Gombei led the way with Hirata guarding him; Marume and Fukida followed with Jinshichi, who plodded sullen and silent between them. Sano brought up the rear. They avoided drunks vomiting into the water. Tough young townsmen roved, hunting people to rob.
"Which one is it?" Sano said as they passed boats.
"Farther down," Gombei said.
"It had better be there," Marume said, "or you and your friend are dead."
"It will be. It will be!" Gombei's voice was shrill with his fear that the boat had moved.
Sano felt the same fear as he wondered what was happening to the shogun's wife. But he reminded himself that he had the three suspects under surveillance; they couldn't rape Lady Nobuko. Continuing along the footpath, he observed that most of the boats were small, open craft with a single oar. But quite a few others were larger, some forty paces long, each with a single mast, a square sail, a cabin with a red tile roof on the deck, and three sets of oars below. Figures blurred by the mist boarded and disembarked, customers of the illegal floating brothels which all fit the description Nanbu had provided. The only detail Nanbu hadn't mentioned was the red lanterns that hung from the eaves of the cabins. Gombei had spoken the truth: Without him as a guide, Sano would not have been able to pick out the right one.
Gombei stopped so suddenly that Marume, Jinshichi, and Fukida bumped into him and Hirata. He pointed at a boat moored two slips down the river. "That's it," Gombei said.
"How do you know?" Sano asked.
"Do you see that man on the deck?"
The man stood at the railing, facing inland, his tall, gaunt profile a dark silhouette. He had bad posture, his shoulders slumped, his hips and head thrust forward.
"He's the owner," Gombei said. "He takes a cut of the money our customers pay us for the women."
"You'd better be telling the truth," Sano said.
They strolled casually toward the boat, a party of friends out for the evening. "You stay on the dock and guard our informants," Sano told Marume and Fukida. "Hirata-san and I will go aboard."
As they neared the boat, the owner came into clearer view. His long hair was greased back into a knot. His robes hung on him, reminding Sano of a clothes stand. There didn't appear to be anyone else on board, but the windows of the cabin were closed; Sano couldn't see inside it or below the deck. He and his companions had just reached the dock, when four samurai came hurrying down a street that led between the teahouses to the river. The four headed for the dock. When they saw Sano, they stopped in surprise. He recognized them as his own troops.
"What are you doing here?" Sano kept his voice calm. "You were supposed to watch Joju."
"We followed him here from the temple," the leader said. "We just saw him get on that boat."
Shock and dismay filled Sano. The exorcist was already with Lady Nobuko. But that gave Sano the chance to catch him in the act of rape.
Looking toward the boat, Sano saw the owner looking straight back at him. The man had heavy purplish bags under wary eyes; black moles peppered his cheeks. Three more men appeared, climbing up from under the deck, to see what the commotion was all about. They were samurai, heavyset and tough and armed with swords, rnin hired to guard the brothel.
Suddenly Gombei shouted, "Look out! They've come to raid your boat!"
40
In the cemetery, Nanbu called to Jirocho, "What is this?" His face was ugly
with anger. The dog on his leash growled. "You told me to come here and pay blackmail, and now you shoot at me and kill my men. Are you crazy?"
"Not crazy, just practical," Jirocho said. Nanbu's men held lanterns up to him, the better to see his face. He posed like the lead actor onstage in a Kabuki drama. The flames and shadows exaggerated his predatory smile, the ferocity in his eyes. "It's obvious you came to fight instead of paying. Forgive me if I changed the odds in my favor."
Reiko counted only twenty men still standing in the cemetery. Jirocho's forces outnumbered Nanbu's and Ogita's by a good margin, and the gangster had his adversaries surrounded.
"I told you we shouldn't have come," Ogita said bitterly.
"Ah, Ogita-san. How nice to see you." Jirocho's voice dripped vindictive scorn. "Where's Joju the exorcist?"
"How should I know?" Ogita retorted.
"Two out of three will have to do, then." Jirocho beckoned. "Stop hiding behind your guards. You and Nanbu-san, step closer."
When neither man budged, his gang drew their bows, aimed arrows and spears. Ogita and Nanbu reluctantly moved toward the wall upon which Jirocho stood. Peering around the crematorium, Reiko and her comrades had a clear view of them. "Good," Jirocho said, then addressed their men: "Hold your lanterns up to their faces."
"What is this?" Nanbu said again, but he'd lost his bluster. Illuminated by the lanterns, he showed as much anxiety as rage.
Jirocho reached behind him. Reiko saw a small hand reach up from the darkness on the other side of the wall and grasp his. A girl dressed in a white kimono printed with blue irises scrambled onto the wall beside Jirocho.
Chiyo gasped. "Fumiko!"
The dogs began to bark at the girl. She seemed not to notice anyone but Jirocho. She gazed up at him, her eyes filled with adoration.
Jirocho yanked his hand free of hers. He jerked his chin toward Nanbu and Ogita and said, "Which one is it?"
Fumiko reluctantly moved her gaze from her father to the two men. A frown creased her forehead. Ogita said in disgust, "It's just as I thought: She doesn't know. That's why Jirocho blackmailed both of us, and the priest, too, it seems. Nanbu-san, I tried to tell you it was a trick. But you wouldn't listen. Now look at the mess we're in!"
"Shut up!" Nanbu said.
"Open your robes and take off your loincloths." Jirocho was obviously determined to repeat the examination done at Edo Jail, with better results. Nanbu and Ogita looked at each other in consternation. "Do it, or my men will."
Nanbu cursed as he and Ogita stripped. Loincloths shed, they held their robes open, displaying their genitals. Reiko saw the huge, dark mole on Nanbu's penis.
"He's the one," Fumiko said, her shrill voice ringing clear. She pointed at Nanbu.
Reiko saw another pair matched up in the sordid game of criminals and victims. Nanbu had raped Fumiko, Ogita had raped Chiyo, and that probably left the absent Joju guilty of the nun's violation and suicide.
Jirocho fixed Nanbu with a gaze as cold as steel in winter. He said to his gang, "We'll have to kill everybody. We don't want any witnesses."
The gangsters armed with spears jumped down from the wall. As they faced off against Nanbu's and Ogita's troops, Ogita cried, "Wait! I'll give him to you, if you let me go. I promise never to talk!"
His men grabbed Nanbu and shoved him toward Jirocho. Struggling to free himself, Nanbu let go of his dog's leash. He pointed to Jirocho and yelled, "Attack!"
The dog charged. It sprang higher than Reiko had thought possible, up to the top of the wall. Jirocho stepped backward, too late. The dog caught his ankle in its teeth. As it fell, it dragged Jirocho with it. Jirocho yelled and flailed his arms. He and the dog crashed into the cemetery together in a tangle of thrashing, howling, and cursing.
"Father!" Fumiko exclaimed, and jumped off the wall.
A cry of distress burst from Chiyo. She rushed from behind the crematorium toward Fumiko.
"No! Don't!" Reiko drew her dagger and ran after Chiyo.
Lieutenant Tanuma called, "Lady Reiko, stop!" as he and her other bodyguards followed.
The dog savaged at Jirocho's throat. Jirocho shouted, "Help!" and beat at the animal. Fumiko grabbed the dog by its spiked collar. His men hurried to his aid, but Nanbu's troops and dogs headed them off. Chiyo seized Fumiko by the arm. Reiko, close behind Chiyo, saw Fumiko tugging at the dog.
It turned on her and lunged. She screamed and reeled backward, throwing up her arms to protect her face. Chiyo hurled herself between the dog and Fumiko. The dog struck her with all four huge paws, a missile of solid flesh and bone. Chiyo went down. Reiko slashed at the beast, heedless of the laws against hurting dogs. Her blade opened a bloody gash in its side. Now it turned on her. Pure, mindless savagery blazed in its red eyes. It sprang for her throat, its mouth open in a vicious snarl, its throat a gaping red maw. Reiko lashed out her dagger and cut the dog across its belly in midair. It uttered a piercing yowl. Blood and intestines poured from the wound as the dog landed on the ground, panting and squirming.