Read Online The Samurai's Wife by Laura Joh Rowland - Free Book Online
Authors: Laura Joh Rowland
Tags: Suspense
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to obey. Sano entered the room, carrying a clothbound ledger. Fatigue shadowed his face, but he smiled at Reiko. Feeling the stir of desire and affection that his presence always evoked, she murmured, "Welcome."
Sano studied her anxiously. "I'm sorry I had to leave you. Is everything all right?"
That his immediate concern should be for her, even when he had serious business on his mind, filled Reiko with love for him. "Everything is fine," she said, forbearing to mention her own troubles. "I want to hear all about what happened, as soon as you've had time to relax."
After he'd bathed and dressed in a cool cotton robe, they sat together in their room. The maids brought Sano a meal tray containing clear broth, grilled river fish, pickled radish, and rice. While he ate, he told Reiko the circumstances of Left Minister Konoe's death.
"So it was murder," Reiko said, relishing the challenge of a hunt for a killer, "and an actual instance of death by kiai! This is going to be a very interesting case."
"And a difficult one," Sano said. He paused, using his chopsticks to pick bones out of the fish. "Hopefully, I'll soon have some clues, as well as statements from suspects, and we can discuss them. Your ideas will be very helpful."
A cautious note in his voice set off a warning signal in Reiko's head. Unhappy comprehension deflated her excitement. "Discussion and ideas-is that all you're going to allow me to contribute to the investigation?"
"Please don't get upset," Sano said, laying down his chopsticks as his troubled gaze met her appalled one. "Let me explain."
The disappointment was more than Reiko could bear. "But I should help search for clues and interview the suspects and witnesses. To develop any useful ideas about the murder, I need to see the people and places involved." Tradition forbade a wife to argue with her husband, but Reiko and Sano had a marriage that strained the bounds of convention. "Have I come all this way to sit idle while you toil alone?"
"I brought you here to protect you," Sano reminded her.
"From Chamberlain Yanagisawa, who is far away in Edo."
"From grave peril," Sano said. "And this investigation has great potential for that."
Yet Reiko preferred peril to boredom. "I've worked on murder cases before. This one is no different. I'm not afraid."
"You should be," Sano said somberly, "because this case is indeed different. The power of kiai makes this killer more dangerous than an ordinary criminal."
"The killer is no more dangerous to me than to you," Reiko said. Exasperation rose in her. With an eleven-year age difference between them, Sano often seemed like an overprotective father. "Your greater size and strength are no defense against a spirit cry."
"My many years of martial arts training are," Sano said. "I've practiced rituals for strengthening the will. A strong will is the foundation for the power of kiai, and the only weapon against it."
Reiko lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. "Do you think that just because I haven't lived long enough to study as much as you have, it means my will is weak?"
"Not at all," Sano said with a wry smile.
"Rituals you've never had a chance to test won't guarantee your safety if the killer attacks you," Reiko retorted. "Nor will your sex or rank. The killer's victim was male, and the highest official in the Imperial Court."
Sano picked up his soup bowl, then set it down. "There are also practical reasons I can't include you in the investigation. You couldn't go to the crime scene with me today. I can't take you along on my inquiries tomorrow. For a samurai's wife to follow him around, involving herself in official business-you know it just isn't done." His regretful expression told Reiko that he sympathized with her position, even as he defended his own. "I'm sorry."
"There must be something I can do," Reiko
Sano studied her anxiously. "I'm sorry I had to leave you. Is everything all right?"
That his immediate concern should be for her, even when he had serious business on his mind, filled Reiko with love for him. "Everything is fine," she said, forbearing to mention her own troubles. "I want to hear all about what happened, as soon as you've had time to relax."
After he'd bathed and dressed in a cool cotton robe, they sat together in their room. The maids brought Sano a meal tray containing clear broth, grilled river fish, pickled radish, and rice. While he ate, he told Reiko the circumstances of Left Minister Konoe's death.
"So it was murder," Reiko said, relishing the challenge of a hunt for a killer, "and an actual instance of death by kiai! This is going to be a very interesting case."
"And a difficult one," Sano said. He paused, using his chopsticks to pick bones out of the fish. "Hopefully, I'll soon have some clues, as well as statements from suspects, and we can discuss them. Your ideas will be very helpful."
A cautious note in his voice set off a warning signal in Reiko's head. Unhappy comprehension deflated her excitement. "Discussion and ideas-is that all you're going to allow me to contribute to the investigation?"
"Please don't get upset," Sano said, laying down his chopsticks as his troubled gaze met her appalled one. "Let me explain."
The disappointment was more than Reiko could bear. "But I should help search for clues and interview the suspects and witnesses. To develop any useful ideas about the murder, I need to see the people and places involved." Tradition forbade a wife to argue with her husband, but Reiko and Sano had a marriage that strained the bounds of convention. "Have I come all this way to sit idle while you toil alone?"
"I brought you here to protect you," Sano reminded her.
"From Chamberlain Yanagisawa, who is far away in Edo."
"From grave peril," Sano said. "And this investigation has great potential for that."
Yet Reiko preferred peril to boredom. "I've worked on murder cases before. This one is no different. I'm not afraid."
"You should be," Sano said somberly, "because this case is indeed different. The power of kiai makes this killer more dangerous than an ordinary criminal."
"The killer is no more dangerous to me than to you," Reiko said. Exasperation rose in her. With an eleven-year age difference between them, Sano often seemed like an overprotective father. "Your greater size and strength are no defense against a spirit cry."
"My many years of martial arts training are," Sano said. "I've practiced rituals for strengthening the will. A strong will is the foundation for the power of kiai, and the only weapon against it."
Reiko lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. "Do you think that just because I haven't lived long enough to study as much as you have, it means my will is weak?"
"Not at all," Sano said with a wry smile.
"Rituals you've never had a chance to test won't guarantee your safety if the killer attacks you," Reiko retorted. "Nor will your sex or rank. The killer's victim was male, and the highest official in the Imperial Court."
Sano picked up his soup bowl, then set it down. "There are also practical reasons I can't include you in the investigation. You couldn't go to the crime scene with me today. I can't take you along on my inquiries tomorrow. For a samurai's wife to follow him around, involving herself in official business-you know it just isn't done." His regretful expression told Reiko that he sympathized with her position, even as he defended his own. "I'm sorry."
"There must be something I can do," Reiko
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