The clerk gulped. His rapid, panicky breaths sounded as loud as screams. Sano glanced toward the door, afraid the other staff members might hear. “Be quiet, and I won’t hurt you.” He pulled the blade back so it no longer touched the man’s throat. “Show me the records, and I’ll let you go.”

“There. Over there …” The clerk’s shaking hand pointed to the study niche, where a long scroll, covered with inked characters, lay open on Chief Ohira’s desk.

“Is that all of them?”

“Yes. Yes!”

Still gripping the clerk tight, Sano sheathed his sword. Then he untied the clerk’s sash, bound his ankles with one end, wrists with the other.

“No,” moaned the clerk. “Please …”

Sano wadded a sheet of paper and stuffed it into the clerk’s mouth, muffling his voice. He hurried over to Chief Ohira’s desk and examined the scroll, which was dated two years ago. Chinese silk, British wool, and Indian cotton, he read; Cambodian deer hides; nutmeg from the Spice Islands; Dutch spyglasses … Each item was described in detail. But Sano was more interested in what was missing from the list. As he’d hoped, he found no mention of the firearms or clocks found in the smugglers’ cave. And the scroll bore Chief Ohira’s round, red personal seal—proof that he’d falsified the warehouse inventory, leaving out goods he knew would be sold illegally and thus never reported to Edo.

Elation surged in Sano as he rolled the scroll and tucked it under his loose-fitting armor tunic. This was the evidence he needed to convince the tribunal of his innocence; evidence that proved the smuggling had preceded his arrival in Nagasaki, and incriminated one of the chief witnesses against him.

Then, before he turned to leave, he saw on the desk a sheet of paper partially filled with characters: an unfinished copy of the inventory. From between entries Sano had already read, descriptions of the smugglers’ loot leapt out at him. The paper was clean, white, and crisp; the calligraphy Ohira’s. The chief, anticipating an audit of his records, had been preparing a new inventory that accounted for items missing from the original.

The placement of both lists, side by side and out in the open, intrigued Sano. Of course, with the whole Deshima staff in on the conspiracy, Ohira had no reason to hide compromising documents. But Sano glimpsed a deeper motive for Ohira’s action—one he could exploit. He folded the page, tucked it inside his armor, and started to leave the room. The sound of the front door opening stopped him. Hurrying footsteps pounded the corridor. Sano whirled and ran for the window.

“There’s a trespasser on the island!” shouted a familiar voice. “Everybody get out and search for him. Now!”