Trial on Mount Koya by Susan Spann

Author:Susan Spann
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Seventh Street Books
Published: 2019-01-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 25

Outside, the blizzard filled the air with snow that caught on Hiro’s lashes. Wind and snowfall muted sound, including his own footsteps, and despite the fresh, cold air around him, Hiro felt almost as smothered as he did inside the smoky halls.

The smooth-soled temple sandals slipped and skidded on the ground. More snow fell into them with every step, soaking his tabi and his toes.

Gato jumped inside the box. Between the sandals and the cat, Hiro struggled not to fall.

The air inside the residence hall felt strangely still after the howling storm. Hiro’s ears and face felt hot, despite the chilly temperature. The new snow on his tabi melted, soaking in and making them even wetter, if that was possible.

He hurried to the guest room as, inside the box, Gato renewed her wailing.

As soon as Father Mateo shut the guest room door behind them, Hiro raised the lid.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Slowly, Gato’s head appeared, ears laid back and whiskers tight against her face. She glared at Hiro, leaped from the box, and raced around the room. When she finished, she leaped onto the table and licked her side with angry vigor.

“She seems unhurt,” Father Mateo said, with audible relief.

“Regrettably, the rest of us are not. The killer will strike again, and more than once.”

“Did I miss a clue?”

Hiro revealed the insight that had struck him with such force. “The killer is posing the victims’ corpses as the jusanbutsu.”

“The judges of the dead?” The Jesuit drew back. “You’re certain?”

Hiro raised a finger for each victim, counting them off as he explained, “Ringa, posed as Fudō Myō-ō—first to die, and representing the incarnation that oversees the judgment on the seventh day, the first that takes place after death. Anan—the historical Buddha, Shaka, who judges the soul on the fourteenth day. Second to die, and second to judge. Now we have Jorin, posed as Monju, the one who presides on the twenty-first day after death.”

“So the killer not only chooses his victims based on their resemblance to the judges of the afterlife—he’s killing them in order?”

“In the order the incarnations judge the dead.”

Gato stretched, jumped off the table, and arched her back against Hiro’s legs. He bent and stroked her fur, considering how to explain the greater significance of the killer’s choice.

“Hiro.” Father Mateo sounded grave. “There are thirteen kings of hell. When the killings began, there were fourteen people in this temple.”

Hiro straightened. “Precisely.”

“Unless we stop him, he will kill everyone in the temple, including the children.”

“Giving further weight to my belief that Oda is behind the deaths, and wants Myo-in destroyed.”

“Why would he destroy an entire temple to eliminate an Iga spy?” the Jesuit asked. “It makes no sense. And even if he did, why pose the dead as Buddhas? Why not set a fire and kill them all at once?”

“Oda Nobunaga destroys what he cannot control, and not just samurai. He would not hesitate to destroy a temple to eliminate a threat. He does not care if innocents suffer.

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