“It was dark. We found no one.”
“Does the master know aboutyour … this?”
Tora reached for the piece ofpaper and handed it to Hitomaro. “He will when he reads this … if he can makeout the writing. I can’t do anything right.” He touched the short sword andlooked up at Hitomaro with earnest eyes. “Help me do this one thing well, Hito.I am only the son of peasants, but you with your fine upbringing know theproper way for a soldier to die. I’ve bathed, shaved, put on clean clothes andtied up my hair. I’m ready. I thought I would just sort of fall forward on myshort sword, but now that you’re here, I might try shoving it in my belly withboth hands. Then, if I’m losing my strength before I’m done cutting across, youcan cut off my head. That’s the way it’s done, isn’t it?”
Hitomaro dropped the paper andscowled. “Have you thought what this will do to the master? How do you think he’llfeel? Last night you did not mean to desert him, but now you are. And he’s inmuch greater danger now. This whole province is in turmoil. If you wish to die,at least die fighting against his enemies.”
Tora stared at him. “But howcan I show my face?” he asked uneasily.
Hitomaro reached down and toreup Tora’s suicide note. “You will tell the master how you feel and that you owehim two lives instead of one. What did you do with Kaibara’s body?”
Tora looked blank. “I thoughtthis would make it all right,” he said, looking about the room helplessly.
“No!” Hitomaro’s voice wassharp. “You can die later. For now the master needs your help.” He waited untilTora nodded slowly. “Where is Kaibara?”
Tora scrambled up andrearranged his clothing. “We brought the body back. He’s with the others.”
“Come on then. I want to take alook at him. You can fill me in on the way.”
“Hito?” Tora asked plaintivelyon the veranda as they put on their boots. “What would you have done in myplace? I mean, if you had failed like I have?”
Hitomaro scowled at his boots. “Iwould’ve tried harder and complained less,” he snapped. Getting up, he put hishand on Tora’s shoulder and added more gently, “Come on now, brother. We’renone of us perfect. All we can do is try. Now no more talk. We have work to do.”
Four covered bodies awaitedthem in the icy storeroom, their temporary morgue. Hitomaro shook his head. “Ifthis keeps up, we’ll have to move them to a larger building. Thank heaven it’scold.”
Tora drew back the reed matfrom the nearest corpse. The dead man lay on his back, and the mat got caughton the tip of the arrow protruding from his neck. Tora untangled it carefully.
Hitomaro bent closer and peeredat the face. “So that’s Kaibara,” he said. “Funny, I’ve never seen the bastardup close. He’s in full armor. That means whoever got off that shot was eithervery lucky or very good.” His eyes went to the arrow. “Isn’t that one of yours?”he asked, astonished.
Tora nodded.
“But I thought you said-”
“There was another arrow. Itlooked unusual. The master had the doctor take it out and put one of mine in.”Turning away abruptly, Tora cursed and flung the mat violently across the room.“To my shame!” he cried, burying his face in his hands. “His way of telling methat I should have shot the bastard.”
“You know very well that wasnot why the master did it. He would never shame you. Still, it was a strangething to do. Did he explain?”
Tora did not answer. He hadgone to pick up the reed mat he had thrown. It had fallen across another body,disarranging the mat covering it. Now he stood bent, staring down at the corpse’sshaven head.
“Amida!” he muttered. “Hito,come here and look at this. I could swear that’s the same scar on his ear as onthe sick man at the Golden Carp. Remember, I told you about the poor bastardthe widow was going to throw out in the street? I thought it looked like amouse took a bite out of his earlobe. And this is just the same.” He slammedhis fist into his hand. “By the Buddha, I bet it’s a secret sign. A gang mark.They both belonged to some secret society. Come on. We’ve got to tell themaster.” Flinging the reed mat back over Kaibara, he dashed out the door,leaving Hitomaro to lock up.
WhenTora burst in with his news, Akitada was seated behind his desk. Things had gone from worse to disastrous, and he had not slept. The wound in his shoulder caused a constant searing ache that he had hidden from his wife. Tamako was unaware of his injury and distracted by the fact that Seimei had taken to his bed with chills and a bad cough. She had dosed him with his own concoction and he had finally slept. Akitada, on the other hand, had lain awake, worrying about Seimei, about the danger they were in, about the missing boy Toneo, and about the next day’s hearing. A vicious cycle of separate calamities kept him company until he rose at dawn.
But now he smiled at Tora. “Good,”he said. “I wondered what had become of you. Matters seem to have reached a critical point. I need all of you to stand by.”
Tora flushed. Falling to his knees, he bowed his head. “I was going to kill myself this morning, but Hitosaid you needed me.” He did not see Akitada’s astonishment nor his momentary amusement, and continued in a rush, “It’s true you sent me to check the horses before Kaibara came, but I was taking my time because I was afraid to come back. Afraid of the ghost, I mean, not that bastard Kaibara. But it was cowardly and it’s my fault you got hurt. Hito says I now owe you two lives instead of one and that you would need me to die fighting your enemies. So Idecided not to kill myself.” He knocked his head on the floor three times andsat up.
Akitada said, “I understand,and Hitomaro is right. I do need you.”
Tora said fervently, “I’ll remember next time, sir.” He paused for a moment. “About that mutilated body. I just happened to look at it with Hito and I saw a mark on his ear. It’s just like one on the dying man at the Golden Carp.”
Akitada made a sharp move of surprise and gasped, reaching for his wounded shoulder. “Call Hamaya,” he croaked.
Hamaya came in, followed by Hitomaro. “Hamaya,” Akitada said through gritted teeth, “Send for Dr. Oyoshi.”Three pairs of eyes widened with concern. “No, wait,” he corrected himself. “Tell him it’s about one of the bodies, and to meet us in the storehouse. Hitomaro,you can report on the way. Tora, help me up.”
He staggered to his feet,holding Tora’s arm to steady himself against a bout of dizziness. “It’s nothing,” he murmured, when he saw Tora’s white face. “Remember, it was the same when I was wounded in the capital? They say losing blood leaves emptinessin the head. In time it will fill again.”
Tora nodded but looked unhappy.While the three men walked slowly to the storeroom, Hitomaro reported on hisvisit to the judge’s villa. Akitada listened without comment.
Dr. Oyoshi joined them at the storehouse door. His face was colorfully bruised, but his eyes were bright. “How are you feeling this morning?” he asked Akitada.
“I shall be better when we get to the bottom of all these mysterious killings. In each case, it seems to me,we lack one crucial piece of information. Now perhaps Tora has found one forus. I want you to listen to what he has to say about the mutilated man, becauseit may jog your memory.”
Hitomaro unlocked the door, andthey stood around the corpse. Tora lifted the mat and explained about the ear,offering his theory about a secret society.
At Tora’s first words, Oyoshigrunted and knelt, looking closely at the dead man’s face, chest, and tongue.Straightening up with a sigh, he said, “Of course. I made a terrible mistake,sir. How could I have forgotten, when I saw the man myself just a few daysearlier! Tora is quite right. It is the poor fellow at the inn. He wasdying of lung disease.” He shook his head. “I am getting old and incompetent.Please, forgive my carelessness, sir. I understand that I have caused youembarrassment and that this disqualifies me as coroner.”
There was an awkward silence.Then Akitada said sharply, “Nonsense. You reminded us repeatedly that you weredissatisfied with the diagnosis.”