The short jailer mumbled something Raiden couldn't understand. Then they both left the cell, slamming the door behind them.

"Merciful Buddha," Raiden whispered thankfully.

Now his tears flowed in relief as he waited for someone to come and free him. But he grew uneasy as time pa.s.sed and no one came. What was taking them so long? The ropes had numbed his hands and feet; he wanted them untied, now. He wanted to leave this terrible place. He wanted a bath, a drink, and medicine for his wounds.

"Hey," he rasped. "Come back. Let me out."

The door opened. Through it came his two torturers. One-Eye's evil smile sent a thrill of fear through Raiden. A smoky metallic smell made his nostrils quiver. It came from the stone ewer that Short Man carried. Then Raiden understood.

"No!" he screamed. "Not neto-zeme! No!"

One-Eye was turning him onto his stomach. Without the strength to resist, Raiden pleaded for mercy. Facedown, he wept and s...o...b..red against the filthy floor.

"No," he gasped as a spear sliced a long cut down his back. Gritting his teeth against the blade's sting, he said, "Please, I'll pay you anything, I don't have much, but I'll get the money somehow-Oww!"

He stiffened as One-Eye's hands stretched open the flesh on either side of the cut. He felt Short Man bending over him, tipping the ewer.

"Aiiiii!"

The molten copper trickled into Raiden's wound. Pain seared his back, driving him to the brink of madness. As he screamed and sobbed, he could hear his flesh sizzle as it cooked. He imagined the wound's edges curling and blackening.

"Did you kill Niu Yukiko and Noriyoshi?" One-Eye's voice sounded distant, indistinct.

Still gripped by agony, Raiden couldn't answer. He screamed again as more copper poured into him.

"Answer me, pig. Did you kill them?"

With the part of his mind that could still reason, Raiden knew that if he confessed, he was finished. But he couldn't take any more neto-zeme. The suffering was unbearable, like nothing he'd ever experienced before, or wished to experience again.

"I don't remember," he wailed, hoping the truth would satisfy his torturers.

But One-Eye's derisive laughter a.s.saulted his pain-dazzled senses. "You killed them. Confess!"

Suddenly a flood of liquid fire cascaded onto Raiden's back. His scream rose so high it caught in his throat. Short Man had dumped the ewer's entire contents on him. The copper spread across his skin, burning as it went. Raiden's arms and legs jerked in wild spasms. Involuntary sobs convulsed him. His courage and resolve dwindled to nothing.

He gulped and managed to choke out, "Yes. I killed them."

Afterward, Raiden was barely conscious of being carried from the jail and transported to the Court of Justice on a litter. Through a cloud of pain and confusion, he heard the old, bald magistrate say in a reedy voice, "Raiden, you have confessed to the murders of Niu Yukiko and Noriyoshi. I sentence you to death."

Then a cold, nightmarish journey by litter, during which he slipped in and out of delirium. He dreamed of wrestling a faceless opponent in a match that wouldn't end. Somehow he knew that the opponent was his demon, the other self he'd fought and hated for the past three years. The audience jeered and stamped their feet. He was stumbling backward out of the ring...

Raiden awoke. He was lying on the ground, looking up at a pale, colorless sky. Wisps of fog swirled around him; the sun's ghostly white globe floated near the horizon. Somewhere nearby, water lapped at the sh.o.r.e. The ring and his opponent had vanished, but Raiden still heard the audience stamping and jeering. He turned his head, wincing at the pain that his effort caused. Horror shocked him into alertness.

"Oh, no," he murmured.

The jeering audience was a flock of ravens. They fluttered and squawked as their beaks tore at two rotting, headless corpses that lay on the ground near Raiden. Beyond them, men were a.s.sembling a rough wooden cross. Their hammers produced the stamping sounds he'd heard in his dream. This was the execution ground by the river. What a disgraceful place for a samurai to die!

Shame combined with his sorrow over losing his life, forming a huge, wordless ache that consumed Raiden. A sob rose in his throat; he swallowed it. As a last gesture to the samurai code of bravery, he waited with stoic resignation for an end to his suffering. At least the evil demon would die with him.

The men lifted him from the litter and bound him to the cross. Grunting with the effort, they raised it in a series of dizzying jerks.

Raiden found himself upright, facing the river. Severed heads on tall pikes dotted the bank. Corpses dangled from the two crosses beside his. Mist hung over the brown water, where a few fishermen watched silently from their boats. Raiden took one last look at the world. He closed his eyes and waited.

The executioner's ear-shattering yell.

A spear thrust into his chest.

A wave of agony to end all agony.

Raiden screamed as it swept him away. He heard his blood pounding in his head, a great red pulse that quickly began to fade.

He saw the wrestling ring that had formed the boundaries of his life, and the faceless opponent. He was falling, falling out of the ring. At the last moment, he seized the demon and dragged it with him. He felt a burst of victorious joy. Then nothing.

Chapter 19.

Sano returned to Edo only five days after he'd left, but to him it seemed as though an eternity had pa.s.sed.

As he rode, sad and travel-weary, through the bright afternoon streets, he saw with surprise that the New Year season had arrived. Housewives and merchants swept dirt out their doors, cleaning their houses and shops in preparation for New Year's Day, just three days away.

"Devils out! Fortune in!" they chanted.

Bedding aired on balconies and clotheslines. Moneylenders' shops did a brisk business as customers paid off the Old Year's debts. Pine boughs, bamboo stalks, and plaited paper ropes decorated every entrance. Rice cakes balanced on the lintels of doors and windows, placed there to bribe evil spirits to go elsewhere. In the marketplace, shoppers crowded around the stalls, buying holiday foods that they must prepare before New Year's Day, when no cooking was permitted. Mochi vendors pounded glutinous rice into the dense, pasty cakes that everyone would give and receive in great numbers. A cheery exuberance pervaded the city as its inhabitants antic.i.p.ated the biggest festival of the year: Setsubun, New Year's Eve.

The holiday atmosphere didn't penetrate Sano's leaden misery. Never had his favorite festival meant so little to him. His solitary journey had given him too much time to brood. The urn containing Tsunehiko's ashes, which he'd picked up on his way back through Totsuka, made a bulky lump in his pack that served as a constant reminder of all he must do. He had to catch a murderer and avenge his friend's death without sullying his family's honor. And he must solve the mystery behind Lady Niu's efforts to stop his inquiries, while avoiding further attacks by the mysterious watcher. Now, more than ever, he needed to persuade Magistrate Ogyu to let him continue the investigation-and allow him to question young Lord Niu.

Sano's mouth twisted in a bitter grimace. What chance had he of succeeding? Ogyu, who had so zealously protected the Nius, wouldn't rejoice when he learned of Sano's visit to Midori. But without her statement, Sano had no case against Lord Niu. He would have to tell Ogyu about Hakone.

As soon as he entered the outer office of the magistrate's mansion, he knew something was wrong. All the clerks, messengers, and servants abruptly stopped working to stare at him. Sano paused in the doorway. Embarra.s.sment spread a hot flush over his face. His ears rang in the silence. Then, just as quickly, everyone bent to their tasks, their voices lower than before, eyes averted.

The chief clerk spoke from his desk without looking up from his ledgers. "You are wanted in Magistrate Ogyu's reception chamber, Yoriki Sano-san."

With apprehension tensing his muscles, Sano walked through the corridor to the reception chamber's door. He hesitated there, hearing low conversation within cease at his approach. He took a deep breath and knocked.

"Enter," Ogyu's voice called.

His mouth dry and his hands clammy, Sano opened the door. He swallowed hard when he saw the three men kneeling, two to the right and one to the left of Ogyu's desk.

Bowing, he said, "Good day, Honorable Magistrate. Hayashi-san. Yamaga-san. " And to the broad man with bold features who sat by himself on Ogyu's left, the last person in the world he wanted to see right now: "Good day, Katsuragawa-san."

What did the presence of the two yoriki mean? And, more important, what was his patron doing here? He hadn't seen Katsuragawa Shundai since the visit he'd paid with his father.

The men returned his greeting with solemn formality. Ogyu motioned for Sano to kneel. Sano did, trying to read the four carefully expressionless faces.

"After much consideration," Ogyu said, "I have decided that you were correct about Niu Yukiko and Noriyoshi."

Sano blinked in surprise. "You have?"

"Yes. They did not commit shinju. They were murdered."

In his relief and elation, Sano didn't think to ask why Ogyu had changed his mind. He thought only of the ease and joy of conducting an official investigation instead of an unofficial one. He imagined all the city's doors opening to him. With Ogyu's capitulation, the largest obstacle in his path to the truth had vanished. Already bursting with plans, he started to thank his superior.

"Honorable Magistrate, I-"

Ogyu raised a hand, silencing him. "Because you were absent from your post, I had no choice but to turn the investigation over to Yamaga-san and Hayashi-san. They will explain to you what has transpired."

It was all Sano could do to keep his composure as he turned to face his colleagues. The investigation for which he'd risked and suffered so much, turned over to someone else! A terrible sense of loss burgeoned inside him.

"After making the appropriate inquiries, we had the wrestler, Raiden, arrested," Yamaga said. "Yesterday he was convicted of murdering Niu Yukiko and Noriyoshi. Early this morning, he was executed."

"No." Horrified, Sano turned an incredulous stare on Ogyu and Katsuragawa. Ogyu's expression remained impa.s.sive; Katsuragawa's watchful. "This can't be. What inquiries? What makes you think Raiden killed them? What's going on here?"

Hayashi cleared his throat. "Raiden confessed," he said.

Sano laughed, a loud, harsh sound that made his colleague flinch. "Well, of course he did!" he shouted, remembering the tortured prisoner he'd seen at Edo Jail. "But I want to know what proof you had that he murdered anyone. Come, tell me about these so-called inquiries!"

"You dare insult me?" Hayashi's face reddened. He started to rise, reaching for his sword.

Sano rose, too. Much as he abhorred useless violence, he would gladly have taken out his anger on Hayashi if Ogyu hadn't interceded.

"Please, please." The magistrate shook his head. "Let us not squabble like children." To Sano he said, "Did you yourself not identify Raiden as a suspect?"

Sano, sinking to his knees again, understood now. Ogyu was still protecting the Nius; he'd merely switched tactics. How better to close the investigation than by arresting, convicting, and executing a scapegoat? And Sano had delivered that scapegoat straight into Ogyu's hands. Yamaga and Hayashi had probably chosen Raiden over Kikunojo out of reluctance to offend the actor's high-ranking patrons. The lowly Raiden had had no such protection. With growing despair, Sano felt the blood of another death upon his hands.

"I never believed Raiden was the killer," he protested. His defense could no longer help the wrestler, except to clear his name, but he couldn't let Ogyu close the investigation with the real killer still at large.

"Raiden told his jailers he didn't remember committing the murders," Hayashi said coolly, his anger under control now. "Which only means that the madness that prompted his crime also allowed him to conveniently forget it."

The words gave Sano pause. Maybe Raiden's "demon" had made Raiden kill, then forget. Could he have been so wrong? Had Tsunehiko died because he'd failed to see Raiden's guilt and arrest him before the fatal trip?

"Raiden wasn't the only one Noriyoshi blackmailed," Sano said, fighting doubt and guilt by stubbornly sticking to his theory. "He had no reason to kill Niu Yukiko. And I think I know who did."

"Mere supposition," Yamaga scoffed. Hayashi murmured in agreement.

Although Sano was reluctant to reveal more of his findings after seeing how they'd just used his earlier ones, he needed the magistrate's official sanction. Quickly he explained what he'd learned in Hakone. "I believe young Lord Niu merits scrutiny," he finished. "And I should start by determining whether he or one of his men followed me to Totsuka and killed my secretary."

Prudence kept Sano from accusing Ogyu outright of covering up for the Nius. To give in to the angry urge to demand explanations, to vent his fury in an outburst, would only offend his superior. He would have to be satisfied with laying out his guilty secrets and dangerous theory. With forced resignation, he waited for the reprimand he knew would come.

But Ogyu just sighed and shook his head. "The fantasies of a girl-child. And I am not sure that you are any less p.r.o.ne to fantasy yourself, if you attribute your secretary's unfortunate demise to anything but a common highway murder. As to inflicting any more trouble on the Nius, that is out of the question. The true murderer has been... dealt with."

"But-"

"The matter is closed." As if to underscore his statement, Ogyu nodded to Yamaga and Hayashi. "You may go now."

With a swish of silk robes, the two yoriki rose and made their bows. Sano could feel their contemptuous stares on him as they left the room.

"I wish to continue the investigation," Sano said, although he knew that such open defiance could only worsen his position.

Ogyu exchanged an oblique glance with Katsuragawa before replying. "I am afraid you will not be investigating this or any other matter any longer, Sano-san. As of this moment, you are relieved of your post as yoriki of the city of Edo, and all its attendant duties and privileges."

The words. .h.i.t Sano like a physical blow. He actually swayed under its impact. Such a disgrace, both for him and his family! Ogyu's face wavered before him. Sounds echoed; the room dimmed. Of the magistrate's words he registered only a few-disjointed phrases.

"... insubordination... incompetence... disloyalty... mistake to appoint you in the first place... character unsuitable... If you would please vacate your office and your quarters at once... "

He almost forgot the investigation that had seemed so important a moment ago. How would this affect his father?

"Sano-san. Do you understand why I am dismissing you?" Ogyu asked.

Sano opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Ogyu must have thought he intended to argue or plead, because he said, "My decision is final. There will be no appeals. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Honorable Magistrate," Sano managed to whisper.

"And, if you would be so good as to leave Hamada Tsunehiko's ashes with my clerk, an official representative will deliver them to his parents and offer condolences on behalf of the city."

Sano felt no relief at being spared the task. How could Ogyu deprive him of the chance to fulfill even this responsibility? But the numbing paralysis of shock kept him from speaking. He nodded, obedient when it no longer mattered.

"Then you may go." Ogyu paused, then added, "I hope you will find success in your future endeavors."

Like a sleepwalker, Sano rose.

Katsuragawa spoke for the first time. "I'll go with you."

Sano looked at his patron in dismay. He didn't want to talk to anyone. He wanted to clear out his office and rooms in the barracks and leave as quickly as possible. He needed time to plan what he would say to his father. But Katsuragawa stood beside him, a hand on his shoulder.

"We need to talk, Sano-san," he said.

He firmly guided Sano to the entry way where they both retrieved their shoes. Once outside, he led the way down a quiet lane that ran between the mansion's wall and its neighbor's.

They walked in silence for a while. Sano glanced sideways at his patron, noticing again the features that had impressed him at their first meeting. The heavy shoulders that almost swallowed Katsuragawa's short, thick neck. The distinctive profile, with its full lips, large-nostrilled nose, and wary, unblinking eyes. The great curve of his generous but firm belly. Katsuragawa's posture exuded confidence; his controlled movements and slow, deliberate pace suggested power held in check. Beside him, Sano felt small and diminished, although he was taller than Katsuragawa.

"As your patron, I accept some degree of responsibility for what has happened to you," Katsuragawa said, looking straight ahead. "Perhaps, in my eagerness to discharge a long-standing obligation, I acted too hastily. I should not have directed you into a position for which you are so unsuited. But the ultimate blame lies with you, does it not?"

He turned to face Sano. "Did you even try to conform to your superior's requirements? Did you even try to make up for your lack of qualifications and apt.i.tude with loyalty and obedience?"

Jolted out of numbness by Katsuragawa's reproach, Sano retorted, "What have my shortcomings got to do with anything? I was dismissed not because I performed badly, but because I performed too well. I uncovered a murder that Magistrate Ogyu wanted to keep hidden. " He flung out his hands."How can you expect me to give my loyalty to a man so corrupt that he would sentence an innocent man to death in order to perpetuate this cover-up?" He was shouting now, but he didn't care who heard or if he offended Katsuragawa. His urge to defend himself- against his own as well as everyone else's accusations-was too strong."Do you deny that there is a cover-up?"

"Sano-san." Katsuragawa stopped walking and folded his thick arms across his chest. In a condescending tone he said, "This is exactly what I mean by your lack of apt.i.tude. Of course there's a cover-up! And if you'd been the right man for your job, you would have immediately understood why it was necessary."

Ignoring Sano's shocked exclamation, he demanded, "What do you think would happen if it became known that someone in Lord Niu's household had murdered Yukiko? And what if you proved that the 'someone' was another member of the family? What if the shogun saw fit to put the entire clan to death and confiscate its lands as punishment? Imagine the effect this would have on the country!"

Katsuragawa lifted his hands skyward. "Thousands and thousands of ronin, eager to avenge their master's death. The Niu allies and other daimyo, restless after ninety years of Tokugawa rule, looking for a reason to start a rebellion. Put these together and what do you get?"