Senior Elder Makino Narasada dies after leaving instructions that Sano Ichiro must investigate if his death appears natural. The evidence suggests assassination, but Makino’s position within the Council of Elders means that every suspect belongs to a faction capable of destabilising the shogunate.
Reiko works undercover while Hirata pursues a second line of inquiry, and the murder becomes entangled with concealed relationships and competing claims to power. A scented sleeve provides a fragile clue, but solving the crime requires Sano to abandon political neutrality before rival groups turn a private killing into open conflict.
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