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

knowingly do anything to hurt me, any more than I would hurt him.”
     
    “Knowingly? People don’t commit adultery unknowingly.”
     
    Nagaoka looked away. “I do not believe it.”
     
    Akitada, having caught the small note of doubt, coaxed gently, “But there is something?”
     
    Nagaoka cried, “I don’t know the full truth...Neither does he! Apparently Kojiro had been drinking heavily. When he drinks he often does not remember the next day where he has been or with whom. The constables from the pleasure quarter used to bring him home senseless. It was a great worry to me, because I was afraid that his drinking would ruin him.” He sighed. “And now it has.”
     
    “Did your brother live here?”
     
    “No, he stayed here only for his visits. He owns a place in the country. I helped him buy it with money from our father’s estate. He has worked hard on that land and also managed Prince Atsuakira’s estate nearby.” Nagaoka clenched his hands. “Oh, what will the prince think! And why did this have to happen now?”
     
    “What do you mean, ‘now’?”
     
    “Kojiro had stopped drinking. He had not touched wine in over a month.” Nagaoka looked at Akitada beseechingly. “Please understand that Kojiro’s behavior at the temple was a complete surprise. His previous drinking had been because of a romantic disappointment, and he’d got over that.”
     
    Akitada had his doubts. A man who had spent his leisure time drinking himself into a stupor in the pleasure quarter was not above drinking in a temple and assaulting his sister-in-law. But he said only, “How did he come to be at the temple with your wife?”
     
    “It was Nobuko’s idea to worship there. She wished to make a donation and say some special prayers because she had heard that women had conceived after reciting a particular passage from one of the sutras. I thought it was all nonsense, but she... Well, I could hardly stop her. But I did not want to go myself, and Kojiro offered to be her escort.”
     
    “I see. And how does your brother explain the condition he was found in?”
     
    “He cannot. He swears he only drank some tea, but...”
     
    “You suspect he is lying?”
     
    Nagaoka fidgeted. “No, of course not, but I don’t know how to explain it. He was found reeking of wine and there was a nearly empty pitcher of some cheap wine in the room.”
     
    Akitada nodded. “Go on. What else does he say?”
     
    “Kojiro remembers feeling tired and sick and says he went to lie down in his room. That is the last he remembers, until the monks broke open the door of my wife’s room and found him with her... dead.”
     
    “Then why has he confessed to the crime?”
     
    Nagaoka clenched his hands in helpless frustration. “Because he cannot remember what happened all those other times, he thinks he must have killed her in some sort of fit. I tried to convince him to withdraw his confession. To let the police investigate further.” He grimaced. “But the superintendent came today to tell me the case was closed and not to meddle anymore, that I’d just make things worse for Kojiro. He said the evidence is so solid against him that they must get a confession, and would use force to get it. Can they really do that?”
     
    “Probably. Confessions are encouraged with bamboo whips.”
     
    Nagaoka cried, “But my brother is no common criminal. He is a respectable landowner. Can’t you make them wait? There must be some explanation why Kojiro was in her room. Someone may have seen something that night.”
     
    They were interrupted by the servant. “Will you take your rice now,” he asked, “or shall I let the fire go out in the kitchen?”
     
    Nagaoka looked at him uncomprehendingly, then said, “Rice? Is it time to eat?”
     
    “An hour past,” said the servant, casting a resentful glance at Akitada.
     
    “Oh, dear.” Nagaoka looked helplessly at Akitada and suddenly remembered his manners. “Forgive me, my lord. I