The Hell Screen (30 page)

Akitada waited.

Kobe sat undecided for a moment, his hands now relaxed, the fingers drumming on his knees. Then he grumbled, “Er, the situation is awkward, and I regret my poor timing, but you must see that I had to investigate this matter immediately. Repeated visits of an outsider to a prisoner about to come to trial very likely will compromise the case. I must be in a position to give a full explanation to the judge or I, along with the people who were responsible for the prisoner, may be dismissed from office. I won’t allow that to happen just to observe the proprieties.”

Akitada nodded again. “That is understandable. Your mind is on your duties, as mine is on family matters. We must find a compromise. Perhaps you had better tell me what happened and what precisely you suspect us of. How many visits were there?”

Kobe’s high color faded. He answered in a normal tone. “The female has come every single day since the time you and I met outside Nagaoka’s house. Always in the evening.”

Akitada thought back. Had he mentioned the Nagaoka case to Yoshiko? Yes, he recalled sharing some of its frustrations with her over dinner that day. And she had taken the brother’s side. A bit too vehemently, perhaps? Did Yoshiko know the suspect— what was his name?—Kojiro? He asked Kobe, “How did she get in?”

“She claimed to be his wife, bringing him his dinner. It was not until yesterday that I heard of it and told the fool of a guard that Kojiro’s not married. Idiot!” Kobe angrily blew through his nostrils.

That explained the empty basket! No doubt it was exactly what she had done, taken the prisoner food. He was not about to have Kobe probe into this mystery before he himself knew what was going on, and said, “Look, Superintendent, I cannot at the moment explain why this mysterious woman should have come to my house, and I shall certainly try to find out what is going on. But under the present circumstances, I must ask you not to trouble my family. If you agree, I shall come to you as soon as I have information. Tomorrow morning, early. For the present, I can only repeat that I knew nothing of this.”

Kobe frowned and was about to make some comment. Akitada added quickly, “I do, however, have some information I discovered on another visit to the Eastern Mountain Temple. Only my family’s arrival and my mother’s death have intervened.”

Kobe looked interested. “Oh? Well, what is it?”

Akitada outlined his visit to the temple and his conversations with the gatekeeper Eikan and the novice Ancho. He explained the mechanism of the lock and his theory that the murder could have been committed by someone other than the prisoner.

Kobe sat frowning as he digested the information. When Akitada finished, he pointed out that this discovery did not clear Kojiro. Still Akitada’s reasonable and cooperative manner had not only calmed the stormy waters, but given Kobe something to think about. He even looked slightly ashamed of himself when he said, “It is unfortunate that the death of your mother has intervened. I am pressed for time, or I would not insist on your looking into the other matter right away. Shall I expect you tomorrow morning, then, at the hour of the snake? I’ll be at the eastern prison.” Kobe rose.

Akitada stood also. They bowed formally to each other, and the superintendent left, closing the door almost gently after himself.

Now that his fear for Yoshiko’s safety had been allayed, Akitada could not remember when he had last felt so angry with anyone. How could she have done this to him? He tried to control his fury before going to his sister’s room, but the memory of Kobe’s charges and the thought of what lay ahead the next day upset him anew. He would have it out with her now.

He entered Yoshiko’s room without knocking. The two women sat huddled together, Yoshiko weeping softly and Tamako with her arm around his sister’s shoulders. They both looked up at him, Tamako clearly put out by his sudden unannounced arrival.

Akitada ignored the unspoken reproach and said to Yoshiko, “I just had a most unpleasant visit from the superintendent of police.”

Yoshiko gasped and turned white.

“It appears,” Akitada continued, “that you have been paying regular visits to a prisoner who is about to come to trial. Superintendent Kobe assumes that I arranged these visits in order to communicate with the man after being warned away from him. He intends to file an official complaint.”

The two women cried out together, protesting vehemently. Akitada raised his hand and snapped, “One at a time.” He glared at Tamako. “And I believe I was speaking to Yoshiko.”

Tamako flushed and bowed stiffly. Yoshiko rose and came forward, kneeling before him, her head bowed.

“I beg your pardon for having offended you, Elder Brother,” she said, her voice catching. “I acted most selfishly and foolishly and I have brought shame and embarrassment upon my elder brother and this family. Whatever amends I can make, I shall gladly perform. My rash behavior has already brought grievous pain to Kojiro—” She broke off and fought for composure. After a moment, during which Akitada ignored a pleading gesture from Tamako, she continued, “When you told me that Kojiro had been arrested for murder, I had to go to him. Kojiro and I... we were once very close ... many years ago.” She hesitated to glance quickly up at Akitada’s face. “He is the man who wished to marry me. I know I should have asked your permission before going, but I was afraid you would not give it. And I could not ask Mother.” She dabbed at her tear-stained face.

It was worse than he had feared. “You are quite right,” he snapped. “I would certainly not have allowed a sister of mine to masquerade as a common slattern carrying food to her criminal husband. I assume, of course, that no marriage has taken place between you and this man, formal or otherwise?”

“Of course not.” Yoshiko flushed and raised her head proudly. “Both Kojiro and I have behaved with the utmost propriety. He wished to marry me. I accepted, and he immediately spoke to Mother, who refused his offer with many cruel remarks. We never saw each other again until now.”

Akitada found her calm admission infuriating. “Your behavior, then as now, was reprehensible,” he said coldly. “He is the brother of a local merchant, a mere farmer himself, and certainly not a suitable acquaintance, let alone husband, for a daughter of the Sugawaras. You had no right to accept an offer of marriage, or to encourage it.”

Yoshiko was looking down at her hands. She was quite calm and firm. “You were away at the time and you never met Kojiro. It is not well to judge a man one does not know. Master Confucius teaches us to be kind to everyone and to seek out the good in men. Kojiro is a good man.”

At first Akitada thought he had misheard. Yoshiko had never spoken this way to him, or anyone, before. Had she really dared reprimand him? After her behavior? After all the trouble she had caused? He felt his anger begin to boil over and clenched his hands together behind his back to keep from striking her. Through his teeth, he said, “I have no wish to discuss your shameful past with this man any further. I barely prevented your arrest tonight. Unless I can convince Kobe of your innocence tomorrow morning, you will find yourself in a cell—in the same jail as your lover. And you, too, will be stripped of your clothes, in front of male prison guards, and beaten with bamboo rods until your back is lacerated from shoulders to buttocks or until you confess to having plotted with me to get Kojiro’s charges dismissed. You will be asked about the lies I told you to suggest to Kojiro, and after a while you will tell them what they want to hear.”

Both Tamako and Yoshiko stared at him in horror.

“No,” cried Yoshiko. “I would never say what isn’t true. I would die first.”

Tamako said, “They would not dare lay a hand on your sister.”

“Don’t be a fool!” Akitada stormed at her. Then he looked from one to the other. They were well-brought-up young women, belonging to the “good people,” their skin white and soft because they did not have to work for their food, their hair long and glossy because they had leisure to brush it. What did either of them know of the extremities of existence? He said harshly, “You know nothing of such things, but I do. As part of my duties I have had to witness such interrogations, and once or twice in my life I myself have come to know what it is like to go beyond caring about anything but the unbearable agony.”

Tamako paled and bowed her head. “Forgive me, Akitada,” she murmured.

But Yoshiko’s stubborn chin was raised. “I am as certain as I can be that you did not dishonor your name on those occasions,” she said, her eyes flashing. “But I, too, am Sugawara and, I tell you, I should rather die than submit.”

“Keep in mind that your lover will undergo the same treatment as you. Will he also be willing to die to protect your family?”

“Yes. Kojiro has already suffered through one interrogation without telling them about me,” Yoshiko said proudly. “It was because of me that he was beaten today. His guard told me when I got to the prison.”

“That was the reason Yoshiko was so distraught when she came home,” said Tamako.

“You were followed,” Akitada informed his sister.

Yoshiko nodded. “Yes. I am very sorry to have caused you trouble, Akitada,” she said. “And I am even more sorry for Kojiro. He has suffered for my sake. But I am not sorry that I love him. Once he is cleared of the murder charge, we shall be married.”

“What?” Akitada ran his hands through his hair in frustration. Was there no way he could assert his authority in his own family? First the trouble with Akiko, and now Yoshiko, too! It must be their mother’s blood which made them so unmanageable, so bent on causing mischief. He shouted, “You will do nothing of the sort. I forbid it! He is not a suitable husband for a sister of mine.”

Yoshiko was quite pale now, but her chin was still up and she looked him straight in the eyes. “I am only your half sister. You owe me nothing. Having brought disgrace upon you, it will be best if I leave this house. I shall go to my sister. Toshikage will speak to Superintendent Kobe to explain to him that you knew nothing about my relationship with Kojiro. Then, if the superintendent wishes to arrest me, at least he will not need to come to your house to do so.”

Their eyes locked. The pain of her rejection twisted like a knife deep in his stomach. Belatedly appalled at his treatment of her, he stammered, “You cannot do that... why Akiko?... or Toshikage? What can they do for you that I cannot do? Have I not always stood by you? By both of you? Why are you doing this to me, Yoshiko?”

Yoshiko’s eyes faltered. She murmured, “I am sorry, Akitada, but I have given my word to Kojiro and I cannot break it.”

Seimei’s phrase! Everyone in his family seemed eager to pledge allegiance to others! Who would desert him next? Staring bleakly down at his sister, Akitada shook his head, turned on his heel, and left the room.

* * * *

He did not share his wife’s bed that night but spent restless, guilt-ridden hours in his father’s room, trying to find answers to his family troubles. Tamako came once, perhaps in an effort to make peace, but he said, “Not now. I must think what to do.” She inclined her head and left silently, returning much later with his bedding, which she spread for him without a word. He felt intensely lonely after she had left again.

Sometime during the night it began to snow. When the shadows of the room began to close in on him, Akitada threw back the shutters onto a pitch-black night. It was cold, but there was little wind now. The light from his lamp caught the large flakes as they fell slowly, drifting a little on unseen air currents, spinning in circles before floating gently to the ground. Shimmering like moving stars, they seemed to arrive from a void beyond, materializing only within the reach of his study light. The nearer shrubs and trees showed dimly with faint white highlights, but the gravel and the veranda boards were solid sparkling silver. Only the surface of the fishpond lay like a black mirror reflecting a black universe beyond.

Akitada stood for a long time, watching the mysterious arrival of the snow, before he closed the shutters and returned to his bed.

When he woke the next morning, the blackness outside had changed to a uniform gray. The snow had stopped, but heavy low clouds seemed to brush the stark treetops, and the light was so faint that the snow on the ground and on the roof of his house looked dull like unbleached silk.

Akitada dressed quickly in a dark robe, his court hat with the taboo pendant, leggings, and boots. Seimei knocked and entered with a bow and murmured a greeting, bringing a dish of rice gruel and a pot of hot water for tea. He asked for instructions for the day.