Tora was accused of a brutal attack on Mrs Mimura, and so the constables had scoured the town for him, Akitada learned. They had given up when a groom from the inn reported that he had left Otsu on horseback shortly before Akitada’s arrest. Only Akitada’s horse remained in the inn’s stable.
This blow was unexpectedly painful for Akitada. Tora had abandoned him without so much as an explanation or a farewell. Distracted, he looked at the boy again, perhaps in the hope that the child would somehow make up for it. But he turned his head away again. Why was he angry? What had Akitada done apart from trying to save him – and suffering dire consequences for a simple act of charity? He cradled his swollen arm and ground out, ‘So what is next?’
‘You’ll remain our guest,’ the warden said, ‘until the case can be heard.’
‘I want to speak to the judge now,’ Akitada countered.
Warden Takechi scratched his head, but agreed that he would see what could be done.
At least the boy seemed to like Mrs Yozaemon and Manjiro. Akitada went to his saddlebag to pay her. The warden caught a glimpse of the gold, and he had to explain that he had meant to pay the Mimuras for the child.
Warden Takechi looked shocked. ‘You’d give that much for the child?’ Akitada flushed at the implication. The warden shook his head, ‘If he finds out what he missed, Mimura will beat that stupid wife of his.’
Mrs Yozaemon and her son departed with five gold pieces and some loose silver, taking the boy with them, and Akitada bent his mind to solving his predicament. He hoped to convince the judge to release him. The warden had no such authority, but a judge could make exceptions for men of rank. One problem was the ‘fugitive’ Tora. Unless Akitada could produce his ‘partner in crime’, the judge might balk at letting him leave.
He returned to his cell to pace and brood over Tora’s desertion. Tora was no humble and obedient servant, but he had always been loyal. Akitada was angry and hurt that he had been left in a cell, with an injured arm, under the eyes of three constables, who stared at him periodically through the opening in the cell door.
Tora’s rebellion must have something to do with his newest girlfriend. Had Akitada missed some clue there? Doubts began to plague him. Perhaps he should have listened to Tora. But forgiving him was an altogether different matter. This time Tora had gone too far.
The warden returned with a soberly dressed corpulent gentleman he introduced as Judge Nakano.
Nakano looked at him and frowned. ‘Surely,’ he said to the warden, ‘this confinement is not necessary. I doubt Lord Sugawara would run off like a common criminal. Take us to a private room.’
A more hopeful Akitada was soon seated across from Nakano in a small back room where the warden stored his documents. But if he had thought that this promising beginning would lead to a rapid dismissal of the charges against him, he was disappointed.
Nakano stared at him for quite a while before he said, ‘I am afraid the charges are serious. Very serious. We have had such cases before. Apparently, there is a call for small children – boys, I should say – in some circles in the capital.’ He made a face. ‘So far the villains have been common criminals. Yours is a peculiar case.’
Akitada, who by now had a very good notion of what he was being accused of, snapped, ‘I have no idea what you are talking about. I found this child a few days ago. He was wet, hungry, cold, and apparently lost. I bought him food and dry clothing, and when his alleged parents finally remembered him, I returned him to them with a gift of money to take care of him. Today, I found him tied by his neck like a dog behind their house. He was bruised and cut from a recent beating. My money had been spent on new clothes for Mrs Mimura and heaven knows what else. I was outraged and took the child away with me. That’s all.’
‘Hmm. The parents maintain you stole the boy from their village and spent the night with him in the Inn of Happy Returns.’
‘I found the boy on the highway.’
‘But you spent the night with him?’
‘What else should I have done? Abandoned him in the street in the rain?’
‘But then you went back to get him again, and again you took him to the inn. Why did you come back for the boy? Warden Takechi says you intended to buy him. For what purpose?’
Realizing belatedly the unfortunate name of the inn, Akitada flushed. ‘I lost my son this past spring,’ he said stiffly. ‘It pained me to see another boy mistreated.’
‘Hmm.’ The judge regarded Akitada fixedly. Silence fell. Nakano clearly did not believe that a man of Akitada’s rank would bother to adopt the ragged, deaf-mute child of a fisherman.
‘You are charging the Mimuras?’ Nakano began again. ‘With what?’
‘Torturing the child. Stealing him. Taking my money under false pretenses.’
Nakano considered. ‘The last one might work. Dubious, though. I think you’d better drop the charges and hope the Mimuras are willing to forget your behavior in return for some payment for their pain and suffering.’
Akitada fumed. ‘Absolutely not! What about the child’s pain and suffering? And what will become of him?’
Nakano sighed. ‘This cannot be very good for your reputation, sir.’
‘Let me worry about my reputation.’
They glared at each other. Nakano looked away first and said, ‘You are senior secretary in the Ministry of Justice?’
‘Yes.’
‘It would be quite wrong to hold you here, under the circumstances. On the other hand, we must make certain that you will attend your trial. Feelings in the community run high in this case. Shall we announce that you will deposit a certain sum in gold as surety for your return?’
Relief washed over Akitada. ‘How much?’
Nakano pursed his lips and then mentioned an amount that was surprisingly close to what Akitada had in his saddlebag.
Akitada agreed.
Nakano rose and bowed. ‘Delighted to make your acquaintance, My Lord,’ he said. ‘I trust we shall meet again when the time comes to clear up this matter to everyone’s satisfaction.’
Akitada got up, too. ‘What about the boy? I am anxious to have custody of him.’ Seeing Nakano’s lips tighten, he added quickly, ‘To take him home to my wife.’
‘Impossible.’
Akitada clenched his fists. For all he knew, he had made the boy’s fate worse. ‘Can he remain with the people who are caring for him now?’
‘Why should he not be returned to his parents?’
‘Because they beat him. If you return the child to the Mimuras, I’m convinced he will die before the cases can be heard.’
‘Surely you exaggerate.’
‘No. And I will not leave Otsu until the child is safe. In fact, if I hear that he is being returned to the Mimuras, I shall be back. With reinforcements. And I shall use my influence in the capital to investigate how children are treated in Otsu and its surroundings and what measures have been taken by the authorities to protect them. I gather from what you said that this district has a history of crimes against children.’
Nakano opened his mouth and closed it again. Drawing himself up, he said stiffly, ‘I invite such an investigation, sir. In my view, children belong with their parents. But in this case, I will permit a temporary – mind you, temporary – arrangement until we know where we stand. I trust you will not try to see him in the meantime?’
Akitada bowed. ‘Thank you. That is all I ask.’
Akitada returned to the capital, poorer by the gold he had carried to Otsu, and without the child.
SEVEN
Tora did not return to Otsu. His fear for Hanae and his unborn child outweighed everything else. Akitada, who was armed, was well able to defend himself, while Hanae was helpless.