I Parker - The Masuda Affair

He turned away abruptly, irritated by his morbid fancies.

They walked up and down the street, knocking on gates and talking to servants, but the results were disappointing. It became clear that Peony, or her protector, had taken measures to keep the curious away. She had rarely appeared in public, and then only deeply veiled. Her servants, a maid and a porter, had been from the capital and had rarely spoken to other servants. Her death had surprised them because they had believed the house empty at the time.

Tora pounced on certain rumors that started after Peony’s death. She had been heard weeping because her child had died, her lover had left her, her lover had died, she had contracted smallpox and lost her beauty – all these, separately or in combination, were in people’s minds reasons for her suicide, and so her vengeful ghost was born. Tora, of course, rejected the suicide theory. He was still convinced that Sadanori had murdered Peony, and he proposed they return to the capital and confront her killer.

Akitada grumbled, ‘Nothing but rumors. We’re a long way from being done here. We still have no proof that the boy was hers or that she was murdered. And we still do not know that she is the woman from the capital.’

Tora protested, ‘It’s the same name. And the time fits. The neighbors called her a courtesan, and they mentioned a child.’

‘A child that died. I wonder what happened to her servants.’

‘They left before she died. The neighbors thought the house was empty. Why did they leave? And who reported her death?’

Akitada stopped. ‘Yes. Someone had to find her in the water and get the warden. A neighbor? If we assume that Peony was kept by the Masuda heir, the family’s role in all of this is, to say the least, suspicious.’ He glanced up at the green hillside above the town where the many curved roofs of the Masuda mansion glistened in the sun. ‘We’d better ask Warden Takechi.’

But when they reached the warden’s office, Akitada had second thoughts about Tora’s presence. ‘Let me do the talking,’ he said. ‘We can’t afford to have you locked up.’

The warden was looking glum, but he brightened when he saw them. ‘Thank heaven you’re back, sir. This is a very difficult case. Would you believe it, nobody has seen anything.’

Akitada sat down, and Tora squatted near the door.

‘It’s still early,’ Akitada said consolingly and wondered how to divert the man’s attention to their own problems. ‘Er, if you have the time, I would like to discuss Tora’s case.’

Warden Takechi glanced across at Tora. ‘If you’re wondering about the charges against your servant, I sent a message to the judge while you were visiting the child.’ He rummaged among the papers on his desk. ‘Here’s his answer.’ He passed across a note.

Akitada scanned it. The judge mentioned the rank of Secretary Sugawara and the fact that His Lordship had posted a considerable sum of gold as security. He concluded that, as His Lordship had now brought the young man in himself, there was no longer any reason to arrest anyone. In the unlikely event of a trial, the judge trusted that Secretary Sugawara would produce Tora.

Akitada returned the letter with mixed feelings. The judge had checked up on him and his noble birth, and rank had paid off. He said, ‘Thank you. I’d planned to go back today, but now Tora can take care of business and I’ll stay on until tomorrow.’

The warden smiled. ‘I’m deeply grateful for your generous assistance, sir.’

Akitada did not correct him. He asked, ‘Perhaps you can tell me who reported the death of the courtesan Peony?’

‘Peony?’ Takechi blinked. ‘Oh, that one.’ He got up and searched among the ledgers. Selecting one, he ran his finger down the entries. ‘Her maid. I have a vague memory that she’d come from the capital for a visit and found her drowned in the lake.’ He closed the ledger.

Akitada was startled. The maid had come from the capital? How long had the body been in the water? He asked, ‘You spoke to the woman?’

‘No. It was a suicide, sir. There was no need to investigate.’

‘The maid’s name and address?’

The warden shook his head and spread his hands. ‘We were too busy.’

Akitada suppressed a sharp reproof for such slovenly work.

‘I hope the child was well?’ Warden Takechi said.

‘Yes, thank you. He seems healthy.’

‘Good.’ The warden looked uncertainly at Akitada. ‘Well then, have you had any ideas about the doctor’s murder?’

This was going to be difficult. Akitada took a deep breath and made a stab at it. ‘Have you considered motive? Who wanted Inabe dead? Who benefits from his death?’

‘Surely it was a robbery? Some villain came to steal and was discovered by the doctor.’ The warden added glumly, ‘The bastard’s probably long gone by now. We’re close to the capital, and once there, a man may disappear and never be found again.’

Akitada knew this was true enough. ‘Was anything taken?’

‘Nothing apparently. I think the thief was surprised and ran.’

Behind Akitada, Tora grunted. To forestall an interruption, Akitada said quickly, ‘Nothing? You had the servant check?’

The warden looked uncomfortable. ‘A small amount of silver was still in one of the trunks. The servant says there’s never been more than that in the house. The doctor doesn’t charge his poor patients.’

‘Was it known that the doctor was poor?’

‘In Otsu, yes. Mind you, he wasn’t always poor. After his wife’s death, he started treating the poor for free. You saw the place.’

‘Yes.’ The memory depressed Akitada. ‘I don’t think your self-respecting professional thief would break into a poor man’s home, and if he did, he would certainly take a quick look around before departing. Of course, this may have been an amateur. But think of the position of the body. If the doctor had surprised a thief, he would have faced the man. Even if he had been frightened, he would not have taken his eyes off him. He would have backed away perhaps, but in that case the staff would have struck the front or side of his head, and he would have fallen backward. In this instance, he had turned his back on his visitor. That suggests that he knew him and wasn’t afraid.’

‘But who would kill him? He was respected and loved by all. People depended on him.’

‘As I said, Warden, you need to find a motive besides robbery.’

Warden Takechi shook his head hopelessly. ‘I cannot think of one. He was a good man.’

‘And a good coroner?’

‘The best.’

Akitada let a brief silence fall, then said, ‘I suppose he was the coroner who pronounced the courtesan’s death a suicide?’

The warden frowned at this return to the earlier topic. ‘Yes, of course.’

‘I have some questions about that case.’

Takechi said nothing.

‘The neighbors think a child was living there.’

‘There was no child.’

‘And you found no other body in the water?’

‘No, but people drown and disappear in the lake all the time.’

Akitada shook his head impatiently. ‘I think the boy I found is Peony’s son.’

‘What? Why? And how would the Mimuras end up with him?’

‘I don’t have all the answers yet, but I intend to find out. Perhaps the child ran away after his mother’s death, or he was placed in their care by someone else. Mimura’s a fisherman. Maybe he fished the child out of the lake. Cheap labor for the cost of a few bowls of millet and some rotten fish.’

The warden shook his head dubiously.

Akitada was groping in the dark and knew it. He thought that Nori was young Masuda’s son, but would that family want him? Should he even meddle in a matter that was none of his business? Who was to say that he was doing the child a favor? The Masuda family had certainly made no effort to help Peony or her child.