“Down with the Black Lotus!” shouted the commoners.
An answering refrain arose from the priests, nuns, and an army of peasant followers who fought back: “Praise the glory of the Black Lotus! Stop the persecution of innocents!”
Cries of, “Thugs! Criminals! Murderers!” came from both sides.
The narrow streets were a dense maelstrom of darting, swinging figures. Children and old folk stood on balconies, hurling rocks on priests. Doshin waded through the mob, separating combatants and herding them away. Flames and smoke poured from a storefront. The fire brigade threw buckets of water on the blaze.
“Merciful gods,” Hirata said. “This will destroy the city if it doesn’t stop soon.”
Near Sano, a mounted, armor-clad police commander yelled orders to his men. Sano recognized him as a former colleague. “Yoriki Fukida,” he called. “How did this happen?”
The commander turned, shouting, “When the nuns and priests came begging in the neighborhood this morning, some carpenters attacked them. The fight turned into a mass brawl. The crowd set fire to the Black Lotus’s building.”
“Where are the carpenters now?”
“Over there. “ The commander pointed down the street.
Sano led his party in the direction indicated. Outside the gate at the intersection, a doshin and assistants stood guard over four dirty, bruised men who lay on the ground, their wrists and ankles shackled. Sano and Hirata dismounted. As Hirata looked the prisoners over, his gaze settled on one with down-turned eyes and mouth.
“Jiro-san,” he said in surprised recognition. “You started the brawl?” The man groaned. Hirata said to Sano, “He’s the husband of the murdered woman Chie.”
Walking up to the carpenter, Sano smelled a strong odor of alcohoclass="underline" Jiro was drunk. “Why did you attack the nuns and priests?” Sano said.
“Took my wife,” Jiro mumbled. “Killed her.”
“What about the rest of you?” Hirata asked the other prisoners.
“The Black Lotus took my wife, too!”
“They kidnapped my son!”
“And my daughter!”
More interrogation revealed that hostility toward the sect had been growing worse in the area, and Jiro’s attack had ignited a volatile situation.
“I understand your problems, but you shouldn’t have taken the law into your own hands,” Sano said.
“Jiro-san, your wife’s death will be avenged,” Hirata said, “as soon as we determine who’s responsible.”
Sano believed he already had. If he’d arrested Haru sooner, she might have already been punished, and perhaps the riot wouldn’t have occurred. He accepted a measure of culpability for the violence. However, new doubt shook Sano’s certainty that Haru was guilty. That so many people hated the Black Lotus suggested that the sect could indeed be responsible for the murders and arson, as well as kidnappings and torture. For the first time, Sano wondered if Reiko might possibly be right. Hearing Minister Fugatami’s report on the Black Lotus might prove crucial to his investigation and not just a favor to Reiko. However, the meeting was several hours away, and he must address the problem caused by bis failure to solve the case quickly enough.
“Let’s go help break up the riot,” he told Hirata and the detectives.
By the time the riot was quelled and Sano reached Edo Castle, the Council of Elders had already convened. He entered the chamber where the five officials sat on the dais and their secretaries knelt at desks by the window.
“My apologies for arriving late,” Sano said. Kneeling on the floor before the dais, he bowed.
“This is a private session. You were not scheduled to attend.” Senior Elder Makino frowned in disapproval from his place at the center of the dais. “Why are you here?”
“The Honorable Minister of Temples and Shrines invited me,” Sano said. Minister Fugatami must have neglected to tell the elders, so they thought Sano was intruding on their meeting. He deplored the gross impropriety he’d inadvertently committed. Where was the minister, anyway? Sano felt extreme annoyance at Fugatami, and at Reiko for getting him into this situation.
“So you are now a comrade of the honorable minister?” Disdain wrinkled Makino’s emaciated face. The other elders looked concerned.
“He’s a potential witness in my investigation,” Sano clarified. Just as he’d feared, his presence signaled that he’d allied himself with a man of shaky reputation, a disadvantage that Makino meant to use against him. “I’ve come to hear his report on the Black Lotus.”
“Are you joining his crusade against the sect?” asked Elder Ohgami Kaoru, usually a supporter of Sano. His manner was cool, as though he wished everyone to forget about their alliance.
“Not at all,” Sano said, grimly aware that his name was now linked with Minister Fugatami’s, and relationships within the bakufu weren’t so easily dissolved as Ohgami hoped. “I only want to collect facts from him that may be relevant to my case.”
“Well, I fear that you shall be disappointed,” Makino said. “We granted Minister Fugatami this meeting he requested, and he has failed to appear.”
Dismay struck Sano. Standing up the Council of Elders was a serious breach of courtesy and protocol. “Has the honorable minister sent an explanation?” Sano said.
“He has not,” said Makino, and his colleagues fixed disapproving stares on Sano.
“This is an inconvenience to us all,” Sano said, vexed at Fugatami for leaving him to take the brunt of the council’s ire. The next time Sano asked cooperation from the elders, they would remember this.
“Since you’re here, you might as well report on the progress of your investigation,” said Makino.
The last thing Sano wanted was to offer up his work for judgment while the elders were in a bad temper, yet he had no choice but to obey. He described his findings, then said,”Yesterday I arrested the girl Haru.”
“And it took you how long to make this arrest which you should have made immediately? Four days?” Scorn twisted Makino’s voice. “The girl is obviously guilty, yet you’ve dawdled so much that I think you are more interested in favoring criminals than in upholding the law.”
That Makino thought he favored Haru, whom he disliked and believed to be guilty! “In the case of a serious crime, it’s important to do a thorough investigation before accusing anyone,” Sano said, bristling at the insult to his honor. “And thorough investigations take time.”
“You’ve taken enough time for civil unrest to arise,” said Makino. Obviously, he knew about the riot, and blamed Sano for it. “When is the girl’s trial?”
“It will be scheduled as soon as I’ve cleared up a few last details,” Sano said.
The elders’ faces reflected severe disapprovaclass="underline" The bakufu preferred arrests to be quickly followed by punishment. “I presume that those details include Minister Fugatami’s findings on the Black Lotus sect,” Makino said, disgusted. “Well, that explains the new alliance between you and the honorable minister. He is using you to further his own purposes, while you use him as an excuse to delay justice.”
“Justice shouldn’t be dispensed without certainty of a suspect’s guilt,” Sano said, avoiding further discussion about Minister Fugatami. The man’s findings had better be genuine and worthwhile to justify the trouble he’d caused Sano. He only hoped Reiko would appreciate his effort to placate her at the expense of his standing with the Council of Elders.
“Minister Fugatami has repeatedly failed to provide any proof of crimes committed by the Black Lotus,” Makino said. “His fanatical campaign against the sect has angered its followers within the bakufu and offended many other officials. There’s a definite possibility that a new minister of temples will soon be appointed.”