Black Lotus by Laura Joh Rowland

Author:Laura Joh Rowland
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Sano (Fictitious character), Police, Police - Japan, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), Fiction, Women Sleuths, Crime & mystery, Crime & Thriller, Ichirō (Fictitious character), Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths, Ichiro, Mystery fiction, Historical fiction, 1688-1704, Mystery, Police Procedural, Laura Joh Rowland, Samurai, Ichiro (Fictitious character), Historical, Sano, Mystery & Detective - Historical, Detective, Japan - History - Genroku period, Mystery & Detective, Police spouses, Fiction - Mystery, General, Suspense, Japan
ISBN: 9780312979584
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2002-02-28T22:25:06.998000+00:00

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19

I will send forth believers,

Monks and nuns,

Men and women of pure faith,

To propagate my Law.

----FROM THE BLACK LOTUS SUTRA

Shinagawa was a village south of Edo, and the second of fifty-three post stations along the T6kaid5 highway. The palanquin ride from the Zōjō district brought Reiko there by afternoon. Between Edo Bay and the wooded rise of Palace Hill, the highway ran past teahouses filled with citizens greeting travelers or seeing them off on journeys. More travelers browsed shops, gathered at the stables, and lined up for inspection at the station office. Hawkers called customers to inns. Now Reiko peered through the palanquin's window at passing samurai from nearby daimyo residences, and the many monks who came to Shinagawa for illicit amusements. Looking down a side street, she saw banners stamped with the Tokugawa crest protruding from a large crowd gathered between rows of connected houses with thatched roofs.

"Stop over there," she called to her bearers.

They obeyed. Reiko alighted from the palanquin. The mist had cleared, but the sky was overcast and the air cool; a damp wind wafted charcoal smoke and the smell of horse manure from the highway. Reiko and her guards walked toward the banners. The crowd included laborers, housewives carrying babies, and curious children. Men's serious voices emanated from the center.

When the guards cleared her way through the crowd, Reiko saw Minister Fugatami, his samurai entourage, and a group of aged male commoners dressed in dark robes, standing around a well, a square wooden structure fitted with a pulley and bucket. Fugatami acknowledged Reiko's arrival with a slight nod. His sharp features were grim as he returned his attention to his companions.

"This is one of three wells that we believe were poisoned by the Black Lotus during the past year," said one of the commoners, a dignified, white-haired man. Reiko supposed that he and his comrades were village elders and he was their senior, giving Minister Fugatami a report on incidents involving the sect. He lowered the bucket into the well and drew it up, full. "The water has a peculiar odor."

Fugatami sniffed the water and grimaced. "Indeed." He dipped a hand into the bucket, examined the liquid that ran off his fingers, then said to his attendants, "Note that the water also has an oily texture and faint greenish hue."

"People have complained of the odd taste," said the elder. "Fifty-three have become ill with diarrhea after drinking. Fortunately, none have died, and we've sealed the bad wells, but we're worried about possible future incidents."

Angry rumbles of agreement arose from the spectators; a baby cried. The elders silenced the crowd with stern looks.

"Why do you think the Black Lotus is responsible?" asked Fugatami as his attendants wrote down the data.

"There was never any problem with wells until Black Lotus priests and nuns began frequenting Shinagawa in large numbers. Neighborhood watchmen have seen them loitering at night near the wells that were later found to be bad."

Alarm and elation stirred in Reiko. Mass poisoning was a serious new addition to the list of accusations against the Black Lotus.

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