“Well. Since we haven’t been able to incriminate Yanagisawa, we’ll go after Yoshisato.” That said, Sano couldn’t entirely quell his misgivings.
A maid came to the door. “Excuse me, but Lady Nobuko is here to see you.”
Reiko and Masahiro started to rise, but Sano said, “I’ll see her by myself.” He had a bone to pick with Lady Nobuko.
Lady Nobuko and her lady-in-waiting were in the reception room. Her face had relaxed a little, as if the prospect of revenge against her enemy had eased her headache. Korika smiled eagerly. Lady Nobuko barely greeted Sano before she demanded, “What did you discover?”
Short-tempered from too many acrimonious confrontations, Sano said, “I discovered that you lied to me this morning.”
Lady Nobuko blinked at his tactless manner. “What are you talking about?”
“I asked you who else besides Yanagisawa might have wanted to kill Tsuruhime. You said no one. Then I went to see Lord Tsunanori. He made it patently clear that he hated her and wanted to be rid of her. He said you knew.”
“Yes, I knew.” Lady Nobuko sounded annoyed, as if Sano was frivolously wasting her time. “So what?”
“So why didn’t you tell me the truth?”
“Lord Tsunanori didn’t kill Tsuruhime.”
“How do you know?”
“He hasn’t the intelligence or the imagination to think of infecting her with smallpox.”
“Oh, well, I’m glad to hear such definitive proof that he’s innocent,” Sano retorted. “Did you know that Tsuruhime’s nurse had had smallpox?”
“Yes. Why does it matter?”
Sano didn’t bother answering; he could tell that Lady Nobuko knew exactly why it mattered. “Why didn’t you tell me about the nurse or about Lord Tsunanori?”
Korika cringed from Sano’s anger. Lady Nobuko sighed in exasperation. “Because if I had told you that they could have murdered Tsuruhime, you might not have believed it was Yanagisawa. You might not have agreed to investigate her death.”
“If you’d told me she was murdered, it would have been my duty to investigate regardless of who you think killed her.”
“Your duty? Yes. Your top priority?” She gave a dry chuckle. “Not unless there was something special in it for you, such as a chance to destroy Yanagisawa.”
She was right, but that didn’t make Sano feel any friendlier toward her. “Because you lied to me, I spent today finding out things you already knew.”
The muscles on the right side of Lady Nobuko’s face contracted tighter. She regarded Sano with disappointment. “Didn’t you find any evidence that Yanagisawa is guilty?”
She was so focused on her single objective that she didn’t care about anything or anyone else, Sano thought. “Actually, I did.”
“What kind of evidence?” She leaned toward him, avid as a raptor.
“Before I tell you, I want two things from you,” Sano said. “First, answer this question, and answer honestly: Is there anything else you’re not telling me?”
“No,” she said, irate.
“Second, promise that from now on you’ll never withhold information from me again.”
Lady Nobuko looked as offended and disgusted as if he’d asked her to give him her underwear. “All right. Now stop wasting my time. What have you learned?”
It was dangerous information to give a person he still didn’t trust, but Sano owed it to Lady Nobuko. Her lady-in-waiting’s story about the bedsheet had presented his best opportunity for bringing Yanagisawa down. “There’s a witness at Lord Tsunanori’s estate who claims that Yoshisato visited Tsuruhime there shortly before she got smallpox.”
Lady Nobuko said triumphantly, “I told you so!” Korika smiled with relief because her mistress’s humor had been restored. “Yanagisawa murdered Tsuruhime, and he sent Yoshisato to do the dirty work.”
“I haven’t had a chance to substantiate the story,” Sano said. “Don’t jump to conclusions.”
“Don’t be so quick to discount it,” Lady Nobuko said. “It’s our first big step toward destroying Yanagisawa and preventing Yoshisato from becoming the next shogun.” She and Korika rose to leave. “You’ll see that I’m right.”
* * *
LATER THAT NIGHT Reiko sat in her bedchamber, brushing her hair. Sano came into the room, fresh from his bath. He removed his robe and hung it on the clothes stand. The light from the lantern made his body gleam. Reiko admired his firm muscles. His skin was marked with scars from battles he’d fought, like badges of honor. She smiled. After more than fourteen years of marriage, while six months pregnant, she desired her husband as much as when she’d been a new bride. She was glad their quarters had been rebuilt and they didn’t have to sleep with the children. Now they could make love in private.
In bed together, she and Sano embraced. Moonlight filtered in through the open window. A light quilt shielded them from the cool spring breeze. But Reiko sensed absent-mindedness in Sano’s caresses. His thoughts were far away.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
He rolled away from her and lay on his back. Studying him in the moonlight, Reiko saw the tense, unhappy set of his profile. “Are you still upset because of Lady Nobuko?” He’d told her about the woman’s lie.
“It’s not that.” Sano said reluctantly, “I ran into Hirata today.”
“Oh! He’s back?” Glad and excited, Reiko said, “I should go tell Midori.”
“No.” Sano caught her hand.
“Why not?” Reiko said, puzzled now. “Why didn’t Hirata come home with you? Has something bad happened to him?”
“Something has happened. ‘Bad’ doesn’t begin to describe it.” Sano reluctantly told Hirata’s story. Reiko listened in disbelief. When he’d finished, they gazed at the ceiling while she absorbed what she’d heard.
“Magic rituals and a ghost! A plot to destroy the Tokugawa regime! I never imagined Hirata becoming involved in anything of the sort.” Reiko thought about Hirata and recalled things Midori had said. “But I understand how he could have fallen in with the secret society. He’s not a good judge of people, and he doesn’t think enough before he acts.”
Sano chuckled wryly. “You know him better than I did.” He thumped his fist on the bed. “The fool! Dishonoring himself! Putting me in this position!”
“You’re not really going to arrest him and charge him with treason?” Reiko was horrified by the very idea. Even if Hirata deserved it, his family didn’t.
“I gave him five days to put an end to the society and the conspiracy,” Sano said. “In the meantime, don’t tell Midori. There’s nothing she can do. She’ll only worry.”
A frantic knocking shook the door. “Sano-san? Reiko-san? Are you awake?” It was Midori, breathless and panicky. “I need your help. Taeko is missing!”
“What? Oh, no.” Alarmed, Reiko crawled out of bed, threw on her robe.
Sano was already up and dressed. Reiko opened the door. Midori fell into her arms and began to cry. “I thought she was painting somewhere. But it started getting dark, and when she didn’t come in for dinner, I went looking for her. I can’t find her anywhere! No one’s seen her since this morning!”
Reiko remembered her horror when Masahiro had been kidnapped. She tried to soothe Midori. “I’m sure Taeko is just fine.”
“I’ll send out search parties.” Sano headed for the barracks.
Midori thanked him and sobbed. Reiko hugged her friend. “Hush, or you’ll wake the other children.” She silently prayed that Hirata would get himself out of trouble and Midori would never have to know what he’d done.
14
In the wooded hills high above the city, at a place where the ground leveled onto a plateau, tall cedar trees surrounded a clearing. The circle of treetops framed a crescent moon that smiled down upon a wide, flat rock below. Footsteps crunched on dry leaves along a path that led to the clearing. Insects shrilled. An owl hooted and took flight with a flutter of wings.