Yoritomo leaned close to the shogun and whispered in his ear. Sano frowned, as startled as Lord Matsudaira, the elders, Hirata, and the detectives looked. The shogun raised his eyebrows while he listened to Yoritomo; he nodded.

“I’ve made my decision,” he said, confident now. “I will allow Chamberlain Sano to investigate the murder and apprehend the killer.”

Relief, but also misgivings, filled Sano. Hirata and the detectives nodded at him in approval. Lord Matsudaira’s face expressed a mixture of gratification at getting his way and vexation that his former rival’s son had such influence over the shogun. The elders tried to hide their disgruntlement. Yoritomo beamed at Sano.

“That’s enough of this, ahh, serious talk,” the shogun told Sano, his companions, Lord Matsudaira, and the elders. “You’re all dismissed. Keep me informed on the, ahh, progress of the investigation.” He gestured at the musicians, dancers, and other boys. “Let the party resume.”

In the corridor outside the shogun’s private chambers, Lord Matsudaira and the elders marched past Sano. “I trust that you’ll solve this case to my satisfaction,” Lord Matsudaira said. His tone emphasized their comradeship, yet hinted at dire consequences for Sano if he failed.

The elders bowed to Sano. Their courtesy said they feared he would incriminate them; the hostility in their eyes said this wouldn’t be the last time they opposed him as long as he was allied with Lord Matsudaira.

“You would do well to remember how you got where you are,” Kato said. Sano had been appointed chamberlain because his independent spirit had made him the one man that Lord Matsudaira and the remnants of Yanagisawa’s faction could agree upon. Kato was telling Sano that they’d helped put him in power and they could cut him down if he caused trouble for them.

Yoritomo emerged from the doorway. Ihara said to him, “Are you coming with us?”

“No. I’ll see you later.” Yoritomo halted beside Sano.

Disapproval colored the elders’ faces. “Don’t forget who your real friends are,” Ihara said.

The elders departed in a huff. Sano and Yoritomo walked down the corridor together. Hirata and the detectives trailed them. Sano said, “I must thank you for putting in a word for me with the shogun.”

Yoritomo blushed with pleasure at Sano’s gratitude. “After all you’ve done for me, it was the least I could do,” he said.

He looked so happy, so eager for approval, that Sano hated to say what he must. “But you shouldn’t have interfered. You can’t afford to upset Kato or Ihara for my sake. That was foolish. Never do it again.”

“Please forgive me. I guess I wasn’t thinking.” Yoritomo hung his head, mortified by Sano’s criticism. “I only wanted to help you.”

“Helping me is not your duty,” Sano said gently but firmly. That the father had once done everything possible to ruin him, and the son risked his own safety to protect him! “And you should stay out of politics. They can be deadly.”

“Yes… I understand what you mean.”

Yoritomo’s chastened tone said he’d caught Sano’s allusion to his banished father. Sano knew that although Yoritomo adored and missed his father, he hadn’t been blind to Yanagisawa’s faults. As they stopped at the door that led out of the palace, Yoritomo gazed earnestly at Sano.

“But if you ever need me to do anything for you…” Yoritomo’s eyes shone with the love and hero-worship that he’d transferred from his absent father to Sano. “Just ask me.”

His devotion made Sano uncomfortable even as it moved him. All he’d done to win it was spend a little time chatting with the boy over a drink or on a walk through the castle now and then. But this was more kindness than anyone else had paid him without expecting anything in return. “Well, let’s hope that won’t be necessary.”

Yoritomo went back to the shogun’s party. Sano and his retinue headed through the dark, winding passages of Edo Castle toward his compound. He looked forward to telling Reiko about his new case, and he felt a sharp nostalgia for the days when they’d investigated crimes together. This wouldn’t be just like old times. Everything had changed.

Watch, Mama, watch!”

Masahiro pranced along the corridor in the private quarters of the chamberlain’s compound. The floor emitted loud squeaks where his little feet trod. Reiko strolled after him, wincing at the noise. One of her son’s favorite pastimes was playing with the nightingale floor, designed to give warning that an intruder was in the house. When Sano and Reiko had moved into Yanagisawa’s former residence, they’d discovered that it was riddled with nightingale floors. And soon Masahiro had memorized all the places they squeaked.

“Look, Mama!” he cried. As he backtracked down the passage, the floor made not a sound.

“Very good.” Reiko smiled, proud that he’d also memorized the places where one could tread silently. She thought him very clever for a boy not quite three years old. “Now it’s time to get ready for bed.”

After they’d bathed together, while she was tucking him in bed, Sano came and joined them. “You’re home early,” she said. “I’m glad to see you.”

Sano looked tired yet alert. “I’m glad to see you, too.”

Masahiro jumped into Sano’s arms. Sano tossed him into the air. They laughed and played tag around the room.

“Please don’t excite him,” Reiko said. “He’ll never go to sleep.”

“But I hardly ever see him,” Sano said regretfully, as he held their son on his lap and Masahiro chattered happily. “I want to be a good father, but every day just slips by without a chance. I want to teach Masahiro about life, martial arts, and the Way of the Warrior, like my father did me.” Sano’s father had operated a martial arts school in which Sano had spent most of his childhood. “But time is going to be even tighter than usual.”

After much fuss, Reiko and Sano finally settled Masahiro in his bed. They went to their chamber, where Reiko poured sake for them.

“The chief of the metsuke has been murdered,” Sano said. “Lord Matsudaira has ordered me to investigate.”

As he explained the particulars of the crime, and the dangers involved, and the consequences of not solving it, Reiko felt as much excitement as alarm. Sano said, “This murder case has the potential to fan the flames of political conflict into another war. Lord Matsudaira is vulnerable because his officials are under attack. I’m once again caught between the two factions.”

He had farther to fall nowadays, but Reiko knew he’d never failed to solve a case in the past, and a murder investigation was something they could share, unlike the administrative work that usually occupied him. “It sounds like a most fascinating case,” she said. “Is there anything I can do to help?” Working on his case as well as her own would keep her very busy, but having too much to do was far better than not enough.

“Maybe later.” Sano drank his sake, then said, “What did you do today?”

Reiko noted how quickly he’d changed the subject; she felt the distance that had grown between them. Why didn’t he want to discuss the case any further? He sounded almost as if he didn’t want her involved. But they’d been partners in detection during nearly four years of marriage. Reiko decided to take Sano’s words at face value and assume that he would let her help if she could.

“I have a new case of my own,” she said.

As she told him about Yugao, the trial, and her father’s request, Sano looked as much troubled as interested. “This woman Yugao is a hinin?”

“Yes. That’s why the police didn’t really investigate the murder of her family and she didn’t get a fair trial.”

“And you’re going to look for evidence that may prove she’s innocent despite the fact that she confessed?”

Reiko was puzzled by the note of disapproval she heard in Sano’s voice. “Yes.”