both would have been dead long ago. Yanagisawa loved his son all the more because of the trust Yoritomo placed in him, because Yoritomo wasn’t bitter, because Yoritomo loved him despite the humiliation Yoritomo had to endure. Yanagisawa wanted to tell Yoritomo how he felt, but he couldn’t. Fathers and sons didn’t speak of such things. Fathers used their sons as they thought right. Sons owed their fathers complete obedience.
Yanagisawa settled for saying, “You’ve done well.”
Yoritomo beamed with delight at the praise, then noticed the chart on the desk. “Is something wrong?” he asked, ever sensitive to Yanagisawa’s moods.
Yanagisawa rolled up the scroll. “No.” He didn’t want Yoritomo to worry or lose faith in him. “I was just counting up our allies. We have plenty.”
“We should have even more, after today. That was brilliant, what you did to Sano. You threw him right into the middle of the forty-seven r ō nin business, after he thought he was safe. You also thought of just the right punishment for him in the event that he fails. His wife and children are his weakness. He’s sure to lose them, because nobody knows what the right verdict is. However it comes out, it will seem wrong.” Yoritomo’s eyes shone with admiration.
The praise brought Yanagisawa a warm flush of pleasure. A lot of people praised him, but they were just currying favor. Yoritomo was the only one who was sincere. “With luck, the forty-seven r ō nin should be the end of Sano. All we need to do is let matters run their course.”
Apprehension clouded Yoritomo’s face. “Sano is the one who’s been lucky in the past. You’ve been trying to get rid of him for fourteen years, and he’s still here.” His brow darkened with the memory of the evils that Sano had done to him. “And he usually ends up beating us.”
Yanagisawa was painfully aware of that, but he said, “Never fear. If things go too well for Sano, I can change that.”
10
THE NEXT MORNING Sano and his troops retraced their path along the southern highway. The weather was even colder than yesterday. The men’s faces were muffled up to their eyeballs in scarves; the horses wore quilted caparisons. Clouds lurked around the edges of a blue sky that seemed paled by a scrim of ice between heaven and earth. The sun was a blinding white crystal that gave off no warmth. The thin top layer of the snow that had melted yesterday had refrozen into a crust that the horses’ hooves broke with loud, jagged sounds. Sano raised his voice above the noise while he told Hirata and Detectives Marume and Fukida about the r ō nin ’s mistress.
“Do you think Oishi meant that Kira’s murder wasn’t a simple revenge?” Fukida asked.
“Could he and his comrades have had some other motive?” Marume asked.
“Those questions have been on my mind since Reiko told me Okaru’s story,” Sano said. “I hope we’ll find some answers this morning. The supreme court will convene this afternoon, and I’d like to bring the judges some evidence to review.”
He noticed that Hirata wasn’t listening to the conversation. Hirata seemed distracted, perhaps because last night Sano had told him about the shogun’s threat. Hirata must be worried about what it meant for him. Hirata’s eyes darted; he stole glances over his shoulder. Sano knew about the mysterious man who’d been stalking Hirata, and observed that Hirata seemed even more vigilantly on the lookout than usual.
They reached the Hosokawa estate. Dismounting, Sano glanced around the barracks. As he approached the gate, he saw Hirata pause by the bushes outside the wall. Then Hirata joined Sano at the guardhouse.
Two sentries stepped out. Sano said, “We want to see the prisoners.”
The sentries summoned a servant, who led Sano, Hirata, and the detectives into the barracks. These had the same form as those in every samurai estate—buildings divided into sparsely furnished rooms where the
Yanagisawa settled for saying, “You’ve done well.”
Yoritomo beamed with delight at the praise, then noticed the chart on the desk. “Is something wrong?” he asked, ever sensitive to Yanagisawa’s moods.
Yanagisawa rolled up the scroll. “No.” He didn’t want Yoritomo to worry or lose faith in him. “I was just counting up our allies. We have plenty.”
“We should have even more, after today. That was brilliant, what you did to Sano. You threw him right into the middle of the forty-seven r ō nin business, after he thought he was safe. You also thought of just the right punishment for him in the event that he fails. His wife and children are his weakness. He’s sure to lose them, because nobody knows what the right verdict is. However it comes out, it will seem wrong.” Yoritomo’s eyes shone with admiration.
The praise brought Yanagisawa a warm flush of pleasure. A lot of people praised him, but they were just currying favor. Yoritomo was the only one who was sincere. “With luck, the forty-seven r ō nin should be the end of Sano. All we need to do is let matters run their course.”
Apprehension clouded Yoritomo’s face. “Sano is the one who’s been lucky in the past. You’ve been trying to get rid of him for fourteen years, and he’s still here.” His brow darkened with the memory of the evils that Sano had done to him. “And he usually ends up beating us.”
Yanagisawa was painfully aware of that, but he said, “Never fear. If things go too well for Sano, I can change that.”
10
THE NEXT MORNING Sano and his troops retraced their path along the southern highway. The weather was even colder than yesterday. The men’s faces were muffled up to their eyeballs in scarves; the horses wore quilted caparisons. Clouds lurked around the edges of a blue sky that seemed paled by a scrim of ice between heaven and earth. The sun was a blinding white crystal that gave off no warmth. The thin top layer of the snow that had melted yesterday had refrozen into a crust that the horses’ hooves broke with loud, jagged sounds. Sano raised his voice above the noise while he told Hirata and Detectives Marume and Fukida about the r ō nin ’s mistress.
“Do you think Oishi meant that Kira’s murder wasn’t a simple revenge?” Fukida asked.
“Could he and his comrades have had some other motive?” Marume asked.
“Those questions have been on my mind since Reiko told me Okaru’s story,” Sano said. “I hope we’ll find some answers this morning. The supreme court will convene this afternoon, and I’d like to bring the judges some evidence to review.”
He noticed that Hirata wasn’t listening to the conversation. Hirata seemed distracted, perhaps because last night Sano had told him about the shogun’s threat. Hirata must be worried about what it meant for him. Hirata’s eyes darted; he stole glances over his shoulder. Sano knew about the mysterious man who’d been stalking Hirata, and observed that Hirata seemed even more vigilantly on the lookout than usual.
They reached the Hosokawa estate. Dismounting, Sano glanced around the barracks. As he approached the gate, he saw Hirata pause by the bushes outside the wall. Then Hirata joined Sano at the guardhouse.
Two sentries stepped out. Sano said, “We want to see the prisoners.”
The sentries summoned a servant, who led Sano, Hirata, and the detectives into the barracks. These had the same form as those in every samurai estate—buildings divided into sparsely furnished rooms where the
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