Free The Incense Game by Laura Joh Rowland Page B

Masahiro about the dead women in the sunken house, his visit to the Hosokawa estate, and Lord Hosokawa’s blackmail.
    “If you solve the crime, Lord Hosokawa will hand over a million koban to pay for rebuilding Edo? And if you don’t, he and the other daimyo will overthrow the Tokugawa regime?” Reiko was so shocked that she forgot about her own news. “Did I hear you correctly?” When Sano nodded, her disbelief gave way to horror. “Doesn’t Lord Hosokawa know that’s treason?”
    “Yes. I told him,” Sano said. “But he’s not thinking about anything except his own grief and revenge for his daughters.”
    “So you agreed to do what he wants?” Masahiro asked.
    “I didn’t see any other choice.” Sano explained why he couldn’t just report Lord Hosokawa to the shogun. “The best thing to do is solve the case quickly.”
    “But how can you fit a murder investigation in with all the work you have to do?” It seemed impossible to Reiko.
    “I’ll need some help, even if I handle it personally. The problem is, it needs to be kept secret. I can’t send my retainers out to interview people and dig up clues. My enemies would surely notice that I was diverting effort away from the earthquake repairs to investigate the murders. They would wonder what sort of hold Lord Hosokawa has on me.”
    Reiko knew that Sano had many enemies, including a large faction loyal to Yanagisawa. The secret deal between Sano and Lord Hosokawa, and their conspiracy of silence, made Sano a party to treason. This information would be just the weapon his enemies needed to destroy Sano.
    “If people start prying, your deal with Lord Hosokawa could come out,” Reiko said.
    “The Tokugawa regime would have to take action against Lord Hosokawa and the daimyo . The war would start.” Masahiro’s clever mind quickly grasped the implications.
    “Which means I can only use assistants I can absolutely trust to be discreet,” Sano said. “That means Hirata, Detective Marume, and the two of you.”
    Reiko decided to put off telling Sano she was pregnant. If he knew, he would refuse to let her join in the investigation, for fear it would tax her health and endanger the baby. But he needed her help. Unless he caught the killer, Lord Hosokawa would make good on his threats. The civil war would start. Sano would be blamed and executed as a traitor. His family would be put to death as well. If Reiko didn’t live long enough to give birth, the baby would die with her. Although Sano had never failed to solve a case, this might be the first time. Reiko couldn’t allow that to happen. Furthermore, she’d carried and given birth to Masahiro and Akiko without any trouble, and she felt fine now. As long as she restricted herself to visiting and talking with a few people, what harm could a little detective work do?
    “You can count on me,” she said.
    Sano smiled; the tension in his face relaxed. “I know I can.”
    Reiko saw more reason to help Sano. He couldn’t count on Hirata or Marume for much. Marume was so grief-stricken; the investigation might be beyond his capabilities. And Sano had confided to her that something was amiss with Hirata, who often disappeared for lengthy, unexplained periods. That left her and Masahiro.
    “You can count on me, too,” Masahiro said.
    But he was only a child, Reiko thought. No matter how clever and mature he was, he couldn’t do everything that a murder investigation required. And he had other duties.
    “You’ll have to stay with the shogun,” Sano said. “Both of us deserting him at the same time would be asking for trouble.”
    Disappointed, Masahiro said, “Isn’t there any way I can help?”
    “Watch Ienobu,” Sano said. “Let me know what he does. I may find other things for you to do later.”
    Masahiro nodded happily. But Reiko knew he couldn’t do the things she could. Sano needed her. She couldn’t bow out of the investigation.
    “What have you learned so far?” she asked.
    “The