Sano heard Hirata’s sharp intake of breath. Lady Keisho-in’s letter felt like a metal blade cutting into his flesh. Duty required that Sano report all facts to the shogun, yet he hesitated. A Japanese citizen incriminated a member of the Tokugawa clan at his own peril. Any offensive word or action could be perceived as an attack against the shogun himself. Whether or not Lady Keisho-in had killed Harume didn’t change this. For accusing the shogun’s mother, rightly or wrongly, Sano could be charged with treason, then executed as punishment.
“A brilliant strategy,” Chamberlain Yanagisawa said, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. “What have you learned?”
Now was the time to present Lady Keisho-in’s letter and Jimba’s statement. Now was the time for samurai courage. Sano struggled with himself. His spirit quailed; his stomach roiled. “I have a better sense of Lady Harume’s character, which will help me understand how she might have provoked murder,” he stalled. He didn’t mention the hair and fingernails he’d found in Lady Harume’s clothing because he didn’t know whether they had any bearing on the case. “And I’ve turned up some new leads to pursue.” Deciding to wait until later in the meeting to reveal the letter, Sano cursed himself for a coward.
Hirata breathed a tentative sigh of relief at the reprieve. Sano thought he saw disappointment on Yanagisawa’s face. Senior Elder Makino was eyeing the chamberlain with a puzzled frown, obviously wondering what had become of their pact to discredit Sano. Then he continued, “So what you are telling us, sōsakan-sama, is that you have wasted a lot of time on studying Lady Harume, and learned nothing of significance.”
For once Sano had a spectacular comeback to Makino’s baiting, yet he didn’t relish using it. “Nothing could be farther from the truth,” he said. “Your Excellency, please prepare yourself for bad news.” As an expectant hush fell over the room, Sano braced himself for the reaction. “Lady Harume was with child when she died.”
A collective gasp. Then perfect silence. Though the Elders quickly hid their shock, Sano could almost hear the hum of their minds formulating theories, calculating ramifications. Tokugawa Tsunayoshi rose awkwardly, then fell to his knees again.
“My son!” he exclaimed, his eyes sunken with horror. “My long-awaited heir! Murdered in his mother’s womb!”
“This is the first I’ve heard of the pregnancy,” Makino said. “Dr. Kitano regularly examines all the concubines, but he didn’t discover it.” The other elders echoed their senior’s skepticism. “How did you come into possession of the knowledge, Sōsakan Sano? Why should we believe you?”
Cold sweat ran down Sano’s back. After almost two years of concealing the illicit dissections at Edo Morgue, would the secret now come out and condemn him to exile? Nausea rose in his throat as he tried to frame a convincing lie. Beside him, Hirata, who knew of Sano’s transgressions, sat with head bowed, waiting for the blow to fall.
Then Chamberlain Yanagisawa said, “The fact of Lady Harume’s condition is more important than Sōsakan Sano’s method of ascertaining it. He wouldn’t make a mistake on such a serious matter.”
“Yes, Honorable Chamberlain.” Sounding increasingly puzzled, Makino conceded defeat.
Saved, by the enemy who had tried time and again to destroy him! For a moment Sano was too grateful to question Yanagisawa’s motives. Then he noticed that a peculiar change had come over the chamberlain. Yanagisawa’s eyes shone with alertness; he seemed energized by the news of the unborn child’s death. Sano understood that Yanagisawa might have wished it for the same reason as Lady Keisho-in. But if he hadn’t known about the pregnancy, why would he have murdered Harume?
The shogun raised his fists skyward and keened, “This is an outrage!” His sobs echoed throughout the hall. And Sano had still another unpleasant topic to broach.
Choosing his words carefully, he said, “Your Excellency, there is some… question about the… parentage of Lady Harume’s child. After all, she did have… relations with Lord Miyagi, and possibly Lieutenant Kushida. We must consider the possibility that…”
Turning on Sano, the shogun glared through his tears. “Nonsense! Harume was, ahh, devoted to me. She would never have let another man touch her. The child was mine. He would have succeeded me as, ahh, dictator of Japan.”
The elders avoided one another’s gazes. Yanagisawa remained silent in his air of contained energy. Everyone knew Tokugawa Tsunayoshi’s habits, but no one dared question his virility, and the shogun himself would never admit that another man had succeeded where he’d failed.
“The murder of my heir is treason of the most, ahh, heinous kind. I must have revenge!” Scowling, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi drew his sword. For once he seemed a true descendant of the great Ieyasu, who had defeated rival warlords and unified Japan. Then the shogun dropped the sword and wept. “Alas, who would commit such a terrible crime?”
The door banged open. The assembly turned to see who dared interrupt the special emergency session. In minced Lady Keisho-in.
Aghast, Sano fought the urge to release his tension in wild laughter as he looked around the room. Did anyone else realize that here was an answer to the shogun’s question? But, of course, the other men hadn’t read her letter.
The elders and Chamberlain Yanagisawa bowed courteously to Lady Keisho-in, recognizing her right to do as she pleased. Simpering like a courtesan in the Yoshiwara spring parades, she bowed back. The shogun greeted his mother with a cry of gladness.
“Honorable Mother! I have just had the most, ahh, terrible shock. Come, I need your counsel!”
Lady Keisho-in crossed the room and settled upon the dais beside her son. She held his hand while he repeated Sano’s news. “Tragic!” she exclaimed, pulling a fan out of her sleeve and vigorously fanning her face. “Your chance for a direct heir; mine for a grandson-ruined. Mah, mah!” she wailed. “And I didn’t even know Harume was with child.”
Was she feigning grief and ignorance? The letter had altered Sano’s view of Lady Keisho-in as a simpleminded old woman. And he guessed that the women of the Large Interior knew more about one another than Dr. Kitano did. Keisho-in wasn’t as stupid as she seemed. Had she discovered Harume’s pregnancy, perceived the threat to herself, and taken action to avert it?
Sano was sure of only one thing: Keisho-in’s arrival forestalled his mention of the letter. To reveal it before her and the Council of Elders would constitute the official accusation he wasn’t ready to make. He needed more evidence against Lady Keisho-in first. Therefore, he must continue to bear the burden of his secret, regardless of his duty to keep Tokugawa Tsunayoshi informed. Hope lightened Sano’s guilt. Perhaps further inquiries would lead him away from Lady Keisho-in.
“We were just discussing the, ahh, problems caused by the murder,” Tokugawa Tsunayoshi explained to Keisho-in, “and the progress of Sōsakan Sano’s investigation. Honorable Mother, please give us the benefit of your wisdom.”
Keisho-in patted his hand. “That is just what I have come here to do. Son, you must halt the investigation and order Sōsakan Sano to remove his detectives from the Large Interior at once!”
Alarmed, Sano said, “But Lady Keisho-in, you yourself granted us permission to interview the residents and staff and search for evidence. And we haven’t finished yet.”
Among the council, eyebrows lifted; covert glances were exchanged. “With all due respect, Honorable Lady, but the Large Interior is the scene of the crime,” Senior Elder Makino said, though obviously reluctant to support Sano.
“And hence, the rightful focus of the investigation,” Chamberlain Yanagisawa added. As the elders nodded assent, he watched Sano and Lady Keisho-in. A strange smile lifted one corner of his mouth.
Even the shogun looked surprised. “Honorable Mother, it is, ahh, imperative that the killer of my heir be caught and punished. How can you deny Sōsakan Sano any opportunity to, ahh, fulfill his mission?”