His words collided against a wall of disbelief and astonishment inside Reiko. Her heart began to thunder with excitement. As far as she knew, there was only one little girl named Kikuko who lived in Chamberlain Yanagisawa’s compound. And there was only one woman whom Kikuko called “Mama.”
It was Lady Yanagisawa who’d left the Sign of Bedazzlement soon after Daiemon had arrived.
“Merciful gods,” Reiko said as she clutched the wall for support.
“What’s wrong? Who is the woman?” Gosechi cried, her face avid with fearful curiosity. “I can see that you recognize her. I thought I didn’t want to know, but now I must, so I can see her and understand why Daiemon wanted her instead of me. Please tell me who she is!”
“I can’t tell you,” Reiko said, for innate caution warned her to keep her discovery to herself at least until she’d decided what to do about it. Fortunately, neither Gosechi nor Hachiro had guessed Lady Yanagisawa’s identity. Lady Yanagisawa seldom ventured into society, and few people knew that the chamberlain had a daughter because he was ashamed of her.
“But I can assure you that this woman wasn’t having an affair with Daiemon. She didn’t go to the Sign of Bedazzlement to make love to him.”
There could be no other explanation: Lady Yanagisawa had gone to assassinate Daiemon, on the chamberlain’s orders. Lady Yanagisawa had no lover to meet in secret. She cared nothing for any man except her husband. And she would do anything to please him.
A chill of horror descended upon Reiko. Lady Yanagisawa was even more mad, desperate, and cunning than Reiko had ever suspected. Blackmailing Reiko was the least of the evils that Lady Yanagisawa had recently done. She’d stabbed Daiemon to death, thereby ridding her husband of a rival, weakening the Matsudaira faction, and clearing the way for the chamberlain’s son to inherit the Tokugawa regime and become the next shogun.
Gosechi, Hachiro, and her surroundings faded from Reiko’s perception as she marveled at what Lady Yanagisawa had done. The sound of gongs and chanting barely impinged on her consciousness. Yet even though revolted by Lady Yanagisawa’s crime, Reiko realized that her own luck had turned. Exhilaration dazzled her, for Lady Yanagisawa had unwittingly rendered herself vulnerable to a counterattack.
“Thank you for your help,” she told Gosechi and Hachiro. “Excuse me, but I must go.”
She left them gazing after her in puzzlement and hurried out of the temple hall. Her palanquin and entourage waited amid the crowds in the precinct. As Reiko jumped into the palanquin, she ordered her bearers, “Take me to Edo Castle.”
There she would have her final confrontation with Lady Yanagisawa.
33
At Senior Elder Makino’s estate, Hirata led Okitsu into the chapel where Sano waited with Agemaki and his watchdogs. “I found her hiding in the coal storehouse,” Hirata said.
Some two hours had passed since Sano had told his detectives to bring Okitsu to him for interrogation. They’d discovered that the concubine was missing, presumably because she’d heard that Sano had come back and she’d run for her life. Now, as Hirata propelled her toward him, Sano saw that her face and clothes were smudged black with coal dust. Her terrified gaze lit on Agemaki, who knelt where Sano had forced her to confess her actions the night of Senior Elder Makino’s murder. Agemaki had calmed herself, but her poise looked brittle and thin, like ice near a fire. Okitsu ran to her and collapsed beside her.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Okitsu whimpered, clutching Agemaki’s arm. “You’ll protect me, won’t you?”
Agemaki pulled away from Okitsu. She brushed grime from Okitsu’s hands off her sleeve. The concubine stared at her, then everyone else, in uncomprehending fright.
“Every time I’ve talked to you about Senior Elder Makino’s murder, you’ve lied to me,” Sano said. “Now is your last chance to tell the truth.”
“But I-I did tell the truth,” Okitsu said breathlessly. “I was with Koheiji that night… we didn’t see Makino.” Her forehead wrinkled and her eyes darted as she tried to remember everything she’d said. “I saw Daiemon in the study.”
“You lied,” Agemaki said in a voice that dripped acid. “You and Koheiji were playing games with my husband. I heard you. I saw you. And I told them.” She flung out her hand, indicating Sano, Hirata, and the watchdogs.
Okitsu turned to Agemaki. Her expression displayed confusion, then hurt. “You told them? But how could you? I thought you were my friend.”
“I’m not.” Agemaki snarled. “Only someone as stupid as you are would think I could like a woman who stole my husband.” While Okitsu shrank away, as though struck a wounding blow, Agemaki said, “Well, your fun is over. These people know that Koheiji was hired to assassinate Makino. They think you helped. I can’t wait to watch you lose your head at the execution ground. I’ll laugh while you die, you dirty little whore!”
A mewl arose from Okitsu. “Please, please spare me,” she begged Sano, throwing herself on hands and knees in front of him. “Koheiji and I didn’t kill Makino. We’re innocent. You must believe me!”
“If you expect me to believe you, then you have a lot of explaining to do,” Sano said. “Begin with the sex show that you and Koheiji performed for your master.”
Okitsu scuttled away on all fours. “I can’t!” she cried. “I promised Koheiji I wouldn’t tell.”
“That you lie to the shogun’s detective for Koheiji shows what a fool you are,” Agemaki said with withering disdain. “He doesn’t love you. He’ll never marry you. He’s just leading you on so you’ll protect him.”
“You’re wrong! He does love me! We are getting married!” Okitsu reared back on her heels as she shouted at Agemaki.
“I caught him making love to a woman in his dressing room at the theater,” Hirata said.
“No! He didn’t! He wouldn’t!” But the quaver in Okitsu’s voice belied her defiant words.
“Koheiji is due to take the punishment for Senior Elder Makino’s murder,” Sano said. “Unless you want to share it with him, you’d better start talking.”
For a moment Okitsu sat silent, her face bunched into a pout. Then she wilted under the knowledge that her friends had betrayed her and she was on her own. She uttered a querulous sob.
“You and Koheiji performed for Makino that night…” Sano prompted.
Okitsu nodded. “We did our usual routine,” she said in a weary, toneless mumble. “I gave Makino some cornus berry tea.” This was a potent aphrodisiac. “Then he watched Koheiji and me while we undressed and started making love. Pretty soon he joined in with us.”
Sano imagined Makino eagerly sipping the aphrodisiac, watching the amorous couple, then the grotesque entwining of sleek young bodies and the wrinkled, emaciated one.
“But Makino couldn’t get excited,” Okitsu said. “No matter what we did, he stayed limp as a dead worm. Koheiji even tried playing rough. He tore my clothes off me and tied my wrists and pretended to hit me. That usually got Makino going, but this time it didn’t. He asked for more cornus berry tea. I gave it to him. We started the game again. I sucked on Makino while Koheiji took me from behind.”
She spoke without shame, as if discussing the weather. Sano recognized the scene Agemaki had told him she’d witnessed while spying on the trio.
“Pretty soon, Makino was as hard as iron,” Okitsu continued. “He said he was ready. Koheiji lay down on the bed. I got on top of him and took him into me. Makino stuck himself in my backside.” Okitsu leaned forward, knees apart, balancing on her hands, and unconsciously pantomimed the mating. “Makino went wild. He was moaning and ramming me so hard and fast that it hurt. All of a sudden, he made a sound like he was choking. Then he fell on top of me.” Okitsu dropped flat on the floor, her voice and expression conveying the surprise she must have felt when crushed between her two partners. “Koheiji said, ‘What happened?’ We pushed Makino off us. He flopped onto the bed. We sat up and looked at him.”