The Cloud Pavilion by Laura Joh Rowland

Author:Laura Joh Rowland
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fiction, Ichirō (Fictitious character), Family Life, Mystery fiction, Historical fiction, 1688-1704, Historical Mystery, Domestic fiction, Ichir†o (Fictitious character), Mystery, Fiction - Espionage, Samurai, Ichiro (Fictitious character), Historical, Japan, Thrillers, Sano, Mystery & Detective - Historical, Japan - History - Genroku period, Mystery & Detective, American Mystery & Suspense Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, American Historical Fiction
ISBN: 9780312379490
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2009-10-27T22:24:27.206000+00:00

When Reiko climbed out of her palanquin in the Zj Temple district, Lieutenant Tanuma held an umbrella over her head to shield her from the rain. He opened the gate of Keiaiji Convent for her, and she lifted the hem of her robe as she walked through the wet garden in her high-soled sandals. The pine trees filled the air with their fresh, resinous scent; their heavy green boughs dripped. The abbess came out on the veranda to greet Reiko.

“May I see Tengu-in again?” Reiko said. “I’m hoping she’ll be able to tell me more than she did yesterday.”

Now that Chiyo and Fumiko had failed to identify either of the two suspects as their kidnapper, Sano had run out of leads. Questioning the nun one more time was the only way that Reiko could think of to help him.

The abbess’s pleasant expression shifted into a frown of concern. “Tengu-in is weaker than when you saw her. Today she hasn’t left her bed. I doubt she’ll talk to you.”

Reiko feared that her previous visit had caused Tengu-in’s turn for the worse, but she said, “Please, I must try.”

“Very well.” The abbess sounded resigned; she knew she couldn’t deny a request backed by Sano’s authority.

Inside, the convent was quiet; the nuns and novices had left to pray in the temples or do charity work among the poor. The corridor down which Reiko walked was a dim tunnel that echoed with her footsteps and the patter of rain on the roof. Flies buzzed somewhere in the building. Reiko experienced a sudden stab of premonition.

She hastened toward the bedchamber. She ran through the door, breathless with sudden fright, and stopped.

The bed where Tengu-in had lain yesterday was empty, the quilt flung off the mattress. The buzzing was louder here. Reiko glanced around the chamber. She noticed a low wooden table placed in the middle of the floor. A tall, square wicker basket lay on its side near the table as if it had tumbled off. Reiko lifted her eyes above them and saw bare, withered feet dangling.

Her heart clenched; her breath caught as her gaze traveled upward and she discovered what had become of Tengu-in.

The nun’s emaciated body, clad in its hemp robe, hung from the ceiling. The stout leather cord of her rosary was looped around her neck and tied to an exposed rafter. Tension had drawn the beads deep into her flesh, which was lividly bruised. Her head had fallen sideways; her face was bloated and purplish, the lips parted to reveal the swollen tongue caught between the teeth. Flies buzzed around the blood that trickled from her mouth.

A shrill scream blared. At first Reiko thought it was her own, involuntary reaction to the horrid spectacle of death. Then she turned and saw a young novice standing in the doorway, stricken by horror. The novice’s face turned white, went blank. She swayed, then crumpled to the floor in a dead faint.

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