In addition to his duties as commanding officer of Deshima, Chief Ohira was responsible for upholding law and order and resolving civil disputes in the street that led to the island’s bridge. His mainland headquarters consisted of a shopfront beside the gate. Sano reached it just as rain began to pelt the city in windswept bursts, clattering on the tile roofs. Umbrellas sprouted; pedestrians took cover. Sano dismounted and left his horse beneath the building’s deep eaves. Barred windows gridded the plaster walls; blue curtains printed with the Ohira family crest covered the doorway. Through it Sano followed two samurai, who dragged between them a peasant whose hands were tied behind his back.

The sparsely furnished office smelled damp from the rain. Flanked by two sergeants, Ohira knelt behind a desk on the dais before an assembly of townspeople. The two samurai dumped the captive peasant on the floor. Curious about the stoic man whose son awaited execution, Sano knelt to watch the proceedings, which evidently concerned minor crimes that fell under Ohira’s jurisdiction.

“Who is this person, and what is his offense?” Chief Ohira asked the sergeants.

“Yohei, a servant on Deshima. He tried to enter the island without a pass.”

Ohira frowned. “What have you to say for yourself, Yohei?”

The servant bowed. “Honorable Chief, I had my pass when I left home.” He was a meek-looking man with dazed eyes. “But it was gone when I got to Deshima; I must have lost it along the way. If I’d known, I would have come straight to you and reported the pass missing. I never would have tried to enter the island, I swear.”

Sano expected Ohira to let the servant off with a warning and send him to Governor Nagai’s office for a replacement pass. But the chief’s frown deepened. “Attempting to enter Deshima without a pass is a serious offense,” he said sternly. “As a punishment, you shall spend the rest of the day chained to the gate; your shame and disgrace will deter would-be criminals. Dismissed.”

“No, please, I beg you!”

The servant prostrated himself before the chief, whose unyielding expression didn’t change. From the back room the sergeants fetched iron chains and shackles, fastened them around the servant’s wrists and ankles, and dragged him outside. Sano wondered whether Ohira’s personal troubles had occasioned his extreme punishment of an honest mistake. Was the chief venting his anger on the unfortunate servant—or might he actually approve of cruel justice, even for his son?

Chief Ohira turned to Sano, and his guard went up, as if an invisible suit of armor had suddenly grown on him. He said to his sergeants, “Clear the room, then see that no one disturbs myself and the sōsakan-sama.”