Ishikawa's face remains unreadable behind her mask.
"I don't doubt that you need silver, but it's not what you're after - from what I heard, you're in it to hone your own skills," Ishikawa says, "which in a way is worse than wanting money. Mercenaries get paid to stand around, much of the time. But your quest requires enemies, and that means violence. By all accounts, you're very good at that, too. I'm sure you understand why I want to keep an eye on you."
Ishikawa hesitates before continuing. "But as you said, it would be better if we work with each other than against one another. If you came here just to prevent what you thought was a crime, I commend your dedication, but you're not being completely honest with me here. Perhaps what you were following is not a crime in itself, but is connected to something bigger that may interest me. Why don't you tell me the whole story?"
"Yet for someone who is out to hone is skills, I have fought remarkably few duels, which are considered the true test of the swordsman. It is true that I have killed many a bandit and other criminals, but I hope the stories tell that I draw my blade only after giving my opponents a chance to avoid bloodshed. But of course, you shouldn't take my word for it. How does the saying go? Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. Since it's almost certain I'll be one or the other, from your perspective, yes, you'll want to know what I'm up to."
Takao scratches his still-smooth chin as the Lady asks for the whole story. "It is true that I have not told you everything, and I will not. Important political figures may be involved, and even the hint of an investigation could be construed as a slight to honor. What you currently have is plausible deniability. If something goes wrong, all you have to do is discipline an unruly police man."
He leans back in his seat. "Have you sworn to the Emperor that you would protect his peace, as a samurai swears fealty and service to his lord? Then I will swear to you that I will tell you all I know as soon as I have proof for my suspicions."
Ishikawa nods. "I can see that you are a practical man," she says. "I do need to keep my eye on you, and if all it takes is giving you a job, that'll be one of the easier cases I've worked on."
Takao's explanation about plausible deniability does not land quite as well. "If your suspicions reach that high, claiming I didn't know about your intentions won't protect me. It's my job to know. If you don't feel comfortable telling me the truth, then that is one thing, but let's make this clear: keeping secrets from me doesn't help me. And - pardon my Foreign - I don't give a damn about criminals that hide behind 'honor'. All they care about is their reputation, but I don't care about that. I've got no face left to save."
The mention of the oath to the Empire causes a brief fidget from Ishikawa. "That was a long time ago," she says. "For all intents and purposes, the empire's dead, but like a chicken without a head, it keeps running. Sooner or later, and I think sooner, someone's going to try to seize power, whether it's a local daimyo breaking away or someone playing at a new shogunate. It doesn't take a genius to read between your lines, Takao-kun, you're after that someone. It's the 'why' I still can't quite figure out. Is it really just a sense of obligation to a dead emperor?"
"If your suspicions reach that high, claiming I didn't know about your intentions won't protect me. It's my job to know. If you don't feel comfortable telling me the truth, then that is one thing, but let's make this clear: keeping secrets from me doesn't help me. And - pardon my Foreign - I don't give a damn about criminals that hide behind 'honor'. All they care about is their reputation, but I don't care about that. I've got no face left to save."
The face may be unreadable, but the duelist reads the body anyway, the breathing, the motion of the hands, tension, perspiration. Takao watches Ishikawa intensely as he sits up and fixes her with her gaze. "No, it is not your job to know. It is your job to lead this organization that you have created. Have you ever wondered what would become of it if you were gone? Have you ever wondered how powerful a tool it would be in the wrong hands, how easy it would be to seize the throne with it, coupled with your edicts? While you are alive, your men out there will die for you. But what if you are disgraced, or killed? And a corrupt person takes your place? You may care neither about your life or your honor, but your men do, and the Empire does."
"With or without an Emperor, the Empire is the people, and it can never die. The Emperor's peace is peace and prosperity for the people. Emperor or no Emperor, do you stand by the oath that you swore to him?"
"You now know all I want you to know. My motives will remain my own."
Takao abruptly changes the subject: "Tell me about gonnes. Out in the country, they are rare, but all of your men here have them. Are they that common? Do all nobles provide their ashigaru with gonnes?"
"I have wondered that," Ishikawa replies, and even her hoarse voice sounds uncomfortable. "You are not in the business of telling people what they want to hear, hm? Then I'll stop asking your motives for now. But I will figure you out, Takao Shinmen."
Ishikawa shrugs dismissively at the repeated question about gonnes. "The foreigners made and sold many gonnes from their trading post. The Emperor's last decree was to grant them the use of their land and a free trade, so we can't stop them. Many swordsmiths have turned to making them, too. Any criminal who wants one can get their hands on one. I cannot afford to put my men into armor that is proof against gonnes, but I can easily afford to provide them with their own gonnes. And yes, many nobles have seen fit to acquire these weapons for their men, too. Now if you ask me, I would rather a man have a gonne than a sword - it is a far more suitable weapon for the common man to defend himself with. It has the pleasant side effect of turning ronin around these parts to my door instead of banditry. Out in the country, a farmer has no means to defend himself, but the traders here, even if they do not have the time to learn to swordfight or the money to afford well-trained guards, can easily afford to buy a gonne. Keeps our roads safe, which keeps the city prosperous, which keeps my men fed and clothed."
"I don't hire people I don't trust. I can't trust your motives, so I need to see if your actions can be trusted." She grabs a scroll from her desk and hands it over to Takao. "A woman's body was found in a canal yesterday, with her throat cut. The scroll holds everything we know. Take it and find her murderer. If you succeed, I will hire you as an investigator. And before you ask - no, I will not give you a license to carry your weapons inside the city. Not yet, anyway. So for now, you either take the case, or take your leave."
"I have wondered that," Ishikawa replies, and even her hoarse voice sounds uncomfortable. "You are not in the business of telling people what they want to hear, hm? Then I'll stop asking your motives for now. But I will figure you out, Takao Shinmen."
"You ask for confidence, yet you give none yourself. When you are ready to answer my question, I might be ready to answer yours." His tone suggests that he doesn't think that 'when' is 'now'.
Takao picks up the scroll, rises, and bows. "You have given me all I could ask for. Will I be able to call on your men for help, should I need it? And once I find him or her, what would you like me to do with the murderer?"
"A good question," Ishikawa says. "You have no authority to do anything with him. Report to me when you have found him out, we'll do the rest. As for my men...consider yourself a concerned citizen. You have no authority over them, but if you are in danger, you can of course call them for help, same as anyone here."
Takao nods, then leaves Ishikawa's room and heads outside.
He pauses for a moment to study the scroll, to see what clues can be gleaned, then heads for the canal. First, he was going to put some work into this murder, and then he would figure out where the best place to spot an incoming barge would be, and how easily he could follow those barges to their mooring point.
Victim is female, young, brown hair, has no identifying marks, name unknown. Victim was undressed when found. Corpse seemed reasonably fresh, likely killed only hours before being found. Injuries to the back of head seem to have been caused by a blunt weapon. Ragged cut through the neck all the way to the spine. Corpse was found floating in canal by Harbor Guide Second Class Iromi Goten in the morning. Goten claims not to know her. He works this route alone, it is not popular with traders because of the shallow canal draft. Goten refused to make further statements, saying he thinks we think he killed her. Several other harbor workers confirm that Goten was with them all night, so he is likely innocent.
No family has come forward to claim her body. A call has gone out for anyone who may have been near the canal during the night to come forward as witness.
Harbor Guide Second Class Iromi Goten is drunk, which Takao quickly finds out is about as rare as the sun shining during the day.
To back up just a bit: Finding Goten wasn't hard. Everybody at the harbor has heard of that guy, and to judge from the expressions on their faces, not in a good way. Takao quickly narrows it down to a barge docked at a small house next to one of the many canals, presumably the one where the body was found. Iromi Goten lies outside that house, leaned up against the wall, with the sun warming his bare feet. But their smell is overpowered by his breath, which is how Takao figures he's drunk, as if the slurred speech and unfocused look wasn't enough.
"Whaddaya...whaddaya wan' from...fromme?" Iromi asks. "I ain't on duty, piss off."
"Now, lissen, I don't know nothin', I jus' found her. Don't know nothin', no Sir. Cops think I killed her! I didn't lay a finger on her, I found her, I called them, they go around accusin' me of stuff...I was out drinkin', Sir. I was out all night and Sho and Hideo and this...this guy, they were with me. I'm not right proud of it but I was drinkin'. I didn't do nothin' and I didn't see nobody around here. I...guess I must have walked right past her, in the dark, I couldn't see nothin', I wasn't lookin', I...woulda been to late anyway, wouldn't it?"
He looks up to Takao. "Hey, man, you look like a decent fella, and I can't really stand, so normally I wouldn't ask but you offered - can you get me a drink? Just a little...hair of the dog to clear me up a little."
"Yes, it probably would have been too late", Takao says soothingly. "Here, tell you what. Why don't I give you and hand, and we'll go over there and buy you a drink?"
Takao doesn't wait long for an answer, but pulls the guy up by his shoulders, not too roughly, and making sure that he'll be out of the way of any drink that might find its way up again. Then he supports Iromi's arm, and they start walking to the neares sake house.
"These other two, Sho and Hideo, did they see her? What about this other guy? Had you seen him before? Are you usually out drinking this night of the week? Point to where you found her when we pass, if you would. Ah, there we are. You know, I understand it was a terrible sight to see, poor girl, and some of this shochu here will surely help."
"She was...she was right there, man," Iromi says, gesticulating to a nearby tree that grows by the side of the canal. A body could have been dumped there - or further upstream, farther from the harbor, and then swept down and caught in the tree's roots.
"Sho and...Sho and Hideo, man, we were together, they didn't see anything...I mean they didn't see the body...I don't know if they saw her, I never saw her before, maybe they...I don't know. And that guy, I never saw him before neither, no. He said he was a trader, man, he was nice, he sat down with us, he paid for our drinks. That was nice. Yeah, we're usually out drinking when we're not on duty...or at Madame Riko's...or sleeping it off..."
Takao buys Iromi his drink, and pays for the whole bottle, as promised.
"Where can I find Sho and Hideo? Are they also Harbor Guides? Which areas are theirs? What did the trader look like?"
Takao finishes the conversation, then looks for Sho and Hideo. He doesn't know more about the perpetrator, but it looks like someone made sure there would be no Harbor Guidess around that night when the body was dumped. Perhaps those other two would know more.
"Yeah, we're all guides, man," Iromi says. "Sho's on route five, Hideo's on four...no, wait, he's on three this week. Training some kid, like...fourth son of some samurai, has to earn his way somehow, you know how it is."
"Very nice of you, man," he continues as he takes his first swig from the bottle. "You know, those cops, they're all jerks, but you're alright, man. Like this trader - did I tell you about the trader? That guy was nice. He had this super-long beard, and he was so...rotu...rotan...fat!" Iromi laughs. "Sorry, man, it's true, he was so fat. Nice and rich, but fat. I hope that helps you, man." He raises the bottle. "'cause this sure helps me!"
---
Sho's actually in the middle of guiding a barge through his canal when Takao arrives to ask his questions. He keeps his eyes on the canal and the long stick he uses to probe its depth.
"Yeah, we were out drinking last night," Sho says. "You do this shit here every day, you'll want to get wasted, too. I got this herbal sake, real top-shelf stuff? I was fucked up. The next thing I know is it's morning and I've got those policemen knocking on my door asking questions. And I told them, officer, I can't tell you anything. I was with the boys, we were drinking, I don't remember a damn thing. I would have told you to go to Iromi, he can really hold his sake, but if he doesn't remember - oh, hells, I think Hideo didn't drink too much. Never does. Fucking lightweight."
---
Hideo's not on route three - though the fourth son of a samurai is, a scrawny little guy who seems rather desperate for somebody to come and tell him what to do, especially as there's a rather angry line of barge captains at the mouth of the canal demanding that they be guided through. The original stack of three barges seems committed to staying there until they can advance, while the ones behind them are breaking off to find a different passage.
Hideo's also not on route four, but Ta (his replacement) is. That woman can't be more than 80 pounds soaking wet, but her skin is weathered from long days in the sun and she handles the depth stick with the deftness of a bō adept.
"Hideo's on three, I'm sure," Ta says. "Don't know what to tell you. I mean, these guys - me included, I guess - we have problems but we show up to work, you know? Hideo's been here for four years, hasn't missed a day of work. You sure he's not there?"
Takao takes a glance at the barges, to make sure the one he's waiting for is not among them, then turns back to Ta.
"Say, you wouldn't know where he lives, would you? Dedicated man like him misses work, he might be sick or something. Oh, and have you ever seen a fat man with a long beard around?"
Takao's in a hurry. Hideo not showing up to work might mean someone's getting rid of witnesses. Takao's is less confident about the description. He is no master of disguise, but if he'd ever have to disguise himself... yup, cushion in the kimono and fake beard in the face.
"Hideo? He's got a cabin - well, his sister has a cabin, he's just living there. Haven't ever seen his sister, come to think of it."
Ta points Takao in the right direction. "And no, I didn't see that fat man...wasn't invited to the drinking. The boys don't like me drinking them under the table."
Gatac
