Read Online The Crane Pavilion by I. J. Parker - Free Book Online Page A

“She kept to herself. Well, we all do mostly. The student, of course, leaves for his classes. I think the nun might know more about her than the men. The two women did visit each other sometimes.”
    “How do you know that? From what I gather, both Lady Ogata’s pavilion and the nun’s are hidden by trees from the main house.”
    The painter flushed.
    Koshiro stared at him. “Been spying on her, have you, Yoshizane?” he sneered.
    “No more than you, you dirty old man.”
    Koshiro started up, fists clenched.
    Tora stepped between them. “Sit down, both of you. We don’t care about you watching a pretty female, though I’m sure she might have. We want to know what you saw while you were ogling her charms from the bushes.”
    Akitada gave him a look. “What Tora means,” he said, “is that you have all lived here together for a number of years. It stands to reason that you should know about each other’s lives, activities, moods, backgrounds, and even why each one of you came here to live.”
    It was a mistake. Both men clamped their lips together and glowered. He heard Tora heave a sigh.
    “So, “Akitada declared, “there was something wrong with her death, and you two know what it was.”
    “No,” cried Koshiro, turning white.
    “What do you mean?” protested the painter. “What could have been wrong?
    “Could she have been murdered? Did someone have reason to kill her? Did she quarrel with anyone? Threaten anyone? Did she know something that made her dangerous to someone? Was she in someone’s way? Come on! There was something! Speak up!”
    The painter gulped.
    Koshiro, who was breathing fast, said, “The police have been here. They looked at everything. They said it was suicide. I found her that morning. There was no way anyone could have done this.”
    Akitada raised his brows. “How so?”
    “Well … it looked … you know … like suicide.” Koshiro wiped a suddenly sweaty brow. “She was alone, and she’d pushed a trunk under a rafter. She’d climbed up, tied a piece of silk around it and then around her neck and … and jumped off.”
    “The only way you can know this for certain is if you saw her do it,” Akitada commented.
    Speechless, Koshiro shook his head.
    The painter said, “It probably did happen that way. What makes you think it was murder, sir?”
    “It may have happened that way, but things could also have been arranged to make her death look like suicide. Your refusal to talk about her and the others suggests that there were secrets you hoped to keep hidden. It’s suspicious.”
    Koshiro rose. “I have nothing else to tell you. You may as well go away and talk to the others.”
    The painter nodded. “I also have no secrets to tell. Perhaps Lady Ogata shared her thoughts with the nun. She wasn’t likely to confide in any of the men.” He smiled. “Trouble is, Seikan’s not here at the moment. Gone on a pilgrimage. Left just after Lady Ogata died. To pray for her soul.”
    He and Koshiro exchanged a glance. They seemed to have overcome their resentment of each other and decided to stick together on this matter.
    Akitada sighed and rose. “In that case, we’ll be back.”
    Outside Koshiro’s house, Tora said, “I think they’re hiding something. We should’ve pressed them harder.”
    “To what point? Let’s go home.”
    Akitada felt the darkness descending again. He had done enough, at least for one day. There was no point in any of this beyond the fact that Tora and the others cared about him and it would have been heartless not to make the gesture. But what was there for him except the eventual return to a home that had become empty and a life that was purposeless?
    It would be a relief to become like these people living here in obscurity, each alone, each without obligations to anyone but him- or herself. Whatever had brought them here, he thought, must have been painful. Well, who was he to rob them of their peace?
    Tora walked a step or so behind, as was