Rashomon Gate (26 page)

At that moment, the auntie turned and caught sight of Tora's murderous expression. Leaving Kurata to Michiko and the other girls, she barred Tora's way. "Private party," she snapped.

Consumed with fury, Tora retreated to the front room. He hung around the restaurant for another hour without seeing either Michiko or the auntie again. Finally he left in disgust and walked to the market, where he ate his supper and bought a cheap lantern. Then he returned to the alley behind the umbrella maker's house.

All was dark and quiet. Tora eyed the house. No doubt Mrs. Hishiya had long since dismissed her "cousin," fed her unsuspecting husband his supper, and retired with him. Poor craftsmen and their families were fast asleep at this hour. And so were starving little maids, Tora hoped. He was not, in any case, worried about real, flesh-and-bone people. It was Omaki's restless spirit which he was afraid to meet. Then he thought of the revelers at the Willow on the other side of town and got angry enough to suppress his fears.

There was a quarter moon out, which shed just enough light for Tora to find a thin sliver of bamboo among the debris, creep across the small yard, and climb up the barrel and stacked wood to the ledge. He accomplished this with a minimum of noise and walked carefully along the ledge to the shuttered window. This he found latched so carelessly that the bamboo strip inserted between the panels opened them at the first try. He listened, muttered a brief prayer, and stepped over the sill into darkness.

When he straightened up, his head crashed into an overhead beam. The noise reverberated and fiery flashes exploded inside his skull. He froze and whispered, "Omaki, do not be angry! I am trying to help! I will find your killer, if you don't hurt me."

Somewhere down below a window opened. Tora opened his eyes and sucked in his breath. He had woken someone. There were the sounds of a muttered conversation, then Mrs. Hishiya's sleepy voice cried, "Shoo! Damned cat!" and Tora heard the sound of something heavy being thrown. Then the window slammed shut and silence fell.

Tora breathed a sigh of relief and softly closed the shutters. He struck a flint with trembling fingers, and lit his lantern.

He was in a small space, right under the eaves, no more than three mats in size. Four stacked clothes boxes, a roll of bedding, and a lute hanging from a nail proved that he had found the dead girl's room. It was blessedly empty of both the living and the dead. He checked the door and found it locked.

It did not take long to search the room. There was little in it beyond the contents of the four boxes and a few small knickknacks on a cross beam. The boxes contained the girl's clothing, separated by season of the year. Tora was surprised when he discovered that two of the chests, those for spring and summer, contained not only some plain, serviceable cotton robes but also silks. In the summer chest especially, he found silk under-robes, two bolts of glossy pale blue and peach-colored silk, and a gown in a bright shade of plum blossom red. He put everything back the way he had found it, and turned to the knickknacks. Omaki's everyday comb of plain wood, with a few teeth missing, lay next to a small lacquered one with a design of golden chrysanthemums. There were several fans, most serviceable paper and bamboo, but one was silk, painted with a pair of ducks under a spray of cherry blossoms. A small brocade envelope next to the fans contained visiting cards, black brush strokes on red paper covered with gold dust. Tora looked at these, raised his eyebrows whistling softly, and pushed the envelope inside his robe. He glanced around the room, bowed deeply to the unseen presence of the dead girl, then blew out his light and quietly climbed out and down again.

Once back in the street, he breathed easier. He could not resist the urge to check on Michiko at her place. Somewhat to his surprise, he found her there waiting for him.

"So," he snarled, scowling ferociously, "are you finally done pleasuring that bastard from the silk shop?"

"What? Kurata? Are you mad? I was engaged to play for a party of rice dealers."

"I saw him touching you. He wanted you all right. And you went with him to his room."

"I did not. I went along only as far as the back door. There's a shortcut to the restaurant behind the Willow. The rice dealers were waiting there. But I admit Kurata was acting a bit strange tonight. He's never paid any attention to me before. Anyway, I don't like him. He's not a nice man."

"Then you should've told him off!" Tora grumbled, eyeing her doubtfully.

Michiko opened her mouth to defend herself, then began to giggle. "Oh, Tora! You're jealous!" Her voice became husky with emotion. "My big tiger! Don't you know I shall never want another man as long as you want me?" she said and slipped into his arms.

As Kobe had predicted, Hirata's strength seemed to return as soon as the captain left them. He rejected Akitada's offer to take him home, claiming that he had some work to do. "Do not worry," he said, bustling around his office, "I have these bouts of cramping every time something irritating happens. My stomach cannot take aggravation any longer. Fortunately it never lasts very long. Please do not mention the matter to Tamako."

There was little chance of that! Akitada had no intention of making a nuisance of himself by playing the heartbroken suitor before her. But he watched his old friend worriedly, saying, "I don't like your color. You need a long rest. These foolish tricks of Kobe will continue. Why not go home and stay there for a few days? I can easily meet your students and set them some essay topics."

But Hirata was adamant. There was nothing wrong with him but a little occasional discomfort, and Kobe had surely done his worst already. Since he knew he was innocent, he would not concern himself further with Oe's murder. That was much the best way.

So Akitada acquiesced.

The following day Akitada still stewed about Kobe's outrageous accusations. But he reminded himself that the police captain was not as stupid as he pretended to be. He had found out much more quickly than had Akitada that the examination results had been tainted, and he had linked the matter immediately to Oe's murder. Left to himself, he would surely uncover the rest of the mystery. No doubt his accusations had been tossed about indiscriminately in an effort to gain more information. The method had worked quite well.

Akitada ate his morning rice and then paid the customary visit to his mother, whose manner showed that he had not been forgiven yet. After the usual polite inquiries, he returned to his room where he found Tora chatting with Seimei, who was laying out Akitada's formal gown and cap.

"Good heavens, man," said Akitada when he saw Tora's tired, bloodshot eyes. "I don't believe you slept last night either. Must you celebrate quite so enthusiastically?"

"Sorry, sir."Tora grinned. "I'll try to catch a nap today. It was all in a good cause. I hear you got another gruesome murder to solve. There must be a demon loose at the university."

"Captain Kobe is handling the matter, and I have been discouraged from meddling. I am working on Nagai's case. What did you find out?"

Tora reported first on the kite-flying adventure. "He's a bright little kid and very quick to learn," he said in a surprised tone. "I'd never have believed one of those pampered nobles can run like the wind."

Akitada smiled. "Boys of his class have a good deal of training in sports. They are taught to ride, shoot arrows, use a sword and play football. What about the girl Omaki?"

Tora gave a detailed account of his conversations with the little maidservant and with the umbrella maker's wife. His description of the latter's lifestyle and dubious charms was so lurid that Seimei looked scandalized and Akitada snapped, "Enough! Stick to the facts! It seems to me that she is not likely to be guilty herself, because she could have killed her stepdaughter more conveniently at home. And her single-minded interest in getting paid makes her an unreliable witness. Try to speak to her husband instead."

Tora looked relieved. "Phew! Thank heaven; she's not my type. Well, afterwards I went on to the Big Willow and talked to the auntie there. She knew Omaki had been seeing Rabbit and also that she'd been taking lessons from that lute teacher. She told me the child was Sato's, but just then one of the entertainers, a Madame Sakaki, walked in and got all upset. Come to think of it, the same woman was acting kind of strange the night before when I was asking questions about Omaki and Sato."

"Really? What does this Madame Sakaki look like?"

"Oh, she's a good looker for all she's not that young any more. In her thirties, I'd say. Kind of slim, but not too slim, if you know what I mean. Nice hair, in a bun. Michiko says she's a fine musician, and the auntie seems to like her. Keeps her on because she's married with children and some aged parents to support. After that I had to leave because that swine of a silk merchant came, and all the women rushed to greet him like he was the emperor himself. He has money to spend and so they all made up to him, especially since he'd stayed away a few days. Rumor is he's so henpecked at home that his wife beats him when she catches him chasing skirts. I hope so. Serves the coward right!"

Akitada was getting impatient. "Could we just have the pertinent facts about the murdered girl without your description of the life of prostitution?"

Seimei snorted.

"Well,"Tora reminded him, "you sent me there yourself. I was just trying to find out stuff for you. Maybe you should go there yourself and get the whole picture. Anyway, I went back to the umbrella maker's. They'd all gone to bed and I climbed into the dead girl's room." Tora described what he had found and produced the brocade card case with a flourish.

Akitada was pleased. "This looks like the same brocade as the sash she was strangled with," he said. "Too fine and expensive a fabric to be anything but a gift from a wealthy man."

"I know," nodded Tora. "That bastard Kurata threw me out of his shop when I tried to buy some for a friend of mine. Seems riffraff like myself can't touch stuff like that."

Akitada raised his brows. "The man was rude. Ignore him." He opened the case and shook out the crimson cards. "Quite good writing," he muttered.

"I couldn't read it," said Tora, who was watching him eagerly. "They look like some of those fancy visiting cards you carry about. I thought they might be her lover's. Can you make out the name?"

Akitada chuckled and, passing the cards to Seimei, said, "I am sorry to disappoint you. I expect you thought you had found the murderer's cards. Actually the girl Omaki used these to advertise her skills as a lute player. She refers to herself as the 'Willow Tree Warbler' and says that she can be reached in the wine house by that name."

Seimei returned the cards. "Very improper for a female, and of that particular class," he said with a sniff. "Such cards are to be used only by gentlemen of rank."

Tora picked up one of the cards and stared at it. "She wrote these?"

Akitada shook his head. "Hardly. The writing is in a scholar's hand and in Chinese. But I must say it was very enterprising of her. Evidently she expected to play only in the best houses. I expect young Nagai wrote them. The strange thing is that they were useless. She lost her job and she got rid of Nagai. I don't suppose you picked up any rumors about marriage?"

Tora shook his head. "Not likely. According to the little maid, the stepmother called Omaki a slut."

Akitada pulled his earlobe pensively. "Why is it that she should have given up her career, her job and a marriage offer from poor Nagai without seeming in the least troubled about what was to become of her?"

Tora nodded. "Me and the auntie wondered about that too. Michiko said Omaki looked really cheerful about something before she died."

"I think," said Akitada, "we must look for the father of Omaki's unborn child. The pleasure quarter is the most promising place. And I apologize for snapping at you. You have done very well. Next time you go there, find out if any of the customers showed a special interest in the girl."

Tora jumped up eagerly.

"Wait!" said Akitada. "There is another matter, and it is more urgent. Do you remember the beggar Captain Kobe arrested for the murder?"Tora nodded. "He has been released, and I am worried about his safety. We must find him and bring him here. They might know where he is at the municipal hall for the eastern city. He visits there."

When Tora had left, Akitada said to Seimei, "I am sorry I complained about a lack of excitement in my life! Suddenly I am involved in three murders without having the least notion of how to proceed in any of them."

Seimei was holding out Akitada's gown for him to slip on. "
Three
murders? There have been only two: the girl and Professor Oe."

Akitada took off his house robe and put his arms into the sleeves of the formal gown. "You forget Prince Yoakira," he said, tying the sash.

Seimei looked unhappy. "I do wish you'd forget about Prince Yoakira," he muttered. "It is too dangerous. And I see no reason why you can't leave the other two cases to the police."

"At the risk of sounding like one of my more irritating colleagues," Akitada said, "it is a question of the killer's personality. Kobe is simply not interested. I doubt he fully understands what led to Oe's murder. In any case, Nagai has asked for my help and has no one else to speak up for him, so I shall do my best."

Seimei handed his master the hat of stiffened black gauze. "Remember," he warned darkly, "it is said that if you chase two hares, you will lose both."

At the university, normal activity had resumed in spite of the murder. Hirata was back in his classroom, looking more like himself. Akitada spent the morning teaching, not an easy task because of continuous whispers among the students. He finally dismissed his last class of the morning, hoping to stretch his legs by going home for his midday rice, but when he was putting his books away, he became aware that one of his pupils was still sitting quietly in his place.

"Sadamu?" Akitada felt tentative about using the boy's given name. He was somewhat hazy about the proper protocol under the present circumstances.