The Cloud Pavilion

13

Jirocho the gangster boss lived in Ueno, one of Edo's three temple districts. Ueno was situated in the northeast corner of the capital, known as the unluckiest direction, the "devil's gate." Its temples were supposed to guard the city from bad influences, but evil existed there as well as every place else.

At first glance Jirocho's street was no different from any other in an affluent merchant quarter. Between the neighborhood gates at either end stood rows of large two-story houses with tile roofs, their entrances recessed beneath overhanging eaves. Four men loitered, smoking pipes. A casual observer would never suspect that one of Edo's notorious gang bosses lived here. But Hirata, riding up the street, spotted the signs.

The men were tattooed with blue and black designs that showed at the edges of their collars and sleeves. Once the tattoos had been used by the authorities to brand outlaws; now they were insignias that represented wealth, bravery, and other desirable traits. They declared which clan a gangster belonged to and were worn as proudly as samurai crests.

When Hirata dismounted outside the largest house, the gangsters converged on him. "Looking for something?" one gangster said. His manner was devoid of the respect usually shown by a commoner to a samurai. The tattoo on his chest depicted a dragon, symbol of Jirocho's clan. He was probably one of its low-level soldiers.

"I want to see Jirocho," Hirata said.

"What makes you think Jirocho would want to see you?"

"Tell him Hirata is here."

They froze at the sound of Hirata's name: His reputation had spread into the underworld. Gangsters hated to admit they were afraid of anybody; they would kill on the slightest provocation, and they fought savagely with rival gangs, but they were more inclined toward self-preservation than the samurai who constantly challenged Hirata. These four gangsters chuckled as if they'd been playing a joke on him. Three pretended an interest in reloading their pipes. The other ambled into the house. Soon he reemerged and beckoned Hirata inside.

Led down a corridor, Hirata saw rooms where gang members lounged, awaiting orders from their boss. They eyed him, silent and hostile. A group of them knelt in a circle, playing hana-fuda-the flower card game. They wore their kimonos down around their waists, displaying their tattoos. One man threw down his cards. The others laughed and exclaimed, "Ya-ku-za!"

Eight-nine-three. It was the worst hand possible, but the gangsters seemed to feel an affection for it. Maybe they thought it symbolized their no-good selves, Hirata speculated.

His escort left him in a reception room. The tatami floor mats were bound with embroidered ribbon and so thick that they felt like cushions under Hirata's feet. The mural on the wall depicted a garden of brilliantly colored flowers beside a blue river highlighted with ripples of silver and gold paint. Black lacquer screens sported gold-inlaid birds. Brass lanterns suspended from the ceilings dangled gold pendants. Shelves held a collection of gold figurines. Hirata got the message: Jirocho was filthy rich. But he hid his wealth behind closed doors. Not even a top gangster boss dared violate the sumptuary laws that prohibited commoners from flaunting their wealth.

Two women brought refreshments to Hirata. They were as beautiful and stylishly dressed as the most expensive courtesans in the Yoshiwara licensed pleasure quarter. They wordlessly served the tea and food and departed. Hirata listened to the gangsters talking and joking at their card game. His keen ears also picked up the sound of distant sobs.

He followed the sound down a passage to a door that was open just enough for him to peer inside. He saw a young man kneeling and weeping, arms extended on the floor. Two older gangsters stood over him. "I hear you've been keeping some of the money you collected from the vendors," said a deep, scratchy voice. Hirata couldn't see the man who spoke, but he recognized the voice as Jirocho's. "Did you really think I wouldn't find out?"

"I'm sorry," the young man cried. "I shouldn't have done it!"

Hirata knew that gangsters had a code of honor consisting of three rules: Don't touch the wife of a fellow member; don't reveal gang secrets to outsiders; and, above all, be loyal to the boss. If the boss says crows are white, you must agree, the saying went.

One of the two gangsters standing grabbed the young man and yanked him upright. The other shoved a heavy wooden table in front of him and offered him a cleaver. Even as he sobbed in fright, the young man took the cleaver in his left hand. He positioned his right hand with its little finger laid against the table, its others curled into a fist. He raised the cleaver, screamed, and hacked off the tip of his finger.

Hirata blinked. He'd seen many acts of violence, but this one shocked him even though he knew it was common among gangsters. One who broke the rules would lose a finger joint for each offense. Samurai who violated Bushido were punished by compulsory suicide, but Hirata thought this forced self-mutilation was bizarre.

Pale as death, the trembling young man accepted a white silk cloth from one of the other gangsters. He wrapped his severed finger in the cloth and offered the package to Jirocho.

"You're forgiven this time," Jirocho said. "Don't let there be a next time."

Hirata silently slipped away and returned to the reception room. Soon Jirocho entered. "Well, well, Hirata-san. This is a surprise."

Now in his fifties, Jirocho had changed in the twelve or so years since he and Hirata had last met. Beneath the gaudy silk robes that he wore in private defiance of the sumptuary laws, his figure was pudgier because he sat around and gave orders instead of prowling the streets and fighting as he'd done in his youth. His hair had turned gray and he'd gone bald at the temples; his jowls sagged. But his sharp eyes gleamed with the familiar look of controlled aggression. His thick mouth wore the same predatory smile that Hirata remembered.

The biggest change had less to do with Jirocho than with Hirata's own expanded perception.

For the first time Hirata saw Jirocho's shield. It exuded a magnetic attraction as well as sheer ruthlessness. Once Hirata had wondered how Jirocho had climbed the ranks from petty thief to boss of his own gang. Now he knew. Jirocho drew weaker men like a magnet draws iron specks.

"Have you come to arrest me again?" Jirocho's smile broadened: He knew he was safe, protected by the same government that Hirata served.

"Not today," Hirata said. "I'm here about a crime, but not one that you committed."

"What crime?"

"The kidnapping of your daughter."

Jirocho's smile vanished. He abruptly turned away. "I won't talk about that."

"I'm afraid you'll have to," Hirata said. "Chamberlain Sano and I are investigating another kidnapping that may be related to your daughter's. We need information."

"You'll have to get it somewhere else," Jirocho said, his back turned, his voice cold.

"How about if I talk to your daughter?"

"My daughter Fumiko is dead."

"What?" Hirata was surprised. "The police say she was found alive."

"She's dead to me." Jirocho turned to face Hirata, who saw that his eyes were wet and ablaze with angry tears. "Some filthy monster ruined my girl. She was disgraced."

Her kidnapping had one more thing in common with Sano's cousin's, Hirata realized. Fumiko, too, had been raped.

"I had to disown her, for the sake of my clan's honor," Jirocho said.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know. I threw her out of the house."

"You threw a twelve-year-old girl out to fend for herself?" Hirata was horrified by Jirocho's attitude.

Jirocho gave him a hostile stare. "I loved Fumiko with all my heart, but things have changed. Wait until it happens to your daughter, then let's see how you react."

Hirata thought of little Taeko, whom he would always love and protect no matter what. But he wasn't as bound by conventions as Jirocho was in spite of his outlaw background. And he shouldn't criticize Jirocho if he wanted his cooperation.

"All right," Hirata said, "I understand. But I still need your help. Perhaps you would let me talk to Fumiko's mother?"

"Her mother died when she was a baby," Jirocho said. "I raised her myself."

Hirata made one last try. "Chamberlain Sano's cousin was kidnapped and violated, perhaps by the same man as Fumiko. We're seeking justice for her. Don't you want to avenge your daughter?"

"Oh, indeed, I do. Make no mistake." Jirocho spoke with a savagery that darkened his face. This was the man who forced his henchmen to cut off their own fingers as punishment for crossing him. He would never let anyone get away with violating his daughter, even though he'd forsaken her. "But I'll do it myself, my way."

Things had been bad enough when Major Kumazawa had conducted a search for his daughter, offending and threatening people wherever he went. Now Hirata was appalled by the idea of the gangster boss out for blood.

"You stay out of this," he ordered Jirocho. "Let Chamberlain Sano and me handle it. Just tell me what you know about your daughter's kidnapping."

Jirocho's face was stony, closed. "With all due respect to you and Chamberlain Sano, this score is mine to settle personally. Now please leave."

The gangster who'd escorted Hirata into the house escorted him out. When they reached the street, Hirata asked, "Where can I find Jirocho's daughter?"

"If Jirocho won't tell you, neither will I," the gangster said. "I don't talk about his business."

Hirata observed that the gangster's energy shield was weak. This was the kind of man he could manipulate. "Where is she?" Hirata said, projecting the force of his will at the gangster.

"In the marketplace," the gangster said obediently.

"Where was she kidnapped and found?"

"By Shinobazu Pond." Now the gangster's eyes widened in fright because he realized he'd broken a gang rule.

"Thank you," Hirata said. "I won't tell your boss."

The abbess led Sano into the convent's chapel, which was shaded by pine trees and darkened by closed shutters. Inside, a low altar held a gold Buddha statue that sat amid gold lotus flowers, lit candles, and brass incense burners that emitted pungent, bittersweet smoke. Before the altar knelt a nun, shrouded in a gray hemp robe, her head covered with a white drape. She rocked slowly back and forth.

"Since she was kidnapped, all she does is pray," the abbess said in a quiet, sad voice. "She won't talk to anyone. It's as if she's living in a world of her own."

Now Sano understood why the other nuns considered her a problem. As he and the abbess moved toward her, he noticed someone else standing in an alcove, like a guardian deity. It was a girl in her teens, with an innocent, pretty face, her hair tied in a kerchief.

"That's Ume," the abbess said. "One of our novices. I've assigned her to watch over Tengu-in." She whispered, "When she first came home, she took a knife and cut her arm."

Had she been trying to punish herself for the rape, which many people would consider her fault? Sano felt a terrible pity for the old woman. He knelt at the altar, far enough away from her that she wouldn't feel threatened by his presence, but close enough to see her clearly. Now he observed that her body was emaciated; her robes hung on her skeleton.

"She won't eat," the abbess said, "or sleep, either."

Her profile was sharp with facial bones visible through taut, waxen skin. Her eyes were closed tight, their lids purplish. Her lips moved, but she made no sound.

"Tengu-in," Sano said quietly.

She seemed not to notice him. Her lips kept moving; she rocked to some inner, secret rhythm.

"Can you hear me?"

There was no response. The novice gave a faint, desolate sigh. The abbess said sadly, "I warned you."

But Sano couldn't give up. "Tengu-in, I'm Chamberlain Sano. Tell me what happened when you were kidnapped."

She continued her silent praying. Her face was expressionless, animated only by the flickering candlelight.

"Who took you?" Sano persisted. "Was it someone you recognized?"

No answer came.

Sano appealed to the kind nature that the abbess had said Tengu-in had once possessed. "I believe this man has kidnapped and attacked two other women besides you. One of them is my cousin. I must catch him before he hurts anyone else. And I need your help."

His words didn't penetrate the invisible shell into which she'd retreated. In an attempt to reach her, he spoke louder, urgently: "What did he look like? Where did he take you?"

"It's no use," the abbess said as Tengu-in prayed, rocked, and ignored everyone. "Even if she's listening, she won't speak."

Sano rose, reluctantly. He didn't want to leave empty-handed. "I need to question everyone who was with Tengu-in on that trip to Zj Temple."

"Ume was." The abbess beckoned to the novice.

The girl crept over to Sano and bowed, her eyes open wide with anxiety.

"What happened?" Sano said. "How did Tengu-in just suddenly disappear?"

"I don't know," she said in a barely audible whisper. She clenched her hands under her sleeves and cast a nervous glance at the abbess.

Sano said to the abbess, "I'd like to speak with Ume privately."

Disapproval crossed the older woman's face, but she couldn't deny his request. She said, "I'll be right outside," and departed.

Sano said, "Whatever secret you don't want her to know, it's safe with me."

The girl's face crumpled. Tears shone in her eyes. "It's my fault Tengu-in was kidnapped."

Sano couldn't believe that this innocent-looking girl was in any way responsible for the crime. "How so?"

"We were supposed to stay with her. I should have watched out for her." Ume sobbed as she gazed down at Tengu-in, who seemed oblivious. "Instead, I ran ahead with the other novices. She was too slow. She couldn't keep up."

Sano envisioned the old woman hobbling through the temple grounds in the wake of the young, exuberant girls. Perhaps they had been negligent, but he said, "You're not to blame. You couldn't have known she was in danger."

"But I was doing something I shouldn't have been." Shamefaced yet eager to unburden herself, Ume said, "There was a group of novices from the monastery down the street. We-the other girls and I…"

The picture became clear to Sano. The girls had wanted to flirt with the young monks, so they'd run away from their chaperone. Joining a religious order didn't rid people of their natural human desires.

"I feel so guilty," Ume said as she wept. "I wish I could make up for what I did."

"Here's your chance," Sano said. "Help me catch the man who hurt her. When you were at the temple, did you see anyone or anything that looked suspicious?"

"No," Ume said, wiping her tears on her sleeve. "I've tried and tried to remember, but I don't."

Whoever had kidnapped Tengu-in couldn't have just suddenly appeared out of nowhere, swooped down on her like an eagle from the sky, and spirited her away, Sano thought. He would have had to single her out of the crowd, to await an opportunity to take her without anyone seeing.

He must have been watching her.

"Think back to the time before you and the other girls left Tengu-in," Sano said. "Did you notice anyone paying particular attention to your group?"

Ume pondered, then shook her head.

"Anyone following you?" Sano persisted.

"No. I'm sorry. I was busy looking at the monks." Then she frowned, as if startled by a memory forgotten until now.

"What is it?" Sano asked.

"I did see someone."

"At the temple?" Sano's pulse began to race in anticipation.

"No, not there. And not then. It was the day before. Outside the convent."

Maybe the kidnapper had had his eye on the nuns. Maybe he'd been spying on the convent, lying in wait for his chance to kidnap one. "Tell me what happened," Sano said urgently.

"It was after morning prayers. I sneaked outside." Ume's face flushed. "The monks walk past the convent on their way to the city. There's one that I-well, when he goes by, he smiles at me." Pleasure and guilt mingled in her voice. "That day, I missed him. But I saw a man standing in the street."

"Who was he?"

"I don't know. I'd never seen him before. Nor since."

"Can you describe him?"

"I didn't get a very good look. As soon as he saw me, he turned and walked away." Ume squinted, trying to bring the remembered glimpse of him into focus. "He was tall and strong. His hair was so short, the skin on his head showed through. He was old, about thirty."

Sano winced: He himself was forty-three, which she probably considered ancient. "What was he wearing?"

"A dark blue kimono."

Every commoner in Japan owned a cotton kimono dyed with indigo. And many of them cut their hair short to discourage fleas and lice. "Did his face have any distinctive features?"

"He looked like he hadn't shaved in a while." Ume brightened at a fresh recollection. "He had a big scab, here." She touched her right cheekbone. "I remember thinking he must have been in an accident or a fight."

That wasn't unusual, either. Sano pressed for more details, but Ume could provide none. "Did you see an oxcart?"

"No. I'm sorry," she said, gazing unhappily at Tengu-in, who prayed, rocked, and apparently had not heard any of the conversation.

But the oxcart could have been parked nearby, out of sight. The man she'd seen could have been the driver, who might have kidnapped Tengu-in, Chiyo, and Jirocho's daughter, too.

"You've been very helpful," Sano said.

"You'll catch him, won't you?" she said, with touching faith.

"I will," Sano vowed. He dared to think that he had a lead at last.