Free Red Chrysanthemum by Laura Joh Rowland Page B

“I did!”
    She seemed to believe her own lies. That would make them sound convincing to anyone she told. Sano had to make her recant. “You killed your husband. You framed my wife. Confess!”
    “No! Please don’t hurt me!”
    Anger consumed Sano. He hated Lady Mori for trying to hurt Reiko. He was furious at Reiko for putting him and herself in this disastrous situation. Lady Mori was a convenient target, and he drew back his fist to strike her.
    Hirata caught his arm. “Don’t!”
    Her attendants shrieked. Marume and Fukida pulled Sano away from Lady Mori. She dissolved to the floor in a fit of tears. The women surrounded her, comforting her. Sano shook off his men. He breathed hard, appalled by his own behavior. Less than an hour into this investigation, and he’d lost control. After so many murder cases, he should be able to discipline himself. But his wife hadn’t been the primary suspect in those other cases. He’d not had to prove her innocence while other suspects heaped guilt upon her.
    An angry male voice demanded, “What have you done to my mother?”
    Sano turned and saw a samurai at the door. He was tall and lithe, in his mid-twenties, dressed in a cloak damp with rain, his two swords at his waist. His face was strikingly handsome, with sensitive features shadowed by consternation. Lady Mori rose, ran to him, and wept against his chest. He focused his dark, brooding eyes on Sano.
    “Honorable Chamberlain. May I ask what’s going on?”
    “You must be Enju,” said Sano.
    “Yes.” Lord Mori’s adopted son waited in silence for Sano to answer his question. Despite his mother’s description of the lively, young flirt on the pleasure boat, he was evidently a person of few words. Long, thick eyelashes veiled his gaze.
    “Your father has been murdered,” Sano said.
    “So I’ve heard.”
    “Where have you been?”
    “On business in Osaka. I just arrived home.”
    Lady Mori cried, “The chamberlain thinks I did it!”
    Enju frowned at Sano. “That’s not what Akera-san told me. He says your wife killed my father.”
    “She did! Please make him understand that I’m innocent,” Lady Mori said, clinging to Enju.
    “On what grounds do you accuse my mother?” Enju asked.
    “She had the opportunity to murder your father and frame my wife,” Sano said.
    “Excuse me, but have you given her a chance to tell her own version of events?” A current of hostility ran beneath Enju’s calm voice.
    “Yes indeed.” Sano felt his temper rising again. “She has made a ridiculous claim that my wife was Lord Mori’s mistress and killed him during a lover’s quarrel.” Sano briefly explained.
    “There you have it, then.”
    Sano noted that Enju had remarkable assurance for so young a man addressing a high official. He seemed undisturbed by Lord Mori’s death, and although he acted willing to blame Reiko, he hadn’t actually claimed that his mother was innocent. This struck Sano as odd.
    “How do you know what happened last night?” Sano asked. “By your own admission, you weren’t here.”
    Calculation hooded Enju’s expression. “I saw my father cavorting with your wife often enough. It was no secret.”
To anyone but you,
said his tone. He shrugged. “Their affair and my mother’s attempt to stop it obviously drove Lady Reiko to murder.”
    It sounded to Sano as if the young man had decided to confirm Lady Mori’s damning story about Reiko for some reason other than that he believed it. But Enju was the kind of cool, self-possessed witness who would be hard to shake. Sano knew that mother and son might convince too many people that Reiko was guilty. Yet Enju’s behavior was suspicious, and he represented another chance for Sano to exonerate her.
    “Someone was obviously driven to murder, but not my wife,” Sano said. “I understand that you’re Lord Mori’s heir.”
    “That’s correct.”
    “And now that he’s dead, you inherit his title and his wealth,” Sano continued.