Death on an Autumn River by I. J. Parker

Author:I. J. Parker [Parker, I. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cookie429, Kat, Extratorrents
Publisher: Ingrid J. Parker Inc.
Published: 2011-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Like Tora, Akitada knew well enough that the lives of the powerful were far from perfect or desirable. He was tempted to stop over in Eguchi to find out who owned the River Mansion. He could ask Harima, the former choja. The thought of the two old people brought a smile to his face.

Tora must have read his thoughts. “Shall we spend the night and ask a few questions?” he asked eagerly. “We can go on to Naniwa the next morning.”

That was what Akitada had done last time, and it had led to nothing but trouble. Besides, while Tora doted on his pretty wife Hanae and had turned into a good family man since his marriage, his past had been spent among the women who earned their living on their backs. Tora might be tempted to take advantage of his temporary freedom from domesticity to return to his old ways. He said, “No, Tora. Have you forgotten Seimei’s death? As long as the villain who sent his men to my home is alive and free, your family and mine are in danger.”

Tora’s face fell. He nodded. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have been so stupid.”

They fell silent. Akitada wondered if Kobe could guard his family adequately if more armed men showed up at his house.

Tora said, “That postmaster’s story about the old princess and her young men sort of fits, don’t you think?”

“What?”

“What the boat master said about parties at the River Mansion. What if that’s where the princess lives?”

“I doubt it very much. It’s just a salacious tale told by a lecher.” But it struck Akitada that a nobleman might well use such a remote place to enjoy forbidden pleasures the court would frown upon or a highborn first wife might object to. Those pleasures, in the close proximity of a town that catered to all sorts of sexual perversions could involve the abuse of poor young girls, abuse that would lead them to commit suicide rather than face more of the same. It might even result in murder.

He thought of Otomo and his insistence that Korean girls were being abducted and put to work in Eguchi. There was something very odd about the way Otomo had pursued him with his suspicions. But the professor had never mentioned the word murder.

They stayed on board while the boat docked at Eguchi and watched passengers disembark and new passengers take their place. The short distance to Naniwa was uneventful. The skies were still blue, the broad expanse of the river glistened in the sun, and a fresh breeze brought the tang of the open sea.

In Naniwa, they walked to the government hostel. The fat man sat in his usual place. There was no sign of the little girl. The manager eyed them glumly.

“You had a visitor,” he told Akitada. “Right after you left. Ugliest bastard I ever saw. He left this.” With a smirk, he produced a badly wrapped package that seemed to contain a scroll. “I told him you’d gone and

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