At Akitada's nod, Seimei began the reading of the Imperial Directive, composed more than three hundred years ago. It empowered the governor of a province to hear and decide difficult legal cases. As a young student at the university, Akitada had had to memorize this text, but today the beauty and propriety of the August Words struck him most forcibly.

A wide gulf separates the throne from the people, but a diligent governor is the bridge between them.

Let him ascertain and verify guilt, redress wrongs, discern lies, reveal evil, and disclose secret plots like a good physician who probes the body for the nature of the disease in order to heal the patient.

Let him be virtuous in pronouncing judgment on the guilty and showing compassion to the innocent, acting at all times like a father to his people.

How great then will be his happiness in having the respect of his people!

Seimei rolled up the document and reverently raised it above his head. The bent backs let out their breaths, and sat up. Akitada looked for respect in their faces and found none.

He tapped his wooden baton on the floor and announced, "The bodies of two men were brought to this tribunal during the night. An investigation into the manner of their deaths has begun. I will now hear the reports."

Tora brought Kaoru before the dais. The young woodcutter knelt, gave his name, and told of finding the body of the Uesugi servant: "I spent the day in the woods behind Takata manor, gathering fallen limbs for sale in the city, when my dog found a dead man in the snow. When I brushed the snow away, I recognized Hideo, who served the late lord of Takata. It being the day of the old lord's funeral, I thought it best not to disturb the family and to bring the body to the tribunal instead."

Akitada nodded and dismissed him." Tora stepped forward again and stated, "This morning the constable who opens the tribunal gate noticed something by the gatehouse and pointed it out to me. I investigated. It was the mutilated corpse of a middle-aged man. Subsequent identification by the fishmonger Goto says that the corpse may be that of his brother Ogai, a soldier."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Has the coroner checked the causes for these deaths?"

"Yes, sir. Dr. Oyoshi is waiting to report."

When Oyoshi stepped forward, there was a murmur of astonishment from the crowd. Sergeant Chobei turned to stare at the new coroner with an expression of profound shock.

Oyoshi knelt. "This person is the pharmacist Oyoshi, coroner of this tribunal by order of his Excellency, the governor. I was called to the tribunal early this morning to inspect the corpse of a middle-aged male. His hands and feet had been severed and were missing and his face was badly damaged by a beating with a heavy blunt weapon. The cause of death may have been disease, possibly due to exposure and neglect, or from his wounds. Death occurred at least a day and two nights ago, and the mutilations were inflicted several hours later, possibly to hide a fatal wound."

Again there was a murmuring from the crowd, and Akitada rapped his baton. "The case will be investigated since there is a suspicion of murder. Continue!"

"The second man was much older. I immediately recognized him as Lord Maro's personal attendant Hideo. Death was due to multiple and severe injuries to the whole body. I am told the body was found near the foot of the cliff at Takata manor. The injuries are perfectly compatible with a fall from that height. Hideo had been dead for more than two days."

The doctor paused and looked at Akitada for instructions. Receiving a nod, he continued, "I have to report that, in addition to those injuries caused by the fall, the body also showed evidence of a beating about the face and head. These injuries were inflicted before death."

A buzz of interest rose in the crowd.

Akitada said, "Thank you, Dr. Oyoshi. This case will also remain under investigation." He paused briefly to gauge the mood of the audience. In vain. Taking a deep breath, he announced, "I shall now hear new evidence in the murder of the local innkeeper Sato."

A hush fell in the hall. Then the crowd parted to allow a veiled woman and two elderly people to approach the dais. With a sinking feeling, Akitada saw that Mrs. Sato and her parents had arrived. The widow wore modest hemp instead of silk on this occasion. He decided against calling her to testify before this hostile crowd. Ignoring her presence, he continued.

"I have studied the documents in the case carefully. Certain statements of the three suspects were left unverified, an oversight which had to be corrected before the case could be heard. Now witnesses have stepped forward to support parts of the prisoners' stories. That development, taken together with the fact that only two of the men have confessed and both have since recanted, could mean that the murder was committed by someone else."

The hall became noisy. Someone shouted, "Watch out! He's letting them get away with it." Someone else cried, "Where's our own judge?" In front, Mrs. Sato called on the Buddha and wrung her hands as her parents supported her on either side.

Akitada rapped his baton until some order was reestablished and then told Chobei, "Sergeant, bring in the prisoners."

Umehara, Okano, and Takagi were led in to cat calls, clenched fists, and spitting from the crowd. They wore chains that looped from their ankles to their wrists, and were made to kneel in front of the dais. Three constables moved in with whips at the ready and expressions of happy anticipation on their faces.

Umehara cast a frightened glance at Akitada, then stared at the floor. Next to him Okano twitched the skirt of his robe with a shaking hand and turned a tragic face toward the crowd. Only the slow-witted farmer looked unconcerned; he grinned and nodded to Akitada, Hamaya, and anyone else who looked familiar.

Akitada suppressed a sigh. At least Tora had made sure the prisoners were cleaned up and fed.

He took the three men through their testimony quickly, stressing their activities in town before the murder, and their explanations for the gold found on them. He had Okano speak twice about the unknown travelers who had called at the inn and left again while the actor was in the bath, and he asked Takagi about leaving his bundle unattended.

Twice there were jeers and laughter. The constables made little effort to stop them. To judge from their broad grins, they shared the crowd's feelings.

When Akitada called for witnesses, the noise subsided a little. One by one, market vendors, shopkeepers, money changers, waitresses, and soup sellers, all familiar faces in the market, or neighbors and relatives of someone in the crowd, stepped forward and knelt. Their testimonies substantiated the three prisoners' claims.

An uneasy silence had fallen when Akitada dismissed the last witness and had Tora escort the prisoners out. He scanned the crowd. People looked puzzled, uncertain. He felt a stirring of hope.

He was thinking of releasing the three pathetic men as quickly as possible and began, "Today's testimony throws considerable doubt on the guilt of the three defendants . .." when there was a cry of protest and the widow pushed past the constables to face him.

She threw back her veil and bowed. "This person is the widow Sato. As the widow of the slain man, I ask this court's permission to make a statement."

It was her right. Akitada compressed his lips and nodded.

She turned her head to look at the crowd. There was a murmur of admiration at her youth and beauty. "My husband was a humble man like most of you," she told them in a clear voice. "He worked as hard for his coppers as you do. Is it right that he should die for the greed of another man?"

"No," they muttered.

"Is it right that his killersa"his confessed killersa"should go unpunished to roam the streets and kill again?"

"No." There were shouts now.

"This," she cried, pointing at Akitada, "is not a proper court. You must not permit it to release my husband's murderers. Where is our own judge? How can an official born and raised in the distant capital know our people and our laws? Our lawful judge would not let my husband's killers escape their just punishment. Our own judge would not permit my husband's restless spirit to cry for justice."

Akitada was using his baton to stop her harangue and point out a governor's duty to oversee the administration of justice in his province, but he saw the angry faces in the crowd and knew his words would make no difference.

Mrs. Sato shot him a triumphant glance. "We have all heard about the pardons given to murderers and robbers in the capital," she told him, "and we hear how those criminals repeat their crimes, yes, even in the very grounds of the emperor's palace. Injustice today brings more murder tomorrow. Already there are two more bodies in this tribunal. Is that the kind of justice you offer?"

"No," roared the crowd, shaking their fists in the air and surging forward.

Akitada had listened with a frozen expression. Not only was this woman, who had turned her back to him earlier so disrespectfully, calling people into open defiance of a duly appointed governor, but her arguments and her references to the deplorable conditions in the nation's capital proved her to be well-informed. Such knowledge went quite beyond the background of a mere innkeeper's wife. And why had she of all people stepped forward as the spokeswoman for the faceless threat to his administration?

Chaos reigned in the hall. The crowd moved against the restraining arms of the constables. Tora was back, his hand at his sword, looking up at him for an order, but Akitada shrank from committing public bloodshed. He scanned the crowd for some sign of support, however small.

Chobei, the insubordinate sergeant of constables, sneered at him openly. Next to him, the dismissed coroner smirked with satisfaction. Their thoughts were written on their faces: The fool from the capital was about to lose his position, perhaps even his life.

Glaring at Chobei and pointing his baton at him, Akitada raised his voice to be heard over the noise of the crowd. "Sergeant, give that woman ten lashes for inciting a riot."

There were gasps from the crowd and it became quiet. He scowled at their startled faces. "And if there is anymore trouble from anyone here, that number will be doubleda"and given to each troublemaker."

Chobei gaped at him. Tora's sword hissed as he drew it from its scabbard. The crowd drew back and a tense silence suddenly filled the hall. Chobei shook his head and retreated.

And Mrs. Sato laughed softly.

Furious, Akitada rose to his feet. "Sergeant," he called out, "you will either carry out my order or my lieutenant will have your head."

Tora stepped up to Chobei, his sword in both hands.

Chobei turned white. Beads of sweat glistened on his face. After a moment, his shoulders slumped and he approached the widow. She cried out and tried to sidestep him, but he seized her arm. When he reached to strip her gown from her shoulders, Akitada snapped, "Leave her dressed." He had no wish to give the crowd a chance to ogle a half-naked woman as beautiful as this one. Besides, his stomach churned already at what was about to take place.

The widow twisted and screamed. With the practice of years of maltreating prisoners, Chobei flung her facedown on the floor. Her parents prostrated themselves, begging for mercy for her. Akitada ignored them. Two of his constables approached to hold her down, while Chobei pulled the leather whip from his belt and used it. He counted out ten strokes in a loud voice so he would be heard above the screams and sobs from the prisoner and her weeping parents. When he was done, he untied her ankles, and hauled her sagging figure back to her feet. The two constables dragged the whimpering woman past the crowd and out of the hall. Her parents hurried after her.

There was no more trouble, but Tora continued to stand with drawn sword, ready to cut down the first man or woman who stepped forward.

Akitada was sick. Aware that he was starting to shake from head to foot, he sat back down, rapped his baton, and said as steadily as he could, "The prisoners will remain in custody until the case is cleared up. This hearing is adjourned until further evidence has been collected."

He barely made it out to the back of the hall before vomiting.

TEN.

RETURN TO TAKATA.

T.

he following day, Akitada rode back to Takata with an official cortege, scraped together from what was available. Two constables trotted ahead, their breaths steaming in the icy air as their chanta""Make way for the governor! Make way!"a"scattered itinerant monks, old women, small children, and anyone else on the road. Tora followed on horseback, in armor and with sword and bow. Three more constables jogged behind him. The third carried the tribunal banner. Next came Akitada, trying to look impressive in formal attire on a horse with faded red silk tassels swinging from its harness. Dr. Oyoshi followed him and somewhat spoiled the effect by drooping on a sad-looking shaggy pony. The end of the cortege was made up of two more constables.

This pomp and circumstance hid discontent among the members. The constables were outraged by the forced march in the cold and had obeyed only because Chobei had been dismissed for insubordination and they were afraid to meet the same fate. Tora shivered without his bearskins and missed Hitomaro, who had become very secretive, staying out late without explanations, and accepting with uncharacteristic eagerness their master's suggestion that he check out the fishmonger's tale. And he was gone again today. The doctor was in an abstracted mood, and Akitada had been seized by such a presentiment of looming disaster that his very soul felt as frozen as the wintry landscape around them.

Kaibara received them again in the main courtyard and led Akitada, Oyoshi, and Tora to the new lord and master of Takata.

News of the hearing must have reached Takata by now, but Uesugi pretended surprise. He was seated on his dais in the reception hall, wearing an ordinary house robe and an expression of petulant irritation. When Akitada came in, he bowed without rising and said with a tight smile, "An unexpected pleasure, Excellency. I hope you and your friends will join me in a cup of wine and a pleasant chat."

Akitada replied with equally cold politeness, "Though deeply honored by your generous hospitality, I cannot accept. Official business interferes."

"I am disconsolate. What official business might that be?"

"As you may have heard, a body was found below the north pavilion of your manor and delivered to the tribunal night before last. According to Dr. Oyoshi, my coroner, it belongs to a man called Hideo, your late honored father's personal attendant. It seems he died falling from the gallery."

Uesugi looked shocked. "Hideo? Oyoshi, you say it was Hideo? Are you certain?" He sighed deeply and closed his small eyes. "How sad! We all thought he had gone to the mountains to mourn my honorable father's death." He sighed again, more deeply, shaking his head. "A true servant, a rare man. How inspiring!"

"What do you mean, inspiring?" Akitada asked sharply.

Uesugi scowled at his tone. Kaibara explained smoothly, "His lordship means that Hideo made the final sacrifice by following his master into death, Excellency."

"Nonsense. The man was murdered."

There was a moment's silence. "Murdered?" Uesugi burst into forced laughter. "Someone has been pulling your leg, Governor. Not you, Oyoshi, I hope? Who would murder good old Hideo? No, no, he jumped. As Kaibara says, it was a very moving tribute by a loyal man."

Akitada said nothing and waited.

Uesugi cocked his round face. "I'm afraid you made this long journey for nothing, my dear Governor. Especially now, when you are needed in the city. There have been disturbing reports of unrest in Naoetsu. I hope it is nothing serious? We stand ready to assist you."

"Nothing I cannot handle," Akitada snapped. "I brought my assistants to investigate the site of the victim's fall and talk to the servants. I take it that neither you nor Kaibara saw the servant Hideo after your father's death?"

Uesugi and Kaibara exchanged a glance, then Uesugi said angrily, "You forget that this is a house of mourning."

"I regret, but the investigation of a crime takes precedence over such considerations."

Kaibara protested, "But even if a crime had been committed, it would come under the jurisdiction of his lordship. It occurred in his domain. You have no rights here."

Akitada looked at Uesugi. "Instruct your man in the proper respect due to my position!"

Uesugi's face was purple, but he hissed at Kaibara, "Apologize to his Excellency this instant!"

Kaibara looked murderous but he knelt and touched his forehead to the floor, muttering, "I hope your Excellency will overlook a foolish soldier's bad manners. I spoke carelessly out of loyalty to my master."

Akitada ignored him and said to Uesugi, "The question of jurisdiction does not apply, since the crime was reported to me in Naoetsu and the victim's body was brought to the tribunal there."

"But even so, Excellency," Uesugi replied, "such matters have always been handled by us. The authority of the high constable rests with the lords of Takata."

"Not anymore. You recall that I have not requested a renewal of the appointment. I may reserve the position for myself."

Kaibara, who had remained in his abject posture, now popped up, his hand at his sword hilt. Uesugi shook his head at him. "I trust you will change your mind, Excellency," he said through clenched teeth. "It takes manpower to enforce the law here. For the moment, Kaibara will assist you in your investigation." He closed his eyes indicating that the interview was over.

"Thank you." Akitada turned to Kaibara. "Take us to the north pavilion!"

Kaibara led them out of the reception hall and down a long dim corridor. Rectangular patches of light fell through latticed windows high in one wall, illuminating family armor displayed on the other. Akitada slowed to look at swords, helmets, greaves, breastplates, battle fans, and batons. The collection was large, well-maintained, and of superb quality.

"Look at that," Tora murmured when they reached a magnificent suit of black-lacquered metal plates tied with scarlet silk cords. Golden chrysanthemum blossoms tangled with waving silver grasses on the breastplate. "It's like a painting."

Kaibara stopped. "You have good taste, Lieutenant." He did not disguise his pride. "The armor is of very superior workmanship. Yosai made it for the late lord's father who wore it in the battle of Kanagawa. A decisive victory. That's why we display it on the wall. Most of the other armor, very fine also, is stored in those chests." He gestured.

Akitada glanced down the corridor. For well over a hundred feet, wooden metal-banded chests stood side by side beneath wall displays bristling with spears, halberds, swords, bows, quivers, arrows, standards, and other battle gear.

Kaibara's smile broadened as he saw Akitada's amazement. "Your Excellency has noticed Lord Maro's swords?" He pointed to matching gold-hilted blades, one long, the other short. Taking down the long sword, he pulled it from the scabbard with a soft hissing sound. The blade emerged and flashed bluish silver in a shaft of light as Kaibara raised it with both hands above his head. His face turned into a snarl of such bloodthirsty ferocity that Akitada stepped back, out of reach of the long blade.

Dr. Oyoshi cleared his throat, and Kaibara chuckled.

Flushing with anger, Akitada stepped forward and took the sword from the steward's hand. "A fine blade" he commented. "A master made this."

There was a moment's pause, then Kaibara said harshly, "They say it drank the blood of a hundred warriors that day at Kanagawa. There's not a nick in the blade, though his lordship, fighting from a horse, was slashing through bone."

Returning the sword, Akitada said, "Forgive my ignorance. This battle, I take it, was fought many years ago?"

"Before my time. The late lord was a young man then. Both he and his brother were raised to a warrior's life." Kaibara replaced the sword and waited to move on. He seemed to have lost interest in the displays.

"There was a brother?"

"Yes. He was the older. When he died, Lord Maro succeeded. Shall we go on?"

They walked until Tora stopped to exclaim at an unusually long, beautifully finished bow. A very long black arrow with a black-dyed eagle feather and a finely crafted steel tip was attached to its groove. "That bow must be at least one and a half times a man's height," Tora cried.