I Parker - The Fires of the Gods

Torn between the urgency of saving Jirokichi and his promise to Hanae to be careful, he chose duty to his family. He walked quickly to the Fragrant Peach.

By now the hour for the midday rice was past, and the place was dimly lit and empty of customers. The fire in the hearth had been banked, and the heavy cauldron was gone. Only the girl was there, sweeping the dirt floor.

‘Well met, pretty flower,’ Tora called out, hoping to overcome her hostility with charm. ‘Where do I find the local warden?’

She glowered at him. ‘We’re not open.’

‘Oh, come, you can answer a simple question.’

‘No time. Go away.’

Tora stood his ground. ‘How about your boyfriend, then?’

She flushed and cast a glance towards the back door. ‘I have no boyfriend,’ she snapped.

Tora grinned. So, the young scamp was hiding out back there, probably just biding his time before jumping her again. Boys his age never thought of anything but sex. ‘I saw you two together. You were very friendly to him in the alley outside.’

She stopped working and stared at him.

‘Maybe this is something you do on the side for money and to keep customers happy.’

With a shriek of fury, she raised the broom and rushed him. Tora jumped up easily, sidestepped her with a laugh, and caught her round the middle with one arm, while he twisted the broom from her fingers with the other. She struggled and spat in his face. Tora dropped the broom and gave her a good shake. ‘All right, my girl,’ he said. ‘Enough of this nonsense. Someone’s in bad trouble and I need help. It’s either the warden or Tojiro.’

She stopped fighting him. Holding on to her, Tora swung about and found himself face to face with the gray-haired deaf mute.

Her daddy.

Carrying the cauldron.

Tora saw the coiled-up violence in the man’s eyes and knew it was about to explode like a volcano. The brute’s right hand started swinging the cauldron.

Tora released the girl so suddenly that she almost fell. She staggered away from him, leaving nothing but air between Tora and the volcano. The man’s right arm moved back. Tora scooted away a couple of steps. ‘No,’ he shouted at the top of his voice. ‘Don’t. I came for help.’

No use shouting at a deaf mute.

Daddy measured the distance and adjusted his aim. Tora took another step back and was up against a wall. Seeing the black cauldron coming at him, he pleaded with the girl, ‘Tell him Jirokichi’s in trouble.’

To his surprise – he had not expected it to work – her father stopped the swing of the ugly weapon and turned to his daughter. She gestured while he looked from her to Tora and frowned. Then he set the cauldron down to respond.

Tora took a shuddering breath.

She said, ‘He wants to know what this is about.’

Tora explained, still doubtful that it would make a difference. She translated, and her father’s face grew longer and he clenched his fists. Tora became nervous again, but the big man only gave him a sharp look, then nodded, and ran out the back door with surprising speed.

The daughter eyed Tora without much favor. ‘How come you know Jirokichi?’

Tora explained about how they had met, then asked, ‘Where did your father go?’

‘To get his friends. Come on,’ she said. ‘They’ll meet us there.’ She started for the door.

He caught her arm. ‘No, you’d better stay here. There’ll be a nasty fight. It’s not safe for a girl.’

She shook his hand off, glaring. ‘Shut up.’

With a sigh, he tagged along behind her. It would make things more difficult, having to look out for a slip of a girl. Still, he liked her spirit. But when he saw that she knew the way to the warehouse, he became uneasy again. He was confused by the strange relationships between Jirokichi, the girl, her deaf mute father, Tojiro, and the arson gang.

When they reached the leaning gate, there was no sign of reinforcements. She turned to him. ‘We wait,’ she said.

Tora eyed her suspiciously. It was beginning to feel like a trap. ‘Why is your dad willing to help Jirokichi?’ he asked.

‘Jirokichi’s our friend.’ After a short pause, she asked, ‘Why do you keep coming and making trouble for me?’

‘Kids have been setting fires. I think those young bastards that have Jirokichi are the ones. And your boyfriend’s one of them.’

Her eyes had widened with surprise, but now she flared up. ‘That’s a fucking lie!’

‘Nice language for a young lady.’

She raised her chin. ‘You sound just like Tojiro. So what? I’m no lady, and Tojiro loves me anyway. But he’d never hang out with them.’

‘Then why do I keep finding him with them every time there’s a fire?’

‘I don’t believe you. And what makes you think they’re the ones setting the fires?’

‘I’ve seen them.’

It was not entirely true. It had been too dark to recognize anyone both times they had run past him. The only faces he had seen belonged to the five that had manhandled Jirokichi. That reminded him of the poor Rat. He peered through the gate. Nothing had changed. Fear seized him again that they were too late, that the pitiful corpse of Jirokichi would greet them inside the warehouse. ‘We can’t stand around chatting,’ he snapped. ‘Where’s your father with the others?’

‘He’s bringing Shinichi and Seiji.’

‘The two old guys I saw with him last time? There could be ten or more young men in that warehouse.’

‘Don’t you worry about my dad and Shinichi and Seiji,’ she said. A moment later, she glanced down the lane. ‘Here they come.’

The three deaf mutes came loping towards them, armed with cudgels and lengths of bamboo. They offered spares to Tora and the girl. Tora accepted a bamboo pole, weighed it in his hand, and executed a few stick-fighting swipes. They watched, impressed. Then Daddy kicked open the gate, and they stormed in.

As soon as Tora left his study, Akitada got up to pace. A new energy had seized him. He wanted to run off and do any number of things immediately. Foremost in his mind was Kobe’s visit. Tamako’s suggestion that Kobe’s behavior could only be explained by some event Akitada knew nothing about made him want an instant explanation, but he could not confront Kobe, not after what had passed between them. He wasted time wondering who might know, and eventually accepted that he must wait for the answer.

Well, he still had two cases to solve. Tora was making a start on Abbot Shokan’s lost acolyte, though perhaps that would not bring any results. What then? He would have to return to Seikan-ji and talk to the other acolytes and the monks who knew him. It struck him that he had neglected to probe for details about the mother’s background – an embarrassing oversight, even if it was likely that Shokan had intentionally suppressed the information. There had been something almost coy in the way the imperial monk had parted with the smallest possible bits of information. Yes, perhaps he would return to the monastery in the woods tomorrow.

That left the Kiyowara case for today. He must go back and interview the servants. Someone must have seen something. Strange that Lady Aoi had insisted he suspected the wrong person when he had no suspects.

Or rather, they were all suspects: the heir, Katsumi, who was now Lord Kiyowara; his mother; Ono, if he was the mother’s lover; and perhaps even that stiffly proper major-domo. In fact, the late Kiyowara could have been killed by anyone on the property that afternoon. It meant he would need to spend considerable time with the servants to find out who else might have had a motive or access.

He stopped his pacing when he reached this conclusion and clapped his hands for Seimei. The old man appeared promptly. When he saw his master’s face, he smiled. ‘You have found an answer, sir. Truly, there’s blessedness even in adversity.’