“What would you know of a woman’s life?” Sunada asked wearily. “That girl—beautiful beyond belief, full of grace, endowed with talent, clever, lively, and filled with dreams—she was born into a peasant family and sold in marriage to an old man, a desiccated dotard so close to death that he stank of decomposition! What chance had she by your laws?”

“Not my laws. The laws of the gods. She was not mistreated. By all accounts Sato doted on her.”

Sunada moved impatiently. “She was made for better things. He had no right to possess her.”

This was absurd—as any good Confucian scholar knew. The ancients taught that a woman had no right to choose for herself. Her duty was first to her parents, then to her husband, and last to her son. And if she was unfortunate enough to survive her immediate family, another male relative would direct her life.

But there was no point in arguing with this man. Akitada said, “So you ‘contacted,’ as you put it, Koichi, a man with a long record of crimes. In fact, you had him released from his latest jail term the day before Sato’s death. Employing the unemployable had always worked well for you. Such men are grateful. Did Koichi balk at all at murder?”

“He was eager to do it and bragged about it afterwards. I found him repulsive.”

“Ah, so he reported to you after the murder.” Akitada was pleased. The case would be resolved more smoothly than he had hoped. “Koichi entered the Golden Carp in midafternoon, at a time when Mrs. Sato would have reached her parents’ village arid been seen there by as many people as possible. It was a sunny day, and the inn’s hallway dim. Koichi stumbled over a packsaddle and damaged it. Okano, one of the three travelers, was taking a bath and heard the clatter but assumed it was made by customers who left again when no one greeted them. I do not know whether Koichi brought a weapon, but I think he saw a large knife lying in the kitchen and decided to use it. After killing the sick old man, Koichi emptied the money box, replaced the knife where he had found it, and left again as unobserved as he had come.”

“I did not know about the packsaddle, and he certainly did not tell me about the money box,” Sunada said. “Otherwise your deductions are correct.”

“Sato had saved up some gold. His widow testified that there were seven pieces, but she provided that information after the three fugitives had been searched and seven gold pieces were found in their possession. Still, it is surprising that Koichi blackmailed you after having helped himself to all of Sato’s savings.”

Sunada laughed mirthlessly. “Come, Governor! Not even you can be that unworldly! Gold begets greed. He was to keep what he found as payment. Clearly it was not enough.”

Akitada knew there was a loose end still, but it had nothing to do with Sunada. He asked, “Will you sign a statement and testify in court that Koichi killed Sato on your instructions and at Mrs. Sato’s request?”

“Yes. But there is a condition.”

“No.” Akitada rose abruptly. The disappointment stung, though he should have expected it. “Even if I wished to grant you leniency, your fate is not in my power. Neither your culpability in the Sato case, nor the three murders you committed yourself signify when compared to a case of insurrection against his august Majesty.”

Sunada smiled a little. “I know. My request is not for me.”

Akitada hesitated. “The same applies to all your associates and includes your henchman, Boshu, and his villainous gang. They have terrorized the local people at your behest. I look forward to sentencing them to long terms at hard labor. Besides, your people had a hand in placing the mutilated body at the tribunal gate.”

Sunada looked astonished. “For what it is worth, we had nothing to do with that. That was done by that animal Chobei, your former sergeant, on instructions from Hisamatsu. No one else could have misused a corpse in such a repulsive fashion.”

“The corpse showed evidence of having been stored in a rice warehouse.”

Sunada hunched his shoulders. “By all means add it to my charges. It does not matter. And do as you wish with Boshu and his men. I’m asking you to spare the two crippled servants you saw in my house. They are simple fishermen who lost the ability to go to sea. They neither read nor write and only took care of my simplest needs in my home. I never asked more of them.”

Akitada remembered the two cripples. Again Sunada had surprised him, almost shamed him. “They have been outside this jail since you were brought here.”

Sunada lowered his head, then brushed a hand across his eyes. “I plead with you,” he said brokenly. “They must not suffer for their loyalty, for their love ...” He choked on the word.

“Very well. If they are as innocent as you say, they may return to their families.”

“Thank you.” Sunada bowed deeply, his face wet with tears.

Back in the common room, Kaoru and Tora greeted Akitada with broad grins.

“We heard,” cried Tora. “You solved the Sato case. It was brilliant. From little things like Umehara’s backpack and a noise Okano heard, you put the whole thing together.”

“And from Koichi’s jail records, when no one knew he had been near the inn,” added Kaoru. “Such wisdom is worthy of the famous judge Ch’eng-Lin.”

Akitada looked at him for a moment, then smiled and shook his head. “I don’t deserve any credit. From the beginning, Tora was closer to the answer than I was.”

“Me?” Tora gaped.

“Yes. We should have arrested the maid. It would have saved trouble and lives. She was an accessory before and after the fact and should have been questioned rigorously.”

“Kiyo? Why?”

“The bloody knife. Someone had to put it in Takagi’s pack. Koichi knew nothing of the three travelers. I think we will find that Kiyo not only knew of the planned murder, but that she and Koichi split Sato’s savings.”

Tora stared at him. “But she hated her mistress.”

“Probably. She also hated old Sato. When she thought you were a stranger passing through, she carelessly revealed her motive. It is to your credit that you recognized and reported it. Later she changed her story, but by then she knew that you worked for me, and that Sunada had killed Koichi. She was afraid.”

“Well,” Tora said with great satisfaction, “would you believe it? I have the instinct for it after all.”

Akitada nodded. “Oh, yes. It is your case now. Go arrest the girl and get her confession. We also need a statement from Sunada.” He paused and gave the sergeant a considering look. “All the clerks are busy with Sunada’s papers ...”

Kaoru said eagerly, “I can write well enough, sir,” and gestured at a sheaf of reports on his desk.