The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

kidding me."
    "Don't get snooty," the man replied. "You'll understand once you meet Koshou. That's why I brought you here. Don't start distrusting me now."
    They entered the brothel. Immediately inside the brothel was a small dining hall. Hardly anybody was there. An old man hurried out to meet them. Following behind her guide, Youko stood with her back to the door and watched as he and the old man exchanged a few words
    The man retreated into the back room. Soon, in his place, emerged the man she'd met before.
    "So, it's that girl again."
    "And you're Koshou?"
    The man nodded. He gestured toward the dining hall with his chin. "Have a seat. But a meal costs even more than it did before."
    "I came here to ask you a few questions."
    "So sit. I've got no reason to cross swords with you."
    Youko hesitated, spotting two or three other men poking their heads out from the back room. But not sensing in the least any impending assault, she nodded and took a seat.
    "You were in Hokui."
    Koshou sat down opposite her. "I was. As I recall, I was leaving the house of an associate of mine."
    "You didn't say so before."
    "I've got reasons of my own for holding my tongue. I'm telling you now, so give me a break."
    "For quite some time, a suspicious character has been coming by the rike. The man who led him there was Rou."
    "The rike?" Koshou asked, disbelievingly. Her guide and the old man were also at a loss for words.
    "The rike in Kokei. I've been staying there."
    "Whatever the case, Rou is an intermediary. It's rare for him to extend his services to people, but not so rare for him to be around running errands. Rou and I go way back. I guess you didn't know that."
    "Before the rike was attacked, some men seemed to be checking the place out. They returned to Takuhou."
    "Attacked? The rike in Kokei was attacked?"
    Youko nodded. Koshou was so truly astonished that she almost shook her head in wonder.
    Koshou glanced back over his shoulder. "Somebody go get Suzu!"

    "Youshi--"
    Suzu's eyes opened wide when she saw Youko sitting there. Before Youko could speak, Koshou said, "Suzu, when you were in Houkaku, didn't you hear talk about somebody getting kidnapped?"
    Suzu nodded. "There was talk about a rike in Eishuu being attacked and the superintendent kidnapped."
    "What was the city? And the name of the superintendent who was kidnapped?"
    "I didn't get the name of the city. As for the man's name . . . I know it was mentioned, but I can't recall."
    "Enho," Youko interjected.
    Suzu nodded forcefully. "Yes, that's right. It was Enho."
    Koshou turned back to Youko. "Enho was kidnapped? Really?"
    "Do you know him? Enho?"
    "My little brother has attended his lectures on occasion. I went with him once. To be sure, it was Rou who made the introductions. Enho is a renown scholar, so I wanted him to meet my brother."
    "Brother--oh, the boy I met before? Fourteen or so?"
    "That's right, Sekki. You really don't know where Enho is? Was anybody at the rike injured?"
    Youko took a breath. Koshou truly looked as if this had all hit him from out of blue. That being the case, the trail for the real criminals had again run cold. "A girl was murdered."
    "That would have been Rangyoku?"
    Youko nodded. "Shady types had been hanging around the rike, and everything I knew pointed to you. To make matters worse, after the rike was attacked, you packed up and left."
    Koshou smiled at the irony. "We had things on our hands as well. Not something to make a big deal about, but people snooping around puts us on edge. There was this suspicious character who came around twice. We didn't like the way the wind was blowing, and pulled up stakes."
    "Where did you go?"
    "Not far off. That was the same day the rike was attacked?"
    Youko nodded. "Sometime between noon and sundown. Probably about the same time I was talking with Suzu, or just after."
    "I was in the inn the same time you were. I returned when you were talking to Suzu."
    "Eh?" Youko said, looking at him.
    "You were talking about the Marquis of Baku. You seemed awful suspicious to me. I spied on you from the kitchen." He spoke with the same wry smile.
    "It was Shoukou," Suzu said in a low voice. Youko turned to her. "That day, after the gates of Takuhou closed, a wagon returned to the city and the gates were opened again to let it in."
    "I see," she heard a small voice behind her say. She glanced back over her shoulder. Sekki was standing there.
    "You--"
    "Have you thought about why Enho would be