The Cloud Pavilion

27

"You didn't let him go, did you?" Reiko said as she served Sano his dinner at home late that night.

"No, of course not." Sano had begun the story of what had happened at the teahouse. Now he hungrily ate raw mackerel laid on rice balls and dumplings stuffed with vegetables. "Hirata and I closed down the teahouse. We took the proprietor to Edo Jail. Later, I'll figure out exactly what crimes he's guilty of arranging and your father can put him on trial. I've put a watch on the Drum Teahouse, in case Jinshichi and Gombei should show up there."

"Who were the clients?" Reiko asked eagerly.

Before he answered, Sano looked through the open doors that led to other rooms, to see if Masahiro was listening. He'd resolved not to let his son hear any more conversations about detective work. He saw Masahiro exactly where he'd been when Sano arrived home-sitting in bed two rooms away, Akiko curled up beside him. Masahiro was reading his sister a story. Even though he'd spent the whole day indoors, being punished, he seemed contented enough.

"The clients are three individuals who'll be in big trouble if I find out that they touched my cousin," Sano said. "Gombei and Jinshichi did dirty work for some prominent men. I'm not personally acquainted with them, but I've heard of them all. One is a rice broker named Ogita."

"I've heard of him, too," Reiko said. "Doesn't he buy and sell rice from the shogun's family lands?"

"That's him. He's made a lot of money at it." Enough to pay for women to be kidnapped and delivered to him for his pleasure, Sano thought. "The second man is the official in charge of the shogun's dog kennels."

Due to the law that protected dogs, and the public nuisance they caused, the government had established kennels for the strays. Someone had to maintain the kennels, and that duty had fallen to Nanbu Bosai. He was a Tokugawa vassal from an old, respected clan. But good family connections didn't preclude twisted sexual tastes-or crime.

"Who is the third suspect?" Reiko asked.

"A priest named Joju," Sano said.

"The one who's famous for those rituals?"

Joju's unique, extraordinary rituals had captured the attention of the public, which was avid for new diversions. "The very one," Sano said. "But we don't know if any of the three men is responsible for the attacks."

He faced the disturbing possibility that Jinshichi and Gombei had kidnapped the women for other clients that the proprietor of the Drum Teahouse didn't know about. He recalled what he'd seen at Edo Morgue, and another disturbing possibility occurred to him. "Dr. Ito examined Tengu-in's body," he said, and told Reiko about the disease found on the nun.

"Oh, no." Clearly stricken by horror, Reiko voiced Sano's fear: "Does that mean Chiyo and Fumiko might have it, too?"

"Let's hope not," Sano said. "In the meantime, I intend to find out the truth about our suspects tomorrow."

"I must warn you that Jirocho isn't content to leave the investigation to you," Reiko said, and described the scene at Major Kumazawa's house.

Sano was glad his uncle had spurned the gangster's proposition that they join forces, but displeased by the thought of Jirocho running wild in pursuit of blood. "That's bad news," Sano said, "but I won't let Jirocho get in my way."

Hirata raced through the corridors of his mansion. His children stampeded after him, whooping and laughing. Their footsteps shook the floor. Hirata swerved around corners. Taeko and Tatsuo crashed into walls. Midori called from her chamber, "All this noise is giving me a headache!"

But her tone was fond, indulgent. Hirata knew she loved having him at home, romping with the children. He'd been gone for too much of their short lives, and he'd had to win back their love.

He ran ahead of them and darted into a room. Taeko and Tatsuo sped toward him in hot, uproarious pursuit. Hirata jumped out of the room and shouted, "Boo!"

They recoiled and screamed. Now he was chasing them. They all spilled out the door, down the steps into the dark garden. "Try to find us, Papa!" Taeko called.

She and her little brother ran off to hide. Hirata ambled after them. The wet grass soaked his socks. Fireflies glimmered. In their weak, fleeting light Hirata spotted Taeko behind a stone lantern and Tatsuo peeking around a pine tree. He pretended not to see the children, but they screamed when he came near them and bolted. They rustled so loudly through the grass that Hirata didn't need mystic martial arts powers to hear where they went.

Midori appeared on the veranda and called, "That's enough. Come inside. It's time for the children to go to bed."

Taeko and Tatsuo let out woeful cries and begged her to let them play a little longer.

A pulse of energy traveled through the darkness, through Hirata. His breath caught. His flesh rippled as he detected the same presence that he'd encountered at Shinobazu Pond. It was inside Edo Castle, somewhere nearby.

Hirata froze, listening with all his might. The peaceful night vibrated with howls and screeches beyond the range of normal hearing. He moved his gaze from side to side in an attempt to see the invisible threat. His pupils dilated. His vision expanded. The whole interior of Edo Castle, its buildings, streets, and passages, formed an image like a distorted map, composed of echoes and memory, around the periphery of his eyesight. He couldn't locate the presence, but he could feel the danger.

"Taeko! Tatsuo! Get in the house!" he shouted.

He sped toward his children, scooped up Taeko with one arm and Tatsuo with the other. Frightened by his alarm and his rough handling, they started to cry.

"What's wrong?" Midori said. "What are you doing?"

Hirata vaulted onto the veranda and threw the crying, screaming children in the door. He said to Midori, "You, too!"

"Have you gone mad?" she demanded. "What is it?"

"Someone's out to get me." Hirata stood between her and the threat, his arms flung wide to shield her. He gazed into the night, his heart pounding.

"Someone's always out to get you," Midori said. "That's the problem with being the man that everyone wants to beat. Why upset the children?"

"He's here," Hirata said.

"Where? I don't see anyone."

Hirata didn't, either, but the energy still pulsed with ominous power. "Just do as I told you: Go in the house!"

Determined to protect his family, cursing himself because he'd left his swords in the house and there was no time to fetch them, he started down the steps, his body his only weapon.

Midori followed him. "Why are you scared?" she asked. During his time away from home she'd developed a strong will of her own, and she often disregarded his orders. Furthermore, she wasn't quite convinced that her husband lived in dimensions she couldn't see. "You can defeat anybody. Besides, this estate is full of guards. Nobody can get in to hurt us."

Hirata raced in spirals through the garden. He felt like a cat chasing a string it couldn't see, while an unseen hand jerked the string this way and that, just out of reach. The pulse came from all directions and none. As he left the garden and barreled down a passage between buildings in his estate, Midori fell behind. He faintly heard her calling him to come back and calm down. He burst through a gate that led to the street outside the estate.

"Where are you?" he yelled. "Show yourself!"

The sounds of dogs barking and troops patrolling on horse back in the distance were his only answer. The street bordered by the walls of other estates was empty, serene under the moonlit clouds. But Hirata felt no peace.

His enemy had access to Edo Castle. Stone walls and the Tokugawa army hadn't kept him out. He could get close enough to attack Hirata whenever he wanted.