Black Lotus (18 page)

Hirata suggested hesitantly, "I could go."

"No," Sano said, his manner decisive. "Sending any representative is the same as going myself, with the same consequences. Besides, there's no need for anyone to go. We'll soon have a report from the surveillance team at the temple."

"By that time it may be too late," Reiko said. In spite of Sano's failure to locate Pious Truth, she still believed he was a novice at the temple, and in danger. "How many people must suffer before you intervene?"

"If anyone has suffered, I'll need evidence before I can take official action," Sano said, "and the detectives are more likely to provide it than are complaints from the public. I shall wait for their report."

His tone defied argument, but Reiko said, "I'll look around the temple after I see High Priest Anraku tomorrow."

"We agreed that you would restrict yourself to getting information from Haru," Sano reminded her. "You've already broken your promise." Then suspicion narrowed his eyes. "Just how did you intend to get an audience with Anraku?"

He wasn't going to like the answer, Reiko thought unhappily. "Lady Keisho-in agreed to accompany me to the temple and order Anraku to see me," she said.

"You asked the shogun's mother for this favor?" Now Sano's face took on the dazed look of a man beholding the wreckage after an earthquake. "How could you have the nerve, especially when you know that her favors don't come without a price?"

Reiko knew all too well, but she said, "I think the investigation is worth it."

Sano stared at her, uncomprehending. "Why is that girl so important that you're choosing her over your safety and my career?"

"I'm not!" Reiko cried, but his question struck close to the truth. Though she loved her husband with all her heart, her choices had in a way placed Haru before him. Somehow, events had swept her beyond reason. Perhaps they'd affected Sano, too.

"You're at least as prejudiced regarding Haru as I am. May I ask why it is so important for you to condemn her without a thorough inquiry?" Reiko went on. "Are the shogun and the Council of Elders pressuring you to convict her?"

She read in his eyes that he was indeed under pressure, and had a disturbing thought that Sano was no longer the principled, idealistic man she loved. She said, "Can you be forsaking truth and justice for the sake of politics?"

Fury leapt in Sano's gaze, and Reiko realized to her dismay that he'd perceived her rashly spoken questions as an attack on his honor. As she and Sano stood paralyzed, gazes locked, the air around them compressed into a dense, stormy space; Midori and Hirata watched them in helpless consternation.

"I'm sorry," Reiko stammered, aware that she'd had much else to apologize for recently, but nothing as bad as this. "I didn't mean…"

With slow, deliberate movements that betrayed his battle for control over his temper, Sano walked back to his desk and sat. His face hardened into a stony, emotionless mask. "I forbid you to go to the Black Lotus Temple or to Shinagawa," he said in a quiet tone that vibrated with suppressed rage. "Now please leave me."

Numb with shock, Reiko staggered blindly from the room.

Midori followed her. Hirata came hurrying down the corridor after them. "Midori-san," he said, "wait. I want to talk to you."

"Well, I don't want to talk to you." Midori tossed her head.

Trembling and sick inside, Reiko walked into her private chamber and knelt on the floor. Would that she could relive the past moments differently!

Midori burst into the room. Radiant with joy, she exclaimed, "I did what you suggested, and it's working!" She knelt near Reiko and giggled. "For the first time in ages, Hirata-san really noticed me." Then she took a closer look at Reiko, and her jubilation subsided. "What's wrong?"

Silent weeping twisted Reiko's mouth. How she envied Midori, who'd obviously understood little of what had happened in Sano's office. How wonderful to be so young, frivolous, and absorbed in romance!

Midori said soothingly, "The
sōsakan-sama
was very angry, but don't worry --- he'll forgive you."

Reiko wanted to believe Midori, but she couldn't.

"What are you going to do?" Midori asked.

To restore peace with Sano, Reiko knew she should end her inquiries; yet circumstances had locked her into defending Haru, for right or wrong, in spite of everything she'd learned about her.

"Tomorrow I'm going with Lady Keisho-in to see High Priest An-raku," she said. "Afterward, I'll travel to Shinagawa." Resolve calmed Reiko; she wiped her tears on her sleeve.

"But won't that make the
sōsakan-sama
even angrier at you?" Midori said, her face a picture of concern.

"I'm afraid so," Reiko said unhappily.

Carrying on her investigation against his will might permanently estrange her from Sano. The knowledge chilled Reiko. But this case now involved more than just discovering who'd committed the crimes at the Black Lotus Temple. Sano had imperiled his honor by allowing political concerns to influence him. Reiko had a duty to protect it by convincing him to pursue real justice instead of seizing the quickest solution to the case, and to save his career by preventing him from making a mistake that would disgrace the whole family.

And she was determined to find out the truth about Haru once and for all.

"Then you're going to disobey anyway?" Midori said.

"I can't stand by and see my husband ruined and Haru incriminated while a killer goes free," Reiko said. The investigation had produced two alternative culprits --- Haru or the Black Lotus --- and Reiko felt justified in her choice, which her intuition still favored. "I must do what's right."

"Then let me help you." Eagerness lit up Midori's eyes. "We can go out together tomorrow, and you can teach me to be a detective. We'll show the men what we can do!"

Humor leavened Reiko's unhappiness. She smiled at Midori, who apparently saw the situation as a contest of men versus women, with Hirata's love the prize.

"Many thanks for your generous offer, but I don't want to get you in trouble, so I'd better go by myself," Reiko said. Then, seeing Midori's disappointed expression, she fibbed, "I'll try to find something else for you to do."

"Oh, good!" Midori beamed.

Sano sat in his office, his elbows propped on the desk, shaken and horrified. How could Reiko speak such insults? How could he feel such rage toward her? An evil spirit had invaded their home, breeding discord and malice.

Its name was Haru.

With the impassioned regret of hindsight, Sano wished he'd never involved Reiko with Haru. He knew better than to think that Reiko would give up trying to exonerate the girl. Yet even as Sano wondered how he could separate Reiko from a murder suspect, a needle of self-doubt pierced his conscience. In his perpetual insecurity about his po-sition, was he indeed succumbing to political pressure to arrest Haru because she represented the quickest way to solve the case? Sano cradled his head in his hands. He'd thought himself a man of honor and objective judgment, but now he questioned his own character.

Was Reiko right about him, and Haru, and the Black Lotus?

"
Sosakan-sama
, there's something I must say," Hirata said.

Jolted out of his troubled reverie, Sano looked up at his chief retainer, who sat opposite him: He'd not noticed Hirata enter. "Go ahead," he said.

"Those citizens I interviewed were so sure that the Black Lotus is evil, I started to believe it," Hirata said haltingly. "If you'd met them, I think you would, too. I didn't want to say this earlier, but…" Hirata's face reflected deep conflict within him. "Their testimony is serious indication that the sect is involved in bad business. I'm sorry to disagree with you."

"That's all right." Sano endured the sting that Hirata's words caused him. The duties of a chief retainer included voicing unpleasant, necessary truths to his master.

"Ignoring the signs could ruin the investigation," Hirata added.

"I know." Sano could admit to Hirata what he couldn't to Reiko. "We'll have to check out those stories about the sect." He thought for a moment, then said, "I'll decline Minister Fugatami's invitation. I don't think a trip to Shinagawa is necessary yet, because we can tap another source of facts about the Black Lotus."

"Who is that?" Hirata asked.

"The prime suspect herself," Sano said. "It's time for another visit with Haru."

16

They who defy the Law of the Black Lotus

Will have the whip laid upon them,

Their bodies will be beaten and cuffed,

They will suffer grief and pain,

To the point of death.

----FROM THE BLACK LOTUS SUTRA

Night enfolded the Zōjō temple district. Diffuse moonlight frosted the roofs and treetops, but darkness saturated the deserted alleys. Sleep had silenced ten thousand voices, slowed heartbeats, stilled movement. The autumn wind's hushed breath absorbed the exhalations of slumber.

Priest Kumashiro stood in an underground room beneath the Black Lotus Temple. In a corner huddled the monk Pious Truth. Ropes bound his wrists and ankles; swollen bruises discolored his face and naked body. Two priests, holding wooden clubs, stood over him. Pious Truth was panting, slick with sweat, his terrified gaze focused on Kumashiro.

"Has he confessed?" Kumashiro asked the priests.

They shook their heads. Pious Truth cried, "I didn't tell her anything, I swear!"

But Kumashiro believed Pious Truth had indeed revealed Black Lotus secrets to Lady Reiko. She must have told the
sōsakan-sama
, whom Kumashiro had seen prowling the temple grounds today. Entrances to the subterranean complex were well hidden, but Kumashiro had to learn the full extent of the breach in security.

He crouched before the monk and said in a quiet, menacing voice, "What did you say to her?"

Pious Truth cowered, but spoke defiantly: "Nothing."

Kumashiro struck the monk across the mouth. He yelped in pain. "I'm loyal to the Black Lotus," he protested, drooling blood. "I would never tell an outsider anything!"

Rising, Kumashiro contemplated the monk who'd already withstood two days of torture. It was time for stronger coercion. "Bring him to the medical chamber," Kumashiro ordered the priests.

They dragged Pious Truth out of the cell, following Kumashiro down a tunnel just high and wide enough for men to walk upright and two abreast. The walls and ceilings were reinforced with planks; between these, tree roots veined the soil. Hanging lamps lit the way, casting weird shadows.

"What are you going to do to me?" Pious Truth said anxiously.

No one answered. The pulse of the hand-operated bellows that pumped in air from concealed vents was a continuous, rhythmic clatter. Rancid odors tainted the air. Pious Truth mewled. Kumashiro led the group into one of a series of connected rooms in a branch tunnel. At the center of the room stood a table. A vast hearth, with a huge basin set on a charcoal brazier below a stone chimney, occupied a corner. Muted voices, clatters, and the burble of liquid issued from an adjoining room, out of which sidled Dr. Miwa. When he saw Kumashiro, wariness tensed his pocked face, but his. squinty eyes brightened at the sight of Pious Truth.

"Is this a patient for me?" he said.

"He's a runaway." Kumashiro beheld the doctor with undisguised revulsion. "I want you to make him cooperate."

Bowing, Dr. Miwa displayed his uneven teeth in an ingratiating smile. "Certainly."

The priests heaved Pious Truth onto the table. He struggled, yelling, "Let me go! Help!"

No one aboveground would hear him, Kumashiro knew. The priests tied the monk down, then left. Dr. Miwa fetched a cup of liquid and held it to Pious Truth's mouth.

"No!" Pious Truth shrieked. "I don't want it!"

Kumashiro forced Pious Truth's jaws apart. Dr. Miwa poured. Although the monk gurgled and spat, most of the liquid went down.

"I've given him an extract of Jan
xie yie
leaves,
ba dou
seeds, and morning glory," Dr. Miwa said. "It will purge excessive spiritual heat and evil influences from him."

"Spare me the medical gibberish," Kumashiro said, annoyed by Miwa's pretense that what they were doing constituted a genuine cure. "He's not a patient. Nor are you a healer."

Anger flushed the doctor's muddy complexion, but he remained silent, too much a coward to contradict a superior.

"You were a failure as a physician, and if you think High Priest Anraku respects your credentials, think again." Kumashiro found pleasure in wounding Miwa's vanity. "He only tolerates you because you're useful to him."

The same applied to everyone in the sect, including Kumashiro. They were all here to serve Anraku's purposes, but Kumashiro didn't mind because if not for Anraku, he would be dead, destroyed by the life he'd led.

A son of a high retainer of the Matsudaira branch of the Tokugawa clan, Kumashiro had grown up on the Matsudaira estate in Echigo Province. As a boy he'd excelled at the martial arts, but his teachers had criticized his spiritual disharmony, which blocked his progress along the Way of the Warrior. Kumashiro himself perceived something wrong inside him --- an emptiness; a sense that real life lay beyond a locked magic door. This angered and frustrated him. He grew more and more aggressive during practice sword matches. Other boys on the estate avoided him because he picked fights and beat them; his own mother was terrified of his temper. Violence eased the gnawing emptiness in Kumashiro, but didn't open the door. However, Lord Matsudaira was impressed with his fighting skill and, when Kumashiro was thirteen, took him to Edo as a guard at the clan's city estate.

In Edo, Kumashiro received a new pair of swords. The law permitted samurai to test blades on peasants without being punished, so Kumashiro wandered the crowded streets of Nihonbashi, seeking a suitable target, until a beggar accidentally bumped him.

"Humble apologies, master," the beggar said, bowing.

Kumashiro drew his new long sword and slashed the beggar's arm. The man cried out in pained surprise, and Kumashiro stared at his victim's wound, transfixed by a rush of sensation. Drawing blood had opened the magic door a crack. Noises seemed louder, colors more vivid, the sun's heat newly intense. The smell of humanity quivered Kumashiro's nostrils. It was as if he'd finally gotten a taste of real life.

The frightened beggar turned to run, but Kumashiro lunged, cutting bloody gashes in the man's legs and back. Every cut opened the door a little wider. Heady new vitality filled Kumashiro as onlookers scrambled for cover. The beggar fell on hands and knees.

"Please, master," he cried, "have mercy!"

Kumashiro raised his sword high over the neck of his victim, then brought it slashing down. The blade severed the beggar's head. Warm, red blood sprayed Kumashiro. His veins, his muscles, his very bones tingled with intoxicating energy. He felt the dead man's spirit fill his empty space, and a thunderous rapture as his internal forces balanced in harmony. Killing had brought him to life, to the Way of the Warrior.

And that moment had brought him here, to this underground room, where a young monk lay tied to a table. Kumashiro watched as Pious Truth moaned, convulsing against the ropes.

"Ah, the medicine is taking effect," Dr. Miwa said.

Sweat and urine poured from Pious Truth and puddled on the table. Retching, he vomited. The stench of diarrhea arose.

"Soon the purge shall be complete," said Dr. Miwa.

Excitement crept into his voice; he was trembling as if with sexual arousal. His breath hissed faster.

"It's a fine doctor who enjoys the suffering of his patient," Kumashiro said. Yet although Miwa's perversion disgusted him, Kumashiro knew very well the exhilarating combination of violence and sex.

The ecstasy of his first kill had faded quickly; as the magic door closed, Kumashiro vowed to repeat the experience. He and a gang of fellow Tokugawa retainers roved Edo, brawling with peasants and rival samurai. In his twenties, with three more kills behind him, Kumashiro got a reprimand from the magistrate. Still, his need persisted.

One night his gang visited an illegal brothel. Kumashiro disliked females --- such weak, inferior creatures --- but he had nothing better to do, so he went along. A prostitute took him to her room. As she stroked him, Kumashiro found her repulsive.

"What is this?" she said, squeezing his limp organ. "A dead snake?" Meanness edged her playful remark: She'd noticed his feelings toward her. "Perhaps your sword is blunt, too."

At this insult, Kumashiro struck the whore's face a tremendous blow. She screamed. The door in Kumashiro swung ajar; arousal and heightened sensation thrilled him. He beat the girl, and she fought him, but he mounted and entered her. His hands throttled her neck as he thrust.

At the instant of climax, he choked the life out of her, crying out in rapture as he absorbed her spirit.

With the memory clear in his mind, Kumashiro turned his attention to Pious Truth. "Are you ready to admit you betrayed the Black Lotus or do you want to suffer more?"

The monk was deathly pale, groaning in pain, too weak to struggle, but he gasped out, "I told Lady Reiko nothing."

"The evil force is much stronger in him than in his sister," Dr. Miwa said. Mild torture had persuaded Yasue to confess that Pious Truth had engineered their escape attempt. "We must employ more drastic treatment."

Dr. Miwa summoned his assistants, two young nuns. They untied Pious Truth and placed him in the basin of water on the hearth. While the nuns lit the brazier, Miwa's hungry gaze lingered on them. Kumashiro wished he could throw all the females out of the temple. Experience had taught him that they were a source of misfortune.

Over the next five years after killing the whore, he'd killed three more prostitutes, and the magistrate charged him with multiple murder. While in jail awaiting trial, Kumashiro came to believe that the deaths of females had disturbed the
bakufu
more than had the other deaths he'd caused. If not for females, he wouldn't be facing a death sentence. Later, circumstances in the Black Lotus Temple had affirmed his belief in the evil of women and fornication.

He despised Abbess Junketsu-in, who bedded priests in the sect's upper echelon, sparking angry rivalries that caused him difficulty in maintaining order. Junketsu-in's other disgraceful practices also appalled Kumashiro; he couldn't cover them up forever. Sex created problems with the patrons, too. Kumashiro thought of Commander Oyama, and hatred seethed in him.

The only good thing Oyama had ever done was to destroy police reports on complaints about the Black Lotus and order his minions not to bother the sect. But this good had been negated by his habits, which caused disturbances within the temple, and public gossip. Recently, Kumashiro had waylaid Oyama outside the cottage where he'd conducted his illicit affairs. He'd ordered Oyama to leave the female sect members alone, but Oyama had refused. While they argued, exchanging threats, then blows, the girl Haru had come out of the cottage and seen them. Kumashiro was sure she'd told the police about the argument. They must already know his history, and he worried that they would think he'd murdered Oyama… and Chie.

What the nurse had experienced inside the temple, what she'd learned about the sect's business, had rendered her a grave danger to the Black Lotus. Kumashiro was glad that Chie and Oyama were gone, but threats remained. Haru knew too much, as did Pious Truth.