The Flower Path, page 23
part #3 of Daidoji Shin Mysteries Series
All of them turned as Shin arrived, and he thought he detected a look of relief on the Tonbo’s face. He smiled expectantly behind his fan, but no one spoke. Finally, he gestured to the Tonbo bodyguard. “Hira, isn’t it? I believe you’re supposed to announce me.”
Hira started, an embarrassed look on her face. “Of course, my lord. My apologies.” She made to reach for the door, but the Shinjo samurai grunted in displeasure and extended an arm protectively.
“My master is currently visiting the Lady Yua,” he said, not looking at Shin.
The Lion, Yoku, turned to glare at the Shinjo. “Lady Minami wishes to speak with Lord Shin. You will let him in.”
“Thank you, Yoku,” Shin said appreciatively.
The Shinjo frowned and matched Yoku’s glare with his own. “Lord Yasamura asked not to be disturbed.”
“How sensible of him.” Shin used his fan to force the samurai aside gently. The man went but grudgingly. “I assure you I have no intention of disturbing anyone. Now step aside if you would. Thank you.”
Shin paused in the entrance to the box proper. Shinjo Yasamura knelt across from Lady Yua, a pot of tea between them. Konomi sat beside her cousin, and Minami and Odoma sat nearby. From Yua’s expression, she did not seem happy about her visitors. Shin cleared his throat, and Yasamura turned, beaming. “Ah, Shin! A pleasure to see you again – and so soon after our last chat.”
“Lord Yasamura. I did not expect to see you here,” Shin said politely. He looked around the box. “I did not expect to see any of you, come to that.”
“We were just enjoying some of this marvelous tea you’ve provided, Shin.” Yasamura held up the cup in salute. “Truly, you’ve spared no expense.” He glanced at Yua, who did not appear to have touched her own tea. “Though perhaps it was a wasted effort in the case of some.”
“I prefer wine,” Odoma said. Yasamura bestowed a lazy glance on the merchant, who flushed and looked away.
“I think we would all prefer to keep a clear head in this instance,” Yasamura said. His smile was sharp enough to cut wood. He set his cup down and gestured to Shin. “I suppose you’d like to join us?”
“How kind of you,” Shin murmured, but he didn’t move. Instead, he looked at Konomi, who was fanning herself with an air of serenity. “I cannot help but feel somewhat foolish about this whole matter.”
Konomi lowered her fan. “What are you implying?”
“I think you know exactly what I’m implying.”
“I don’t,” Minami spoke up. She looked around, clearly annoyed. “In fact, I’m still not sure why I’m here, save that Yasamura insisted.”
“For the same reason we all are,” Yasamura said, not looking at her. “All of us save Shin, of course. And my dear cousin.” He picked up his tea and took another sip. “We all share the same problem. Even our humble merchant friend here. Isn’t that right, Odoma?” Odoma glared at the cup of tea in his hand and said nothing.
“Etsuko,” Shin said bluntly. Yasamura cut his eyes in Shin’s direction.
“Took you longer than I expected,” he said. “Frankly, I was starting to wonder if you’d ever figure it out. Really, it’s a good thing you’re handsome.”
“Well, I was at a disadvantage, given that I had no idea any of this was going on,” Shin said, trying to ignore the little flutter of pleasure he felt at being called handsome. “I think I’ve just about caught up, though.”
“Do tell,” Yasamura said, lifting his chin. He smiled invitingly. “This should be entertaining if nothing else.”
Shin gave his fan a mocking flutter. “You’re here because Noma Etsuko was getting married. And that meant all the blackmail material she’d collected was soon to become the property of someone far more dangerous than an ambitious actress.”
Yasamura frowned. “Was. Past tense. You said she was recovering.”
Shin saw looks of puzzlement and consternation on the faces of the others. “A necessary lie. I did not wish to provoke a panic.”
Yasamura sniffed. “More like you did not wish to lose money. I know how you Cranes think.”
“Do you?” Shin asked, peering at him. “Then what am I thinking now, pray tell?”
Yasamura hesitated. He composed himself and said, “You found the letters, then?”
“I did.” A definite stirring among the others now. Minami glanced at Odoma, and Yua hunched forward with a strangled moan.
Yasamura smiled thinly. “One of mine?”
“Among others.” Shin glanced at Yua and the others, trying to judge their reactions. As he’d expected, only Minami met his gaze. He looked back at Yasamura, who was still smiling. The man seemed to think this was a game.
“Out of curiosity, did you read mine?”
Shin nodded. “One of them, yes.”
Yasamura’s smile widened. “Did you find it enjoyable?”
“Not to my taste,” Shin said.
“Pity.”
“How?” Yua asked abruptly in a voice raw with emotion. “How did you find them? She told me she’d hidden them where no one could find them.”
“Luck,” Shin replied, turning his attentions to her. “The exact circumstances do not matter. You were in love with her, weren’t you?”
Yua flushed deeply, then said softly, “No. It was… a dalliance. Nothing more.”
“You ended it?”
“No. She did.” Yua paused. “Etsuko never left the stage, save of her own volition. She told me that I- I was not interesting enough.” She smiled sadly. “I cannot fault her for that, for I am many things, but interesting is not one of them.”
“Why did you come here today?” Shin asked again.
“Because she told us we had to come,” Minami broke in.
Shin looked at her. “Why would she do that?”
“To show her power,” Minami said after a moment. “Etsuko was like that. Even when it came to little things. Life was a war, and she was determined to win.”
“Not just that, I think,” Shin said, his mind working even as he pushed past the disappointment of realizing his honored guests had almost certainly been blackmailed into attending the performance. “She wanted you here to show her power, true, but not as a simple exercise in egotism. Rather, she was doing it to prove a point. To illustrate her hold over you to someone else.” He shook his head. “Yet surely the letters you wrote her would be no more than an embarrassment.”
Minami snorted. “You know better than most that embarrassment is a keen blade in the right hands. Especially in this city. If the commander of the Lion garrison were revealed to have wasted her time mooning over an actress, some might come to question her decisions in other matters. Even, perhaps, her fitness for command.”
“It is the same with me,” Yua said softly. “I have many responsibilities. If my superiors believed me unfit, I would be removed from my position.”
Odoma grunted. “I would have lost the respect of my fellow merchants. I am looked upon with much esteem in this city. Word of my dalliance would surely have shattered my reputation.”
“Unlike your gambling,” Shin said. Odoma grimaced.
“A merchant can be forgiven for losing money, not his wits.” Odoma shifted on his cushion, a sour look on his face. “I thought – well, it does not matter now.”
“You thought Chika would get them back for you,” Shin said bluntly.
Odoma looked away, gnawing his bottom lip. Shin sniffed derisively and turned to Minami. “You sent that great lump you call a bodyguard to try to get into Etsuko’s dressing room.” He pointed his fan at Yua. “And you sent poor Hira.”
Yua’s eyes widened, and she made to protest, but Shin waved it aside. “No, no. She said nothing. I deduced the reason for her presence backstage. There was only one individual concerned enough to seek out Etsuko in person. Coincidentally, he’s the one person she has no hold over, at least not one of ink and paper.”
“Gota,” Konomi murmured. Shin nodded.
“Even so.”
“Wonderful. True love yet exists in this fallen world,” Yasamura sighed. “I suppose it’s too much to hope that you intend to give the letters back?”
Shin nodded. “Afterward, certainly.”
“After what?” Odoma blurted. “The performance?”
“No. After I determine which of you killed her.”
There were gasps from Yua and Minami. Odoma grunted. Yasamura was too experienced a courtier to react as the others did. Instead, he merely raised an eyebrow. “That is a grave accusation. Do you have proof?”
Shin snapped open his fan. “If I did not, would I be here?”
“Almost certainly.” Yasamura paused. “How can you be sure she was murdered?”
Shin paused. “She was poisoned.”
Yasamura clapped his hands and looked at Konomi. “Ha! As I said.”
“Yes, cousin. Very clever.” Konomi looked at Shin. “Why do you think one of them poisoned her? Why not the Scorpion?”
“For that matter, why not one of her fellow actors?” Yasamura interjected. “Does it matter whether the actual perpetrator is apprehended? Arrest one of the actors or, better, one of the stagehands. I doubt she had any friends among them and probably not a few enemies.”
Shin frowned. “That is not my way.”
Yasamura stroked his chin. “It would be easier if it was.”
Shin glanced at Konomi. She had the good grace to look embarrassed. “I have often been told that before. Yet I do not see myself changing anytime soon.”
Yasamura smiled. “You would not be the man whom I have heard so much about if you did.” He clutched his knees and leaned forward. “Fine. You have the letters. You have the poison. What more do you need?”
Shin leaned forward as well. “The truth, for preference. Why are you really here, Shinjo Yasamura? Not because you were eager to flirt with me, I think – painful as that is to admit.” He was rewarded by a slight tightening of Yasamura’s lips. Was it a moue of regret or annoyance? He wasn’t sure. Maybe Yasamura wasn’t sure either. “Is it true Etsuko once tried to marry you?”
Yasamura was silent for a moment. Shin felt the eyes of the others on them. Finally, Yasamura said, “She is – was – a vivacious woman. Spirited. Argumentative. I have a preference for that sort.” He looked at Shin as he said it. “I allowed myself to be overcome by her wiles, and I wrote her a few affectionate letters. She was quite insistent on that. Of course, I knew very well what she was up to. I have been blackmailed before and likely will be again. Her attempt was clumsy and, ultimately, forgivable.”
“Why?”
Yasamura shrugged. “I have no doubt she was seeking a prospect for a noble marriage. If she could not get it by dint of her wiles, she intended to get it another way. Unfortunately for her, she went about it in a clumsy fashion. Her only saving grace as a conspirator lay in her method of defense.”
“The letters,” Shin said.
“Yes, quite. Innocuous enough, at least mine were, but as Lady Minami said, embarrassment is a keen blade when wielded correctly. Other people have killed to keep their peccadillos quiet.”
“At least one has in this case.”
Yasamura frowned. “Yes. I do not approve of such methods. Etsuko was harmless.”
“Harmless or not, she seems to have succeeded in her goal,” Shin said. “She was engaged to Bayushi Isamu.” He looked around, but none of the others seemed surprised. Evidently, he was the last to find out.
Yasamura laughed softly. “I know. She had a Scorpion’s heart, that one. Of course, there may be another reason they chose to yield to her blandishments.”
“The letters themselves.”
Yasamura nodded. “Yes. Years of them. Ever since she began her career. What a dowry they would make, don’t you think?” He smiled sadly. “I have no doubt the first few were nothing more than memories, sweet remembrances from lovers past. Then she saw a use in them. A form of protection and eventually of advancement.” He trailed off and shook his head. “I have often wondered what set her on that path, whether somewhere there is a letter explaining it all.”
Shin thought of Gota and said, “Perhaps. It is immaterial now. Etsuko is dead.”
“But her secrets – our secrets – live on,” Yua said.
Shin looked at Yasamura. “And that’s why you truly came today, isn’t it?”
Yasamura grimaced. “Yes, though not on my own behalf, I assure you. I was satisfied with our interaction, but I was not the only member of our clan to commit an indiscretion when it came to Lady Etsuko.”
Shin, who’d noted more than one Iuchi sigil among the letters, nodded slowly. “How many?” Konomi blurted in evident surprise.
“More than you’d think but less than you might suspect,” Yasamura sighed. “As I said, she was a vivacious woman and argumentative. To a certain sort of person, that is an irresistible combination.”
Shin sat back on his heels to consider this. “Which is why you recommended her to Konomi, knowing she would pass along the recommendation to me. You must have been looking for an opportunity to remove her from the capital and thus away from those she might influence.”
“That was my initial thought, yes. A simple enough task, and one I was happy to do. But then word came that she was to be married and to a Bayushi no less. You see the problem, of course.” Yasamura emptied his cup and set it down.
“Of course. The Bayushi – and the Scorpion – have a reputation for making use of embarrassing information.” Shin shook his head. “Though I have reason to believe Isamu is a victim himself, thrown to Etsuko in order to protect another.”
“That wouldn’t surprise me,” Yasamura said. “It is a very Scorpion way of thinking. But do you have proof?”
“Not as such. But what I have is enough.” Shin studied the other man across the top of his fan. “Why involve Yua and the others? In fact, how did you even know… Of course. How silly of me.” He looked at Konomi, but she did not flinch from his gaze. “Earlier, we spoke of the gossip surrounding Etsuko. You knew more than you were letting on.”
Konomi nodded. “I did warn you, Shin.”
“Obliquely.” Shin snapped his fan shut and tapped his lips. “It is most irksome to find myself as a thread in another’s tapestry.”
“Irksome or not, it is done. As to involving these fine worthies, well, that was my darling cousin’s advice.” Yasamura sat back. “Isamu refuses to speak with me, though he has spoken with the others.”
“So Lady Yua said,” Shin murmured, glancing at her. She flushed and looked away.
“Isamu paid a call on all of us, all who Etsuko insisted attend,” Minami said. “Oblique courtesies, wrapped around vague intimations that he had some advantage, followed later by a suggestion that we leave at the earliest opportunity.” She bared her teeth, and her eyes blazed with heat. “Couldn’t deliver that one himself, of course. Sent his servants to tell us. As if we were his subordinates.”
“Yes. Likely he hoped to prevent a gathering such as this,” Yasamura said. “Konomi thought presenting a unified front might serve to back down our Bayushi rival. I’m inclined to agree. I doubt Isamu wants a fight.”
There was a sudden commotion outside. Yua’s servant peered nervously into the box. “M- my lady, Lord Shin’s servant is here. He- he says he must speak with his master.”
Yua looked at Shin. “What is this? Some ploy of yours?”
“Yes, and right on schedule.” Shin rose to his feet. Yasamura stretched out a hand.
“What about the letters? What do you intend to do with them?”
“For the moment, nothing.” Shin looked around. “Understand, I am not interested in the letters save that they might well point me to the identity of the killer. But that is for later. For now, I intend to pay another visit to Lord Isamu.”
“From what I’ve heard, he doesn’t want to speak with you either,” Yasamura said.
Shin smiled brightly and slapped his fan into his open palm.
“Oh, I think he’ll change his mind when I keep Lord Gota from throttling him.”
Chapter Thirty
Badger and Scorpion
Shin made his way toward the Scorpion box but not alone. Yasamura had insisted on coming along as had Konomi. They were trailed by Hachi and Yasamura’s bodyguard. Shin had decided there was no point in arguing with his guests. Better to have Yasamura as an ally than an opponent. Besides, as Konomi had pointed out, there was something to be said for presenting a unified front.
Konomi leaned toward Shin with her fan held up to hide her mouth. “Are you actually angry with me?” she murmured, doing her best to look innocent.
Shin avoided the question. “I think you were distracting me earlier. Giving Yasamura time to go about his business. That’s why you weren’t worried about him wondering where you were. Am I correct?”
“Perhaps somewhat. Mostly, I was just having some fun.”
Shin grinned mirthlessly. “And Yasamura?”
Konomi paused, then sighed. “I suppose I was trying to fit two horses with one bridle, as my father says. Yasamura was sent here on family business. I was asked to help him. I thought I could help you at the same time.” She fluttered her fan. “For what it’s worth, he really does find you fascinating, though I can’t say why.”
“For the same reasons you do, I expect.” He’d meant the comment as a joke, but she fixed him with a sidelong look that unsettled him.
“You know, perhaps I erred in keeping all this from you,” Yasamura interrupted, moving up between them. Konomi, obviously used to such rudeness from her cousin, sidled aside gracefully. “After all, you have as much to lose as we do.” He chuckled. “Your reputation hinges on today’s success, doesn’t it? A murder onstage can’t be good for the reviews.”
“That depends,” Shin demurred. “If I were to bring the culprit to justice, I would imagine it might do wonders for my reputation.”
Yasamura chuckled. “Perhaps we can arrange for you to do that onstage as well. I wager the audience would eat it up.”
“Do you think Isamu did it?” Konomi asked. She peered at Shin over the top of Yasamura’s head. “You said you believed Bayushi Isamu was a sacrifice, someone offered up by the Scorpion to placate Etsuko. If I were him in that situation, I might well poison my betrothed.”
