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the neck. Bone, windpipe, and sinews showed through the blood that had clotted around the severed flesh and congealed into a half-frozen puddle.
    The detectives let the tarp drop. Fukida sucked air through his teeth. Marume winced. Gorobei wept. Sano and Hirata gazed in silence, paying their respects to their colleague. Sano endured the spiritual pollution that the dead exude. He brushed aside the irreverent thought that he’d stepped in so much blood that he would have to burn his boots when he got home. Then he asked the obvious question.
    “Where is Kira’s head?”
    “They took it.” Gorobei clarified, “The men who killed him.”
    “Who are they?” Sano said. “Did you get a look at them?”
    “No. But I know who they must be. They’re former retainers of Lord Asano.”
    Sano realized he should have known. Hirata and Fukida nodded in comprehension. Marume said, “Lord Asano. So that’s what this was about. The incident at Edo Castle—when was it? Two years ago?”
    “Twenty-two months, exactly.” Sano recited the details of the incident. “Envoys had come from the Emperor’s court in Miyako. The host in charge of entertaining them was Lord Asano Naganori, age thirty-four, daimyo of Ako Castle in Harima Province. Kira’s job as master of ceremonies was to instruct Lord Asano on how to conduct the ritual. An antagonism developed between Lord Asano and Kira.”
    “Has anyone ever figured out why?” Hirata asked.
    “No. That’s still a mystery,” Sano said. “But one day Lord Asano drew his sword, struck at Kira, and cut his head. Kira survived, but Lord Asano broke the law against drawing a sword inside Edo Castle, which is a capital offense. Lord Asano claimed he and Kira had a personal quarrel, Kira had provoked him, and he had to defend his honor. Kira claimed there was no quarrel and Lord Asano had attacked him for nothing. The shogun believed Kira. He ordered Lord Asano to commit seppuku . The house of Asano was dissolved, its wealth and lands confiscated by the government, and all Lord Asano’s retainers became r ō nin. ”
    That was a serious disgrace for a samurai, even when he lost his warrior status through no fault of his own. Sano knew because it had happened to his own father. His father’s lord had run afoul of the third Tokugawa shogun, who’d confiscated his lands and turned all his retainers, including the Sano family, out to fend for themselves. Sano’s father hadn’t recovered from the humiliation until Sano had gotten into the Tokugawa regime and restored the family’s honor.
    “It appears that these r ō nin blamed Kira for their lord’s death and they’ve taken revenge,” Sano said.
    “But didn’t the shogun rule that Kira wasn’t guilty of anything and therefore shouldn’t be punished?” Fukida said. “Didn’t he forbid any action against Kira?”
    Marume covered the corpse with the tarp. “Yes, but apparently that didn’t stop the r ō nin. ”
    “This shouldn’t come as a surprise,” Sano said. Loyalty to one’s master was the highest principle of Bushido. Avenging the death of his master was a solemn duty that a good samurai could not neglect.
    “Except that it happened so long after Lord Asano’s death,” Hirata said.
    “And except that so many r ō nin were involved and they killed so many people besides Kira,” Fukida said. “I’ve never heard of a vendetta like this.”
    Vendettas usually involved only two people—the perpetrator and the individual who’d wronged him—although sometimes relatives or friends would join in on either side. The scale and sheer brutality of this revenge astounded Sano. It would surely cause an uproar.
    “I don’t suppose the r ō nin bothered to register the vendetta,” Hirata said. Vendetta was legal when the perpetrator notified the authorities of his intentions. This notification served as a warning to his target, who was then on his guard and had time to hide.
    “You’re right,” Sano said. “The