Free Dragon's King Palace by Laura Joh Rowland Page A

assistants while resisting arrest. Sano studied the defendants and recognized them as the new breed of Black Lotus followers. They weren’t deluded fanatics who believed that membership in the sect destined them for glorious enlightenment. They were unscrupulous men attracted by the violence and wealth associated with the Black Lotus. Perhaps they would serve Sano’s purpose.
    “You may speak in your own defense,” Magistrate Ueda told the criminals.
    Jun shrugged, then muttered sullenly, “I did it.” Goza echoed him. Sano saw that they realized there was no point in denying their guilt, because they’d been caught in the act.
    “I pronounce you guilty and sentence you to execution,” Magistrate Ueda said. Then he dismissed the audience and secretaries. They departed, leaving him, his trusted guards, and Sano alone with the criminals, who exchanged glances and shifted nervously. Sano strode up to the dais.
    “The shogun’s sōsakan-sama will question you,” Magistrate Ueda told the criminals.
    The pair gazed up at Sano with an animosity that matched his toward them. He said, “Who hired you to burn the shop?”
    “It was a Black Lotus priest,” said Jun. His crude, handsome face glistened with sweat. “He calls himself Profound Wisdom.”
    Goza nodded his bald, piglike head. Obviously, the men felt no loyalty to their master and didn’t mind informing on him. Sano recalled hearing the priest mentioned as one who had a large, dangerous following.
    “Where can I find Profound Wisdom?” Sano said.
    “He has secret temples,” said Jun. “But I don’t know where they are. They move around.”
    To avoid the police, Sano figured. “How do you and his followers know where to find him?”
    “He leaves messages at a Buddhist supply shop near the Nihonbashi Bridge. People in the Black Lotus go there and ask the proprietor for Yoshi—that’s the password—and he tells them where the temple is that day.”
    “What other work besides arson does he hire men like you to do?” Sano said.
    “When people drop out of the Black Lotus, we threaten them so they won’t betray it,” Goza said. “We kill anyone who does. We kidnap women for the priest to use in rituals.”
    Sano’s instincts sprang alert. “What women?”
    Goza grinned, showing rotten teeth. “Pretty ones.”
    Magistrate Ueda frowned and leaned forward on the dais. He knew as well as Sano did what happened during the Black Lotus’s cruel, depraved rituals.
    “Have you ever heard of the Black Lotus kidnapping women for ransom?” Sano asked.
    The men shook their heads. Jun creased his brow in puzzlement, as though trying to figure out Sano’s intentions; Goza looked merely bored.
    “The shogun’s mother and three other women were kidnapped yesterday,” Sano said, watching the criminals as he moved closer to them. “What can you tell me about that?”
    “Nothing, master,” Jun said with what seemed to be genuine surprise. “It’s news to me.” Then he laughed. “The Black Lotus people think their High Priest Anraku has risen from the dead. They say he wants to avenge his murder. Maybe he spirited away those women.”
    Obviously, he didn’t share the sect’s beliefs and was mocking them. That he would make a joke of the crime infuriated Sano. He wanted to rub Jun’s face in the white sand and grind the smile off it. Then he noticed that Goza sat with his mouth slack and a murky gleam in his porcine eyes, as if a sudden thought had occurred to him. Sano quickly crouched in front of Goza and grabbed him by the shoulders.
    “Did the Black Lotus take the women?” he demanded.
    Cunning altered Goza’s expression even as he recoiled from Sano. “Maybe,” he said.
    Sano guessed that the man knew something. He shook Goza. “Tell me!”
    “If he does, will you spare our lives?” Jun interjected.
    The idea of pardoning murderers revolted Sano. “Don’t you bargain with me,” he said. Anger and impatience overrode his hatred of abusing