Spike made some outraged protest, and Tora opened his eyes cautiously. The room still spun a little and the rough boards under his knees seemed to move. He attempted a few pleading grunts.

The armed man regarded him with distaste. "I don't know, Monk," he said. "If you give an official enough rope, he'll hang another poor sot with it."

The monk choked back a laugh. "Well, we could just leave him for the scavengers."

Tora grunted again and tried to shake his head, but the room turned dark again. He barely managed to stay on his knees.

"I believe the fellow's trying to talk," the armed man remarked. "Take the gag out, Nail, and let's see what he has to say."

"He'll call for help!" Nail objected.

Tora shook his head again, and this time the pain was so acute that he sagged to the floor.

A hand grasped his arm and pulled him upright. The monk's deep voice asked, "How hard did you hit him, Spike? He looks very ill." He took the gag out of Tora's mouth.

Tora sucked in a big gulp of night air, spat out some stinking fibers, and straightened up as much as he could. "If you loosen the rope in back a little," he croaked, "we'll be able to have a comfortable chat."

The Spike cursed, but the armed man chuckled. "I like your spirit, official, but I think we'll leave well enough alone. What were you doing here?"

"I'm no official. I'm a retainer. My master sent me to find a beggar called Umakai. Turns out I was too late. A whore told me you picked up a drowning victim to bring him here. Then, just when I found old Umakai, some bastard knocked me out. That's all! Now why don't you untie me, so we can introduce ourselves properly?"

The armed man grinned. "Good try! I can see that you're going far. They tell me that all the officials take lessons in fake sincerity and the pretense of humanity. I think you've got a brilliant career ahead of you. You got the tone just right, but your lies need a bit more work. I gather your master is one of the good people. Why should such a one care about the safety of an old beggar? No, no! It's much too far-fetched."

"Yeah! The bastard lies," growled Spike. "Let's shut his mouth for good and get out of here!"

The other two waited in silence.

"All right," snapped Tora. "Have it your way! The killer ought to thank you for your help. First you bury the corpse and then you want to kill the one guy who could help you get the bastard. Fine friends the poor old beggar had in you!" He spat again.

"You're a filthy piece of cow dung!" howled Spike, coming to his feet, metal rod raised high. Without changing his position, the Nail extended a leg and tripped him. The Spike landed with a crash.

"Neatly done, Nail!" complimented the armed man. "Now sit down, Spike, and let the man talk. I'm beginning to get interested. All right, you! When the beggar was fished out of a canal this morning, the warden certified death by drowning. What makes you think he was murdered?"

Instead of answering, Tora graphically mimicked bulging eyes and a protruding tongue.

The armed man nodded slowly. "I wondered about that. So, who killed him?"

"I don't know, but it's bound to be the same bastard who strangled a girl in the Spring Garden. Old Umakai saw her killer and could identify the swine. That's why my master sent me to look for him as soon as he heard they had let him out of jail."

"You lie, dog turd!" growled Spike. "The police said it was old Umakai did the killing. They near beat him to death. Bet you're one of them, come looking for him to put him back in jail so you'd have someone to pin it on. Maybe you killed him yourself!"

Tora turned to look at the big brute. "No," he said slowly and clearly, as if he were speaking to a small child. "If I had killed him, I wouldn't come here. It was my master that cleared him of those charges. That's why the police let him go. And that's why my master worried about his safety."

"Who is this extraordinary master of yours?" asked the armed man with raised brows.

"Lord Sugawara."Tora's proud announcement met with blank stares. He snapped, "If you four weren't such dunces, you'd have heard of him. He's famous for catching criminals. In Kazusa province last winter, he uncovered a dangerous conspiracy against the emperor. And while he was at it, he caught three killers on top of that."

After a moment's stunned silence, the monk said thoughtfully, "You know, I believe I've heard that story. This Sugawara is with the Ministry of Justice, I think."

The armed man growled, "That makes him a cursed official!" Glowering at Tora, he asked, "How is it that he solves murders for the municipal police?"

Tora's head started pounding again, and his back and shoulder muscles cramped. He sighed. "He doesn't. And he's not with the ministry just now. He teaches at the university. That's how come we found the dead girl in the park nearby. He called the police, and later we saw them arrest old Umakai. My master said right away that the old man wasn't guilty. The police chief wasn't listening at first, but my master proved it was so." Tora paused and glared at his captors. "I'm wasting my breath. With guys like you around, we would've been better off to keep our mouths shut."

A brief silence greeted that outburst. Then the monk said, "This Sugawara is a professor, a learned man who solves mysteries. Maybe we've made a mistake."

"Don't be a fool!" growled the armed man. "Those so-called academicians just put on a show. A good memory for some Chinese mumbo-jumbo and a hatred for everything Japanese will do the trick. It does not require intelligence."

Tora cried, "And where did you go to school? In a badger's hole?"

"Ah, Hitomaro!" laughed the monk. "He's got you there! All your reading's not going to help you without a proper teacher."

The armed man flushed. He was about to speak, but his eye fell on the window. "Never mind!" he said. "We're wasting time. It's almost dawn, and the scavengers will be here for the dead. What shall we do?"

"Let him go," said the monk quickly.

"Kill him," voted Spike.

The man called Hitomaro looked at the short fellow. "Well, Nail?" he asked.

Nail scratched his hair under the dirty rag he wore tied around it. "I don't know. He could be lying. But if he's telling the truth, there's a chance we could get the bastard that killed Umakai. I guess we'd better let him go, but make him swear first to bring the killer to us."

"Not much good," said Hitomaro. "If he's a liar, he'll swear to anything, and if he's an honest man, he'll swear to nothing he can't keep. I vote we let him go. We'll know soon enough what sort of man he is."

The monk got up, pulled a sharp knife from his sash and cut Tora's bonds. Tora straightened his legs and massaged his wrists with a grimace. "I'm Tora," he said, then asked, "Where did you put old Umakai? We'll have to dig him back up to prove he was murdered." He stood up, testing his legs cautiously. His head was feeling a bit better. "And where will I find you? There's bound to be questions."

"Don't tell him!" cried Nail. "He'll come back with the police to arrest us."

Hitomaro exchanged a look with the monk. Then he stiffened and turned his head towards the open shutters. "Ssh!" he said, getting to his feet and listening intently. "They're coming for the dead. Put out the light!"To Tora he said, "Umakai is in the old cemetery behind the West Temple. And you can leave a message for me by name at the wineshop next door to the temple."