I. Parker - Death on an Autumn River

Otomo poured wine and offered the nuts and plums. “Knowledge lays obligations on a man,” he said. “Your own ancestor wrote movingly about our duty.” He quoted in Chinese: “‘Even if one turns away from harmony for just one night, suffering ensues.’ How very true that is.” He sighed deeply. “I’m afraid I have troubled you with my concerns.”

The Chinese quote came from one of Michizane’s poems. He felt a little resentful that Otomo had used the words of that most moral of men and statesmen to remind him of a man’s obligations, but he swallowed his displeasure. “I, too, must seek to reestablish harmony by returning a lost young man to his family. I see you’re still troubled by the death of the young girl?”

Otomo looked down at his folded hands. “Yes, it troubles me so much that I cannot sleep at night. It is difficult to know what to do. When one asks awkward questions of those in power, one is bound to cause more trouble. And in this case . . .” He paused, searching for words. “Perhaps I’d better tell you what I did. I took a boat to Eguchi and walked from brothel to brothel, asking if they employed foreign girls and if any had committed suicide. In the last house at the western edge of town, one of the young women said they had had a suicide recently. I sent for the owner of the house. She was very short with me when I told her why I had come. I persisted. Finally, she admitted that a girl had drowned herself and that the body of the girl had been taken away by her family. She said they had not been foreigners. When I tried to question her more closely, she became really angry. She snapped at me that she had no foreign girls and that I should stop listening to gossip and learn to appreciate our local beauties.” The professor blushed a little.

Akitada chuckled. “Awkward. But it need not mean anything except patriotic pride in her own girls.”

“Possibly, except for what happened next. I left, but I hadn’t walked very far when the girl I had spoken to called after me. She was nervous, but she offered to sell me information. It was dear, but I paid. She told me the girl who died had been so unhappy that she couldn’t bear her life any longer, and that there had been others.”

“Do you mean other foreigners or other suicides?”

Otomo admitted, “I didn’t ask. She seemed a little resentful of the dead girl.”

Akitada’s interest was aroused by this. Very wealthy men with certain sexual obsessions might make it worthwhile for the owner to provide them with a particular kind of female. If the girls had been foreign and very young and pretty, the brothel keeper might have supplied a special demand. “Did she say anything about who the clients were?”

“Oh, no. . . er . . . she didn’t know.”

“I really wish I had the time to look into this. If your suspicions are correct, it sounds like a very unsavory situation. But there is nothing to say how the girl died, or that she wasn’t sold into the trade legitimately by her parents.”

“There was the amulet,” Otomo said sadly. “A family who gives such a thing to their daughter doesn’t sell her.”

There was no answer to that. Akitada emptied his cup and sighed. “Forgive me. I must seem very uncaring to you, but I have my own obligations. Perhaps when my clerk is found and my assignment is finished, I can stop in Eguchi on my homeward journey and ask a few questions.”

Otomo did not persist. “You’re very generous. Even the fact that you have listened to me is a great encouragement. Sometimes one feels so helpless.”

*

The feeling of helplessness Akitada could well relate to. It was dark by the time he got back to the hostel. There was still no news of Sadenari, but he found a message from Watamaro that the Black Dragon was headed for Bizen province, and that he hoped to catch up with it there. He did not say how long that would take.

Akitada’s conviction that the youngster was dead increased, and he shuddered at the thought that he must tell his parents. He had made arrangements with the fat manager to leave Sadenari’s bag there for him to pick up when or if he returned. He let the man think that the young man’s absence was no more than a sightseeing trip. The manager nodded, then said, “There was a fellow here, looking for you. I said you’d gone to the harbor.”

Hoping it was Sadenari after all this time, Akitada asked, “What sort of fellow?”

The fat man made a face. “Young and big. A proper thug. He threatened me. Best watch out for that one, sir.”

Not Sadenari then. Could one of the men who had attacked him be so foolhardy as to attack him again? He decided it was not impossible, given the attitude of the local authorities. After all he had been through, it even seemed possible that the governor, the prefect, or Nakahara, singly or in concert, had hired killers to get rid of him.

He thanked the man and went in search of his evening meal while keeping his eyes open against trouble.

He had not gone far when he heard a shout, “Sir, sir!” and turned.

“Tora?” Surprise and pleasure gave way to puzzlement. He could not have made the trip quite this quickly. “Has anything happened?”

Stopping before him, Tora grinned. “All’s well. I was here earlier but you were out. Her ladyship sent me to check up on you.” He chuckled. “I didn’t object. A trip to see the beauties of the river towns was just what I wanted.”

“I’m very glad to see you, but does Hanae know why you’re so eager to be here?”

“No, but don’t worry. I’m a faithful husband these days. Still, no harm in looking, right?”

Akitada gave up. “As it happens, I did send for you this morning. You must have missed my letter. My clerk has disappeared, and I’ve run into trouble in Kawajiri. I should have brought an armed escort, but you’ll do.”

They had almost reached the restaurant where they planned to eat their evening rice, when someone hailed them. Akitada’s heart sank. It was Otomo again. He glanced at Tora. “It’s the professor I mentioned,” he said.

Tora’s eyes lit up.

No wonder, Akitada thought. A case of a drowned courtesan in Eguchi was just what Tora would like to investigate. Heaven forbid that Sadenari’s fascination with the drowned girl should be reborn in Tora. He could not afford to have another assistant take off and possibly disappear. “Let’s hope he won’t detain us,” he added.

Otomo made his bow and Akitada made introductions.

Tora said immediately, “My master told me the story of the drowned girl, sir. I think we should investigate, find out who she is, and who killed her.”

Otomo blinked at so much enthusiasm. “Your honored master thinks it was an ordinary suicide,” he said cautiously. “I agree. The brothel keeper is married to the local warden. That explains why they don’t want to talk about it. It’s bad for business to have too many suicides.”

Tora said darkly, “I bet that female’s up to no good. I can see it now. Young girls are stolen and forced to work in brothels, and the law does nothing about it because the warden is in the business, too. It’s the perfect set-up. For all we know, there may be hundreds of young women like that in the other towns just like Eguchi. And what happens if the girls don’t obey? Most likely they’re killed. There’s nobody to ask questions because their families don’t know what happened to them.”

Akitada cleared his throat. “We don’t know that, Tora. What we have is one drowning victim and rumors of two or three girls that may have come from Koryo.”

Otomo hung his head and said, “I cannot help feeling a sense of responsibility, but perhaps I have become too involved. Please forget what I said before.”