Poison River by Josh Reynolds

Author:Josh Reynolds
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: epic fantasy, mystery and detective, media tie-in
Publisher: Aconyte
Published: 2020-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Shugenja

“Have you ever met a shugenja before?” Shin asked, shifting in his seat as a near miss with another flatboat caused their pilot to shout at the offending craft and make a sharp gesture. The river was crowded this morning. Above, the sky was all pinks and oranges as Lady Sun began her journey.

“No,” Kasami said. She sat opposite him, one hand on her sword and her eyes on the water. In contrast, Shin’s eyes were on the shrines that crowded at the intersection of the two rivers. Even at a distance, something about them made him distinctly uncomfortable.

“They are… odd, for lack of a better term. At least I have always found them to be so.” He snapped open his fan and gave it a desultory twitch. “Some investigators make use of their abilities to ferret out information, though evidence found in such a way is inadmissible in court. Spirits, it seems, are no more honest than men.”

Kasami gave a sharp laugh. “So why bother talking to them, then?”

“Who – the spirits, or the shugenja?”

“Either.”

“A good question. And the answer is Kaeru Azuma. He seemed surprised that I had not yet received an invitation to speak to Tonbo Kuma. This made me wonder why that might be – and so, I’ve decided to ask.”

“Do you think they’re involved?” Kasami asked.

“I do not know. I am certain a third party is involved. Azuma believes this poisoned rice to be an act against Tetsua’s position, rather than against one of the clans. Tetsua himself may hold the same belief, even if he didn’t voice it.”

“And you?”

“I do not have enough facts to compose an opinion. An investigator must keep an open mind at all times, so that they might assemble a theory free of bias. Only the facts matter.” Shin frowned. “That is what Agasha wrote. The key is in finding the facts – and then successfully assembling them into the correct order.”

Kasami looked at him. “And what is the correct order?”

Shin began to tick the points off with his fan. “One – someone has been engaged in acts of sabotage against the Lion. Two – someone, possibly the same someone, stole a shipment of rice off the Unicorn wharf. Three – this rice was sold to the Lion by a merchant named Saiga. Four – the rice was delivered by an unknown vessel to the Lion. Five – during the delivery, the rice was poisoned. Six – when the Lion discovered this, they sought out Saiga, who immediately blamed the Unicorn. Seven – someone tried to kill the shinobi who poisoned the rice.”

Kasami listened and nodded when he fell silent. “So why aren’t we looking for this Saiga?” she asked.

“No need. Ito knows every merchant in the city. I have asked him to come by for lunch – hopefully he will be able to direct us to Saiga. But he is only one link in the chain. We will need all of the links to find the end.” He fanned himself furiously, his face set in an expression of discontent.

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