Genba left, and Tora and Saburo sat together, watching anxiously for Akitada’s every breath.

29

Kobe Risks All

Superintendent Kobe left the Sugawara house with a heavy heart but a quick step. His men could barely keep up with him. As he walked, he issued orders and as soon as they reached police headquarters, they gathered constables who dashed off in different directions. Kobe himself went to the jail to talk to Sachi.

He found her sitting dejectedly on her pallet, but she raised her head when she heard the lock. In the manner of the blind, she did not look at him directly but cocked her head to hear better.

“Sachi?” he said. “I’m Superintendent Kobe. I have some more questions to ask you.”

She got on her knees and bowed. “Thank you, sir,” she said, “but I’m to go to my trial this morning. Surely it’s too late for questions. Forgive me, but I’d hoped to spend the little time I have left with my thoughts and prayers.”

He felt a pang of pity, and somehow this confirmed him in his decision. “I’m here because I hope to help you. You have friends, you know, and your friends have been working very hard to prove that someone else killed Nakamura. Even at this late hour, we may be able to set you free.”

She sat up a little at his words. “Oh, I remember. Two men came to see me here. Are they the ones? They said they were going to help, but they didn’t come back, and I thought they’d given up.”

He explained how Saburo and Tora, and finally even Akitada had become involved in her case, and she grew thoughtful.

“It was very good of them,” she said. “But why would they care about me? I don’t understand any of this.”

Kobe could see that what Akitada and his men had done passed understanding for most people who acted either out of self-interest or obligation. He started again, and this time Sachi began to look hopeful.

“Oh,” she said. “They did all that for me? They must be saints.”

Kobe did not tell her that Akitada would most likely pay with his life for her freedom. Instead he asked his questions.

“I was told you left the room at the Daikoku-yu because Nakamura made sexual advances. What did he do that upset you?” He had been troubled by this because, like most people, he assumed that shampoo girls who worked in bathhouses were accustomed to earning extra money by performing sexual services.

Sachi blushed and covered her face. “He asked me to use my mouth … to do a dirty thing. I said that I didn’t do such things. Then he touched me.” She gestured to her breasts and groin. “I … I didn’t want to make a scene and I made an excuse to get some lotion. I told Jinzaemon, but he made me go back and finish my job.”

“Did you make an exception with Nakamura or would you have refused sexual services to anyone?”

“To anyone, sir. I made it clear to Jinzaemon that I would not do such things. He didn’t like it. I think I was about to lose my job.”

“I see. Now to a more important question. Do you know who might have killed Nakamura while you went to get the lotion?”

“No, sir.”

“Did you hear or notice anyone near the room when you left it or when you returned?”

This time she did not answer right away. She sat very still, then said, “It’s a long time ago now, but I think there were two people there. One was outside the room when I came out. I heard a footstep walking away. It sounded heavy, and so perhaps it was a man. The other I passed in the corridor when I came back. I smelled her.”

“A woman?” asked Kobe quickly.

She nodded. “I’ve thought about this ever since Shokichi’s friends came to talk to me. They asked the same questions. I smelled a scent. It was a woman’s scent. I think it was a special incense. Sandalwood and something else, maybe fragrant olive. It was quite strong. But there was another odor.”

“What other odor?”

She blushed again. “I smelled blood. I didn’t realize it was Nakamura’s until much later.”

Kobe stared at her, then understood. “You think she had just killed Nakamura?”

Sachi nodded. “Perhaps. I smelled blood, but it was very faint on her.”

“Is there anything else you recall about this woman?”

She thought. “She walked fast, and she wore silk. I heard it rustle as she passed me. The man earlier had not worn silk. He didn’t make that sort of sound.”

“Good! That will be helpful. Now, do not worry. If I cannot stop the trial, I’ll be there and make sure the judge hears this new information.”

Sachi bowed again, very deeply. When she straightened up, her face was wet with tears, but she smiled.

Her beauty took Kobe’s breath away

*

When Kobe got back to his office, Lieutenant Harada was waiting.

“The house was empty, sir,” he announced.

Kobe nodded. “It was to be expected. You searched the place?”

“Yes, sir. The house was filled of women’s things, gowns, mirrors, make-up boxes, trunks. I’ve never seen so many clothes. Phoenix must have owned at least four trunks full of clothes for every season. And all of them were the best silks and brocades. Who could imagine a whore would have all that?” The man rolled his eyes.

“No need to be impressed, Harada,” Kobe said. “She’s a ranking courtesan, and her clothing was probably on loan from the house she worked for.”

Harada shook his head. “What’s the world coming to? Kanemoto dared buy a house for such a woman next to the Rokujo Palace?”

Kobe sighed. “Thanks to lax policing, the man is quite wealthy. As are a number of other unsavory characters involved in this. This is connected with the case of the blind shampoo girl and the murder of the moneylender. Go on with your report.”

“There was nothing else of interest in the house, though it looked as if they’d left suddenly. There was stuff strewn about everywhere. But we didn’t find anything incriminating until we got outside. There must have been a fight near the back gate to an alley. We found the dirt all scuffed up. And out in the alley we found blood. We followed a trail of blood, and there was one place where a lot of blood had soaked into the ground. I think that’s where Lord Sugawara must have fallen.”

Kobe wondered if Akitada was still alive and if he should send to ask, but decided against it. “Yes. Thank you. I want you to stay here and keep the search for Kanemoto and Phoenix organized. Send for me if there’s an arrest. I have to see Judge Hirokane but should be back in an hour.”

*

The judge lived in a quiet residential street west of the Daidairi. Kobe’s thoughts were on Akitada and on the conspiracy that had brought them all to this point. He was driven by shame and anger that he had been manipulated to allow such a miscarriage of justice.

Judge Hirokane was a part of that conspiracy, and Kobe intended to find out just who was behind it. It would cost him his position and ruin the future of his children, but at least they would know that their father had, in the end, made the right decision.

Even if it was too late to save his friend.

Kobe was admitted by a servant and greeted by a very surprised judge.

“Superintendent Kobe! What gives me the honor?” the middle-aged, heavy-jowled man asked with a puzzled expression. He looked past Kobe for his retinue and found no one. “And all alone?”

Kobe kept his face expressionless. “What we have to discuss is best said in privacy.”

The judge compressed his lips. “I see. Well, do come in. I have very little time. I hear a case in less than an hour, you know.”

“I know. That’s why I’m here. You must postpone the trial.”

The judge’s sparse eyebrows rose. “Impossible, my dear sir. Much as I respect you, the law must take its due course.”

They had entered the judge’s study, a musty, dark place with dusty books and documents piled up here and there. Only the judge’s desk was bare, but it bore the rings and stains familiar from wood surfaces in cheap wine shops. Apparently the desk was mostly used for eating and drinking.