Black Lotus

18

Honorable Father-in-law, we’ve come to see Haru,” said Sano. He and Hirata sat in Magistrate Ueda’s private office. The magistrate sat behind his desk, while a maid served tea. Sano said, “How is Haru doing?”

“She’s behaved herself so far,” Magistrate Ueda said. He added contritely, “Forgive me if I’ve upset you by taking her in. I would not normally house a murder suspect, but this time I allowed myself to be persuaded against my better judgment.”

“I know. It’s not your fault. My wife can be very persuasive.”

The thought of Reiko fueled the anger in Sano. Still wounded by her insults and furious at her contrary behavior, he nonetheless ached with lonely need for her. He didn’t want them to be adversaries. If neither of them would surrender, what then?

“I hope this case hasn’t caused you trouble at home,” Magistrate Ueda said with concern.

“Nothing serious,” Sano lied. Social custom discouraged talk of personal problems, and he was uncomfortable discussing his even with Magistrate Ueda, a close friend. “It’s just that my wife has become convinced that Haru is innocent.”

“And you?” The magistrate’s sharp gaze indicated that he’d noticed how Sano avoided using Reiko’s name and guessed how bad things were between his daughter and son-in-law.

“There’s much evidence against Haru,” Sano hedged, and explained what he’d discovered. He didn’t want to admit that he thought Haru guilty of something, because he was afraid his decision was premature, born of his anger at Reiko and his need to prove he was right and she wrong.

Magistrate Ueda contemplated Sano with a grave expression, then said, “I will mediate between you and Reiko if you wish.”

“You needn’t trouble yourself, but thank you for your kind offer.” Sano was grateful, although shamed by the idea that he couldn’t handle his own marriage and his father-in-law must intercede to preserve the union of the two clans. “I’m sure my wife will see reason when the facts are known. Now Hirata and I would like to ask Haru for some of those facts.”

Magistrate Ueda rose. “I’ll take you to her.”

He led the way to the private quarters of the mansion. A guard loitered outside a room Sano recognized as Reiko’s girlhood chamber. Magistrate Ueda spoke through the open door: “Haru-san, you have visitors.”

Looking into the chamber, Sano saw Haru seated at a dressing table. She wore her hair in an elaborate knot studded with floral ornaments, and a jade green kimono printed with mauve asters. White makeup covered her face, and she’d painted her lips scarlet. She looked years older and startlingly pretty. Clothes, toiletries, and boxes of sweets lay on the floor around her. The scene enraged Sano. Four people, including her husband, had died in violence, and here Haru sat, primping amid things that Reiko must have given her.

Now Haru saw Sano and Hirata. She gasped.

“The sōsakan-sama wants a word with you,” Magistrate Ueda said, his tone kind although Sano could tell that his father-in-law shared his disapproval of Haru.

After the magistrate left, Sano crouched near Haru. “You seem to have recovered from your ordeal,” he said to her.

She must have sensed his animosity, because she folded her arms and hunched her shoulders. Her fear transformed her into a child again. The sudden change angered Sano because she was an adult, using childishness as a defense.

“Perhaps you’ve recovered your memory, too,” Sano said. “Tell me about the night of the fire.”

“I-I already told Reiko-san that I don’t remember,” Haru mumbled, looking around as if in search of Reiko.

Their friendship had gone too far, Sano thought as his anger flared toward both women. “My wife’s not here to pamper you. You’ll answer to me. What happened?”

“I don’t know.” Trembling, Haru recoiled from him.

“Well, maybe you have a clearer recollection of years ago. Let’s talk about your parents.”

Haru’s face took on a leery expression. “My parents are dead.”

“Spare me the sad tale,” Sano said disdainfully. “I met your parents yesterday. Did you forget that they disowned you? Or did you think no one would ever find out?”

“No!” Haru cast a longing glance at the door, but Hirata blocked it. “I mean-”

“Why did you say you were an orphan?” Sano said.

Her tongue flicked over her lips. “I wanted the people at the temple to feel sorry for me and take me in.”

The manipulative little liar, Sano thought in disgust. He said, “Do you feel sorry that your husband died when you burned down his house?”

Now panic leapt in Haru’s eyes. “I didn’t!” The high, unnatural pitch of her voice contradicted her vehemence. “It was an accident!”

Rising, Sano stood over Haru. “You set the fire in your husband’s bedchamber. You were the only survivor, and glad of it. What did the old man do to you that made you murder him?”

She began wheezing and flung up her arms as though expecting him to strike her.

“What about Commander Oyama and the woman and little boy?” Sano shouted, welcoming her terror. She couldn’t get away with obstructing him any longer. To keep his position, his honor, and his family’s livelihood, he must break Haru. “Did you kill them? Did you set the fire at the temple?”

“No!” Now sobs punctuated the wheezes. Haru wept and choked; tears smeared her makeup. Bending, she cradled her head in her arms. “Please, leave me alone!”

“Sōsakan-sama.” A warning note tinged Hirata’s voice.

Sano turned and saw his chief retainer regarding him with consternation. Now he noticed that his heart was thudding, his breath rapid, every muscle tense. In the heat of anger, he’d nearly crossed the line between persuasion and violence.

Hirata said, “Let me talk to her.”

Alarmed by his loss of control, Sano nodded and stepped aside. If he couldn’t handle his temper and keep personal problems from interfering with his work, he might never solve the case. He fought down panic.

Hirata knelt beside Haru. “Don’t cry; nobody’s going to hurt you,” he soothed, patting her back. “It’s all right.”

Soon her weeping subsided. She turned a timid, drenched face to Hirata. Taking a cloth from under his sash, he dried her tears and smiled. “There, that’s better.”

Weakly, she smiled back, glancing at Sano, brave now that she thought she had an ally in Hirata.

“I believe you’re innocent,” Hirata said gently. “Help me find out who’s guilty, and I’ll help you.”

Haru studied his earnest, open face, and hope brightened her eyes. “Can you?”

“Yes, indeed. I’ll make sure your name is cleared and you can go back to your friends at the Black Lotus Temple.” Hirata’s trustworthy manner had elicited confessions from many criminals. “What do you say? Will you help me?”

Nodding, Haru said, “I’ll try.”

However, when Hirata questioned her, Haru produced the same tale she’d told Reiko: She remembered nothing after going to bed the night before the fire. Sano battled anger and sudden unease. Haru’s eagerness to help could be a pose that she’d adopted because hysteria hadn’t saved her from interrogation, but she sounded so sincere. Might she be speaking the truth?

“Haru-san, I’m afraid that what you’ve told me won’t help either of us,” Hirata said with kind concern. “Are you sure you know nothing more about the deaths of Commander Oyama, Nurse Chie, or the boy?”

“Nurse Chie was the woman in the cottage?” At Hirata’s nod, Haru started to speak, then pressed her lips together.

“What is it?” Hirata prompted.

Uncertainty puckered the girl’s forehead. “I wouldn’t want to get anyone in trouble.”

“Don’t worry. Just tell the truth,” Hirata said.

“Well…”

Hirata waited expectantly, and Sano with suspicion. At last Haru said, “It happened in the sixth month of this year. Dr. Miwa was giving me a medical treatment. I was asleep in bed in the temple hospital, when voices woke me. I looked up and saw Dr. Miwa and Nurse Chie across the room. Chie took care of the patients, and I liked her because she was pretty and cheerful, but that day she was crying. She said, ‘We can’t do this. It’s wrong.’ Dr. Miwa said, ‘No, it’s glorious, right, and destined to be. We must go through with it.’

“He was all excited, but Chie said, ‘I don’t want to. Please don’t make me!’ ” Clasping her hands, Haru pantomimed begging. “They didn’t know I was listening. Dr. Miwa got angry and shouted at Chie, ‘You’ll obey or die.’ He grabbed her and pulled her to him. She screamed, ‘No, I can’t! I won’t!’ Then she broke free and ran out of the room.”

Haru looked hopefully at Hirata. “Will that help?”

The story might indeed help Haru because it cast aspersions on the doctor, Sano observed. If Chie had spurned sexual advances from Miwa, that might give him a reason to kill her. But Haru’s recital seemed too pat. Sano wondered if the incident had really occurred.

“Did anyone besides you see what happened?” Hirata asked.

Haru shook her head. “I was the only person around.”

Just as Sano had expected, there were no impartial witnesses to confirm the story. If Dr. Miwa denied arguing with Chie, it would be his word against Haru’s. Although a physician had more credibility than did a peasant girl, even false accusations could harm someone with Miwa’s criminal record.

“Thank you, Haru-san,” said Hirata.

“Please don’t hurt Dr. Miwa,” Haru said, looking worried. “He helped me, and I’d hate to get him in trouble.”

Sano eyed her with contempt. She’d already told Reiko about a violent argument between the priest Kumashiro and Commander Oyama. Now the little hypocrite had struck back at Dr. Miwa for maligning her character.

“Especially since he’s not the only one who was mad at Chie,” Haru added.

“Who else was?” Hirata asked.

“Abbess Junketsu-in,” said Haru.

In case heaping suspicion upon Dr. Miwa wasn’t enough to get her off the hook, she would incriminate Junketsu-in, Sano thought. And the abbess was another of Haru’s detractors.

“She didn’t want Chie in the Black Lotus,” Haru said. “She was always picking on Chie and trying to get her thrown out. Once I asked Chie why Junketsu-in was so mean to her. Chie said Junketsu-in was jealous. “ With an air of stunned revelation, Haru exclaimed, “Oh! Maybe Junketsu-in killed Chie to get rid of her.”

“Or maybe you invented the whole story,” Sano interjected, unable to remain quiet while Haru evaded the question of her own guilt. As she stared at him in fright, Sano advanced on her. “You’ve said plenty about other people. Now let’s discuss what your friends at the orphanage say about you. Hanako and Yukiko told me they followed you to the cottage on the night before the fire. They say you went under your own power, completely conscious of what you were doing.”

Haru scooted nearer Hirata for protection. Her breathing quickened again. “They’re wrong,” she whispered.

“Yukiko and Hanako lied?”

She gave an anxious, hasty nod.

“Dr. Miwa and Abbess Junketsu-in lied when they said you’re a troublemaker?”

Again Haru nodded, with less conviction.

“The neighbors who say you burned your husband’s house also lied?”

Haru sat frozen, speechless.

“So everyone is lying except you.” A sarcastic laugh burst from Sano. “Well, I don’t believe that, and I’ve had enough of your stories. Now let’s go over that night again. This time I want the truth.”

She turned a pleading gaze on Hirata, who said regretfully, “I can’t help you unless you cooperate.”

An abrupt change came over the girl. Her posture took on a sinuous fluidity, and her eyes a seductive gleam. She lowered her kimono to reveal bare shoulders. Licking her lips, she said to Hirata in a husky murmur, “But I’m innocent. How can you doubt me?” She leaned close to him; her cheek touched his.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Startled, Hirata leapt to his feet.

Haru rose, sashayed toward Sano, and pressed herself against him. “The truth is that I find you most appealing. Let me show you how well I can cooperate. Perhaps then you’ll be satisfied that I’ve done nothing wrong.”

Her nerve appalled Sano. He shoved Haru away. “You can’t seduce us into thinking you’re innocent.”

Haru looked puzzled, as if her ploy had worked in the past and she didn’t understand why it had failed this time. Her face crumpled, and she let out a sob.

“Crying won’t help you either,” Sano said contemptuously.

Now the girl’s expression turned furious. A howl erupted from her, and she launched herself at Sano. The impact of her body knocked him off balance, and he staggered. Her fingernails clawed at him; lines of pain seared his cheek.

“Stop it!” Sano shouted, fending off her flailing hands.

Hirata seized Haru. She turned on him and raked her nails down his face. “Ow!” he cried, and he let her go, clutching his left eye.

“You demon!” Sano grabbed Haru.

She was stronger than she looked, and she fought like a wild beast. “You’re all out to get me!” she shrieked. “Everyone blames me for everything. I hate you all. I want to kill you!”

Satisfaction filled Sano even as the girl’s fists, elbows, and knees battered him. Though he hadn’t gotten answers from Haru, at least he’d forced her to reveal her true self. Hirata, his eye bleeding, grabbed her legs, and she kicked his stomach. Magistrate Ueda and a trio of guards burst into the room.

“What’s going on here?” the magistrate said. Seeing Sano and Hirata struggling with Haru, he said, “Guards. Subdue her.”

With their help, Sano and Hirata overpowered Haru. Finally she stood captive, writhing in the guards’ grip.

“The old man deserved it!” she shrilled, her face distorted by fury. “I didn’t want to marry him, but they made me. He treated me like a slave. He beat me. He deserved to die!”

Magistrate Ueda frowned; Hirata gaped. A thrill of horror and anticipation rippled through Sano. “Are you saying you killed your husband?” he asked Haru.

Eyes crazed and hair tangled, Haru looked like a madwoman. “That policeman forced me to have sex with him in the cottage. I’m glad he’s dead!” She spewed incoherent curses.

Sano said,“I interpret that as a confession of murdering her husband and Commander Oyama.”

The worry of the past days fled him in a rush of relief. With the question of Haru’s guilt settled, the investigation wouldn’t come between him and Reiko any longer. Reiko would have to admit she’d made a mistake about Haru and abandon her dubious quest to prove that the Black Lotus was involved in crimes. Sano looked forward to regaining peace in his life.

“Sumimasen-excuse me, but we can’t be sure that what she said is really a confession, because she didn’t actually say she set the fires or hurt anyone,” Hirata said.

“Attacking us is proof that she’s capable of harm,” Sano said, touching the bloody scratches on his face.

“Even if she did make a confession,” said Magistrate Ueda, “it doesn’t account for the other two murders.”

Sano said to Haru, “Did you kill Nurse Chie and the boy?”

Wild sobs wracked Haru; struggling to free herself, she seemed oblivious to his words.

“Well, we’ve got her for her husband’s murder and Oyama’s,” said Sano, driven by his need to solve the case and serve justice. “That’s enough for now. I’m sure we can get a full confession from her later.”

Magistrate Ueda spoke in a quiet, grave voice for Sano’s ears alone: “She’s in no shape to make a valid confession, and there’s still a chance that she’s innocent. For your own sake, don’t let emotion impair your judgment.”

These words brought Sano to the dismaying realization that his antagonism toward Haru and wish to have her gone from his life had undermined his objectivity. He, who prided himself on serving honor through seeking the truth, had almost compromised his principles. Although tempted to blame Reiko, he knew the real fault was his own.

“Thank you for your advice, Honorable Father-in-law,” Sano said, chastened.

New apprehension filled him as he wondered if this case would destroy everything he valued. He was no longer certain whether convicting Haru would solve his problems with Reiko. Though he still believed in Haru’s guilt, he dreaded telling his wife about the arrest. After he took Haru to jail, he must go to the Black Lotus Temple to speak with High Priest Anraku and check Haru’s stories with Dr. Miwa and Abbess Junketsu-in. His prejudice against the girl required extrameticulous investigation of all angles of the case before he could discredit Reiko’s evidence in favor of Haru.

“I shall charge Haru with the murders of her husband and Commander Oyama and order a trial to determine whether she’s guilty of those crimes, the other murders, and the arson,” Sano decided. “The trial will be delayed until the investigation is complete. Haru is under arrest. She’ll await trial in jail.”

“No!” she screamed, fighting harder. “No, no, no!” She continued screaming as the guards dragged her out of the room.