23

It was past noon, and the sun had vaporized the mist, when Reiko left the hinin settlement after a search for Yugao. No one there had seen the woman since she’d been arrested. Discouraged yet determined, Reiko traveled to the Ryōgoku Hirokoji entertainment district.

Escorted by Lieutenant Asukai and her other guards, she walked down the noisy, crowded avenue. She thought of Police Commissioner Hoshina and looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was following her. As she wondered whom to ask first about Yugao, wind rattled lanterns on the stalls. Tassels ripped from armor during a fight swirled with dust along the ground. A mass of storm clouds bled across the sky like ink on wet paper. Warm rain showered upon Reiko. She and her escorts, and the hundreds of pleasure seekers, hurried beneath the roofs of the stalls. The wind swept the rain in sheets that drenched the empty avenue; puddles spread. The stall where Reiko and her guards found shelter offered cheap toys as prizes for rolling balls up a ramp through holes. One other person had found shelter here: One man-and a monkey that he held on a leash.

The monkey screeched at Reiko. It wore a miniature suit of armor, helmet, and swords. Her guards laughed. She was so surprised to see a monkey that she hardly noticed its master until he said, “Pardon my friend’s bad manners.”

Now Reiko saw that he was as remarkable as his companion. He was no taller than herself, with coarse, shaggy black hair that covered his head, face, arms, and legs. Beady eyes met Reiko’s shocked gaze; sharp teeth grinned beneath his whiskers. To her further amazement, she recognized him.

“Are you the Rat?” she said.

“That’s me. At your service, pretty lady.”

“We have a mutual acquaintance,” Reiko said. “His name is Hirata, and he’s the shogun’s sōsakan-sama.” Hirata had told her that the Rat hailed from the northern island of Hokkaido, famous for its natives who had copious body hair. He traded in information that he picked up while traveling around Japan in search of new freaks for the show he operated in the entertainment district across the river, and he was an informant of Hirata’s.

“Oh, yes,” the Rat said. He spoke in a strange, gruff, rustic accent. “I heard that Hirata-sanwas cut up in a fight. How’s he doing?”

“Better,” said Reiko.

Her guards tried to pet the monkey. It drew its tiny sword and lashed out at them. They fell back, laughing. The Rat scrutinized Reiko with curiosity. “Who are you?” Reiko remembered that she must keep a low profile, but before she could make up a false identity the Rat pointed a hairy finger at her. “Don’t tell me. You must be Lady Reiko, the chamberlain’s wife.”

“How did you know?” Reiko said, chagrined.

“The Rat gets around,” he said with a wise look.

“Please don’t tell anyone you saw me here,” Reiko said.

The Rat winked and put his finger to his lips. “I don’t tell tales on my friends, and any friend of Hirata-san’s is a friend of mine. What’s a fine lady like you doing here, anyway?”

Reiko’s spirits lifted. “I’m looking for someone. Maybe you can help me.”

“Be glad to, and for you, I’ll waive my usual fee. Who is it?”

“A woman named Yugao. She escaped from Edo Jail yesterday.” Reiko described Yugao. “Have you seen her?”

The Rat shook his head. “Sorry. But I’ll keep an eye out.” His monkey screeched, waving its sword at Reiko’s guards, who had drawn their swords and were fighting a playful battle with it. “Hey, don’t hurt him!” the Rat said, then asked Reiko, “What was Yugao in jail for?”

“She stabbed her family to death,” Reiko said.

Interest enlivened the Rat’s expression. “I’m surprised I hadn’t heard about that. Where did it happen?”

“In the hinin settlement.”

“Oh.” The Rat’s interest faded, as though crimes among the hinin were commonplace and unimportant. “Why is the chamberlain’s wife looking for an escaped outcast?”

Rather than tell the whole sad story, Reiko said, “My father asked me to find Yugao. He’s the magistrate who tried her for the murders.”

The Rat waggled his bristly eyebrows, hinting for more explanation. Reiko kept silent. The monkey whacked Lieutenant Asukai on the leg with his sword. Lieutenant Asukai yelped in pain. His comrades howled with laughter.

“Serves you right, teasing a poor animal,” the Rat huffed, then said, “The law moves in strange ways, and who am I to question it? But since I have the privilege of talking to the magistrate’s daughter, maybe you can tell me whether those other murders were ever solved.”

“What other murders?” Reiko said, impatient for the rain to stop so she could continue her search. Her mind drifted to Sano, and fear tightened inside her. Would the assassin’s death-touch take effect before two days passed?

“The ones that happened around here, about six years ago,” the Rat said. “Three men were stabbed within a few months of each other.”

Reiko’s attention snapped back to him. “What? Who were they?”

“Tokugawa soldiers. A lot of them come here to have fun when they’re off duty.”

“How did it happen?”

“The way I heard it, they got drunk in teahouses and they went out to the alleys to piss. They were found lying dead there, in pools of blood.”

An eerie sensation crept through Reiko. The murders had occurred while Yugao had been living in the district, and the victims had been stabbed, as had her family. “The killer was never caught?”

“Not that I know of,” the Rat said. “Last I heard, the police had decided that a roving bandit killed those soldiers. Their money pouches were missing from their bodies.”

It must be a coincidence that had placed Yugao and the stabbings in the same area during the same time period. Bandits did often kill and rob people. Furthermore, how could a woman murder strong, armed samurai? Yet Reiko didn’t trust coincidences.

The storm abated. The rain diminished to a sprinkle, although the sky remained overcast. People poured out of the stalls, onto the wet avenue.

“It was nice talking to you,” the Rat said. “If I hear any news about your escaped prisoner, I’ll send a message.” He jerked his monkey’s leash and told Reiko’s guards, “Fun’s over.”

Reiko spent an hour questioning people in the entertainment district, but no one had seen Yugao. She was apparently too smart to run to a place where the police were likely to look for her. But still she might have gravitated toward her home territory because she didn’t know where else to go. Reiko broadened her search into the neighborhoods near Ryōgoku Hirokoji and eventually found herself in a familiar street of tenements and shops. She saw a teahouse she recognized. The maid she’d talked to yesterday was lounging against the same pillar.

“Well, look who’s back,” the maid said and held out her hand, palm up, to Reiko. “You owe me. I’ve found out where that girl Tama is.”


Reiko’s bearers set down her palanquin in an enclave in the Nihonbashi merchant district. Rain drizzled on mansions that rose two stories high; pines and red maples grew from spacious gardens hidden behind bamboo fences. The streets were quiet and unpopulated, remote from the bustle of commerce a few blocks away.

“A customer from the old days happened to stop by. He said Tama’s father drank himself to death, and Tama was left without a single copper to live on,” the teahouse maid had told Reiko. “She went to work as a servant in the house of a rich moneylender.”

The directions given by the maid had brought Reiko here. Maybe Tama could help her trace Yugao as well as shed light on the murders. Reiko watched through the window of her palanquin as Lieutenant Asukai dismounted, walked to the largest mansion on the street, and knocked on the gate. It was opened by a manservant.

“I want to see Tama,” Lieutenant Asukai said. “Send her out.”

Soon a woman emerged. Tama was so small that she looked like a child, although Reiko knew she must be near the same age as Yugao, in her twenties. Tama wore a plain indigo kimono; a white cloth bound her hair. She had a face as plump-cheeked and smooth as a doll’s. As she beheld Lieutenant Asukai and the other guards, fear widened her innocent eyes. He led her to Reiko’s palanquin.

Reiko said, “Hello, Tama-san. My name is Reiko. I’m the daughter of Magistrate Ueda, and I’d like to talk to you.” She opened the door. “Come inside so you don’t get wet.” She felt an instinctive urge to protect Tama, who seemed too sweet and defenseless to survive in the world.

Tama meekly obeyed. Inside the palanquin, she looked around as if it were some alien place. Reiko thought she’d probably never been in one before: Servants didn’t ride; they walked. She knelt as far from Reiko as possible and tucked her hands in her sleeves.

“Don’t be afraid,” Reiko said. “I won’t hurt you.”

Bashful, Tama avoided Reiko’s gaze. Reiko said, “I need to ask you some questions about your friend Yugao.”

Tama stiffened. She eyed the door, as if she wanted to jump out but didn’t dare. “I-I don’t know any Yugao,” she said in a whisper so soft that Reiko almost couldn’t hear it. Her face, honest and transparent, gave the lie to her words.

“I know that you and Yugao were friends,” Reiko said gently. “Have you seen her?”

Tama shook her head. Her eyes begged Reiko to leave her alone. She whispered, “No. Not since three years ago, when she…”

“Moved to the hinin settlement?” When Tama nodded, Reiko wondered if Tama was lying again. The girl’s nervousness made it hard to tell whether that was the case, or if she was just shy with strangers or afraid that her connection with a murderess would get her in trouble. “Don’t worry, nothing bad will happen to you,” Reiko assured Tama. “I just need to find Yugao. She escaped from jail yesterday, and she’s dangerous. Do you have any idea where she might have gone?”

“Jail?” Tama gasped the word. Shock and dismay filled her eyes. “Yugao was in jail?”

“Yes,” Reiko said. “She murdered her parents and sister. Didn’t you know?”

Tama sat staring in open-mouthed horror: It was obvious she hadn’t known. Reiko supposed that crimes in the hinin settlement weren’t publicized. Tama buried her face in her hands and began to sob. “Oh no, oh no, oh no!”

Reiko took hold of Tama’s hands and gently pulled them down. Tama’s eyes were streaming and her face blotched with tears. She gazed helplessly at Reiko.

“I don’t know where Yugao is,” she cried. “Please believe me!”

“Have you any idea where Yugao could have gone? Are there any places that you and she went when you were children?”

“No!” Tama snatched her hands out of Reiko’s grasp. She wiped her tears on her sleeve.

“Try to think,” Reiko urged. “Yugao might hurt someone else unless she’s caught.” Tama only wept and shook her head. Reiko grabbed the girl by the shoulders. “If you know anything at all that might help me find Yugao, you must tell me.”

“I don’t,” Tama whimpered. “Let me go. You’re hurting me.”

Ashamed of bullying this innocent, helpless girl, Reiko let go of Tama. “All right. I’m sorry,” Reiko said. But even if she couldn’t find out where Yugao was, perhaps she could still make her hunt for Tama worthwhile.

“Tama,” she said, “there’s something else I need to ask you. Why would Yugao kill her family?”

The girl cringed in the corner of the palanquin, still and silent as a baby bird that hopes the cat will get bored and go away if it waits long enough.

“Tell me,” Reiko said, gentle yet firm.

Tama’s will crumbled under Reiko’s. At last she whispered, “I think… I think he drove her to it.”

“Who did? Do you mean her father?”

Tama nodded. “He… when we were children… he used to come into her bed at night.”

Reiko felt a flash of vindication at this evidence for her theory about Yugao’s motive for the murders. “Is that what Yugao told you?”

“No,” Tama said. “She didn’t have to. I saw.”

“How? What happened?”

With much prodding from Reiko, Tama explained, “I spent a night at Yugao’s house. We were ten years old. After we went to bed, her father came over to us and crawled in next to her.”

Reiko pictured the mother, father, sister, Yugao, and Tama lying on mattresses in the same room, as families did who lived in close quarters. She saw the man rise and tiptoe through the darkness to Yugao. She was shocked that he would commit incest with her in the presence of her friend and his whole family. The man deserved to be an outcast and hadn’t been wrongly accused by his business partner.

“He thought I was asleep,” Tama continued. “I shut my eyes and lay still. But I could feel them moving in the bed near me and the floor shaking while he lay on top of her. And I could hear her crying when he…”

Tama couldn’t be mistaken. Children of her class must often see their parents coupling, and she would have recognized that Yugao’s father had been doing with his daughter what he should have done only with his wife.

“Yugao must have hated her father for hurting her,” Reiko said to herself. “She must have hated him all these years.”

“But she didn’t. The next morning, I told Yugao that I knew what her father had done. I said I was sorry for her. But she said she didn’t mind.” Tama’s eyes reflected the surprised disbelief that Reiko felt. “She said that if he wanted her, it was all right because she loved him and it was her duty to make him happy. And she did seem to love him. She followed him around. She would climb on his lap and hug him.”

As if they were lovers instead of father and daughter, Reiko thought with a shudder of revulsion.

“And he loved her,” Tama said. “He gave her lots of presents-dolls, sweets, pretty clothes.”

With them he’d paid for Yugao’s cooperation, suffering, and silence.

“If there was anyone Yugao hated, it was her mother,” Tama said.

“Why?”

“She complained about how her mother was always scolding her. She didn’t like anything Yugao did. Once I saw her hit Yugao so hard that her nose started bleeding. I don’t know why she was so mean.”

Reiko deduced that the mother had been jealous of her daughter for stealing her husband’s affections. And since she couldn’t punish the man she depended on for a living, she’d taken out her anger on Yugao. “How long did this go on?”

“Until we were fifteen,” Tama said. “Then I think her father stopped.”

That would have been three years before the family moved to the hinin settlement. Reiko wondered if Yugao had held a grudge for so long. “How do you know? Did she say?”

Tama shook her head. “One day I went to visit Yugao. She was crying. I asked what was wrong. She wouldn’t tell me. But I noticed that her little sister Umeko had a new doll. And Umeko sat on her father’s lap and hugged him the way Yugao used to. He ignored Yugao.”

Amazement stunned Reiko. The man had committed incest with both his daughters, not just one. It seemed he’d grown tired of Yugao, and Umeko had replaced her as his favored pet and victim of his lust.

“Yugao changed,” Tama said. “She hardly ever talked. She was mad all the time. She wasn’t fun anymore.”

Even though her father had stopped violating her, she must have been crushed and angered by his desertion. Reiko asked, “What happened after that?”

“She was at my house all the time. When I worked in my father’s teahouse, she would help me.”

Reiko imagined Yugao had wanted to avoid her own home, where she would see the father who’d rejected her, the mother who’d unjustly punished her, and the sister who must have caused her terrible jealousy. Tama had been her refuge. But when Yugao and her family had moved to the hinin settlement, they’d been cooped up together, and she’d lost her friend; she’d had nowhere to go. The tensions inside the family must have reached a crisis point and exploded into murder.

“The customers at the teahouse liked her.” Tama sighed. “She would go outside with them, and…”

Her pause conjured up visions of Yugao coupling with men in a dark alley. Reiko suspected that Yugao had been seeking love from them that she couldn’t get from her father.

“Some of them fell in love with her,” Tama said. “They wanted to marry her. But she was mean to them. She called them idiots and told them to leave her alone. She would go outside with other men right in front of them.”

Perhaps she’d also craved revenge on her father, which she’d satisfied by hurting her suitors, thought Reiko.

“But later there was one man. A samurai…” Tama sucked her breath through her teeth.

“What’s the matter?” Reiko said.

“He was scary.”

“In what way?”

Puckering her forehead, Tama searched her memory. “It was his eyes. They were so black and-and unfriendly. When he looked at me, I felt like he was thinking about killing me. And his voice. He didn’t talk much, but when he did, he sounded like a cat hissing.”

Tama shivered. Then bewilderment crossed her face. “I don’t know why Yugao wanted anything to do with him. We knew he was dangerous. Once, another customer bumped into him. He threw the man on the floor and held his sword to his neck. I never saw anyone move so fast.” Awe and fright dazed her eves. “The man begged for mercy, and he let him go. But he could have killed him just like that.”

“Maybe Yugao wanted another man who would hurt her,” Reiko mused.

“He acted almost as if she wasn’t there,” Tama said. “He would sit and drink, and she would sit beside him and talk, and he never answered-he just stared into space. But she fell in love with him. She stood in front of the teahouse every day, watching for him to come. When he left, she would run after him. Sometimes I wouldn’t see her for days, because she was off with him.”

Reiko understood that Yugao had transferred her unrequited love for her father to the mysterious samurai. She speculated that Yugao had stayed in contact with him after she’d moved to the hinin settlement. If so, she might have gone to him after she’d escaped from jail.

A thrill of hope tingled inside Reiko as she said, “Who is this man?”

“He called himself Jin,” Tama said. “That’s all I knew.”

Without a clan name, it would be difficult to trace him. “Who is his master?”

“I don’t know.”

Reiko fought disappointment. The mysterious samurai was her only clue to Yugao’s whereabouts. “What did he look like?”

Tama frowned in an effort to recall. “He was handsome, I guess.”

After many attempts to coax a better description from Tama, Reiko gave up. “Do you know where he and Yugao went when they left the teahouse?”

The girl shook her head, then stopped as a thought occurred to her. “I used to work at an inn, before I came here. Sometimes, when there was an empty room, I would let them inside so they could be together.”

If Yugao and her lover had met up, maybe they’d gone back to the place that was familiar to them. “What’s the name of this inn? Where is it?”

Tama gave directions. “It’s called the Jade Pavilion.” She edged toward the door. “Can I go now?” she said timidly. “If I stay away too long, my mistress will be angry.”

Reiko hesitated, then nodded, said, “Thank you for your help,” and let Tama go. As she watched Tama scurry through the gate of her employer’s house, she wondered if she’d heard everything Tama knew about Yugao. She had a feeling that the meek, gentle Tama had managed to hide something from her.

Lieutenant Asukai put his head through the window of the palanquin. “I heard what the girl told you,” he said. “Shall we go to the Jade Pavilion and look for Yugao?”

That had been Reiko’s first thought, but if Yugao was with her mysterious samurai, and he was as dangerous as Tama said, then Reiko should be prepared for trouble. Her guards were good enough fighters to protect her from bandits and the stray rebel soldier, but she didn’t want to pit them against a murderess and an unknown quantity.

“First we’ll fetch reinforcements,” she said.

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