Free The Way of the Fox by Paul Kidd

when I arrived. The charcoal burner was apparently known to these people. They will send two of their men to bury him.”
    Sura sprinkled spice into her noodle bowl. “Do you think you know how the charcoal burner was killed?”
    “Strangled. There were marks upon his neck.” She felt great distaste at the memory. “Clearly he had been strangled.”
    Tonbo had heaped his bowl with food. “Did you notice any tracks? Any other signs.”
    “No, yojimbo san. I am not a skilled tracker. There were no signs of other passers by. I was on the road for a total of three days, and encountered no other travellers.” She wrinkled her nose. “The corpse was already becoming swollen and offensive. I did not linger.”
    Sura mused over the information, and then engulfed almost an entire bowlful of noodles at a blow. Outside, the group of young samurai were becoming noisier and noisier, drinking and calling to the maids. Kuno scowled, but chose to ignore the noise.
    Sano M oko arose from the table, threading her sword through her belt. She nodded a short bow to one and all.
    “ I must retire. I have an early start tomorrow.” The woman flicked a scathing glance at the unruly men out in the gardens. “I will ask for a chamber far from that unseemly noise.”
    Kuno began to bow in farewell, but Sura, having wrestled half a ri of buckwheat noodles down her neck, managed to speak at last.
    “Hey, so Moko san! Why were you travelling through the forest in the first place?”
    “I am going to Ayamejo for the festival.”
    Kuno looked at the woman with great respect. “You are a fighter, Sano san?”
    The girl sat stiff and proud. “I am samurai.”
    “Quite so.” Kuno nodded in brusque approval. “ We wish you a good evening, samurai. Our thanks for assisting us with our inquiries.”
    Sano M oko collected her naginata, and gave a bow. She moved off to the sleeping chambers at the back of the inn – a grim, focussed figure with determination in every step. Sura gave a whistle, and shook her head.
    “You know, I bet she has an inner weakness for kittens! She totally looks the type.” The fox nudged at Tonbo, who was downing his broth. “So hey – what did you make of that?”
    Tonbo set down his empty bowl, pondered for a long, considering moment, and then gave a nod.
    “Good noodles.”
    “Yeah – not the noodles. I mean iron woman.”
    Kuno flicked an annoyed glance at the fox. “The woman is a female warrior. Samurai. She is unlikely to have strangled someone in the woods, and then diligently walked to a village to report finding the corpse.”
    “Yeah – point taken. But hey – seems we have a second murder. Probably by the same method. Won’t know unless we see the corpse.”
    “They will have buried it by now. We cannot go unearthing cadavers resting properly in their graves.” Kuno fixed an eye upon the fox, suspecting that she might well do exactly that, given half the chance. “In any case, I must be on the road to Ayamejo first thing tomorrow. I cannot linger here. We will report the crime tomorrow afternoon at the castle. More manpower can be sent.”
    “Still – two deaths. Can’t see that the victims are closely connected, except by general location...” Sura pondered. “Something nasty’s going on.”
    Quite suddenly, Sura switched mental tracks. The rat girl, Chiri, had been sitting demurely at the table, trying to escape censure. Sura saw that the girl had made only the tiniest, politest inroads to her food, and immediately took her under her wing.
    “Eat! Eat! Look how skinny you are? You’ll get your fur all out of condition. I’ll see if I can get us more food.” Sura urged the girl to down her noodles. “Excellent! There we go. Are they good?”
    “They are most excellent. I thank you.” The rat blushed. “I have rarely tasted better.”
    “Dig in!” Sura shook the sakē bottle, finding it to be tragically empty. “So hey – you’ve been on the roads around here. Any rumours of