第80节

itched. The authors of this

crime lay beyond the palace walls.

She was correct. Kamakura cottoned on fast. The fact that Lord

Ieyasu's head was also missing changed the whole nature of this

affair.

The power of magic had been present - that was evident - but the two

spirit-witches had done more than cast spells. They were agents who

had skillfully plotted two audacious murders, and who had gained access

to the secret passages within the palace - passages that not even the

Shogun's bodyguards appeared to know about!

The heads had not vanished into thin air, they had been taken, in the

time honoured fashion, as proof that the Toh-Yota family had suffered a

mortal blow. The hand of the Yama-Shita lay behind this, and Lord

Min-Orota had been their treacherous intermediary - for it was he who

had brought the spirit-witches to Lady Mishiko in the Winter Palace and

provided the boat to bring her to AronGiren.

The witches and their valuable trophies were probably still moving

through the secret passageway. Kamakura knew the entrance lay hidden

behind the right-hand wall beam, but because he had kept his eyes

averted when Lady Mishiko had made her secret visit to the Shogun, he

did not know where to find the release mechanism. The beam would have

to be smashed open. To do that, heavy implements would have to be

brought and valuable time lost. And when an opening was made - who

would have the courage to go in after them?

And there was something else he had to consider.

If a subsequent enquiry found that the assassins had made use of a

secret passageway to the Shoguns bed-chamber, and he revealed his

knowledge of it, someone who resented his meteoric promotion to Castle

Commandant might accuse him of complicity in the crime.

Kamakura decided to say nothing. When the big names in the Toh-Yota

family arrived for the inquest, the air would be thick with charges and

countercharges.

There was no point in rocking the boat when he already had more trouble

than he could handle ....

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Steve checked the luminous hands of his old-style watch.

Two fifteen . . . over three and a half hours since they were yanked

out of bed and thrown into a stinking hole in the ground, and they were

still without any clue as to what unpleasantness their hosts had in

store. The only cheering note had been his contact with Roz, otherwise

they were in the dark, literally and metaphorically - just the kind of

situation he hated.

He sat down opposite Fran, leaving the width of the doorway between

them.

Her aggressive attitude and the threat to demote him stopped him

feeling sorry for her. His wing-man training, followed by two years of

roughing it on the overground, in constant danger of losing his life,

enabled him to cope with this sudden downturn in their fortunes. Fran,

on the other hand, was used to giving orders; being waited on hand and

foot. Being sent to Ne-Issan with him was probably the biggest and

riskiest adventure of her life, but she had still been wrapped in

cotton wool. Until their sudden arrest and confinement, they had been

privileged visitors, transported in relative luxury with japs bowing to

them all along the way. There had been no whipping canes laid across

her back.

A pity. Steve recalled the painful beating he'd undergone at the

post-house prior to his transfer to the Heron Pool. An experience like

that might make her a lot easier to get on with.

Pushing Fran and her personality problems out of his mind, Steve dozed

fitfully for the next hour or so, then woke to the sound of several

pairs of feet tramping along the corridor. The orange glow of an

approaching lantern illuminated the square hole in the cell-door and

spilled enough light inside for him to be able to make out Fran's

upturned face.

They both rose as the footsteps halted outside, then stepped back as

the heavy bolts were withdrawn. Steve didn't resist as Fran searched

for his right hand and gripped it tightly. The door was thrown open,

and the all-enveloping darkness inside the cell receded as the jap

holding the lantern raised it above his head.

Steve and Fran found themselves looking at five men.