Dragon's King Palace (8 page)

As he touched his face against Masahiro’s tender cheek, Sano felt the stinging pressure of tears. “Yes, she will,” he said, vowing that their son would not lose his mother. He eased Masahiro to the floor. “I have to go now. Be good.”

“Where are you going?” Masahiro asked.

“To see your grandfather,” Sano said.

Ever curious, Masahiro tilted his head. “Why?”

“Because I need his help with some important work.” And because Sano must deliver the news of Reiko’s abduction to the man he most dreaded telling.

Sano and his two detectives rode to the Hibiya administrative district south of Edo Castle where Reiko’s father served as one of the two magistrates responsible for maintaining law and order in the city. Earthen walls surrounded the tile-roofed, half-timbered mansions that housed offices and residences. Messengers, clerks, and dignitaries thronged the narrow lanes, clustering in excited groups. Sano heard snatches of their conversation; he watched the news of the kidnapping spread. Nothing remained secret in Edo for long.

At Magistrate Ueda’s estate, sentries at the portals admitted Sano and his men to a courtyard, where citizens gathered to bring disputes before the magistrate and police guarded shackled prisoners due for trial. Sano instructed his men to wait, then entered the mansion, a long, low structure with projecting eaves and latticed windows. Inside, he met Magistrate Ueda at the carved door to the Court of Justice.

“Greetings, Sano-
san
,” Magistrate Ueda said. He was a middle-aged samurai with a stout build, gray hair tied in a thick topknot, and broad features. He wore black robes decorated with gold crests. After he and Sano exchanged bows, he said, “What a pleasure to see you, but I have a trial to conduct.”

“Please excuse the interruption. We must talk,” Sano said.

The magistrate frowned, perceiving that something was amiss. Concern sharpened his intelligent, heavy-lidded eyes. “What is it?”

Sano glanced at the guards by the courtroom door, and the clerks busy in their chambers. “May we go to your office?”

There, Magistrate Ueda seated himself behind his desk. Sano knelt opposite him and said, “I regret to tell you that your daughter has been kidnapped.”

Magistrate Ueda’s face went expressionless as Sano related the circumstances of the crime. Anyone not well acquainted with him might have thought him indifferent to his daughter’s plight. But Sano knew what shock and alarm the man was experiencing. Magistrate Ueda loved his only child and valued her as all that remained of his beloved wife, who’d died when Reiko was a baby. He’d lavished upon her the education and martial arts lessons normally reserved for a son. Only a lifetime of samurai discipline enabled him to hide his emotions.

“If there is anything I can do to help you save the women and capture whoever took them, just ask,” he said.

“Thank you, Honorable Father-in-law.” Sano bowed, then explained that he suspected the Black Lotus. “I need to know if any outlaws are in custody.” While Sano, the police, and other officials hunted sect members, the magistrate kept track of those apprehended.

“Two men arrested by the police yesterday are in my courtroom awaiting trial now,” Magistrate Ueda said.

“May I question them afterward?” Sano said.

“By all means,” said Magistrate Ueda.

They entered the Court of Justice, a long hall where guards stood inside the doors and rows of people knelt on the floor. Dusty sunlight beamed through open windows. Men fanned themselves with paper fans. Two defendants knelt on the
shirasu
, an area of floor directly below the dais, covered with white sand, symbol of truth. They wore gray prison robes; their wrists and ankles were shackled. Sano knelt near the back of the room. Magistrate Ueda seated himself on the dais, between the court secretaries. Everyone in the room bowed to him.

A secretary announced, “The defendants are Jun and Goza of Honjo district. They are accused of arson, murder, and belonging to an illegal religious sect.”

Both men were muscular commoners in their late twenties. Jun had cropped hair and a face that might have been handsome if not for thick lips held in a surly pout. Goza’s head was shaved bald; his small, angry eyes, upturned nose, and bristled jowls gave him the look of a wild pig.

“The court shall now hear the evidence,” said the secretary.

He called the first witnesses—a sandal maker and his wife. They came forward and knelt near the
shirasu
. “A Black Lotus nun came to our shop and begged for alms,” said the man. “When we refused to give her money, she put a curse on us.”

The Black Lotus often extorted money from citizens, and used physical force to back up their magic spells, Sano knew.

“That night, the police caught those men setting the building on fire,” said the wife.

A police officer testified that Jun and Goza had killed one of his civilian assistants while resisting arrest. Sano studied the defendants and recognized them as the new breed of Black Lotus followers. They weren’t deluded fanatics who believed that membership in the sect destined them for glorious enlightenment. They were unscrupulous men attracted by the violence and wealth associated with the Black Lotus. Perhaps they would serve Sano’s purpose.

“You may speak in your own defense,” Magistrate Ueda told the criminals.

Jun shrugged, then muttered sullenly, “I did it.” Goza echoed him. Sano saw that they realized there was no point in denying their guilt, because they’d been caught in the act.

“I pronounce you guilty and sentence you to execution,” Magistrate Ueda said. Then he dismissed the audience and secretaries. They departed, leaving him, his trusted guards, and Sano alone with the criminals, who exchanged glances and shifted nervously. Sano strode up to the dais.

“The shogun’s
sōsakan-sama
will question you,” Magistrate Ueda told the criminals.

The pair gazed up at Sano with an animosity that matched his toward them. He said, “Who hired you to burn the shop?”

“It was a Black Lotus priest,” said Jun. His crude, handsome face glistened with sweat. “He calls himself Profound Wisdom.”

Goza nodded his bald, piglike head. Obviously, the men felt no loyalty to their master and didn’t mind informing on him. Sano recalled hearing the priest mentioned as one who had a large, dangerous following.

“Where can I find Profound Wisdom?” Sano said.

“He has secret temples,” said Jun. “But I don’t know where they are. They move around.”

To avoid the police, Sano figured. “How do you and his followers know where to find him?”

“He leaves messages at a Buddhist supply shop near the Nihonbashi Bridge. People in the Black Lotus go there and ask the proprietor for Yoshi—that’s the password—and he tells them where the temple is that day.”

“What other work besides arson does he hire men like you to do?” Sano said.

“When people drop out of the Black Lotus, we threaten them so they won’t betray it,” Goza said. “We kill anyone who does. We kidnap women for the priest to use in rituals.”

Sano’s instincts sprang alert. “What women?”

Goza grinned, showing rotten teeth. “Pretty ones.”

Magistrate Ueda frowned and leaned forward on the dais. He knew as well as Sano did what happened during the Black Lotus’s cruel, depraved rituals.

“Have you ever heard of the Black Lotus kidnapping women for ransom?” Sano asked.

The men shook their heads. Jun creased his brow in puzzlement, as though trying to figure out Sano’s intentions; Goza looked merely bored.

“The shogun’s mother and three other women were kidnapped yesterday,” Sano said, watching the criminals as he moved closer to them. “What can you tell me about that?”

“Nothing, master,” Jun said with what seemed to be genuine surprise. “It’s news to me.” Then he laughed. “The Black Lotus people think their High Priest Anraku has risen from the dead. They say he wants to avenge his murder. Maybe he spirited away those women.”

Obviously, he didn’t share the sect’s beliefs and was mocking them. That he would make a joke of the crime infuriated Sano. He wanted to rub Jun’s face in the white sand and grind the smile off it. Then he noticed that Goza sat with his mouth slack and a murky gleam in his porcine eyes, as if a sudden thought had occurred to him. Sano quickly crouched in front of Goza and grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Did the Black Lotus take the women?” he demanded.

Cunning altered Goza’s expression even as he recoiled from Sano. “Maybe,” he said.

Sano guessed that the man knew something. He shook Goza. “Tell me!”

“If he does, will you spare our lives?” Jun interjected.

The idea of pardoning murderers revolted Sano. “Don’t you bargain with me,” he said. Anger and impatience overrode his hatred of abusing his power. He slapped Goza hard on each cheek. “Where are they?” he shouted. If this criminal was withholding facts that could save Reiko, he deserved no mercy.

“Hurting him won’t do any good,” Jun said smugly. “He won’t talk unless you save us.”

Incensed that the men had gained the upper hand, Sano turned on Jun and would have struck him; but Magistrate Ueda said quietly, “Sano-
san
. Wait.” Then he addressed the criminals: “Tell us what you know, and I’ll consider revoking your sentences.”

His stony expression told Sano how torn Magistrate Ueda was between his duty to uphold the law and his need to save his daughter. Although he often showed leniency toward petty offenders, he never released anyone guilty of a major crime.

Goza rattled his shackles. “Free us first,” he said, “or there’s no deal.”

“Talk, or you go to the execution ground.” Magistrate Ueda gave the men the fierce stare that had subdued many an adversary and beckoned the guards.

The criminals quailed visibly and looked at each other. Jun nodded at Goza, who said, “I’ve heard talk that the Black Lotus is planning a big attack on the Tokugawa. Could be it’s the kidnapping, and Profound Wisdom arranged it.”

Sano stood back and eyed the man with suspicion. “Who carried out the kidnapping? Where might they be hiding the women?”

Goza shrugged. “I’ve told you all I know.”

“You’ve told me what you think will save your skin.” Angry contempt heated Sano’s blood. The story was plausible but vague, and as much as he longed to believe he had a lead on the kidnappers, Sano distrusted its source. “I say you’re lying.”

“It’s the truth,” Goza said, his chin raised defensively.

“Can we go now?” Jun asked the magistrate.

Sano gave Magistrate Ueda a look that warned him against falling for a trick. Magistrate Ueda frowned, compressed his lips, then told the men, “I’ll delay your sentences until I find out whether what you’ve said is of any use.” He signaled his guards. “Take them to Edo Jail. Confine them in a cell by themselves, and make sure no harm comes to them.”

The criminals protested as the guards dragged them from the court. Sano and Magistrate Ueda expelled gusts of breath. “If that lout told the truth and his information helps us rescue the shogun’s mother, His Excellency will praise my cleverness,” Magistrate Ueda said. “If he’s proven a liar, I’ll be ridiculed as a fool and condemned for subverting justice.”

With bleak candor he added, “But I don’t care what happens to me. All I want is my daughter saved.”

Sano forbore to offer sympathy that would embarrass his father-in-law. “Maybe this priest can lead us to her. My men and I will begin looking for him now.”

The lane was one of many that branched like crooked ribs off the main boulevard near the foot of the Nihonbashi Bridge, the official starting point of the Tōkaidō. The bridge’s great wooden curve arched over the canal beyond the rooftops. Along the street, businesses that catered to travelers sold hats, noodles, sake, and guidebooks depicting highway attractions. Noisy crowds of religious pilgrims, carrying walking staffs and laden with heavy packs, browsed the merchandise.

The Buddhist supply shop occupied a storefront in the middle of the block. Inside, past the blue entrance curtain, a white-haired man sat behind a counter amid beaded rosaries hung from the low ceiling and shelves crammed with Buddha statues and boxes of incense. Sano and Detective Arai loitered outside while Detective Inoue, clad in a plain cotton robe hastily purchased for this occasion, entered the shop and approached the proprietor.

“I’m looking for Yoshi,” Detective Inoue said, as Sano had instructed him to do.

The proprietor scrutinized Inoue, and a leery expression came over his wrinkled face. “I’m sorry, master, there’s no one by that name here.”

Sano was dismayed because the proprietor had obviously guessed that the detective wasn’t a real Black Lotus member. He also discerned that Inoue posed a threat, because he darted toward a curtained doorway behind the counter. Inoue lunged across the counter and caught him. As Sano and Arai rushed into the shop, Inoue held the proprietor by the arms.

“Please, masters, don’t hurt me,” the old man cried.

“I won’t if you tell me where the Black Lotus temple is,” Sano said.

“But I don’t know.”

The proprietor gave a nervous giggle that turned into a shriek as Sano whipped his sword out of its scabbard. “Where is the temple?” Sano demanded. To menace a helpless old man filled him with shame even though his victim abetted the Black Lotus, a crime punishable by death. But the abduction was teaching Sano that his principles had limits. He would do anything to find out who’d kidnapped Reiko, and saving his lord’s mother took precedence over personal ideals.

“All right—I’ll tell you. It’s in the teahouse by the Inari Shrine on the north side of the Kanda vegetable market.” The proprietor begged, “Please don’t kill me.”

Sano sheathed his sword; Detective Inoue relaxed his hold on the proprietor, who babbled in relief.

“Listen carefully,” Sano told the old man. “You’ll carry on your business as usual. You won’t tell your Black Lotus friends about our talk. Do you understand?”

Resignation slumped the old man’s body. “Yes, master.”

“Detective Arai will be here watching to make sure you obey,” Sano added, then turned to Arai. “Arrest anyone who comes and asks for the temple’s location.”