Read Online Beneath an Opal Moon by Eric Van Lustbader - Free Book Online Page B

to?”
    Kossori joined him. “Nothing good, of that I am certain. Open the box. No doubt a clue to his night’s work will be found therein.”
    Moichi stooped and opened its lacquered lid.
    He saw the queue first, blue-black, gleaming with fragrant oils that must have taken hours to apply. The hair was carefully and expensively coifed. This, too, had taken much time to achieve. Below, the brown almond eyes were open as if in surprise, the thick lips parted as if in incipient protest, the yellow teeth still shining with a film of saliva. Blood had pooled about the stump of the neck, a dark and brooding pond, coagulating slowly, held inside the vessel only by the thin coat of lacquer covering the interior.
    â€œI do not want any part of it.”
    â€œI am asking you as a personal favor. I—”
    â€œMy friend, let me tell you, I am no good at mysteries. Never have been. That is an area of expertise over which you preside. I would be a fool to dabble in anything about which I have so little understanding or natural facility.”
    â€œBut that’s just it, Kossori. If you will just listen to me, I will explain how you can help me.”
    â€œHmph!” Kossori eyed him suspiciously but was now silent.
    They were sitting at a rough plank table in a tavern on Iron Street that was crowded and bustling with business. Set before them were huge pewter plates filled with charred fowl and vegetables seared in hot oil and sesame seeds. Between them sat a fired-clay flagon of yellow wine but their handleless cups were empty.
    â€œLast night there was a murder—”
    â€œUhm, yes. I imagine so. One of several hundred in Sha’angh’sei. What of it?”
    â€œIf you will stop interrupting, I mean to tell you.”
    Kossori grinned and spread his palms placatingly. “By all means, say on.” He commenced to eat while Moichi spoke.
    â€œThe strange thing is,” Moichi concluded, “that the two were killed in disparate fashion.”
    Kossori’s shoulders lifted, fell. “It only means that there were two killers. Simple.” He wiped grease from his mouth with the back of one hand.
    Moichi shook his head. “Not so simple, really. Omojiru was killed swiftly, efficiently and coldly as if by a—a machine.”
    Kossori looked at him quizzically. “Machine? What is a machine.”
    Too late, Moichi realized that he had no way of explaining this concept to his friend. He himself had never seen a machine but had had it described to him by the Dai-San during their long trek through the thick jungles surrounding Xich Chih. He would have to settle for a close equivalent. “I mean to say a nonhuman source.”
    â€œI see. And the other? This outlander from—where did you say?”
    â€œKintai.”
    â€œYes. Well. How did he die?”
    â€œOddly. Very oddly. Something about it was very disturbing.” He described what had been done to the man’s heart.
    Kossori had put his eating sticks down beside the plate of half-eaten food. “Extremely unpleasant, I agree. But there are more ways in this world, my friend, to get information out of a human being, than either you or I could collate in a lifetime. The Bujun, it is said, are most adept at this kind of thing. How do you suppose I can help?”
    Two Greens came through the front door, glanced around the large room for a moment, then chose an empty table just to the right of the door. They sat down, one facing Moichi. They began to talk.
    â€œI don’t know, really. Just a feeling.” He shrugged. “Perhaps there’s nothing after all.”
    The waitress approached them but they waved her off.
    Kossori patted Moichi’s stout wrist. “Anyway, it’s good that you have an interest. This city’s not good for you, you know.”
    Moichi smiled. The Green facing him had looked over once; he had seen it out of the corner of his eye. But when he’d