Red Chrysanthemum by Laura Joh Rowland Page A

apply to any other murder suspect. Dismay filled him; yet the habits formed during years of detective work were hard to quit. Sano paced around the room, looking anxiously for clues to confirm Reiko’s story. He opened the cabinets and found nothing but clothes and Lord Mori’s other personal items. When he found the spy-hole she’d cut in the windowpane, he felt relieved, and guilty for distrusting Reiko. But it didn’t prove that Lord Mori had done the things she said. It wasn’t nearly enough evidence to prove Reiko innocent.
    “What investigation has been done?” Sano asked.
    “I’ve sent men to search the estate,” Hirata said.
    “Any results yet?”
    Hirata shook his head.
    “Well, here are some things I want them to search for.” Sano described the chrysanthemum screen, flowers, and mural. He looked at the bed. If anyone had been killed on it besides Lord Mori, it was impossible to tell, and the blood obliterated any signs that sex had taken place. “Also the body of a dead boy about nine years old, and another boy, either alive or dead, aged five years, named Jiro.”
    “What?” Hirata beheld Sano with surprise, as did the other men.
    Sano told them Reiko’s tale. He also told them what Akera had said that disputed it. “Finding the dead boy would help prove that things happened the way my wife claims. Finding Jiro would lend credence to her story that she came here to look for him-not kill Lord Mori.”
    “All right. I’ll have my men look.” Hirata exchanged an uneasy glance with Inoue and Arai.
    “What’s the matter?” Sano said.
    “I was just going to tell you mat I’ve begun questioning the residents of the estate,” Hirata said. “I’ve found a possible witness to the crime.”
    “Who is it?”
    “Lord Mori’s wife.”
    The woman Reiko had befriended. “What did she say?”
    “You’d better hear for yourself.” Hirata paused. “I must warn you that you’re not going to like it.”
    Sano found Lady Mori in her chamber in the women’s quarters of the mansion. She sat surrounded by five ladies-in-waiting and a gray-haired maid, who inched closer to her in protective unison when Sano entered with Hirata. She seemed an ordinary older woman with a dumpy figure, neatly groomed in her plain, beige silk kimono. But her eyes were red and her face bloated from weeping. Grief blurred the gaze she turned toward Sano.
    He knelt before her and introduced himself, while Hirata waited at the door. The room was small, crowded with women, elaborate lacquer furniture, brocade cushions, a mirror, and dressing table. It was also too hot from the charcoal braziers that burned despite the muggy summer warmth. The atmosphere smelled of perfumed oils.
    “Please accept my condolences on the death of your husband,” Sano said.
    “Many thanks. They are most appreciated,” Lady Mori said in a gentle voice thick with tears.
    “I’ve been told that you have information about Lord Mori’s murder,” Sano said. “Is that correct?”
    “Yes, Honorable Chamberlain.” She cast her eyes downward and wiped them on her sleeve.
    Sano didn’t like to bother a widow in the raw early stage of mourning, but he couldn’t afford to delay hearing Lady Mori’s testimony, especially if it could hurt Reiko. “Please tell me what it is.”
    “Honorable Chamberlain…” Lady Mori glanced at him from beneath her swollen red eyelids. “Forgive me if it pains you, but… I am sorry to say…” Her voice dropped to a murmur. “Your wife killed my husband.”
    The last thing Sano needed was someone else claiming Reiko was guilty. Hirata flashed him a glance that said,
I warned you.
Anger undermined Sano’s sympathy for Lady Mori. “How do you know?” he demanded. “Did you actually see Lady Reiko stab him and castrate him?”
    Lady Mori flinched at his blunt, crude words. “No. But I am sure she did it.”
    “How can you be, when you didn’t see her?” Sano heard his voice grow harsher with his outrage at