Koremori glowered after them. “Did you see that? Not so much as a bow!”

Akitada got to his feet. “I shall give Mother your message, Cousin,” he said.

Koremori nodded. “I wish I had more time to chat,” he said grudgingly. “My household has been standing on its head all day.”

As if on cue, the door flew open again, and a very beautiful young woman swept into the room, silk gowns fluttering and long hair trailing on the floor behind her. Her clothes were exquisite, the short sleeves of her embroidered Chinese coat revealing many layers of harmoniously hued robes of the thinnest silk.

“Oh, darling,” she cried, “have you seen my kitten?” She stopped abruptly and looked in consternation at Akitada.

Koremori had turned a deep red. He cleared his throat. “Forgive the interruption, Akitada. This is Yoshiko. Yoshiko, my dear, do not worry. No harm is done. Akitada is only a cousin and he is leaving.”

Akitada bowed to the young woman. He wondered what his mother would make of the news that Koremori had a mistress.

The pretty Yoshiko blushed, fluttered her lashes at him, then sank gracefully on a cushion. “Cousin Akitada,” she murmured. “How very pleasant to meet you.”

“He is leaving,” snapped Koremori.

Akitada bowed again, to both this time, and departed.

* * * *

When he made his report to his mother, she sat bolt upright. “Who is she?” she demanded.

“I don’t know, Mother. Just a pretty young woman. I thought she might be his mistress.”

Lady Sugawara hissed. “Mistress. Or concubine? And you say this so calmly? What if she gives him a child? What then?”

Akitada did not care, but he said, “He is no longer young and not at all handsome.”

“Fool! What difference does that make? He is wealthy and she is beautiful. You did say she was beautiful?”

Lady Yoshiko was indubitably beautiful. Akitada nodded.

“Hmm. This is not good.” Lady Sugawara stared through her son, deep in thought. “Of course it may not last,” she finally said, “but meanwhile you must double your efforts to ingratiate yourself. Make yourself indispensable. Remind him that blood ties outweigh all other bonds in importance. Show a loving concern for his health by mentioning the risk of exertion at his age.”

Akitada sighed inwardly. “I’ll try, Mother.”

The following morning the weather had cleared a little and Seimei, who had been his late father’s secretary and now served as general factotum in the Sugawara household, brought in Akitada’s rice gruel and another urgent summons from his mother. Akitada gulped down his food and hurried to his mother’s room.

She looked excited. “Quick!” she said when she saw him. “Run over to Cousin Koremori’s right away. He needs your help.”

Akitada shook his head. “I am due at the Ministry, Mother.”

“It cannot wait,” she snapped. “Someone is trying to kill him.”

Surprised by his mother’s concern, which was so exactly contrary to her hopes, Akitada asked, “Should we interfere?”

Lady Sugawara stared at him. “What do you mean?”

“Sorry. I meant, how do you know?”

“Never mind. Hurry up and go over there. He will explain. And remember what we talked about. Here is your opportunity to demonstrate your devotion.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Akitada bowed and went to work as usual.

* * * *

When he arrived at his cousin’s house that evening, he found the police there and wondered if Koremori’s fears had been real after all. The servant who met him reassured him. It was not his cousin who had died, but an elderly maid.

As they passed Koremori’s ancestral shrine, the door opened and a constable stepped out. He recognized Akitada, who had spent too much time at court hearings and murder investigations—thereby irritating the police captain, Kobe, and his superior, the minister of justice.

The constable grinned. “Is it you again, sir? It must be murder for sure then.”

Akitada grinned back and stopped. “Not guilty this time. I’m just paying a visit to a family member. What happened?”

“Lord Koremori sent for us. He found his wife’s nurse dead on the floor in here.” The constable gestured at the shrine.

Akitada peered past him. The tiny room was exquisitely furnished. On its walls were paintings of famous incidents involving O-tomo forebears, and on the altar table a finely carved and gilded statue of the Buddha presided over the name tablets of the deceased, prominently among them that of Koremori’s son.

In front of the altar, an old woman lay on the floor, her body twisted, her hands clutching at her throat, and her tongue protruding from a blue-tinged face. The footed bowls with offerings of food and money, the incense burners, and the candlesticks that had stood on the altar lay scattered across the floor. Oranges, coins, ashes, and a number of dead flies and moths were among the utensils on the polished boards. It looked as if the poor woman had done the damage before dying in painful convulsions. Her fingers had left fumbling traces in the ashes from the incense burners. A heavy, acrid smell hung in the air.

“Was it murder?” Akitada asked, stepping inside and bending over the corpse. There were no obvious signs of an attack.

The constable shook his head. “I doubt it. No wounds. No contusions. No signs of strangulation. She was an old woman with a weak heart. The captain didn’t see anything wrong either, but Lord Koremori kept insisting that she was poisoned by the incense and that the poison had been meant for him. The smell’s still pretty strong, but I ask you, who would die from sniffing incense? His Lordship got quite rude when we didn’t agree with him.” He gave Akitada another grin. “Maybe you can get this straightened out, sir.”

Akitada had a sinking feeling that he should not have come at all. Kobe would find out that he had been here and complain to the minister again. He shook his head at the constable’s suggestion and followed the servant to his cousin’s study.

Today Koremori looked ill. He sat behind his desk chewing his fingernails. “Where have you been?” he demanded. “I sent for you this morning.”

“I was working at the Ministry,” Akitada said.

“You might have considered that my problem outweighed whatever it is you law clerks do all day long,” Koremori said angrily. “You are a great disappointment to your mother and me. At your age, my son Akemori was already a captain in the emperor’s personal guard.”

He was probably right about his work, but Akitada was not about to agree. Koremori had always thought his late son excelled in all areas while Akitada was a dismal failure. He had this in common with Akitada’s mother.

“I wanted you to be here to make sure the police don’t gloss over this matter,” he continued when Akitada said nothing. “My assassin must be found. Frankly, this Kobe fellow struck me as a lazy official.”

“Kobe is a hardworking and conscientious officer. You can safely leave the matter in his hands.” It was the truth, even though the captain had never missed an opportunity to be ungracious to Akitada.

Koremori seemed to swell. “Are you refusing to help me?”

Akitada bit his lip and said, “What makes you think someone is trying to kill you?”

His cousin settled down. “That’s better. Well, as you know, I am preparing for another incense party. I believe the old crone helped herself to some of the incense from that table over there. With the judging to be tomorrow! And now I have a death in the house, and the whole affair will have to be called off. It is outrageous.”

A house where there had been a death was taboo because contact with the dead made people ritually impure. But clearly this had not prevented Koremori from sending for Akitada, who said somewhat curtly, “Tell me about the dead woman.”

Koremori scowled. “She was my late wife’s nurse and then my son’s. I should not have kept her. She was clearly past her duties. She only took care of the ancestral altar, replacing the food offerings and burning incense to the spirits of the dead every morning. When the servants found her dead, they called me.” He paused and gazed into the distance—perhaps picturing the scene in his mind. “‘Dead as dust and cold as copper coins,’ you might say.”