“At this hour?” Sano glanced at the window. Gray daylight barely penetrated the paper panes. “Who is it?”

“His name is Juro. He’s the valet of Senior Elder Makino. He says Makino sent him here with a message for you.”

Sano raised his eyebrows in surprise. Makino Narisada was the longest-standing, dominant member of the Council of Elders, the shogun’s primary advisers and Japan ’s highest governing body. He was also a crony of Chamberlain Yanagisawa and enemy of Sano. He had an ugly face like a skull, and a disposition to match.

“What is the message?” Sano said.

“I asked, but Juro wouldn’t tell me,” Hirata said. “He says his master ordered him to speak personally to you.”

Sano couldn’t refuse a communication from someone as important, quick to take offense, and dangerous as Makino. Besides, he was curious. “Very well.”

He and Hirata walked to the reception room. Reiko followed. She watched from outside the door while they entered the cold, drafty room, where a man knelt. Thin and stooped, with a fringe of gray hair around his bald head, and clad in modest gray robes, Juro the valet appeared to be past sixty years of age. His bony features wore a sad expression. Two of Sano’s detectives stood guard behind him. Although he looked harmless, they exercised caution toward strangers in the house, especially during these dangerous days.

“Here I am,” Sano said. “Speak your message.”

The valet bowed. “I’m sorry to impose on you, Sōsakan-sama, but I must tell you that the honorable Senior Elder Makino is dead.”

“Dead?” Sano experienced three reactions in quick succession. The first was shock. “As of when?”

“Today,” said Juro.

“How did it happen?” Sano asked.

“My master passed away in his sleep.”