Motosuke, normally buoyed by high spirits, looked drawn and grave, but Akitada knew now that Motosuke was his friend and committed to their undertaking. While Motosuke had much to lose if they failed, he would also gain enormous prestige by subduing an incipient rebellion.

“I blame myself,” said Motosuke when their eyes met, “that this conspiracy should have grown to such proportions without my knowledge.”

Akinobu said quickly, “You could not have known, Governor. Buddhist clergy are revered and protected from the normal checks and searches we carried out everywhere else. Besides, Ikeda seems to have covered up all misdeeds by Joto’s monks.”

Akinobu’s loyalty to Motosuke was as impressive as his sense of personal honor. He had been ready to sacrifice his family property to make some sort of restitution for thefts he had not been responsible for. Had Motosuke still been a suspect, Akinobu might have been his accessory, but that possibility had been eliminated long ago.

“I knew it!” muttered Yukinari. “Ikeda’s been involved all along. That’s why he ignored all my complaints.”

“Yes.” Akitada sighed. “I hope we find him alive.”

Akinobu cleared his throat. “I am, no doubt, very obtuse,” he said apologetically, “but may I ask what caused Your Excellency to identify Joto and Ikeda as the conspirators?”

It was a reasonable question from a man who was used to accounting for the smallest detail in the documents he had been handling all his life, but the new Akitada was impatient with details. With an effort he dragged his thoughts from his troubles and said, “I started my investigation with the usual questions. When someone acquires sudden wealth as the result of a major robbery, there are signs in the local economy unless the person resides outside the province. I found many such signs here. The economy had improved dramatically recently. Merchants prospered, at least one of them beyond all expectation. Rapid new building was under way everywhere, most strikingly in three places, at the Temple of Fourfold Wisdom, at the governor’s residence, and at the garrison.”

“I used personal and discretionary funds to strengthen the garrison and add to my residence,” Motosuke said defensively, “and I assumed Joto’s preaching attracted large donations.”

“I have seen your accounts,” Akitada said with a smile. “But the temple prospered too quickly. Its fame had not reached the capital, and there was not enough money in local coffers to pay for its expansion. Seimei and I studied the historical records in your archives and in Tachibana’s library. Joto started his building program shortly after the first tax convoy was ambushed.”

“I should have made the connection,” said Yukinari, “but when I arrived, there was a general mood of enthusiastic support for the temple.”

Akitada nodded. “Exactly. Why investigate good fortune? I’m afraid the people will not like what we are about to do. But their good fortune also brought crime, violence, and corruption to this city. Everywhere Tora and I went, there was dissatisfaction with the local administration. We were told that calling the constables was useless, because the appointed officials themselves took bribes. This first alerted me to Ikeda. From what I had seen of the man, it was not incompetence or dereliction of duty that had caused the breakdown of trust between prefect and citizen. That left greed, and I came to suspect him. My servant Tora first linked Ikeda to Joto. He had an instinctive dislike for both men. As it turned out, Ikeda and Joto are perfect allies. Joto had the men and means to carry out the robberies, and Ikeda, as the local prefect, provided the details about time, route, and military strength for each convoy.”

Motosuke and Akinobu exchanged looks. “Impossible,” said Motosuke. “Ikeda was not involved in the planning of the tax convoys. He could not have known those things.”

“Are you certain?” asked Akitada, astonished.

Motosuke nodded. “Akinobu and I always met in my library with the garrison commandant. Only the three of us knew precisely the circumstances and details of the shipments. Only we three checked the goods in the tribunal warehouse and only we counted the gold and silver bars before packing them in boxes and sealing them.”

Akitada’s eyes went to the incense burner. “By any chance,” he asked, “did you pack the boxes near your elegant incense burner?”

Akinobu gasped. “Yes. How did you know, Excellency? We had a little accident the last time with that incense burner. It rolled against one of the boxes, and before we realized it, it had burned the leather.”

Akitada smiled. “We found a leather box with an odd burn mark on it in the temple storehouse.”

“The box was at the temple?” cried Motosuke. “But that proves the monks got the gold. Perhaps we will find the other goods there also.”

“Much of the rice will have been traded,” Akitada said, “but I have a good notion that some of the silk is stored in town, in a certain silk merchant’s house. The merchant became wealthy overnight, it seems, built a wall around his compound, and is visited regularly by monks from the temple.” Akitada looked at Akinobu. “On the day of the temple festival, I think you had best send your men there for a thorough search.”

Akinobu bowed.

The sun had moved. Where it shone on the teapot and brazier, a drop of water at the end of the spout sparkled with a burst of colors, and in a moment grief returned. Just so had the beads of moisture glistened on her golden skin in the steam of the bath, just so had the water sparkled like a net of jewels on her cheek.

“But how did Joto find out about our plans?” asked Motosuke.

Akitada forced his mind back to the business at hand. “If Ikeda had no information about the tax convoys,” he said slowly, “we may have overlooked another accomplice. Did any of you discuss the plans with others?”

Yukinari and Akinobu shook their heads. Yukinari said, “When I sent off the convoy in my charge, I gave my lieutenant sealed orders, to be opened only after they had passed the border.”

Akitada looked at Motosuke, who flushed.

“I consulted Tachibana early on, before the first convoy,” he said. “He took a great interest, especially after it disappeared. But I cannot believe that Tachibana would stoop to such a thing.”

“No. But Lady Tachibana would.” Suddenly that murder made sense. The idea that Tachibana had died because he was a jealous husband had never been entirely convincing. “I think this knowledge cost him his life. He walked into his wife’s room that night to inform her of his decision to speak to me about the possibility that she had passed on the information about the tax shipments. He found her with Ikeda. You may imagine the ensuing scene. No doubt Ikeda killed him.”

“So that’s how Ikeda fits in,” said Yukinari.

“Yes,” said Akitada tiredly.