Laura Rowland - The Assassin's Touch

But she would be back. And then she would discover exactly where Yugao and the Ghost were hiding.

Sano stopped at metsuke headquarters for the dossier on Kobori; it included his approximate height and weight and a poorly drawn sketch of his face. After visiting General Isogai, from whom he commandeered army troops to serve as search teams, Sano rushed to the palace.

The instant he walked into the audience chamber, he knew he was in even more trouble than he’d expected. Lord Matsudaira, seated in his customary place, wore such a fierce scowl that he resembled a carved demon in a temple. Above him on the dais, the shogun cowered, frightened and baffled. Yoritomo, who sat beside the shogun, aimed a warning glance at Sano. The guards stationed along the walls stood perfectly still, gazing straight ahead, as though afraid to move. The elders were absent. In their place on the raised floor sat Police Commissioner Hoshina, who regarded Sano with cool, half-smiling composure.

Sano’s steps faltered at the sight of his enemy. As he knelt below the dais at the shogun’s left and bowed, Lord Matsudaira demanded, “What in hell took you so long?”

“I had urgent business to attend to,” Sano said even though he knew that no excuse was good enough for Lord Matsudaira. What had happened in less than two days to sink him in Lord Matsudaira’s esteem and raise Hoshina? Sano doubted that it was only because Lord Matsudaira had heard about his failed attempt to capture the Ghost last night; after all, Hoshina hadn’t done any better. “A thousand apologies.”

“It’ll take more than a thousand to excuse you,” Lord Matsudaira said, his fury mounting. “Do I understand correctly that you assigned hundreds of army troops to escort duty?”

“Yes,” Sano admitted. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hoshina enjoying his discomfiture. “With an assassin at large and the officials afraid to leave home, it seemed the only way to keep the government running.”

The shogun nodded in timid agreement, but Lord Matsudaira ignored him and said, “Well, it’s obvious that you didn’t stop to think that security would be drastically reduced after you pulled those men from their regular posts. While they were playing nursemaid to a bunch of cowards, who was supposed to keep order in the city?” His complexion was so livid with rage that he looked ready to burst a blood vessel. “Do you think we have an unlimited supply of troops?”

“I’ve sent for more from the provinces,” Sano said in a futile attempt to defend himself. Yoritomo wrung his hands. “I’ve ordered the daimyo to lend their retainers to patrol the streets.”

“Oh, you did, did you? And do you know what’s happened in the meantime?” Lord Matsudaira surged to his feet, unable to contain his temper. “While I was riding through town this morning, I was ambushed by a band of rebel outlaws. My bodyguards were outnumbered. There wasn’t a soldier in sight.”

Sano stared, speechless with alarm that he’d inadvertently endangered Lord Matsudaira.

“Fortunately, Police Commissioner Hoshina and his men happened to come along, and they fought off the rebels,” Lord Matsudaira said. “If they hadn’t, I would be dead now.”

Sano turned his astonished gaze on Hoshina, who flashed him a grin of triumph.

“How convenient for you,” Sano said. He wouldn’t be surprised if Hoshina himself had arranged the attack, with the aim of rescuing Lord Matsudaira and making him so grateful that he was willing to forgive Hoshina any errors.

“Yes, it was convenient.” Hoshina’s eyes sparkled with malicious amusement. “All the outlaws were killed in the fight, in case you were wondering.”

Which meant that they couldn’t reveal whether Hoshina had hired them, Sano realized. Hoshina was safe. He’d taken advantage of all the misfortune that Sano had suffered during this investigation.

“I heard that this morning you commandeered more troops, Chamberlain Sano,” Lord Matsudaira said, ignoring the exchange between Sano and Hoshina. “What in hell do you need them for? Why would you worsen your stupid, dangerous mistake?”

“I need them to search for the assassin you ordered me to capture.” Growing angry at Lord Matsudaira’s insulting treatment, Sano heard the edge in his own voice. How else could he have protected the officials? “I know who he is now. His name is Kobori. He belonged to my predecessor’s elite squadron. To run him to ground, I need more manpower besides my own personal troops.”

The news that Sano had identified the Ghost startled Lord Matsudaira into silence and wiped the scowl off his face. Yoritomo gave Sano a relieved, delighted smile.

“So you’ve, ahh, solved the mystery.” The shogun beamed at Sano. He cast a smug glance at Lord Matsudaira, clearly gratified that Sano had scored a point against his cousin, even if he didn’t understand what was going on. “My congratulations to you.”

“Don’t believe him, Your Excellency,” Hoshina said quickly. “It may not be true that this man Kobori is the assassin. Remember that Chamberlain Sano thought it was Captain Nakai, who proved to be innocent. He could be wrong again.” Hoshina appealed to Lord Matsudaira. “I think he’s so desperate to please you that he’s trying to pin the murders on someone who’s probably dead.”

“Kobori’s alive,” Sano countered. “I can place him in Edo as recently as two days ago. Last night I raided the inn where he’s been hiding. I only just missed him. He’d skipped out the day before.”

“What proof do you have that he’s the assassin?” Lord Matsudaira looked torn between skepticism and his wish to believe that the capture of the Ghost was imminent.

Sano described the events at the Jade Pavilion.

“Well, even if Kobori is the assassin, you let him get away,” Hoshina said, anxious to discredit Sano. “He could have left Edo by now. Honorable Lord Matsudaira, why send troops to search the stable after the horse is already out? We need them to maintain security and hunt down rebel outlaws.”

“We can’t assume that Kobori is gone just because you want to believe it,” Sano said. “And he’s a more important target than the other rebel outlaws.”

Hoshina laughed in scorn. “They’ve killed a lot more people than he has.”

“But he’s aiming at the regime’s top echelon,” Sano said. “Let me remind you that he’s already assassinated five high-ranking officials. Unless we concentrate on catching him, he’ll chip away at us until morale is so weak that the regime falls. We need to catch him before he kills again.”

He felt the mark of death upon himself. Involuntary flinches twitched his body, as if telltale bruises were cropping up all over his skin. His head ached, and he wondered if his brain had started bleeding. The uncertainty and waiting were so difficult to bear, he almost wished he knew for sure that Kobori had touched him. But if he should die tomorrow, who would protect the regime from men like Hoshina, so driven by their own ambitions that they would let a deadly force like Kobori run free?

“Someone in this room could be his next victim.” Sano appealed to Lord Matsudaira’s and the shogun’s self-interest. “Let me borrow the troops for two more days. That should be enough time to catch Kobori.”

“I think that sounds like a, ahh, good compromise,” the shogun said, eager to end the quarreling.

Lord Matsudaira weighed the arguments for only an instant before saying, “Chamberlain Sano is absolutely correct that catching the Ghost should have high priority.” Hoshina’s face fell. “But Police Commissioner Hoshina is also correct that we can’t let security lapse in order to chase one of many criminals,” Lord Matsudaira continued. “Take the troops off the search and send them back to their regular duties, Chamberlain Sano. Do the best you can without them. And remember that I’m counting on you.”