The Masuda Affair

THIRTEEN

Peony again.

This time Akitada had to face the problem of the drowned courtesan. He had made only a token effort to trace her. Never mind that the child had recognized a cat, and that the cat had led him directly to the dead woman’s house and a toy sword in the garden. He had stopped looking for the boy’s family because what he had really wanted was the boy.

Without strings.

He looked at Tora and Hanae, sitting hand in hand across from him. Tora’s bruised face shone with happiness, but Hanae still looked nervous. It occurred to Akitada that she did not trust him any more than he trusted her. Perhaps it was enough that she made Tora happy, though marriage was no guarantee that all would be well between them. He sighed. Who was he to judge their chances?

He said gravely, ‘Thank you, Hanae. We have been trying to trace a young woman by that name, a courtesan of the first class who lived in Otsu under the protection of a nobleman.’

She nodded. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to find out more.’

Tora squeezed her hand and said, ‘You see what it means, sir? That bastard Sadanori used to keep Peony in that house. When she ran off to be with her lover, he followed and killed her. Hanae thinks that he only cares for women who don’t want him. He’ll do anything to have them. Maybe that includes killing them.’

‘A tempting theory, but our Peony lived in Otsu for years after she left the capital.’ Akitada looked at Hanae. ‘Did you reject Lord Sadanori’s advances, Hanae?’

She shot Tora a glance. ‘He made no advances, sir.’

Tora frowned. ‘You told me he wanted you.’

Hanae said with dignity, ‘Not that way. At least I did not think so.’

‘Well, that was stupid,’ exploded Tora. ‘Look what happened.’

She lowered her eyes. ‘Yes, Tora. I see that now. I’m very sorry.’

Akitada asked, ‘What do you think, Hanae?’

Hanae raised her eyes. ‘It’s possible, sir. He gets angry when he can’t have his way.’

‘We must have a look at the house where you were held. Do you think you could find it again?’

‘I doubt it, but I can try.’

Akitada remembered Tamako’s anger with him the previous day. ‘Please describe what you remember. Start at the beginning,’ he said.

‘The sedan chair stopped outside our house about mid morning two days ago. One of the bearers came to the door and said they had been sent for me. I thought it was for the interview.’

‘Describe the sedan chair and the bearers.’

‘It was ordinary, the kind you hire, and the bearer was the usual type. I explained that my husband was taking me, but he said they had instructions and couldn’t wait. I left a message with my neighbor and got in.’

‘You said you could not see where you were going, but did you get a sense of direction?’

‘I know we went westward to start with and then turned north. But after that there were so many turns that I got confused. I knew it was going to be a very long trip and started dozing.’

Akitada said, ‘Could they have circled the same block ten times to confuse you and make you think they were going to Uji?’

‘Yes.’

‘Close your eyes, and think for a moment about what you heard, or smelled.’ Hanae closed her eyes. ‘We passed the market, one of the markets. I smelled fried rice cakes and heard hawkers crying their wares. And later I heard the great temple bells, but they were faint.’ She sighed and looked at Akitada. ‘That’s all, I’m afraid. The rest was silence or just the noise of other people walking or riding.’

Akitada sighed. ‘Now when you finally halted, you left the sedan chair. What did you see?’

‘We were inside a small courtyard. The house had a thatched roof. There were two tall pine trees and a high fence. I couldn’t see anything outside the courtyard.’ She thought. ‘There were more trees, not pines, and another roof on one side of the courtyard. And I saw a well and a shed or bath house. The gravel had been raked recently.’ She looked at Akitada anxiously. ‘Does that help? I don’t know what the house looks like from the street.’

‘You’re doing well. What sort of fence and gate was it?’

‘Boards and woven bamboo segments. Nothing elegant. The gate was just a single one, but as tall as the fence and made of solid wood. You could not see in or out.’

‘And the house was a gentleman’s private home?’

‘Yes, but small. I got the feeling it was close to other houses on a street. It’s not anything I really know, though. I was becoming very worried by then because it didn’t seem the sort of place I expected.’

Hanae was either a very good liar or her story was true. If it was true… Well, Akitada had been wrong about people before. On the whole, he wanted to believe her for Tora’s sake and for the sake of their friendship. He said, ‘You must have been very frightened. Did anyone come out to greet you?’

‘No. The bearers put me down at the door and told me to go inside. I thought of leaving, but they barred my way and so I did as I was told. The old woman was waiting inside for me. She called me by name and was so friendly that I was relieved. She said there had been a change in plans and she was to talk to me instead – to save me the long journey to Uji. I’m afraid I wanted to believe her. And then she served me wine.’

There were some large problems with Hanae’s tale, but Akitada said, ‘A very clever plot and, but for your determination, it would have succeeded.’

Some of the tension left Hanae. She blushed a little at the compliment.

‘You never saw anyone except the two bearers and the old woman?’

‘That’s all. It was night when I left. I wish I’d taken a good look around, but I was afraid they’d catch me.’ She paused. ‘I thought I heard the cry of a crane once or twice.’

‘Possibly there was a lake nearby. Or the river. Describe the interior.’

She sat up a little straighter. ‘I was in only one room, but it was very luxurious. I’d never seen so many costly things in one place. There were five or six beautiful painted screens and a lacquered curtain stand with mother-of pearl inlay. We sat on a thick grass mat on cushions of red silk. The wine flask and cups on a small red-and-gilt stand were of porcelain. It looked like a room for an empress. I saw a large silver mirror and make-up cases and lovely lacquered and painted trunks. On the shelves were books and games and musical instruments. I kept expecting the lady of the house to appear. That’s when I asked where I was, and the old one said it was “Peony’s house”. The way she said it was… secretive. She kept looking at me and smiling.’ Hanae gave a dainty shudder.

‘Would you say,’ Akitada asked, ‘that it was the sort of place where a very rich man might keep his favorite concubine?’

‘She would have to be very special.’

‘Was there a garden? Could you see outside?’

‘The shades were down and the outer shutters closed. We sat by candlelight.’

‘Hmm. Describe the old woman.’

‘She was about fifty years old, I think. A little taller than I. Broad in the hips, but not fat. She had small hands and feet, and a round face. Her hair was getting thin and gray.’

‘Any recognizable features? Scars, moles, a limp?’

‘No. She looked… respectable.’

Tora muttered something under his breath. Akitada ignored him. ‘So you drank the wine she offered. Did you talk about anything?’

‘I was nervous and chattered about being a nursemaid and how I liked children very much and that I was so happy I was to have one of my own. She just nodded and smiled. Then I got dizzy. I remember that her teeth were blackened and thought that strange for a servant, but then she could have been a relative. I’m afraid I don’t remember anything after that.’

Akitada cleared his throat. It was a convenient tale. ‘When you woke up, you were alone?’

‘Yes. It was completely dark. I was lying on the floor. My arms were tied behind my back and my ankles were tied. I was wearing the silk robe.’

Tora moved angrily and muttered again.

‘Be quiet,’ said his master. ‘Go on, Hanae.’

‘My head hurt. I felt quite sick for a while. But then I began to work on the rope. I thought the woman had gone to sleep and if I was as quiet as a mouse, I might get away. I managed to get the ropes off and felt my way out of the room and down a hallway. The outside door wasn’t locked, but the gate was, so I climbed over the fence and started running. After a while I heard the bell of the East Temple and found my way home just before you came.’

Akitada said nothing for a few moments. Then he asked, ‘Do you mean to say you were unconscious for more than a whole day and night?’

‘I must have been.’

She had looked quite sick, but her story was still hard to believe. What drug would leave a woman unconscious that long? And if Sadanori had ordered her abduction, he had had plenty of time to take his pleasure. Why had he not done so? And how had she escaped so easily? But he said nothing of his doubts and thanked Hanae.

‘Get your sword and saddle two horses, Tora,’ he said, getting up. ‘We’ll look for the house and have a talk with that old woman.’

Akitada doubted the house or the old woman existed, but for Tora’s sake, they had to look. On horseback, they covered more ground in less time, but the sun was setting before they trotted down a quiet residential street just north of the Willow Quarter. They had covered the areas south of both markets without seeing likely houses. This was a quiet area of small but well-kept homes.

And then Tora pointed. He had been scanning the skyline for pine trees and now he said, ‘Look over there, in the next street. See the two pines, and one has a large bird’s nest in it. I bet that’s where a couple of cranes are roosting. Remember Hanae said she heard cranes?’ He spurred his horse, and Akitada followed. In the next street was indeed a house behind a high fence, a fence that was part wood and part woven bamboo.

‘Possibly,’ Akitada said, grudgingly. ‘It looks empty. No smoke.’

They pounded on the gate. Nobody came. Tora kicked at the gate with his foot and it flew back, crashing against the fence inside. A couple of mourning doves flew up with a clatter of wings; otherwise all remained silent. They rode into a small courtyard that looked exactly as Hanae had described it.

Tora dismounted, gave a couple of lusty shouts for servants, then tried the door of the house. ‘It’s open, sir. Let’s have a look.’

The house was empty, and that meant they had lost the old woman, their only witness to Hanae’s story. She would have been likely to run when she found that her prisoner had escaped.

They checked all the rooms quickly. There were five and a kitchen. The house was small, but well appointed. Even the kitchen was equipped to furnish elaborate meals at a moment’s notice. It was exactly the sort of place a very rich nobleman would furnish for a treasured female who was not acceptable in his household. But this house had not been in use for a long time before Hanae’s abduction. A great deal of dust lay everywhere, and cobwebs hung from all the ceilings. Only the main room had been cleaned. And strangely, while the furnishings were not new, they had seen little use, and that suggested that the house had stood empty for years. Was it Sadanori’s? Had he built it for the courtesan Peony, who had ended her life in another man’s secret hideaway in Otsu?

Akitada inspected the main room. The pieces of rope still lay next to a bundle of plain clothing, proof of Hanae’s tale and of the abrupt flight of the old woman. Tora pounced on the bundle and unrolled it. It consisted of a plain dark blue gown, a pair of matching trousers, and a white-and-blue figured sash. ‘Hanae’s,’ he said.

Akitada nodded and raised the heavy reed blinds, bound in green brocade and tied with silk. Then he threw open the wooden shutters, looking out on a small, overgrown garden. More birds flew up. He turned and, in the remaining daylight, he saw the beautiful screens. Shimmering with gold dust and brilliant colors, they were painted with landscape scenes: a pond with a pair of ducks, a mountain gorge under a full moon, a garden scene with a pair of rabbits, and an assortment of baskets and birdcages suspended from a veranda roof. There were peonies on all of them, and colored paper squares covered with calligraphy were pasted into the design. The peonies’ colors were white, pink, and deep red; there were doubles and singles, heavily fringed or plain; they grew from the ground, leaned over water, or filled baskets. The paper squares contained love poems.

‘Peony’s house,’ Akitada muttered and went to read the poems.

Tora came to look. ‘Oh, I see what you mean.’

‘Peonies and love poems,’ said Akitada.

‘That sick bastard didn’t look like a poet to me.’

‘Oh, they’re not Sadanori’s.’

They looked briefly at the musical instruments and feminine possessions – the trunks were filled with exquisite robes – then closed the shutters again and left the house.

‘Let’s talk to the neighbors,’ Akitada said.

They split up to knock on the gates of all the houses on this block. When they met again, they had little enough information. The property belonged to some noble family and had been closed up for years. A caretaker checked it from time to time, but nobody lived there.

‘It’s a miracle thieves haven’t made off with everything the way they did in the villa in Otsu,’ Akitada said.

‘Sadanori keeps a watch on it.’

‘Nobody mentioned his name. Too bad that old woman took to her heels. She would have known. I wonder where she went.’

‘To report to him that another one got away,’ said Tora grimly.

‘Let’s go home. Tomorrow we’ll go back to Otsu to see if that Peony and this one are the same woman.’