Session18

The Concubine's Tattoo

With the still twitching body of Harume, Governor Asato's favourite concubine, at his feet, Isawa Bin had to do some quick thinking; having been ordered by the Governor to get to the bottom this, he had one day to prove his abilities as an investigator and justify his position as Emerald Magistrate.

He acted swiftly ordering Yoriki Akodo Haraku to examine the body and ensure that it was treated appropriately and Yoriki Daidoji Ryou to work with Doji Yamiko to calm those in the room and politely ask those who did not need to remain to leave. With the possibility of an unknown contagion, it was essential to ensure no one become exposed uncessarily. Magistrate Bin then began to question those who knew Harume and examine the scene.

Almost immediately, Imperial Inquisitor Otomo Riki -sent at the behest of one of Bin's rivals to expose incompetence and oust him from his position- began to make his presence felt by questioning the Magistrate's actions and interfering at almost every level.

A cursory examination of the body showed that the concubine -naked from the waist down- had her pubic region shaved. In addition to this rather strange sight, there were fresh cuts there in the shape of the kanji character for "love" and they appeared to have been inked to form a tattoo... Convinced that the tattoo was the cause of Harume's death rather than a contagion, Haraku escorted the corpse to the temple where the funerary rights could be carried out.

In Harume's quarters, Isawa Bin found a low table holding a warm sake jar, two sake cups, an ink jar monogrammed with Harume's name and a tanto covered in blood and ink. On the tatami mats there were spots of blood and ink and also many short black hairs. Tucked amongst her bedding, Isawa Bin also found a written diary or "pillowbook" apparently written by the dead concubine...

Daidoji Ryou, by testing the sake and the ink on animals, discovered that the ink was indeed poisoned but none of the honourable samurai present had much knowledge of poisons so Isawa Bin sent messengers out to locate someone who could find out more about this substance.

Extensive inquiries of the household staff uncovered a rivalry between Harume and Ichiteru, Asato's most experienced concubine, and that one of the household guards, Daidoji Kushida, had been recently suspended on the word of Harume who accused him of harassing her. Harume's "pillowbook" hinted at an affair with a tall and powerful man and although no one was named, it strongly hinted at the Crab? ambassador Yasuki Ueda who had a reputation as a womaniser...

With three leads and not much time, Isawa Bin sent his Yoriki and Doshin to follow them up while he found out what he could from the Governor and his mother, Lady Keisho-In?.

Daidoji Kushida, while suspended from his post as part of Asato's house guard, was teaching spear-craft -at which he excelled- in one of the city's dojos. When informed of Harume's death, he seemed genuinely grief-stricken. He did admit that he was infatuated with the concubine and that he had sent her letters but denied that he had harassed her. However, with Harume gone, charges would not be pressed and Kushida would be able to resume his post at the castle and have his honour restored...

Ichiteru, a graceful, cultured and exceedingly beautiful woman in her late twenties, had gone to the theatre after being dismissed from the murder scene and therefore could not be interviewed until later.

At the opulent residence of Yasuki Ueda, the Crab? merchant quickly admitted to an affair with Harume that consisted of several trysts at an exclusive lodging house in a wealthy district of the city. His wife, Junna was not in the least bit flustered by this admission and in fact admitted that it was she who approached Harume and arranged the trysts. Her relationship with her husband -who was also her cousin- was somewhat unconventional; two of Ueda's existing concubines, Snowflake and Wren, who were also present confirmed that this was normal practice in Ueda's household and that their mistress bore them no ill will.

When questioned about the ink and the tattoo, Ueda freely admitted that he had sent her the ink along with a letter asking her to tattoo herself in the manner described -common practice amongst low-class prostitutes apparently- as a token of her love for him. He seemed somewhat puzzled by the revelation that the ink had led to her death as other women had used the same ink in a similar fashion before and come to no ill. It became clear though that the ink jar had been left unattended both at the Ueda residence and in Harume's room before she tried to tattoo herself meaning it could have been tampered with.

A familiar looking Scorpion bushi answered Isawa Bin's request for an expert in poisons; he announced himself as Shosuro Korow, yojimbo to Shosuro Ayumi and that he had studied poisons and their antidotes in case someone tried to poison his mistress.

After examining the ink and its effects on animals, Korow declared that the poison was a rare one rarely found in this part of the empire. At the Magistrate's request, Korow went to search for the potential supplier of the foul substance. After tracking down an itinerant drug pedlar as the likely source to the back room of an inn, Korow found the man dead, stabbed through the chest with a tanto or similar short-bladed weapon. Someone had obviously tried to silence the man...

Otomo Riki continued his harassment of Isawa Bin and seemed to take great pleasure in twisting or misrepresenting the facts to either make himself look good or more likely Isawa Bin bad. On several occasions he tried to take credit for the Magistrate's work but each time Governor Asato seemed to lose patience with the young Imperial as he had asked Isawa Bin, not he, to get the bottom of Harume's mysterious and violent death. Otomo Riki's brusque manner also drove Doshin Isauo to quit her position and return to the Unicorn Clan.

After the apparent murder of the drug pedlar, investigations that ran late into the night, seemed to point the finger at the Yasuki Junna the diminutive and devoted wife of the Crab Clan representative to Toshi Ranbo.

Confronted with the testimony placing her near the scene of the pedlar's murder, Junna crumbled and confessed to both crimes. While it was true that she had spent her life organising her husband's diversions, she knew they were just that and that he would soon tire of them. However, he had become increasingly obsessed with Harume and she feared that he would do something drastic to be with the object of this new obsession, perhaps even abandoning his current life and his devoted wife... Fearing that she would be abandoned she poisoned the ink bottle before taking it on her husband's behalf to the concubine.

The following day, following a brief trial, Yasuki Junna was executed as a murderer and, following the revelation that he had had an affair with one of the Governor's concubines, Yasuki Ueda was dismissed from Toshi Ranbo and sent back to the Crab Clan?.

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