Rashomon Gate (44 page)

The fact that he had solved the murder of the prince to his own satisfaction had not made any difference to the child's safety— at least not yet, and perhaps it never would. However, he had promised to see Sesshin. He turned towards the university, stopping first by his own office to gather the documents Seimei had copied.

Sesshin was at his devotions when Akitada arrived, but a young acolyte showed him into the bishop's study and brought him some fruit juice. Akitada waited, trying to gather his wits. Sesshin, for all his august descent and high position in the Buddhist hierarchy, was someone with surprising sensitivity for the feelings of others. This fact gave Akitada something to hope for, but having grossly misjudged the man, he had been guilty of the most shocking behavior towards him, and now he worried about this, wondering how to make amends. He finally came to the decision that nothing was to be gained by abject apologies. He would continue to speak frankly and hope for the best.

Sesshin appeared in due time, apologized for having been delayed, and accepted some juice from his young assistant. "Well," he said, when they were alone again, "what news do you bring?"

"Your Reverence will think that I have taken unpardonable liberties in meddling in your family affairs," Akitada murmured nervously.

Sesshin smiled a little. "Well, you struck me as the sort of person who pays little attention to soothsayers, omens or various taboos," he said dryly. "Under the circumstances it would be too much to assume that you would believe in a miracle."

Akitada looked down at his hands. The angry red patches where the skin had peeled off reminded him of the fatal consequences of procrastination. He sighed. "Perhaps I formed an opinion, and when your great-nephew approached me, his suspicions of Lord Sakanoue fit in with my own views. Perhaps I felt sorry for him and his young sister." He looked up at Sesshin. "It does not matter how I came to believe that your brother was murdered by Lord Sakanoue, only that I have succeeded in proving it." He cast an anxious glance at Sesshin, but the bishop's face remained calmly interested.

"Please explain."

"If I may, I shall tell you about the steps I have taken so far."

The bishop nodded.

"From the beginning, I had to contend with the problem of Lord Sakanoue's dramatic rise in rank and influence. That meant I had to work as secretly as possible. I could not find many people who would take the boy's part. Even now I am not in a position to proceed against a man of such stature, and neither is Sadamu because of his age. To begin with, I had my secretary search the government archives for documents that would throw some light on a motive." Akitada passed the bundle of papers to Sesshin. "I believe these will reveal certain improprieties in Sakanoue's management of your brother's estates both before and after his death."

Sesshin took the papers and set them aside. "Never mind that now. Go on!"

Akitada plunged into the heart of his report. "I next visited your brother's mansion and talked with his driver. Then I interviewed the Lords Yanagida, Abe and Shinoda. General Soga unfortunately was not available, but his evidence can be gathered later. Finally, my servant and I visited the Ninna temple and spoke with the recorder there. Each conversation was separately suggestive, but all of them together confirmed my conviction that Sakanoue had plotted your brother's disappearance. Yet without a body I still had no proof of murder. I finally found the proof in the hall where your brother was said to have disappeared."

Sesshin sighed. "I know what you found. After your visit to him, Shinoda came to me and told me what he and Sakanoue had done. I cannot speak for Sakanoue, but Shinoda wanted to protect my brother's memory."

Akitada nodded. "To continue with the motive and execution of the murder, I believe that Lord Sakanoue is an excessively proud and ambitious man who was dissatisfied with his hereditary position as bailiff. Shortly before the murder, Prince Yoakira called him to the capital for an accounting. Whether or not Sakanoue could defend himself against the charges, his relationship with the prince became very strained. It was during this time that he must have met the prince's young granddaughter, and seen in a marriage to her his chance to secure his position and win a fortune."

Sesshin muttered, "Poor child! I blame my brother's household for permitting him access to the girl."

"Apparently the prince discovered what had happened too late, and on the very day before his customary temple visit. He was furious and confronted Sakanoue immediately. He then gave orders for the removal of the family to the country the following day. Had he not insisted on performing the customary visit to the Ninna temple first, he would be alive today."

Sesshin sighed. "That was like my brother. He never forgot to fulfill his vow."

"Yes. No doubt Sakanoue was aware of it. In any case, here is what I believe happened next." Akitada detailed the events of the night journey and the movements of Sakanoue as he had done for Tora. Sesshin listened with increasing horror, interrupting only twice.

On the first occasion he said, "If the quarrel between my brother and Sakanoue took place before the trip to the temple, my brother would hardly have invited the man to accompany him."

"Exactly. It was one of the first things that puzzled me."

Sesshin's second question concerned a possible accomplice.

Akitada said, "If there had been political reasons for removing your brother, I would have considered a conspiracy, but in this instance there was no motive other than personal gain. In a crime of that magnitude, considering the rank of the people involved, the rewards and the extraordinary method used, even a single accomplice would have been too risky. Sakanoue acted alone."

When Akitada had finished, Sesshin bowed his head. His beads passed through his fingers, making small clicking sounds in the still room. After a long time, he looked up and asked, "Why bring the head? Why did the foolish man have to dismember my brother's body? Was it not enough to kill him?"

"I am afraid not. He needed proof of death to gain immediate access to the estate. Also, he may have counted on the fact that His Majesty would bestow appointments on him out of respect for your brother."

A silence fell. Then Sesshin sighed. "Poor confused man! What he must have suffered to take such incredible risks. How he must have hungered for the empty things of this world! How desperate he must have been when my brother confronted him!"

Akitada said angrily, "Don't waste your sympathy, Your Reverence! This murder was planned carefully. Sakanoue had to have made the arrangements for the sutra reading during your brother's visit well ahead of time."

Sesshin seemed to shrink into himself. "Anger is a futile emotion. Besides my vows forbid the sort of action that should be taken by the law," he said. "I must think what to do." He paused again, then asked, "What has become of the rest of my brother's body?"

Akitada had expected and feared this question. "I do not know, but I can suggest a possibility. Sakanoue apparently insisted on taking the last cart into the country himself. It contained several clothes chests from your brother's rooms and left long after nightfall, hours after the rest of the goods. I suspect that Sakanoue made a brief stop at Rashomon."

"Rashomon?" For the first time, Sesshin looked truly shocked. "You think my brother's body was put amongst the cadavers of the wretched to be burnt and his bones tossed into a mass grave?"

Akitada said quickly, "It is equally possible that Sakanoue stopped somewhere along the road and buried the body."

Sesshin stared past Akitada into the distance. Then he said, "It seems I must break my vows long enough to secure the future of my brother's family. Thank you for your frankness. You may leave matters in my hands now. I have already made arrangements for my great-niece to go to her cousin, who is the priestess of the Ise shrine. No men are allowed in those sacred precincts, and she will be safe there. I would be very grateful if Sadamu could remain with your family for a while longer. I hope this is not a serious imposition?"

Akitada smiled. "Of course not. We have all become very fond of the boy. Even . . ."— He was going to say "my mother," but caught himself in time—"my servant Tora."

The look of pain on Sesshin's faced eased a little. "In that case, perhaps you would allow me to call on Sadamu at your house? I must begin to make amends for my neglect."

Akitada expressed himself honored and took his departure.

Outside he turned towards the main gate and home. It was almost dark, the same hot, dry darkness of the past week. Fireflies sparked on and off in the black foliage like disembodied spirits. Just as Akitada passed the Temple of Confucius, he was hailed by a familiar voice.

"Sugawara? Is that you?" Nishioka's gown flapped about his bony frame as he ran out of the gate. "How lucky that you were passing just as I decided to get a breath of air, though fresh it certainly is not. Something very strange has happened."

Akitada was tired and burdened with his own troubles. He looked at Nishioka's lantern-jawed face with weary distaste. "Can't it wait? I have urgent business at home."

Nishioka's long face fell. "Oh, yes. I forgot! Poor Hirata. They say you have taken in his daughter. What a great loss! The students are taking it badly, too. How is his daughter?"

"As you might expect. What is your problem?"

"I don't want to trouble you, but you might have some advice. It concerns our rats."

"Your rats?" Akitada wondered if Nishioka had gone mad.

"Perhaps it would be better if you would just come and see for yourself. It will only take a moment. I am quite distracted." He ran an agitated hand through his hair and dislodged his topknot, which slipped over his right ear.

"Very well, but I cannot stay."

Sighing inwardly, Akitada followed the man to his study. The room was in the same state of disorder as the last time Akitada had been there. Near a set of shelves holding sagging and toppling stacks of papers, assorted wine cups, empty oil lamps and unmatched rice bowls, Nishioka paused and pointed to the floor.

There, among remnants of roasted walnuts spilled from their box, lay the corpses of three rats.

Akitada moved the animals with his foot. They were quite stiff, their teeth bared in futile snarls. Poisoned! "I thought you had no walnuts left. Did you buy more?"

"That's just it. I've had no time. Anyway, those are not my walnuts."

"No? It looks like the same box."

"Oh, it's my box all right. But they are not my walnuts. I told you about the old woman who makes mine? Well, hers are almost black and shiny. These are ordinary brown ones."

Akitada eyed Nishioka thoughtfully. "When did you discover this?"

"Just a little while ago. I haven't been in my study since yesterday, because Professor Tanabe and I have been working in the library."

"Have you been discussing any more of your suspicions with people?"

Nishioka paled. "You think someone wants to kill me. But who? I thought Ishikawa was in jail." Nishioka began to look terrified.

Akitada said, "I think you should report the matter immediately to Kobe, along with all your suspicions. Then go home and keep your doors locked."

Nishioka's long jaw dropped.

Akitada left Nishioka staring at the rats with an expression of terror on his face and walked home through the dark night, devising a plan to stop the killer from making another attempt on anyone's life.

Genba opened the gate again. "All's been quiet, sir. The little lord and Tora have been catching fireflies with the young ladies in the garden."

"Thank you. I want you and Hitomaro in my study in a little while. I shall have two letters for you to deliver."

At his desk, he pulled his writing materials closer and began to rub the ink. The correct wording was crucial in the case of the first letter. The second letter also presented problems. He had to be convincing enough to make certain of cooperation, and spell out the details of the plan carefully so that no mistakes were possible. What he was about to do could easily cost his life. This fact did not trouble him particularly— he had little to lose— but he would regret leaving a killer, or perhaps two, at large.

Eventually, he completed both letters to his satisfaction, addressed and sealed them, and sent for Hitomaro and Genba. They arrived promptly, received a letter each along with detailed instructions and trotted off.

Only then did Akitada take off his formal clothes and order a bath prepared. He scrubbed himself as well as he could before slipping into the steaming tub. The hot water eased his aching muscles and gritty skin, but was too painful to his hands, and he rested them on the rim of the tub. A long soaking, accompanied by another careful analysis of his plan for flaws, left him calmer and more resolved than he had felt for days. He returned to his room, wrapped in a loose cotton gown, and found Seimei waiting with a tray of steaming food. He ate hungrily, his mind surprisingly alert.

Genba and Hitomaro returned within moments of each other. Each brought a short answer. Akitada read and nodded. He told the two men, "The danger here is past, so you may go to sleep tonight. Tomorrow I shall have another assignment for you."

They bowed, murmuring their thanks.

Left alone, Akitada unrolled his bedding and lay down. In the darkness he considered again the danger he might face the next day. His family affairs were in reasonable order, his mother was a strong woman who could look after his sisters' future, and Sesshin was going to look after the boy. That left only Tamako. Thinking about her set him to brooding again. All the past uncertainties and failures of his life passed through his mind to culminate in his loss of Tamako and his responsibility for her ruined future. He needed sleep, for tomorrow he would have to be at his best, but the thoughts chased each other in his head like a dog snapping at its own tail.

Suddenly there was a soft scratching at the door.

"Who is there?" he called irritably.

The door slid open, and his younger sister's face, illumined by the candle she carried, peered in. "It's only me. Am I disturbing you?" she asked anxiously.