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a mind of his own; he wouldn't automatically accept the judgment of a superior. Sano wondered if the locals knew of the circumstances that had brought him here, and whether Hoshina might take advantage of Sano's shaky position in the bakufu. Many men rose to power by attacking vulnerable superiors, and while Sano had no particular reason to distrust Hoshina, he knew better than to think that Miyako politics were any different than Edo's. Aware that he must assert his authority, Sano rose to Hoshina's challenge.

"Toyotomi Hideyoshi's tea master, Sen-no-Rikyu, averted an attack from the great General Kato Kiyomasa with a single glance that took away his strength," Sano said. He himself had once thought kiaijutsu a lost art, but the murder of Left Minister Konoe had revived his belief that myths were based on fact. "Yagyu Matajuro, tutor of Tokugawa Ieyasu, could knock men unconscious with a shout."

"I've always thought those legends were invented by charlatans wishing to bolster their reputations." Hoshina's tone was deferential, but the fact that he dared to argue told Sano he liked to be right and wasn't afraid to take chances. "Certainly, there haven't been any recent, documented cases of death by kiai".

"The general level of combat skill has declined; there are fewer great martial arts masters today," Sano admitted. "But Miyako is a city with strong ties to the past. Someone here has apparently rediscovered the secret of kiaijutsu. The scream and the condition of the corpse indicate that Left Minister Konoe was indeed a victim of a spirit cry."

Pronounced by the shogun's highest representative, Sano's opinion became the official cause of death. Rather than pursue the discussion and risk censure, Hoshina nodded and said respectfully, "Yes, Sosakan-sama." Sano observed that he knew when to yield for the sake of self-preservation.

"Who discovered the remains?" Sano said, moving on to the next important topic.

"When the palace residents heard the scream, they rushed to see what it was," Hoshina said. "Emperor Tomohito and his cousin Prince Momozono were first on the scene. They found Konoe alone, lying in a pool of blood."

So the case involved at least two important members of the Imperial Court, Sano thought. "What time did this happen?"

"Around midnight," said Hoshina.

"What was Left Minister Konoe doing out here so late?"

"No one admits to knowing."

"You've questioned the palace residents, then?"

"Yes, I conducted a preliminary investigation," Hoshina said, "to save you some trouble. The results are detailed in a report which I'll give you later, but I'll summarize them now. All the guards, servants, attendants, and courtiers were elsewhere at the time of Left Minister Konoe's death. He'd ordered everyone to stay out of the garden."

"Excellent work," Sano said, noting the raw edge of pride and ambition behind the yoriki's modest demeanor: Hoshina enjoyed showing off, and he anticipated rewards for pleasing the shogun's sosakan-sama. That their interests coincided inclined Sano to trust the helpful Hoshina.

"Were there any visitors or other outsiders present in the compound that night?" Sano asked.

"No," Hoshina said, "and there was no sign of forced entry, so it's unlikely that an intruder killed Left Minister Konoe."

Sano said, "Was everyone else in the court accounted for around the time of the murder?"

"I thought it best to wait until your arrival before questioning the imperial family," Hoshina said. "However, I've made discreet inquiries. There are some people whose whereabouts I haven't been able to establish. Emperor Tomohito and Prince Momozono weren't in their quarters as usual. Neither were the emperor's chief consort, Lady Asagao, or his mother, Lady Jokyoden."

Four potential murder suspects; all members of Japan's sacred imperial family. Sano contemplated the politically volatile nature of the case. By probing into palace affairs, he was bound to violate social and religious convention, thereby