The Way of the Fox (27 page)

“Well
– he’s stiff. So that puts him dying somewhere before midnight last night. Doesn’t look like he’s been moved. No injuries, no puncture marks.” She was quite puzzled. “That face, though... The hair! Could he literally have been scared to death?”

Chiri – ever a clever rat – had been bustling along the edges of the room. She came to a seam in the wall panels and sniffed, then began pushing eagerly with her nose.

“Ah! Here! Here’s something!” She managed to open a tall crack in the wall. She thrust with her nose. “Ha! A hidden panel!”

“Can you get in?”

“Ooooh, any space I can get my head into.” The rat was struggling to open the gap, but it was beyond her strength. She tried to back out – but now her head seemed to be stuck. She pulled and tugged to no avail. “Little help?”

Sura came to the rescue.
She slid open a wooden panel, and the rat tumbled back out into the room at her feet. Chiri shook her head, sat back onto her haunches and preened herself, preserving her dignity.

The panel concealed a small alcove hidden in the walls. The place had matting on the f
loor, and several subtle spy holes into the main room. Chiri wandered inside and looked carefully about inside the gloom.

“A spy space?”

“Guard space. You can stick a couple of secret bodyguards in there.” Sura leaned in to look into the alcove. “Yeah – no passageway to the castle. So they just must come in through the main door…” She looked down. “What have you got there.”

“Someone was e
ating rice crackers in here.” Chiri nibbled at a rice cracker, showering the floor with crumbs. “It’s fresh. I missed breakfast!”

“Could you
please
not eat the evidence?”

“You’re just irritable because you’re hungry.” Chiri finished her treat and combed her whiskers. She twittered off
across the floor and back into the main room. “Ah! Here’s something.”

A tea set had been laid out on a small tray on the floor. Chiri sniffed her way around and around the single cup,
making a face at the smell. She then took great interest in the teapot itself. Chiri wrestled off the lid and peered down into the depths. She instantly recoiled, rubbing furiously at her nose.

The rat
gave disapproving sneeze.

“Uck!
Not tea!”

“
Not tea?”

“No
. A herbal medicine. Very strong.” The rat rubbed at her nose. “Very strong!”

Sura arched one brow. “
Poison?”

“No no no – you don’t make poison that tastes and smells like that! No one would drink it!” The rat scowled at Sura. “Don’t be silly!
”

“Don’t be snarky! You
always get snarky if you miss breakfast!” The fox came to peer at the teapot. “No – I mean could the medicine have been fatal? What if he was allergic?”

“He must have deliberately asked for it – so he could hardly have been allergic.”
The rat retreated from the pot in distaste. “Not poison. It is a common aphrodisiac. You can find the herbs in any forest.”

Sura came over to the pot and sniffed at it. The scent was horrible – somethi
ng like burned ants and liquorice strained through a leper’s loin cloth. She frowned, sniffed again – then came back to the body, wafting air from the cadaver’s mouth over towards her nose.

“
Aha! Yep – that’s the smell! So this guy seems to have drunk some of that.” She sat cross-legged on the floor, tail swishing, and contemplated the cadaver, the teapot, and the secret alcove. “So. He sets up in here in his room, and he takes an aphrodisiac. And no one saw him die – they didn’t sound the alarm until dawn. So – there must have been some cracker-eating guards in the alcove earlier, but he sent them away.”

“Because he was planning a romantic tryst?”

“Well – low on the romance, but high on the rumpy pumpy.” Sura considered the rumpled bed. Lord Raiden had died fully dressed and in no way ready for bed. “So – where is the woman who was in this room?”

Chiri looked towards the apartment door. “We should ask.”

“We should ask.”

There seemed
to be no more that could be done. It would be hours before Lord Raiden’s corpse could be unbent and put into a position of repose. Sura lit some incense – just to make it seem that they had been at work saying prayers. She retrieved her cap while Chiri burrowed back into her clothes and changed once more into her human form. She sat up, her long pink tail curling and snaking behind her. Daitanishi and Bifuuko came scooting down from the rafters. The air elemental settled into Chiri’s hair, while Daitanishi vanished into her sleeve.

The two friends emerged back out at the stairwell, bowing solemnly to the two samurai guards. Sura lit incense once gain, and encouraged Chiri to slap the door frames with her leafy branch.

They headed downstairs – with Chiri waving her branch about and slapping it against the walls.
Once they were one level down – moving past maids and hushed, frightened servants – Chiri leaned in to whisper up towards Sura’s pointed ear.

“Sura san! Why am I hitting things with this branch?”

“Theatre! It looks all mystical. The punters seem to like it.” The fox gave a shrug. “Shinto people – Buddhists. Bounds about the boundless! Go figure!” She led the way downward. “Come on!”

At the bottom level of the keep, the administrative offices were being turned upside down.
Frightened clerks were running back and forth: travel boxes were opened and papers hurriedly searched. Raiden Katsura was barking orders: men raced to comply. The lord’s old hatamoto marched from the keep, clearly angered and arguing darkly amongst themselves.

The old monk and the Shinto priest had finished their devotions. They joined Sura and Chiri, moving through the chaos to the main audience room in search of someone in authority.

Raiden Katsura was now ostentatiously dressed in an heirloom armour with embossed, painted leather covering the breastplate. His face was dark with anger as he sent his clerks and officers racing to the keep’s upper floors.

One of the old
lord’s servants shuffled into the room and prostrated himself before Raiden Katsura, presenting a small lacquered box. Katsura seized upon the box and tore it open, emptying out the papers kept within. He pawed swiftly through, then threw them angrily aside.

“
There is a ledger. A small black ledger!”

The servant bowed – pale with fright. “
Lord! These are all the papers that were in the masters night box.”

“
A black ledger! Black!” Raiden Katsura’s voice rose to a roar. “Find it!”

“Yes
lord!”

Servants fell flat in
obeisance, then sped out of the room. Sura watched the entire affair in interest. The Shinto priest, however, loftily straightened his robes.

Raiden Katsura saw the priests standing at the door. He did not invite them inside.

“Priest! The upper room – can it be entered at last?”

The
Shinto priest gave a most obsequious bow.

“My
Lord Raiden.
” The man bowed once again for good measure. “The area is, of course, ritually unclean, my lord. But it may be entered by servants. We have performed ceremonies for the repose of your father’s soul. With your permission, we shall bring monks to prepare the funeral.”

Lord Katsura scarcely bothered to listen. He dismissed the man with a nod. His eye fell upon Sura and Chiri standing calmly beside the door, and his face took on a look of sheer contempt.

“A fox and a rat. One trickster, and one thief.” He waved a hand, bidding them be gone. “Go. My secretary will pay you for your services.”

Sura bow
ed to the man with an immaculate, silky smooth politeness. Her voice was wonderfully serene.

“
There is no need to pay us, my lord. To have met a real lord and seen the measure of his courtesy is payment enough.” The fox bowed once again. “Our deepest condolences to your house in this time of mourning.”

The fox seemed
a remarkable island of calm. She withdrew, sending servants flitting from her path. Chiri came stiffly behind her, and they walked out of the great dark keep and on into the light.

Tonbo was waiting for
them, folding paper animals for a little servant’s boy. He arose, seeing the look upon Sura’s face, and passed the woman her spear. Sura tucked the weapon beneath her arm, hitched up her train through her belt, and walked with her friends. They resolutely put distance between themselves and the keep.

The castle courtyards were
still in chaos, with soldiers moving at a run and extra men reporting to the walls. Tonbo cast a calm, wise eye over it all, then looked to Sura.

“
Did a spirit get him?”

“Maybe.” The fox sucked on a tooth. “
He’s dead – look of terror – no marks on the body. So maybe the Usagi curse strikes again?”

Chiri was decidedly not convinced. “
But a horde of vengeful ghosts would surely not have waited all these years? The lord visited this town every year at this time. Why did they not kill him before?”

Sura turned and looked back towards the keep. “
Because something was different about this visit…?”

Tonbo nodded slowly in thought. “Or someone else killed him.” He scratched at his stubble. “
Poison?”

Chiri curled her tail. “
It might be possible… He had been drinking a strong aphrodisiac.”

“Yep. There were certainly ways to do it.” Sura looked back
over the yards. Tonbo had been spending his time talking with the castle guards and passing soldiers – always an excellent source of news. “Who found the body? Who was last to see him last night?”

Tonbo leaned upon his tetsubo and watched the frenzy of activity in the castle yard.

“Guards found the body at dawn. He had eaten last night, then worked on his accounts until quite late. He called for a courtesan, but when she arrived, she was sent away again and he went to sleep.

“
The guards were changed at dawn. One of the new men saw the dead man’s shadow through the screens. The guards entered the room and found Lord Raiden lying dead upon the floor. He was stone cold. “

Chiri frowned. “
Why was the courtesan sent away again?”

“
We should find her and ask.” Sura gave a frustrated sigh, then turned to walk off towards the castle gates. “Well, I’m not sure this is directly linked to the town’s haunting. Let’s see if Kuno turned up anything in town.”

Yet more messengers raced out
from the castle – armoured samurai mounted on the fleetest possible horses. With the keep ritually unclean, a residence at the far side of the courtyard was being set up as a formal command centre. There were map tables attended by scowling officers, banners, a bright red parasol standard and a ring of guards. Raiden Katsura was clearly in for a busy next few days.

Chaos reigned. It was high time to leave. Tonbo, Chiri and Sura headed for the castle gate.

Chiri’s stomach growled, and she gave a sigh.

“Alas for breakfast. I had been looking forward to our eggs.”

Tonbo opened a little covered basket the size of a sandal. Inside were little omelette slices rolled in seaweed, and fresh rice balls coated with sesame seeds. He passed them to his friends.

Sura
took hold of her breakfast, and beamed a benevolent smile.

“Tonbo
– you are truly a gem...”

At the far edge of the town,
beside a fine old garden, sat a house that breathed an air of comfortable gentility. A broad old porch was shaded by beautiful wisteria flowers. The front path was delightfully speckled with moss.

A
n old woman sat upon the porch, sharing tea with Kuno. Asodo Kuno dealt with her with great warmth and courtesy, loving her company. They had passed a pleasant half hour together.

Though she was poor, the old woman was unbowed. Children
from her neighbours’ houses played in her garden. Men and women passing by in the shabby street all bowed and bid her a good day. Kuno finished his tea, and looked approvingly upon the wisteria flowers.

“Through broken tiles the fogs eternal incense smoked;

Through ruined doors the moon hung up its constant lamp.”

He gave a bow
“Even in adverse times, your town retains its dignity and beauty.” He saw how the people on this old street cared for one another. “Thank you, honoured grandmother, for the delicious tea.”

“
You are welcome, Asodo san!” The old woman smiled as she tidied cups away. “It is not often we meet a samurai who will pass the day with mere townspeople. My husband was a most courteous and worthy samurai, Asodo san, and it pains me to see the people treated so…”

Kuno politely inclined his head. “
Ah. Your husband… He was in service to the Raiden?”