Straightening, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi looked closely at Sano, then gave a nervous laugh. “Surely you are not serious?”

“I am,” Sano said, though aware that the scenario would have once sounded preposterous to himself. “That’s why I must ask you to order all activities at the Black Lotus Temple to cease and the residents arrested while I conduct a thorough investigation of all the sect’s followers and properties.”

Worry creased the shogun’s forehead. “Ahh… ” He signaled to an attendant, who gave him a drink of water. “I cannot believe that a Buddhist order would do such terrible things,” he fretted. “Indeed, my honorable mother has developed a great, ahh, enthusiasm for High Priest Anraku. She plans to become his disciple, and I know she would not associate herself with a sect that is as bad as you claim.”

If only Reiko had not taken Lady Keisho-in to the temple. The shogun trusted his mother’s judgment; he rarely opposed her, and anyone who did risked offending him.

“Anraku is a skillful trickster who can take in even the wisest persons,” Sano said, recalling how he himself had been fooled by the priest. He should have listened to Reiko, who’d perceived Anraku’s true nature. “The Honorable Lady Keisho-in is in grave danger.”

“Surely my mother would know if she were.” Annoyance soured the shogun’s expression. “Do you dare challenge her wisdom?”

“Not at all,” Sano said calmly, while panic shot through him. “I just want to protect her and other good, innocent citizens from harm by the sect.”

“She is, ahh, not the only member of my regime who follows the way of the Black Lotus,” the shogun retorted, sweaty and flustered with ire now. A nervous attendant blotted his face with a towel. “There are many who accept High Priest Anraku as their, ahh, spiritual guide. They have expressed to me their disapproval of Minister Fugatami. They would not appreciate your continuing his persecution of the sect.”

Sano was alarmed to learn that the Black Lotus had supporters in high positions close to the shogun. “May I ask who these people are?”

Tokugawa Tsunayoshi’s face took on a queasy look, as if he’d said too much for his own good and wanted someone to rescue him. When no one did, he huffed, “You may not ask.”

Yet Sano deduced that the high-ranking Black Lotus supporters had to be members of the Tokugawa branch clans, which controlled large landholdings and wielded much political influence. Some of these Tokugawa daimyo were strong personalities who intimidated the shogun, although he would never admit it. The Black Lotus’s power had spread too wide and high, and Sano guessed how this had happened.

Chamberlain Yanagisawa normally discovered and neutralized such threats to his own power with great efficiency, but he was away on his provincial inspection tour. Perhaps his affair with Yoriki Hoshina had distracted him from politics, and he’d forgotten to watch his back. The old Yanagisawa would never have allowed a religious order to develop so much influence, yet even now, he wouldn’t ignore the Black Lotus situation. If he knew about it, he would disband the sect. With a sharp sense of irony, Sano wished his former enemy were here.

Then a disturbing thought occurred to Sano. Maybe there were secrets that even Yanagisawa with all his spies didn’t know, and forces stronger than the powerful chamberlain. Sano realized for the first time how much the stability of the nation depended on Yanagisawa, and fear chilled him. If Yanagisawa couldn’t control the Black Lotus, who could?

“I will not treat the Black Lotus as you advise,” said the shogun. “That would be a blasphemy against Buddhism. The temple shall be allowed to continue its business.”

Determined to counteract the influence of the sect’s supporters, Sano said, “We must capture the men who murdered Minister Fugatami and his wife. The temple is the obvious place to begin looking for the killers and the missing children. Therefore, I need permission to search it and interrogate everyone there as potential accomplices.”

“Well, ahh… ” As the shogun hesitated, his face took on a look of labored concentration. “Probably Minister Fugatami’s retainers killed him for, ahh, personal reasons, and afterward, they, ahh, painted Black Lotus symbols on the walls because they knew he was an enemy of the sect and wanted to cast suspicion upon it.”

Sano thought it more likely that the symbols had been left at the murder scene because High Priest Anraku wanted to take credit for the crime and thereby warn his enemies what would happen to anyone who crossed him. And if the sect members’ faith in their own power had convinced them that they were above the law, they wouldn’t fear the consequences of implicating themselves in a crime.

“Perhaps they fled to the countryside, planning to ransom the children later,” the shogun continued. “You had better, ahh, mount a nationwide manhunt rather than focus on the temple.”

His rejoinder had an artificial tone as well as an uncharacteristic craftiness, and Sano had seen that same look on the faces of Kabuki actors trying to remember their lines. Sano realized that the shogun had already been informed about the murders, by someone who’d coached him on what to think and say. The efficiency with which the Black Lotus had moved to protect itself daunted Sano.

“There have been poisonings, kidnappings, attacks, and an explosion connected with the Black Lotus,” Sano said. He described what Reiko and Hirata had learned. “Sentiment against the Black Lotus is widespread. The public attacked some priests and nuns this morning. To prevent further violence, the sect’s activities should be halted and the members confined at least until I can find out what they’re planning.”

The shogun waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Enemies of the Black Lotus are spreading false rumors that have, ahh, incited violence.” Again he spoke in that artificial tone. Then he gave an irritated sigh and signaled to an attendant, who handed him a sword. “Your persistence in denouncing the Black Lotus grows tiresome. You are spoiling my exercise.”

Aware that he trod a hazardous path between the shogun’s esteem and disfavor, Sano said, “My apologies, Your Excellency. I only wish to serve you. And unless I’m granted control over the Black Lotus, I may not be able to solve the mystery of the fire and murders at the temple as you’ve ordered me to do. “ Sano saw his path edging the brink of peril. Even a hint that he might fail in his work could turn Tokugawa Tsunayoshi against him, yet he had to demonstrate that what seemed like insubordination was really his commitment to duty. “I believe that a thorough investigation of the Black Lotus will reveal facts that we ignore at the risk of endangering society.”

Holding the sword out before him, the shogun squatted; his knees creaked. “I, ahh, had the impression that you’d already identified the culprit. Haven’t you arrested that girl?”

News had reached him fast; again Sano perceived the hand of the Black Lotus at work. The shogun usually forgot things told him, and the fact that he’d retained this information attested to the sect’s ability to plant notions in his weak mind.

“Yes, I have,” Sano admitted.

“Then your work is done,” the shogun said. He performed awkward lunges with his sword. “Arrange the girl’s, ahh, trial as soon as possible. Stay away from the temple and its residents.”

Without access to the temple, Sano would never learn the truth about the sect. With the Black Lotus protected from official scrutiny, he feared more murders, worsening unrest. Desperate, Sano sought a way to change the shogun’s mind.

“Some of the sect members are needed to testify at the trial,” he said. “Abbess Junketsu-in, Dr. Miwa, and Priest Kumashiro are important character witnesses, and two orphan girls have placed Haru at the crime scene. The law allows Haru the right to face her accusers.”