The Shogun's Daughter by Laura Joh Rowland

disgusting to her. And every time she looked up at me sitting by her bed, she saw what she would look like if she survived. Which she didn’t. Isn’t that funny?”
    Reiko thought it more suspicious than coincidental. “Do you know of anyone who had smallpox shortly before Tsuruhime took ill?”
    “No.”
    “Did you see a stained sheet among Tsuruhime’s things?”
    “Stained with what?”
    “Pus and blood, from someone else’s smallpox sores.”
    “Why? Was there one?”
    Reiko analyzed Namiji’s puzzled, innocent manner. She couldn’t tell if it was genuine. Although Namiji had talked freely to her own detriment, she might be better at concealing knowledge than she seemed. “You tell me.”
    “I don’t know anything to tell you. Is that how she got smallpox, from someone else’s infected sheet?”
    “Suppose it is,” Reiko said. “You hated her. You’re obviously pleased by her death. Did you put the sheet in with her things?”
    “I couldn’t have.” Namiji spoke as if the accusation were stupid as well as unjust. “I told you, Tsuruhime didn’t allow me in her quarters until she took ill and she didn’t have a choice.”
    “Then who could have done it? Lord Tsunanori?”
    “Not him,” Namiji declared.
    “Then why did he interfere with my husband’s inquiries?”
    Namiji ignored the question. “If I tell you who might have done it, will you let me go?”
    Reiko was taken aback to learn that while she’d been trying to coax Namiji into incriminating herself, the nurse had been hiding a card with which to bargain for her freedom—the identity of a new suspect. Namiji had figured out that this was a murder investigation when Sano had started asking questions at Lord Tsunanori’s estate. But maybe she’d known beforehand that Tsuruhime had been murdered, and she’d squirreled away a tidbit of information in case she fell under suspicion and needed to protect herself.
    “Who might have done it?” Reiko asked.
    “Will you let me go after I tell you?”
    “How do I know whether this person really could have infected Tsuruhime or if you’re going to feed me a lie to divert my suspicion from you?”
    Namiji chuckled. “You don’t.”
    Although she distrusted Namiji and was vexed by her insolence, Reiko needed any clue she could get. “All right. But you’d better convince me that your information is good. If I think you’re just pointing the finger at someone you don’t like, then I’ll tell my husband that I think you killed Tsuruhime. He’ll send you to trial for murder.”
    Everyone knew that virtually all trials ended with guilty verdicts and the punishment for murder was death by decapitation.
    “Oh, it’s good,” Namiji said confidently. “Eight days before Tsuruhime took ill, she had a visitor. I saw him. It was the shogun’s new son.”
    Surprise jolted Reiko. The child inside her rolled. This was the first clue that connected Yoshisato—and Yanagisawa—with Tsuruhime. Hiding her excitement, Reiko said, “Go on.”
    “Yoshisato came to the estate. Tsuruhime received him in her chambers. She didn’t ordinarily let men in there, but he was her half brother. He brought her a fancy chest full of presents. They were together for almost an hour. Alone.” Namiji put a gloved finger to her temple, as if an idea had just occurred to her. “I wonder if there was a stained sheet inside that chest. And if he sneaked it in with her things while she wasn’t looking.”
    Reiko couldn’t wait to tell Sano what she’d heard. But he would want to check Namiji’s story. “Can anyone vouch for what you’ve just told me?”
    “Tsuruhime’s servants and ladies-in-waiting. They saw him, too. Can I go now?”
    Honor-bound to keep her part of the bargain, Reiko told the guards, “Take her back to Lord Tsunanori’s estate.”
    “In case you’re thinking of bringing me back for another chat—” Namiji leaned close to Reiko, whipped her scarf away from her mouth, and coughed in