Chapter 27: That Shapeshifter, Inquiring

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She turned to Nobuyuki. ’Speak,’ she commanded, taking the report she had received from him out of her kimono. She waved it in front of him. ‘Make sure not to contradict yourself.’

Nobuyuki nodded instinctively and began to give a stammering account of the case.

The first victim had been Katashi Tomio, one of three nightwatchmen stationed at Dejima one night, more than a month ago. The morning guard had come to relieve them of their duties but Tomio did not return to the barracks after making his rounds.

The two other nightwatchmen went in search of him and found his headless body slumped on the ground along the Dejima street that he was patrolling. Doshin were summoned to investigate the scene and control the crowd.

When the eta came to take the body away, the doshin discovered that besides his head, Tomio’s katana was also missing.

Thus, Nobuyuki instructed the doshin to search for a kataki-uchi permit and investigate anyone who might have held a grudge against Katashi Tomio.

The Katashi family were adopted by a branch family of the Shimazu clan who ruled over Satsuma domain, which was the connection that allowed Tomio become a nightwatchman in charge of patrolling one of Nagasaki’s highly-restricted trading areas.

Ultimately, the investigation was long and fruitless. It had been ascertained from the start that the crime was not committed by a foreigner, because the manner in which Tomio had been killed resembled kataki-uchi, which was a samurai custom.

The doshin appointed to the case were stumped and Nobuyuki was beginning to reconsider the possibility that it was done by a well-informed foreigner when another murder took place.

This time, the victim was another nightwatchman named Uehara Matsuki. He was in charge of patrolling the central district of Nagasaki City. Just like Tomio, his head and katana were missing from the scene of the crime, presumably taken away by the culprit.

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