Текст книги "Death on an Autumn River "

Автор книги: Ingrid J. Parker

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 5 (всего у книги 19 страниц)

Akitada reached into his sash and froze.

 “What’s the matter, sir?”

There was no amulet in Akitada’s sash.  He realized what had happened.  He must have thrown it in the dirt along with his money when the two ruffians confronted him in the blind alley.  He got up.  “I would like to but seem to have misplaced it.  You must forgive me.  My clerk has gone missing, and I’m worried.  I promise, I’ll look for the amulet and think about your story.”

Otomo rose immediately and bowed deeply.  “Thank you.  I thought I should speak to you and offer an explanation for the poor girl’s death.  Please pardon my arrival at such an inconvenient moment.”

“Not at all,” said Akitada as they walked out together.  When they reached the entrance doors, he paused.  “Do you think there could be an organization smuggling in foreign women?”

“I hope not, sir, but I admit I have wondered about the same thing.”

Perhaps the pirates engaged not only in robbery and murder on the high seas but also had a lucrative side business dealing in human beings.  His encounter in the blind alley in Kawajiri and young Sadenari’s fate took on a more ominous significance.

Chapter Eight

The Hostel of the Flying Cranes

Akitada’s first thought had been to rush back to the place where he had been attacked to look for the amulet and his few gold and silver pieces.  A foolish notion and proof that events had addled his usual common sense.  Not only was it night and he did not know the way, but his very sore arm was a reminder that he had barely escaped from that neighborhood with his life.  Besides, Sadenari was still gone, and that was beginning to weigh heavily on his conscience.  The boy must be found before anything else.

Otomo’s idea that someone had been kidnapping Korean girls for prostitution he put away for the time being.  Still, if his story was indeed true, it would have to be followed up.  Quite apart from the sheer viciousness of such crimes, they could lead to serious problems with a neighboring nation they were mercifully at peace with at the moment.

He felt suddenly exhausted.  Nothing else could be done this day.  He went to his room without meeting anyone.  There, he took off his outer clothes, unrolled the bedding, and fell asleep the moment he lay down.

Early the next morning he was on his way to Nakahara’s office when he saw the prefect coming across the courtyard.  Apparently Munata had been alerted by Nakahara, or more likely by the efficient Tameaki.

Munata looked flushed, perhaps from his dash across the road.  He sounded breathless as he bowed to Akitada.  “I just heard.  Can it be true, sir?  You were hurt?  This is outrageous.  I assure you the culprits will be found and punished severely.”

Akitada’s arm and shoulder felt much better this morning, and he had washed the blood from his face and found only scratches underneath. “Thank you.  I only have s few scrapes, as it happens.  Someone distracted the villains, and I made my escape.  Come inside.  We must put our heads together and decide how to find my clerk.”

Nakahara and Yuki were having an argument.  Nakahara waved his finger in front of Yuki’s face, and Yuki looked stubborn.  He said, “You should have warned me, Morito.  How was I to know that they’d send someone important to catch us out?”

Nakahara caught sight of them.  “Shshhh!” he hissed at Yuki and rearranged his face into a smile.  “Ah, Munata.  Very good of you to come so quickly.  I suppose, Lord Sugawara told you what happened?”

“Not in so many words,” said Munata, glancing at Akitada.  “I hoped that he would fill me in on the details.  Your clerk said that I was to call out the guard and send for Lieutenant Saeki and his men.  Do I understand that His Lordship had an unpleasant encounter with hoodlums in Kawajiri and has misplaced his young companion?”

Akitada thought he detected a sneer and nearly growled.  Gritting his teeth, he said, “Two ruffians attacked me with long knives, and there’s a good chance that the same thing happened to Sadenari.  He’s a mere youngster and has been gone for a day and a night.”

Munata stared at him.  “I see.  Yes.  How shocking . . . if true.  I had no idea matters were so serious.  Allow me to apologize for the prefecture.  I shall look into it immediately.”  He made a motion toward the door, but Akitada lost his temper and grabbed his sleeve.

“Not so fast, Munata.  You’ll do more than ‘look into it’, as you put it.  Sit down.  There is also the matter of treason.”

Munata gaped at him.  “Treason?”  Akitada glared back.  The prefect went to sit down.

Akitada sat down himself.  “Nakahara will confirm that my real assignment here involved the recent pirate activity.  It appears that someone has been passing confidential information to these pirates.”

“I find it hard to believe . . .”

Akitada cut in curtly, “I don’t care what you believe, Prefect.  You will take your orders from me and stop arguing.”

Munata drew himself up.  “I take my orders from the governor,” he said stiffly.

“Where is Oga anyway?” demanded Akitada, pointedly skipping the honorifics.  Munata needed a reminder that Akitada’s standing in this instance was equivalent to Oga’s.  He was here under direct orders from the Minister of the Right. Besides the Sugawara name was older and more respected than the governor’s. “I understood that he was staying with you.  Surely Nakahara’s clerk included him in the call for a meeting.”

“My home is on the outskirts of Naniwa,” said Munata.  “I dispatched a messenger.  Frankly, I hope this won’t make him angry.”

Akitada swallowed his disgust. “You will go to Kawajiri with soldiers to organize the local police there.  Take however many people you have at your command.  I want a ship-by-ship and house-by-house search made for my clerk.  No ships or boats are to leave, and traffic on the roads must be inspected.  I also want an armed escort to accompany me to the place where I was attacked.  I plan to have a look at this Hostel of the Flying Cranes.”

Munata shot Nakahara a look, then got up with a bow, and left the room.  Akitada looked after him.  The prefect’s opposition was troubling.

The door closed, and silence fell.

After a moment, Akitada turned back to Nakahara. “Why is Munata so hostile?”

Nakahara shifted nervously.  Perhaps he recalled his own flare-up the night before.  “Munata is a strange man,” he said.  “He’s perfectly agreeable until his ability is questioned.  I think he feels strongly that you are doing so now.”

Such behavior by a lower-grade official would not be tolerated in the capital, but Akitada was not in the capital and in a place like Naniwa different rules might apply.  That, of course, made his work harder.  If he could not make people like Munata and Nakahara obey him, he would hardly do so with the governor, a man of rank, privilege, and power.

“What exactly is Munata’s relationship to the governor?” he asked.

“His is the most important district of the state. Governor Oga appointed him, and he is loyal to the governor.  The Munatas have also been overseers of the Oga estates here.  That’s why the governor stays at Munata’s country residence whenever he is here.”

This threw an interesting light on the division of power and the bonds of personal relationships.  Akitada was becoming very curious about both men.  “And you?  How do you feel about them?  I know they were your guests last night, but I assumed they were invited as a courtesy to me and to the governor.  Perhaps you, too, have closer ties?”

Nakahara flushed.  “You have an extraordinary way of accusing me of impropriety.  Apparently you think that I’ve been plotting against my emperor, stealing government property, and aiding the pirates.  Frankly, I resent your manner, sir.  You’re an official visitor, carrying powers from the Minister of the Right, so I cannot very well bid you be gone, but if you find Munata’s manners wanting, what should I say about yours?”  The director bristled with belligerence.  It almost seemed as if each of his sparse hairs were trying to stand up.  Akitada was tempted to laugh, but of course that would have made matters even worse, and he was in fact Nakahara’s guest.  Besides, perhaps he should have controlled his temper better with both officials.

He sighed and said, “Calm down.  Put yourself in my position.  I was sent here to find out who is behind the pirate attacks.  Within a day, my clerk disappears, and I’m lured into the slums of Kawajiri to be assassinated.  It seems to me I’m no longer dealing with a minor leak of information, but with a conspiracy which may include everyone who has any power in this state.  And you have been sitting at the very center of this web, pretending not to know what is going on.  How can I possibly trust you, or believe anything you tell me?”

Nakahara did not answer.  He had turned his head away.

Akitada got up with a grunt of impatience.  “I have to go now to find the foolish young man who thought he could solve this case on his own.  May your conscience forgive you if I find him dead.”

*

When he stepped from the boat in Kawajiri harbor, a contingent of police in their red coats was assembling.  In the brilliant sunlight reflected by the sea, they appeared to be bathed in blood.  Akitada pictured the torn corpse of young Sadenari and shuddered.

The commander, a grey-haired Lieutenant Saeki, who looked like an ex-military man, was mounted, and a second horse was waiting.

Akitada introduced himself, and swung himself into the saddle.  They set off at a moderate trot, the policemen jogging along behind them.  Apparently the lieutenant had been given instructions.  He led the way to the dead end of the alleyway where Akitada had encountered the two thugs.

There was no sign that the fight had taken place.  The dirt was scuffed about, and his coins and the amulet were gone.  There were also no blood stains or bodies.  Someone had cleaned up, and if there had been corpses or wounded men here, they had been moved.  He would have liked proof of the attack, but then he would be hard pressed to explain how he had wounded or killed two armed men without a weapon of his own.

Akitada did not like losing his money, but he had additional funds in his baggage and could send for more.  What troubled him more was the loss of the amulet.  It felt as if another veil had been drawn across the death of the young Korean girl.  He said nothing about all this to the police, however.

On the command of Lieutenant Saeki, the men spread out and searched.  They found nothing that pointed to the attackers, but it appeared that a narrow footpath wound through the shrubbery to a breach in the wall where the plaster and mud had crumbled, leaving a mound of rubble and easy passage to the back of the Hostel of the Flying Cranes.

“So,” said the lieutenant, “the criminals came from there.  Not surprising.  Let’s take a look.”

They left the horses with one of the constables and climbed over the pile of rubble.  On the other side, they found a storage shed in the back of the hostel.  Given the long and imposing roofline of the building, the lower level looked pathetic.  The boards were rotting away in places, and doorways and windows were covered with torn and dirty fabric.  Part of the shed was a makeshift kitchen.  A nasty stench came from barrels of refuse.

Lieutenant Saeki gave orders for some of his men to station themselves at the doors and windows.  Then he and Akitada, accompanied by four of his burliest constables, walked around the corner to the front door.

This stood invitingly open, and they marched in, the police in front and Akitada trailing behind.

The interior was primitive and simple.  The ground floor was earth, long since compacted and turned a shiny black from many feet, bare or sandaled.  Huge timbers rose from the floor to support the roof.  Here and there, a second level had been made by linking crossbeams and covering them with boards.  Simple ladders reached up to those sleeping lofts.  Below, there were few room dividers.  Most spaces were open and served many guests.  Dirty covers lay rolled up against walls or were stacked up in convenient piles along with headrests.  A few simple sea chests probably held the belongings of current guests.  The smell of dirt, sweat, and unwashed bodies lingered.  In one corner, a man snored rhythmically.

  From the back came the sound of voices, the clacking dice, and clinking of coins.  Gambling was illegal, and the policemen smiled with anticipation.  Grasping their clubs and metal prongs more firmly, they advanced silently.

Suddenly there was sharp whistling sound from the corner where the snoring had stopped abruptly.  The policemen cursed and rushed forward.  Akitada turned to look at the sleeper.  He was sitting up, a grin on his bearded face.  He winked at Akitada, who shook his head and hurried after the police.

The constables had gathered in a circle around five middle-aged men who sat on the floor, trying to look innocent.  There was no sign of dice or money anywhere.  The oldest of them, a stoop-shouldered fellow with a ragged gray beard and long hair tied up in a piece of black cloth blustered, “What’s this?  I run a respectable establishment here.”

That raised some appreciative murmurs from his companions and caused one of the constables to kick him in the side.

The lieutenant said, “Up, scum.  Bow to your betters.”

The man turned stubborn.  He took his time getting to his feet, then searched their faces one by one.  “My betters?  I don’t see them,” he said defiantly.  “You’ve got no right, busting in on a private citizen entertaining his friends.”

The constable retracted his foot again, but Akitada said sharply, “Leave him be!”  He stepped closer.  They had had no time to hide their gambling pieces properly.  If the policemen took it into their heads to search them, they could all be arrested.  In that case, they would certainly not part with any information.  He said to the bearded man, “I’m sorry for the interruption, but we’re searching for a young friend of mine.  He was said to have come here earlier today.  I’m very worried, because there is a rumor that someone was murdered behind your hostel.  If any of you men have information to give me, speak up and we’ll be off.”

They looked at each other, suddenly dead serious.

The bearded man cleared his throat. “At least someone has some manners,” he said, making Akitada a small bow.  “I’m Kunimitsu.  I’m in charge here.  This relative of yours, was he a young kid, acting important?”

“That sounds like him.  His name is Sadenari.  He’s a stranger in Naniwa and thinks he can handle himself in any situation.”

Kunimitsu snorted.  “Wet behind his ears like a newborn kitten, if you ask me.  He didn’t think twice about walking in and asking questions.  We get some rough customers here.  As to what happened to him, I can’t say, but he was alive and well when he left here.  I got busy collecting from the crew of the Black Dragon before they rushed off to their ship.  When I remembered him, he’d gone.” He glanced at his companions.  “Any of you see him leave?”

They shook their heads in unison.  Akitada decided that they were neighbors rather than guests of the hostel.  They had the look of small tradesmen and were probably fairly honest.  None seemed the type to take violent action, but one man was a tall, skinny fellow with sharp features and shifty eyes.

“The Black Dragon?” Akitada asked.

Saeki said, “A large ship from Kyushu.  It arrived two days ago, unloaded its cargo and left again this morning.”

“It has left?”  This was worrisome.  What if Sadenari had been abducted and was now somewhere on the Inland Sea?

Akitada thanked Kunimitsu, adding, “If you should hear anything, will you let me know?  I’m staying in Naniwa.  You can reach me at the foreign trade office.  There’s a piece of gold in it for you.”  Turning to the lieutenant, he said, “Come.  We must look elsewhere.”

Lieutenant Saeki cast a longing look around.  “We should search the place.  He runs a gambling den and is a money lender on the side.  I bet we’d find dice and money.”

This set his constables to grumbling.  No doubt they had hoped to pocket the haul.

Akitada said firmly, “We have no time for that now.  You can make your raid another time.”

He was still afraid that a search might turn up the bodies of his attackers.  The Hostel of the Flying Cranes was a likely shelter for thieves and robbers.  He wanted to explore it a little more without the heavy-handed police along and told Saeki, “Have your men question the people who live on this street if anyone saw Sadenari leave, if he was alone, and which way he was going.”

Lieutenant Saeki rounded up his constables.  No one had tried to leave the hostel by the back way.  He gave his instructions and took them on their house-to-house visits.

Akitada watched them for a while, then went back into the hostel.  As before, the “sleeper” gave his sharp whistle, and as before all the dice had disappeared, and the men sat with Kunimitsu, acting innocent.  It would have been amusing, but Sadenari’s fate was beginning to hang on Akitada like some monstrous burden of guilt.

“Sorry for the interruption,” he said.  “I didn’t want to ask my questions while the police were here in case they started searching the premises.  I didn’t think you would welcome that.  Earlier this day I ran into two robbers on the other side of the wall behind the hostel.  One was tall and muscular, the other slim.  They carried unusually long knives and came from the footpath that passes through your broken wall.  I’m afraid they got hurt in the encounter.  Have you seen any wounded men pass by here?”

They stared at him and looked at each other, then shook their heads.  Kunimitsu said cautiously, “A lot of people take that shortcut.  And people get into fights.”  He paused.  “Was it you who wounded them?”

“Never mind what happened.  Do I take it that you know nothing of these two?”

Kunimitsu frowned.  “As I said, this is a legal establishment.  I don’t allow weapons here.  You’ll have to look elsewhere for your robbers.”

It had been a long shot and Kunimitsu’s answer might or might not be true.  Akitada was almost certain that the man knew the two thugs, though he might not have knowledge of the attack or had a hand in getting them away.  He looked at Kunimitsu’s companions.  All but one looked back at him with blank faces.  The one who was preoccupied with picking a scab on one of his feet, was the small one with the sharp features of a weasel.

Akitada missed Tora more than ever and decided that he would send for him.  Experience had taught him painful lessons about meddling in the affairs of violent men.  The last time he had taken matters into his own hands, he had angered a gang in the capital.  They had buried him alive.

A shout outside made up his mind for him.  With a nod to Kunimitsu, he hurried from the hostel.

Lieutenant Saeki stood in the street, looking around.  When he saw Akitada leave the hostel, he came quickly.

“Thank heaven,” he said, adding sternly, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you, sir.  It’s not safe for you to go about alone.  Especially not after what happened to you earlier.”

The man was right, but the remark chafed.  Akitada hated being thought of as a helpless official.  He snapped, “Never mind that.  Have you found out anything?”

The lieutenant looked offended, but he nodded.  “An old crone in the house at the end of the street claims she saw something.”

Chapter Nine

The Black Dragon

The old one received them, enthroned on a barrel in front of her tiny home.  She was surrounded by a group of women and children, their eyes wide with curiosity.  Dressed in a plain brown cotton dress and barefoot, she had thrown a piece of old quilted bedding around her shoulders and from the distance, the colorful fabric looked a little like the costly, embroidered Chinese jackets worn by highborn ladies at court.  Her long white hair hung loose and added to the aristocratic impression.

She watched them as they walked toward her and maintained a noble reserve when they arrived, but her eyes were quick and bright with interest.

Lieutenant Saeki addressed her. “Tell this gentleman what you told me, auntie.”

She studied Akitada’s tall figure in a leisurely fashion.  He had the odd fancy that she searched for outward signs of depravity in his face, proof of physical weakness in his body, and bad taste in his clothes.  When he cleared his throat, her eyes came back to his face, and she cackled.

He said, “Please, grandmother, if you have any news of the young man I lost, tell me.  He is my responsibility.  I must account for his welfare to his parents.”

She nodded.  “Good!  Parents should take care of their children.  Children should take care of their parents.  The Ancient One teaches this.”  Her voice was high and strident, and she spoke in a singsong rhythm.

He said, “I also admire Master Kung-fu-tse.  I see you are a wise woman.”

She pursed her lips.  “He didn’t have any liking for women, the Ancient One.”

“Possibly his only mistake,” said Akitada politely.

He must have passed the test, for she decided to answer his question. “I sit here most days.  I like to watch the sailor boys come and go.”  She cackled again.  “Such bodies!  Young.  Strong.  Such muscles.  Give me a muscular man any day.  They make the best lovers because they don’t get tired.”

The women around her squealed and giggled.  One of them covered her face and said, “Mother, please don’t say such things.”

The old one opened a toothless mouth and burst into more cackling laughter.  “Stupid girl,” she told her daughter. “You with that weakling of a husband, what do you know?”  She looked Akitada up and down again. “You’re tall for one of the good people.  Do you please your wives in bed?”

Akitada kept a straight face.  He had only one wife, who had ideas of her own on the subject. “As often as I possibly can.”

“Hehehe!”  She slapped her thighs, then got serious again.  “Well, I was sitting here when the boys from the Black Dragon passed by.  Time for them to go home to Kyushu.  I know them all.  We pass comments as they walk by.”  She grinned.  “They like to show off to the women, even old ones like me.  Those thighs and buttocks!”  Her hands made grasping motions and she smacked her lips.  “Sailors use those legs and hindquarters extra hard on a ship.”  She winked at Akitada.  “And elsewhere, too.”

The women covered their mouths and giggled again.

The old woman shot them a glance.  “You know what I mean, don’t you girls? Hehehe.  So long as your husbands are at work, what do they know?”  Her daughter pulled her sleeve and muttered, “Please, Mother!”

Lieutenant Saeki was getting impatient.  “Never mind all that.  Get on with what you saw.”

The old woman glared at him.  “Thighs and buttocks!  That’s what counts in a man,” she said firmly, giving the lieutenant’s a disparaging glance.  But she relented and turned back to Akitada.  “There was a youngster with them.  A city boy, wearing a prissy robe and hat, like you.”  She grinned.  “Couldn’t see his thighs and buttocks, but he was young and tall and eager.  The kind of boy a woman can teach a thing or two.”

It must have been Sadenari.  Akitada asked the lieutenant, “Where is the Black Dragon now?”

“It left hours ago.”

Akitada thanked the old woman, and took Saeki aside.  “We must go after that ship.  I believe my clerk was tricked and is on board.”

Saeki shook his head.  “Can’t be done, sir.  If he’s really on the Black Dragon, and there’s no proof of that, he’s on his way to Kyushu.  You can’t catch that ship.  It’s one of the fastest.  And on its homeward journey, it’ll be even faster.”

Akitada bit his lip.  What if the Black Dragon was run by pirates?  Otherwise, surely they would have brought Sadenari back.  He said, “Perhaps Watamaro could help us.”

Saeki grinned.  “The Black Dragon’s not a pirate ship.  It belongs to Watamaro, sir.”

*

Akitada and the lieutenant stopped at the Kawajiri harbor to ask if a young man of Sadenari’s description had been seen climbing into a boat with some sailors returning to the Black Dragon.  They found no witnesses, perhaps because the ship was already in the channel and on the point of departure.

It was after dark before he reached Naniwa again.  Although he was tired and his arm throbbed again, he went straight to Nakahara’s office.  He almost did not recognize the room.  Someone had removed the disordered piles of confiscated goods, and the space was now large, spare, and businesslike.  All the empty space and the flickering light of candles and oil lamps emphasized the impression that he was walking into a court session.  Governor Oga, Nakahara, and Munata awaited him, seated side by side like judges of the underworld awaiting the souls of wrongdoers.

Oga, his corpulence compressed in a stiff brown brocade robe and his double chins nearly strangled by the collar, sat in the middle and addressed him coldly and without preamble.

  “Finally!  Whatever the details and circumstances of your assignment, sir, it seems to me that it should have been handled differently.  I don’t hold with secretiveness and prevarication.  You should have reported to me when you first arrived here.”

He had a point.  Courtesy as much as proper protocol required that the highest ranking official be apprised of problems immediately.  But Akitada’s instructions had been to speak with Nakahara and investigate the matter quietly.  The trouble was that it had not remained quiet.

Akitada bowed.  “My apologies, Governor.  I arrived here with specific instructions from the Ministry of the Right to check out an internal matter connected with the foreign trade office.  Since that office is separate from the provincial administration and operates directly under the Ministry of the Right, I was not required to notify you.  Things got out of hand when my clerk was abducted and I was attacked while searching for him in Kawajiri.”

Oga huffed rudely.

Akitada ignored this and continued, “I’m afraid the situation has become dangerous.  I thought it best to notify you.  Provincial forces may be needed to arrest and punish the guilty.  It turns out that Sadenari may have been taken away on a ship and must be rescued.  His father is a court official who is much respected.  I think any indifference shown by the province or the prefecture would not sit at all well with his friends or the central government.”

This was an exaggeration.  Sadenari’s family was of very minor importance, but Oga might not know that.  More importantly, Akitada had reminded Oga of his authority in the investigation.

Oga hooted his derision.  “The young fool probably just went off on a little jaunt.  It’s ridiculous to link his going on board a ship with some sort of conspiracy or with pirates.  Ever since the Sumitomo rebellion, certain people have nursed unreasonable fears about a few ambitious fishermen who try to improve their lot by stealing small items from careless skippers.  There have always been cases of piracy on the Inland Sea.  It’s our version of the thieves and robbers in the capital who terrify the courtiers in their very offices.”

It did not help that the comment about the lack of security in the capital was deserved.  Akitada fully agreed with Oga that flagrant crimes committed in the very heart of the government enclosure were a shameful sign of a lack of control.  But a far bigger problem for the emperor and his ministers was the threat of an uprising in the provinces.  That might topple the government and cost thousands of luves.

Munata and Nakahara, their faces were stiff with disapproval, agreed with Oga.  Akitada’s anger and his worry about Sadenari had caused him to speak much too harshly to Nakahara and Munata earlier.  It had got him nothing but stubborn non-cooperation and hostility.  Now the governor had joined their faction.  He felt defeated.

“What is it that you recommend doing, Governor?” he asked after a moment.

“Nothing at all.  The police have done all that needed to be done.  Your clerk has gone on a sea voyage.  The young have an adventurous spirit and get carried away by foolish notions.  My own son . . .”  He stopped himself.  “When your clerk gets tired of his explorations, he’ll return.  And you were careless and tangled with some rough men from the waterfront.  Fortunately, nothing much happened.  As for the notion of someone selling shipping information to the pirates, it seems to me if that were the case, the information would have come from Hakata in Kyushu where the ships originate, and not from here. I propose informing His Gracious Excellency, the Minister of the Right, that we have met, discussed the situation, and found that the reports were mistaken.  No doubt, you will wish to return to your duties in the capital.”

 Akitada struggled to keep his temper.  “You’ll forgive me, Governor,” he said, his voice shaking a little, “but the report is mine to make, and I will certainly not put my name to what you propose.  What is more, if you impede my investigation, I shall make my own report to His Excellency.  I suggest you offer some cooperation instead.  His Excellency specifically required the local administration to do so in his letter to Nakahara.  Perhaps Nakahara would be good enough to show His Excellency’s instructions to you?”

Nakahara gulped and reached into a document box that stood before him.  He handed Oga the minister’s letter.  Akitada was fairly certain that he had shared its content with the other two men already.

Oga barely glanced at it.  “Bah, what is this besides the usual court language on every document?  It means nothing.”

Such disrespect was profoundly shocking.  Akitada looked at Munata and Nakahara to see if he had heard correctly.  Munata’s face was expressionless, but Nakahara squirmed a little and avoided his eyes.

“In that case,” Akitada said coldly, “we have nothing else to discuss.  My thanks for your hospitality, Nakahara, but I shall move to the official hostel for the remainder of my stay.  Someone will come for our things.”  He barely nodded to the others.