Free The Hell Screen by I. J. Parker Page A

night at the temple and may have seen or heard something which could be of use to you and the authorities. Besides, I am fascinated by complicated legal problems and have had some luck in discovering the truth on past occasions. In fact, that is how Superintendent Kobe and I met several years ago. He was a captain then, and I served in the Ministry of Justice. I am sure he will vouch for me.” Akitada had some doubts about this, but his curiosity about the Nagaoka murder was thoroughly aroused. “Suppose you start by telling me a little about your wife and your brother.”
     
    Nagaoka had listened with growing amazement. Now he nodded. “Yes, yes. Let me see. My brother is much younger than I, and more strongly built. He has an intelligent, cheerful look about him. Everyone takes to him right away.”
     
    Akitada nodded. “It sounds like a young man I saw when I first arrived at the temple gate. The lady with him was veiled.”
     
    “My wife was wearing a pale silk robe embroidered with flowers and grasses. She, too, is ... was young.”
     
    “Quite right. They had arrived just before I did. I am afraid we did not exchange many words.”
     
    “What a coincidence!” Nagaoka said, shaking his head. “That gown ... I had just given it to her. She died in it. When I saw her, her face was ... disfigured, but she was very beautiful.” He shuddered. “It is most kind of you to offer help. My brother and I...” His voice broke. “We are very close, and my being the elder... our father died young, and I have always felt like a father to Kojiro. This has all been most dreadful and I blame myself terribly.”
     
    “For what?” Akitada asked, surprised, then added, “I don’t wish to pry into personal matters, but I would have expected you to be deeply grieved and shocked by the loss of your young wife. Instead you seem to be mostly troubled by your brother’s arrest.”
     
    The antiquarian said bleakly, “Of course I am shocked by her death, but it is my brother who is alive, and he needs my help now. Besides ...” He sighed deeply. “Our marriage had become a burden to both of us. Nobuko did not love me. I think she fell in love with my brother. It was to be expected. She was only twenty-five, and I am fifty. Look at me! I am an old man, a dull fellow who deals in old things. My brother is fifteen years my junior. He writes poetry and plucks the zither in the moonlight outside his room. What young woman could resist?”
     
    Being happily married to Tamako, Akitada could not imagine what another husband might feel when his wife sought love from his own brother. It occurred to him that Nagaoka had a strong motive for murder himself. In spite of his explanations, the man’s reactions were all wrong. A husband betrayed by both wife and brother should have been furiously, even murderously angry. But this man sounded apologetic about his wife’s faithlessness and frantic over his brother’s arrest.
     
    Nagaoka took up his story again. “I should never have married again. At least not someone young enough to be my daughter.” He moved his thin hands helplessly. “Nobuko was very lively when she lived in her father’s home. She liked to dance and sing, and they always had young people around. I had hoped that children might fill her life, but we did not have any. I found out soon that she was unhappy with me, and so I started staying away. I claimed that my work kept me busy, but the truth is I could not bear to see her so unhappy. She only cheered up when my brother came, and I was glad.” He broke off and stared miserably at one of the scrolls on the wall.
     
    After a moment, Akitada said, “Forgive me, but are you suggesting that your wife took your brother as a lover because she was bored?”
     
    Nagaoka looked shocked. “Of course not. They were not lovers, though I would not have objected. But Kojiro would never betray me ... unless ...” He flushed, then said firmly, “My brother would never