Tora nodded. “You’re right. Helping people like that is more important than obeying rules. I think we should go ahead. I’ll find a way to explain it to him.”
Saburo hesitated, then nodded. “Thanks, Tora. Do tell him I hate going against his wishes. I’ll make sure to do my work here first.”
Tora looked thoughtful. “You know, we need a schoolmaster here. The superintendent has been sending over his own tutor, but that cannot go on forever. Why don’t you tell the master about your man?”
“Oh, but he would get very angry if I mentioned the matter again.”
“Well, it’s up to you. It’s just a thought.”
“Yes. It’s a good thought. But there really isn’t any money for it. The superintendent’s tutor doesn’t cost anything.”
“True enough. Well, it’ll have to wait. Let’s talk to the moneylenders again. I have an urge to meet them for myself.”
*
They had to wait until after their evening rice. Their master’s new-found energy had provided new chores. Primary among these were some repairs to the roof, since the budget did not cover the expense of a new one, and the autumn weather had been miserably wet.
Both Tora and Saburo were tired and dirty when night fell. They would have liked to stay home. Tora had to leave early the next day with Genba to take the horses to the farm, and Saburo was likely to be needed for many things in their absence. Their only chance was this night.
They cleaned up as best they could and put on clean robes, then set out for the city. As before, Saburo knocked at Nakamura’s door, and as before, the bulbous-eyed son opened the door.
“Greetings,” said Saburo with a slight bow. “I brought a colleague. Two sets of ears are better than one, you know. We’ve come for more information.”
Nakamura Junior gestured them in, asking, “Then there’s no news?”
Saburo said vaguely, “This and that, but nothing conclusive. People didn’t like your father, and that’s a fact.”
The son said hotly, “People liked my father’s money well enough. They just don’t like to repay it. Thieves, the whole lot of them.”
Saburo said nothing. They followed the son into the main room of the house. The daughter was absent this time, but Saito sat in his usual place like a fat toad.
The son said, “Uncle went to the jail today. He says the police are sure they have the murderess. We may just be wasting time here.”
Tora spoke for the first time. “We also went to the jail. I don’t know who you talked to, Saito, but Superintendent Kobe told me he wasn’t happy with the situation. The blind girl denies the charge very firmly. The superintendent was very interested in the list of suspects you provided.”
“Suspects?” protested Saito. “Why would borrowing money make you a suspect? They weren’t there, and she was.”
“That’s not true,” countered Saburo. “We know two of them were there that morning and there may have been others. Keep in mind that your father did his money-lending business in the city, and that included the Daikoku-yu where he went every morning. But there may have been someone else, someone not on your list. So we need to know more about where your father found most of his customers.”
Tora added, “And you’d better tell us about his women. Maybe it wasn’t the money that was the motive, but his womanizing. Maybe he mistreated some women in the quarter. The owner of one of the houses might have paid someone to get rid of him. Or maybe he raped some young girl and her father took revenge.”
Nakamura’s son cried, “My father didn’t rape young girls. That’s a dirty lie. Who told you about that?”
Tora cocked his head. “So there was something? Doesn’t matter if it’s true or not as long as someone believed it. You’d better tell us everything you know, if you want us to solve your father’s murder.”
The son glared. “We’ve changed our minds. We don’t want you to go on with this. It’s very unpleasant to have such lies stirred up.”
Saburo looked at Saito. “You’ve said very little. Are you also content to leave matters as they are? You know it could be dangerous.”
Saito glanced at the younger man. “We’d better tell them about the note,” he said.
The son shook his head. “No. You know what he said. Not a word must get out.”
Saburo asked quickly, “What is it, Saito? Who has contacted you?”
Nakamura’s son rushed over to grasp Saito’s arm. “Don’t tell them!” he pleaded.
Saito shook him off. “We’ve received a warning to leave things alone.” His nephew collapsed, moaning.
“A warning?” Tora raised his brows. “Do tell!”
Saito glanced at the young man. “My nephew is afraid. The warning came from Kanemoto.”
“The gangster boss Kanemoto? How interesting! What did it say?”
Saito pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it over. Tora and Saburo bent over it together. The writing was large and careless, the characters malformed, but the message was clear: “You’ve been meddling! Leave it alone or you’ll be sorry. The police have the killer!”
Nakamura’s son cried, “Now you’ve done it. He’ll have killed, too.”
His uncle grimaced. “Be calm,” he told his nephew. “This man has spoken to the chief of the police. If anyone can protect us, it’s them.”
“As if the police cared about people like us!” protested his nephew.
Tora thought he had a point. He did not feel a great urge to return to Kobe and ask him to protect the Nakamura clan. But for the time being, he pretended willingness to be of help. “How is it that Kanemoto’s involved in this? What sort of business did you and your partner have with Kanemoto?”
Saito said, “I never met the man. I think my brother must’ve become involved over some deals he made in the willow quarter.”
Tora considered this. It made sense. Kanemoto was the sort of gangster who made his profits from gambling and prostitution. Because he had never, to their knowledge, been known to resort to violence, the police had turned a blind eye to his activities. Perhaps this had changed. Kanemoto had just become a suspect. But proving his guilt would be dangerous and might draw his attention not only to himself and Saburo. It might well also involve the whole Sugawara household. They would have to be very careful.
He said, “We’ll be back. Meanwhile, don’t tell anyone that you’ve talked to us.” He glanced with a frown at Saito’s nephew, who was still moaning and muttering.
Saito asked anxiously, “You will speak to the superintendent? About protection and to make sure they arrest Kanemoto and his gang?”
Tora said vaguely, “We’ll share our information with the police. And we’ll be back in case there are more messages from Kanemoto.”
Saito nodded glumly.
Outside the house, Tora rubbed his hands with satisfaction. “Couldn’t be better,” he said. “This will interest Kobe greatly. You’ll see your blind girl will be out in no time.”
Saburo thought about it. Perhaps Shokichi would forgive him then, but he no longer wanted to be forgiven. He was better off alone than with a wife who burst into angry recriminations whenever he did not do as she wanted. Perhaps he might tolerate such behavior in a mistress, but certainly not in a wife. Yes, why not? She could be his mistress. And he could leave whenever she behaved badly; she would soon learn to behave. The thought cheered him. “What next?” he asked Tora.
“Well, since Kanemoto hangs out in the willow quarter, we should go there.” Tora looked up at the moon. It was a cold clear night. “Come along, the day has started for the whores and gamblers.”
They returned home briefly to exchange their sober blue robes with the black sashes for the cheap but colorful clothing of young men bent on a night out.
As they walked through the empty streets on this cold night, Saburo became glum again. It troubled him that he always seemed to be in the wrong, not matter how hard he tried to please his master. He was beginning to suspect that he had never been forgiven for his past life as a spy or agent. In the end there had still been a certain dislike, a lack of trust, and whenever his lordship thought he saw something in Saburo’s actions that displeased him, the old prejudice emerged. That would never change.