Jokyoden watched Reiko's discomfiture with the amused air of an older sister observing the antics of a clumsy younger sister. "Dare I suggest that you are still hiding behind the false pretenses under which you came here, Honorable Lady Sano?" She laughed, a low, melodic sound. "But perhaps you're not the only one whose motives are ambiguous."

Too fl.u.s.tered to think of a reply, Reiko wondered who'd been manipulating whom. Maybe Jokyoden had sinister reasons for welcoming Reiko and speaking so freely. Had Jokyoden intended for their conversation to be communicated to Sano, so she could plant in his mind the idea that she was innocent? Maybe she meant to prejudice him in her favor by befriending his wife.

Certainly Jokyoden possessed a strong will, the foundation for the power of kiai. That she must have known all along that she would be investigated by Sano cast doubt upon everything she'd said.

The crunch of footsteps on the gravel path broke the silence between Reiko and Jokyoden. A maid came up to them, bowed, and said to Jokyoden, "Please excuse me, but His Highness the Abdicated Emperor wishes you to come to him."

Grateful for the chance to escape, Reiko said quickly, "I mustn't impose on your hospitality or interrupt your business any longer. I'll go and pay my respects to His Majesty's honorable consort now."

A ripple of mirth crossed Jokyoden's face, as if she knew what Reiko was thinking. After they exchanged bows, Jokyoden said, "Thank you for a most interesting chat. Will you please visit me again before you leave Miyako? I should welcome the chance to improve our acquaintance."

"So would I. Yes, I'll come back."

While glad of an opportunity to learn more about Lady Jokyoden's possible role in the murder, Reiko glimpsed new dangers ahead. If Jokyoden was the killer, might she perceive Reiko as an enemy to destroy?

7.

A series of hoots and yelps sounded outside the Purple Dragon Hall, where Sano, Yoriki Hoshina, and Right Minister Ichijo waited with Emperor Tomohito.

"Momo-chan!" the emperor called from his throne. "Come in here."

The side door opened. A small, skinny young man, perhaps a few years older than Tomohito, entered. He approached the emperor with a jerky stride. The strange noises issued from his mouth; his head tossed like a horse's. As he knelt near the throne, courtiers looked away from him; their mouths tightened with the disgust usually accorded cripples. Sano stared, unable to hide his shock.

"My cousin, Prince Momozono," the emperor announced.

Right Minister Ichijo whispered to Sano: "The prince is a hopeless idiot who can't control himself."

But Momozono was clearly trying. His jaws clenched in an effort to silence the sounds; his mournful eyes rolled. Sweat beaded his thin, pallid face. When he bowed to the emperor, his left arm suddenly shot up into the air. He forced it down with his right hand.

Tomohito said, "Momo-chan, this is Sosakan Sano," with an impudent glance at Ichijo and the attendants, as though he enjoyed subjecting them to his cousin's loathsome presence; he didn't seem to share their disgust. "He wants to find out who killed Left Minister Konoe."

"I b-beg to be of a.s.sistance," said Prince Momozono. He let out more hoots, then cried, "A thousand apologies!"

On the way to the palace, when Sano had asked Hoshina about the prince, Hoshina had said, "Momozono is the emperor's pet." However, the yoriki's description of the prince had failed to prepare Sano for the appalling spectacle of him.

"The two of you discovered Left Minister Konoe's body together?" Sano addressed the emperor, too startled to think of communicating with his cousin.

Right Minister Ichijo said, "Really, Your Majesty, I don't think it's necessary for Prince Momozono to be present." Distaste curdled his polite tone. "You can answer the sosakan-sama's questions by yourself."

"Momo-chan can stay if he wants," the emperor said. Turning to his cousin, he said, "Do you?"

"Yes, p-please!" Prince Momozono's hands flapped.

Sano observed the devotion in his eyes and the entreaty in his voice: The "pet" adored its master. Pity alleviated Sano's initial repugnance. Sano also perceived shame in Momozono's blinking eyes: He had the wits to know how repulsive he was.

Folding his arms, Tomohito glared down at his subjects. "If any of you don't like it, you can leave."

No one did. In a low aside, Ichijo said to Sano, "Please pardon the inconvenience."

"That's quite all right." Sano understood the embarra.s.sment that having an idiot in their midst must cause the Imperial Court, even while he regretted their cruel att.i.tude toward Momozono. He said to the boys, "Tell me how you happened to find Left Minister Konoe's body."

While Momozono hooted and tossed his head, Tomohito said, "We heard a scream in the garden, so we went to see what it was. We saw the left minister lying by the cottage."

"Did you see anyone else there?" Sano asked.

"Everyone c-came right after us," Momozono said.

"Not then, but when you first arrived," Sano said, noting the boy's surprisingly clear, cultured speech. Upon closer examination, Sano saw that Momozono had a well-proportioned body; the spasms gave the false impression of physical deformity. His fine features might have been handsome, if not for the strain of trying to control himself. "Was there anyone in the garden already?"

"I don't think so," Tomohito said. "But it was dark, and we hardly had time to look around."

"Did you hear anything?" Sano asked.

"People r-running and shouting," Prince Momozono said. His mouth twitched violently.

The prince wasn't an idiot after all, Sano realized. Momozono's attempts to direct the conversation away from the time he and Tomohito had spent in the garden before the others arrived suggested that he understood the implications of their finding Left Minister Konoe. For the moment, Sano allowed the diversion. "So the whole court gathered in the garden. Was your mother there, Your Majesty?"

"Yes," Tomohito said impatiently.

"And your consort?"

"As Momo-chan said, everyone came."

Sano hoped that Reiko would learn more about Lady Jokyoden's and Lady Asagao's movements that night. Perhaps one of the women had murdered Konoe, then joined the crowd in the garden. Yet the same possibility applied to Tomohito and Momozono, with stronger justification. They'd been first to reach Konoe; therefore, they must not have been far away when he died. They could have pretended to discover the body together, after one of them had killed Konoe.

"Where were you before you went to the garden?" Sano said.

"In the study hall," Emperor Tomohito said.

Sano watched his hands begin to fidget. "Doing what?"

"Playing darts," Tomohito said, picking at his fingernails.

"At midnight? Why so late?"

Though Tomohito unflinchingly held Sano's gaze, his fingers picked faster. "I just felt like it."

"Your cousin played, too?" Sano said in disbelief. He imagined Prince Momozono wildly flinging missiles in all directions. He caught himself committing the same error of judgment as the court by presuming that Momozono's affliction rendered him a complete mental and physical cripple. Yet surely Momozono lacked the self-control necessary to master the power of kiai. Of the two boys, Tomohito was far and away the better suspect.

"Yes. Well, I mean, Momo-chan watched me play. I scored three perfect shots."

"Was anyone else with you?"

"No. But we were there." Tomohito's belligerent tone dared Sano to doubt him. "Both of us. Together."

"I see." Sano appraised Tomohito's nervousness and observed that Momozono had remained perfectly quiet during the exchange. It was obvious that they were lying. Sano considered pressuring them into telling the truth, but he saw the danger of doing so.