White Serpent Castle by Lensey Namioka Page B

men could have used it as an excuse for breaking into this very room!” During the heated exchange, Matsuzo noticed that Zenta was staring fixedly at a spot near the envoy’s body. When Zenta felt himself observed, he hastily turned his head away. But Matsuzo had already seen what he was staring at. It was the heel half of a bloody footprint. The front half had been obliterated by the spreading pool of blood.
    Saemon, whose eyes missed nothing, followed Matsuzo’s glance and saw the print also. “Here is something strange!” he exclaimed and pointed. Everyone turned to stare at the print.
    Saemon glanced around and examined the feet of every person in the room. None of them were stained with blood. “This print was not made by one of us in the last few minutes. The murderer must have made it after he stabbed my master.”
    After inspecting the footprint carefully, he continued, “The outline is quite clear, and this means that there was a lot of blood on the foot. The question is, how did the murderer get out of the room without leaving another bloody footprint?”
    There was a silence which lasted for some minutes as people entertained visions of the murderer making a giant leap or flying through the air.
    â€œWhat about the hole that leads to the crawl space under the floor?” asked one of the envoy’s men. “Perhaps he escaped through that.”
    â€œNo, it’s too far away,” answered Saemon. “When we first arrived, I checked the location of the emergency exit in every room of our suite. The one for this room is in that corner over there. The murderer would have had to jump halfway across the room. You men in the antechamber would have felt the thump as he landed.”
    Some of the men considered the wooden beams in the ceiling. A very tall man possessing strong arms might be able to jump and grasp one of the beams, but they did not offer a good hold for bare hands, and he would have to let go before proceeding very far.
    The most teasing problem was the reason why. Why should the murderer go to the trouble of keeping his feet off the floor?
    Suddenly Jihei pointed at Zenta. “This is another one of your tricks,” he snarled. “There has been nothing but confusion in this castle from the moment you arrived. I don’t know what your plans are, but I fully intend to find out!”
    â€œI was suspicious of him as soon as I saw him this afternoon,” said the chamberlain. He ran his tongue over his lips and smiled eagerly. “We have ingenious ways of getting answers to our questions.”
    â€œWait! I can’t allow you to do this,” cried Saemon. He seemed even more alarmed than the prisoners themselves at the prospect of their being tortured for information.
    â€œThis ronin obviously knows more than he is telling,” said Jihei roughly. “The daimyo will not object if we present him with a nice confession already signed.”
    â€œI believe that’s tampering with the suspects,” commented Zenta.
    â€œSince it’s a question of my master’s murder, my men and I should have custody of the prisoners,” insisted Saemon.
    â€œAnd since it’s a question of the safety of the castle, I propose to take them into custody,” retorted Jihei. “I cannot let these criminals have the chance to commit another murder!”
    â€œThis is outrageous!” cried Saemon. “Are you implying that the castle is not safe with all forty of us guarding these two unarmed men?” “We know that these men are exceptionally cunning,” said Jihei. “It would be only sensible to let our men keep them safe until the time comes to send them to the daimyo.”
    â€œDo you mean that my men are unable to guard them safely,” demanded Saemon, “or that we might deliberately allow the suspected murderer of our master to escape?”
    Jihei was becoming very angry also. “I am