Young. Strong. Such muscles. Give me a muscular man any day. They make the best lovers because they don’t get tired.”

The women around her squealed and giggled. One of them covered her face and said, “Mother, please don’t say such things.”

The old one opened a toothless mouth and burst into more cackling laughter. “Stupid girl,” she told her daughter. “You with that weakling of a husband, what do you know?” She looked Akitada up and down again. “You’re tall for one of the good people. Do you please your wives in bed?”

Akitada kept a straight face. He had only one wife, who had ideas of her own on the subject. “As often as I possibly can.”

“Hehehe!” She slapped her thighs, then got serious again. “Well, I was sitting here when the boys from the Black Dragon passed by. Time for them to go home to Kyushu. I know them all. We pass comments as they walk by.” She grinned. “They like to show off to the women, even old ones like me. Those thighs and buttocks!” Her hands made grasping motions and she smacked her lips. “Sailors use those legs and hindquarters extra hard on a ship.” She winked at Akitada. “And elsewhere, too.”

The women covered their mouths and giggled again.

The old woman shot them a glance. “You know what I mean, don’t you girls? Hehehe. So long as your husbands are at work, what do they know?” Her daughter pulled her sleeve and muttered, “Please, Mother!”

Lieutenant Saeki was getting impatient. “Never mind all that. Get on with what you saw.”

The old woman glared at him. “Thighs and buttocks! That’s what counts in a man,” she said firmly, giving the lieutenant’s a disparaging glance. But she relented and turned back to Akitada. “There was a youngster with them. A city boy, wearing a prissy robe and hat, like you.” She grinned. “Couldn’t see his thighs and buttocks, but he was young and tall and eager. The kind of boy a woman can teach a thing or two.”

It must have been Sadenari. Akitada asked the lieutenant, “Where is the Black Dragon now?”

“It left hours ago.”

Akitada thanked the old woman, and took Saeki aside. “We must go after that ship. I believe my clerk was tricked and is on board.”

Saeki shook his head. “Can’t be done, sir. If he’s really on the Black Dragon, and there’s no proof of that, he’s on his way to Kyushu. You can’t catch that ship. It’s one of the fastest. And on its homeward journey, it’ll be even faster.”

Akitada bit his lip. What if the Black Dragon was run by pirates? Otherwise, surely they would have brought Sadenari back. He said, “Perhaps Watamaro could help us.”

Saeki grinned. “The Black Dragon’s not a pirate ship. It belongs to Watamaro, sir.”

*

Akitada and the lieutenant stopped at the Kawajiri harbor to ask if a young man of Sadenari’s description had been seen climbing into a boat with some sailors returning to the Black Dragon. They found no witnesses, perhaps because the ship was already in the channel and on the point of departure.

It was after dark before he reached Naniwa again. Although he was tired and his arm throbbed again, he went straight to Nakahara’s office. He almost did not recognize the room. Someone had removed the disordered piles of confiscated goods, and the space was now large, spare, and businesslike. All the empty space and the flickering light of candles and oil lamps emphasized the impression that he was walking into a court session. Governor Oga, Nakahara, and Munata awaited him, seated side by side like judges of the underworld awaiting the souls of wrongdoers.

Oga, his corpulence compressed in a stiff brown brocade robe and his double chins nearly strangled by the collar, sat in the middle and addressed him coldly and without preamble.

“Finally! Whatever the details and circumstances of your assignment, sir, it seems to me that it should have been handled differently. I don’t hold with secretiveness and prevarication. You should have reported to me when you first arrived here.”

He had a point. Courtesy as much as proper protocol required that the highest ranking official be apprised of problems immediately. But Akitada’s instructions had been to speak with Nakahara and investigate the matter quietly. The trouble was that it had not remained quiet.