Strangely, he felt a little relieved that his own actions had caused the situation. It was better than having undeserved misfortune brought down upon oneself.

He sighed and said, “You’re quite right. Thank you for being so frank. I will follow your advice.” He paused. “By the way, do you happen to know anything about Abbot Genshin?”

Kaneie was startled by this change of subject and looked at Akitada uncertainly. “Does this have anything to do with your situation?”

Akitada smiled. “In case I find myself without an income, I had thought to take up private investigations again, and there has been a rather strange death at the abbot’s residence.”

“Oh, surely things aren’t going to come to such an end.” But Kaneie’s interest was raised. “When you refer to his residence, I take it you don’t mean the monastery?”

“No, his mansion here in the city. It seems he has allowed an odd assortment of people to make use of it. One of his guests, a Lady Ogata, has hanged herself.”

“Lady Ogata?” Kaneie frowned. “It sounds vaguely familiar.” He shook his head. “Sorry. It escapes me. But why investigate a suicide?”

“It may not have been a suicide. I knew the abbot in his womanizing past, and that has raised certain suspicions in my mind.”

Kaneie sat up, alarmed. “Oh, you cannot get involved. It will ruin you. Genshin is the special pet of the empress.”

“Is he? You know that doesn’t surprise me at all. His Majesty had better see to his household, I think.”

“Akitada, you’re playing with fire. Don’t say such things! Not to anyone!”

Akitada smiled again and rose. “Thanks, Kaneie, for the warning, but I expect you know me by now. Please try to remember what you know about Lady Ogata. Now I’d better make my report to the Office of Central Affairs.”

14

Gossip in the Bath

Tora ignored his master’s instructions to leave the bathhouse murder to the police. As soon as the gate closed behind Akitada, he said to Saburo, “Let’s go talk to some of the people in the bathhouse. Seems to me, you should have done that right away.”

Saburo glared at him. “How was I to know there was a killer loose? You may recall at the time I only knew a blind shampoo girl had killed a customer.”

“Well, chances are the real killer was still hanging about to see what was happening. Some killers do that, you know.”

Saburo shook his head. “That’s stupid. Seems to me he would have gotten out of there fast.”

“Not necessarily. Think how much he would have enjoyed watching the police take the blind girl away. Besides we need to know who was there that day. You have the list of those borrowers. Let’s see that.”

Together they bent over the names provided by Nakamura’s son. Tora had some problems making out the writing, but Saburo helped. Nakamura Junior had put some helpful comments beside each name, such as “sick child,” “father made threats,” “lost his job and cannot pay,” “claims family is starving,” and “well-known criminal.” The poor school master’s name was there. His comment was the one about the starving family. Apart from the criminal, all of the debtors seemed to be suffering such despair that it was at least possible they would try to end it by killing their tormentor.

“That Nakamura was a bastard,” said Tora when he had grasped the gist of it. “Let me get some money, and then we’ll go see if any of these people went for a bath that morning.”

“I’d rather it were Saito.”

“We can ask about him, too.”

They found the bathhouse busier than ever. Jinzaemon bustled about, greeting arrivals, chatting with regulars, collecting money.

His face fell when he saw Saburo. “You again? I hope this time you’ve come for a bath.”

“We have our own facilities,” Saburo told him. “And you’re not hurting for business. This must be your lucky day.”

“It won’t last. Most of them are here to look and gossip. They want to see the room where it happened. I’ve started charging them if they don’t stay for a bath or shampoo.”

Tora grimaced. “That’s disgusting!”

Jinzaemon gave him a black stare. “And who’re you? What business is it of yours? I’ll have you know I’ve lost the use of that room. People refuse to go in there for a massage or a moxa treatment. In fact, they’re nervous about getting themselves shaved.”

Saburo tried to calm the man. “That won’t last. People forget quickly. You’ll be doing a better business than ever in no time. I bet you picked up some new customers.”

Jinzaemon admitted it.

“Well, we’re interested in your old customers,” said Saburo. “Have a look at this list. Anybody there who’s a regular customer and was here that morning?”

Jinzaemon looked at the list and frowned. “Why?”

“Possible witnesses.”

“Since when do the police send civilians to find witnesses?” countered Jinzaemon, handing back the list. “I’d be out of business fast if I turned in my customers to be questioned by the police. I run a reputable business. That means I protect my customers’ privacy.”

Tora fished out a couple of silver coins and tossed them casually from hand to hand. Jinzaemon’s eyes flickered his way.

“Look,” Saburo tried again, “they won’t know you told us. We’ll go and ask them if they saw anything.”

Tora added a third coin and juggled all three. “Actually,” he said, “you should point out those that are your customers, even if you don’t recall seeing them that morning.”

Jinzaemon’s eyes had become fixated on the flying silver pieces. “You’re pretty good,” he said grudgingly.

Tora flashed him a smile. “Thanks! If you can distract me and I drop one, it’s yours.”

“Give me that list again,” said Jinzaemon.

Saburo passed it over. The coins spun smoothly.

“Well, a few names here I recognize.”

“Oops!” Tora dropped a coin.

“Let me see. Yes, I seem to remember Matsuoka.”

The remaining two coins flew back and forth.

“And Harada is a regular. He may have been here.” Jinzaemon paused. “And the same for Ozaki and Kato.” Tora dropped another coin. Jinzaemon eyed the remaining coin hungrily as Tora tossed it from hand to hand. “That’s it,” he said. “I don’t know the other people. Where’d you get those names anyway?”

Tora grinned. “One more question, my friend. Are Nakamura’s family and his brother Saito also regulars here?”

“Saito comes sometimes. Haven’t seen him recently. I don’t know Nakamura’s family.”

“Thanks!” Tora tossed Jinzaemon the last coin. “We’ll take a look around.” He rubbed his chin. “Then maybe we’ll have a bath.”

They walked away as Jinzaemon bent to scoop up the other two coins.

“You’re very extravagant with your money,” Saburo said. “That bastard didn’t deserve it.”

“You have to pay for information,” Tora told him. “And the nastier the informer, the higher the price.”

Saburo, who was very shy about showing his scarred body, said, “I don’t want a bath.”

Tora was unfeeling. “You’ll have to bear it if we can get some information that way.” He burst into laughter. “Bare it! You’ll have to bare it. Get it?”

Saburo gave him a sour look. “Ha ha.”

They peered into a number of rooms where men had massages or shaves. The workers were all men, two of them blind, all of them with the shaven heads of their profession. Saburo wondered whether the customers were afraid of women barbers since the murder.

In the steamy room where people soaked in two deep tubs, they also found customers, the men in one tub, the women in another. A screen separated the two. Either the bathhouse was always well attended at this hour, or the notoriety of the crime had brought more business to Jinzaemon.

Tora appeared to be satisfied with his inspection. He returned to the front, paid the fee for both of them, and they went to the dressing room where they left their clothes. In the steamy room of the tubs, the bathers paid them scant attention as they washed themselves and then climbed into the tub where three men were already soaking.