It was too late for all the disturbed souls who’d fallen under the influence of the Black Lotus and died tonight.
Suddenly overwhelmed by the horrors of the day, Reiko sobbed. Nearby, she saw Hirata embracing Midori, but there was no consolation for herself.
Then Reiko felt a gentle touch on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Sano standing beside her. His eyes were filled with a compassion for her that she’d thought gone forever. He drew her to her feet and held her close. As she wept against the hard plates of his armor, he led her out of the room.
37
In the age that will follow the passing of the Bodhisattva of Infinite Power,
His disciples will turn the wheel of his truth,
Beat the drum of his truth,
And sound the conch trumpet of his truth,
Until he manifests himself to the world again.
– FROM THE BLACK LOTUS SUTRA
Priest Kumashiro, I pronounce you guilty of multiple assaults and murders,” said Magistrate Ueda.
It was the end of the fourth day of the Black Lotus trials. The magistrate sat with Sano, Hirata, and the secretaries on the dais in the Court of Justice. On the shirasu knelt Kumashiro and Junketsu-in, their wrists and ankles shackled. The priest glowered; the abbess hung her head and sniveled. A large audience of officials filled the room behind them.
“Abbess Junketsu-in,” the magistrate said, “I pronounce you guilty of arson.” His stern gaze rebuked the defendants. Both had confessed after Sano had interrogated them and witnesses from among the captured sect members had testified against them. Kumashiro had admitted murdering Chie, Radiant Spirit, and Pious Truth and his sister Yasue, among many others. “I pronounce you both guilty of harmful religious practices and conspiracy to destroy Edo and massacre the citizens. You are hereby sentenced to death by decapitation.”
Guards dragged the pair out of the building. Junketsu-in wept; Kumashiro scowled. The crowd that had occupied the street outside Magistrate Ueda’s estate since the trials had begun greeted them with angry jeers, curses, and waving fists. The weather had turned cold and stormy, but the victims of Black Lotus attacks and the families of abducted, enslaved, and murdered followers had stayed to see justice done.
In the court, the audience and secretaries had departed. Sano, Hirata, and Magistrate Ueda lingered inside the doorway.
“This is a sorry business,” the magistrate said. “I hope that a disaster of such magnitude never happens again.”
The death toll from the battle at the temple numbered six hundred forty Black Lotus members and fifty-eight of Sano’s troops. A later search of the tunnels had turned up the ashes and bones of countless cremated bodies. And two hundred ninety captured sect members had been executed.
“Still, it could have been worse,” Sano said. “My men captured most of the fugitives near Zōjō Temple, and the police have caught more on the outskirts of Edo. Hopefully, that’s all there are.”
He heard the hollow note in his own voice. The experience had left him drained and shaken. Memories of the carnage robbed him of appetite and sleep. He didn’t know the identities of the people he’d slain, and it bothered him that he could take lives and not know whose, or how many. Yesterday he’d attended a mass funeral for his retainers killed in the battle; he mourned their deaths. He’d solved the murder case and eliminated a threat to the nation, but he had no sense of accomplishment, despite the shogun’s praise of his valor. And his difficulties with Reiko were still unresolved.
Busy from dawn until late at night every day, interrogating captured sect members, testifying at their trials, and supervising the dismantling of the Black Lotus Temple, he’d hardly seen his wife since he’d brought her home from the temple. Reiko had told him some of what had happened in Anraku’s hideout before his arrival there, but otherwise, they’d barely spoken.
“There have been a few minor fires, but no explosions or instances of poisoning,” Hirata said. He wore the same haunted look as did all Sano’s men who’d survived the raid. “And many innocent people have been saved.”
After the battle, Sano’s troops had escorted home to the city the two hundred thirty-four prisoners they’d liberated. A hundred fifty children found underground had been returned to their families or placed orphanages. The orphans of Minister Fugatami now resided with relatives.
“The shogun has issued an edict outlawing the sect,” Sano said. “Lady Keisho-in has, on the advice of Priest Ryuko, denounced the Black Lotus. And with Anraku dead, there seems little chance of its revival.” Whether or not the high priest had really possessed supernatural powers, Reiko had rid the world of a great evil. “Tokugawa troops have occupied the temple, confiscated Anraku’s gold, and begun demolishing the buildings and filling in the tunnels. And the bakufu will conduct more rigorous monitoring of other religious orders in the future.”
Yet Sano bitterly rued that the shogun had waited so long to quell the Black Lotus. He also wondered how much of the blame he himself deserved for the disaster. If he had believed Reiko when she’d told him Pious Truth’s story, could the sect have been disbanded sooner and peacefully?
He would never know.
“How does the elimination of Black Lotus influence from within high levels of society progress?” said Magistrate Ueda.
“Kumashiro and Junketsu-in have revealed names of bakufu officials who belonged to the sect,” Sano said. Among them was his own Detective Hachiya, who’d betrayed the spy team he’d sent to the temple. “Some had joined Anraku’s army and have turned up among the captured priests, or the dead. The survivors included the men who murdered the Fugatami. They’ll all be allowed to commit seppuku. Others who didn’t directly participate in the attack will be exiled.” A quiet purge had already begun in Edo Castle. “We’ve also gotten names of Black Lotus followers among the daimyo, merchant, and lower classes.”
“I am prepared to conduct as many more trials as necessary,” Magistrate Ueda said, resigned.
The process of meting out justice to the Black Lotus seemed endless. Disheartened by the thought of all the work that was yet to be done, Sano said, “Hirata-san and I must be going. We have a jail full of prisoners to interview.”
They’d already spent many hours questioning the captured priests and nuns, who numbered so many that they’d overflowed the jail cells and had been housed in tents in the compound. Day and night they chanted, “Praise the glory of the Black Lotus.” So far none of them had shown remorse for the attack. All refused to accept the fact that Anraku was dead, and all still believed themselves destined for glorious enlightenment. Interrogating them, Sano had looked into souls consumed by fanaticism-Anraku’s legacy. The experience unnerved Sano, and he longed for it to be over.
“May I offer a word of advice?” Magistrate Ueda asked. At Sano’s nod, he said, “Please spare the time to take care of matters at home. You’ll be better off for it.”
Trepidation daunted Sano, but he nodded, because he knew the magistrate was right. It was time for a talk with Reiko.
At Sano’s estate, Midori sat in the nursery, watching Reiko and the maids give Masahiro his supper. The room was bright with lanterns; charcoal braziers warmed the chill, damp twilight. Masahiro gobbled rice gruel and chattered happily.
“That’s a good boy.” Reiko smiled at her son. “Eat plenty. Grow big and strong.”
Midori, who had received permission from Sano and Lady Keisho-in to stay in the mansion for as long as she needed to recuperate from her ordeal, tried to enjoy the cozy, familiar scene, but a restless melancholy disturbed her spirit. Everything looked the same as before the fire and murders at the Black Lotus Temple, yet so much had changed.