Wounds gashed Director Spaen’s stomach and chest, the worst just below his left breast as if a wild animal had gnawed and slashed there, exposing pink tissue and splintered white bone. Snails and tiny crabs clung to the torn flesh. Flies buzzed and swarmed over the corpse; seaweed entwined the hair. But nature’s encroachment hadn’t yet obliterated the shocking signs of human malice. The wounds, narrow and clean except for the chest mutilation, had been inflicted with a sharp knife. Between them, bruises stained Director Spaen’s skin with blotches of purple, green, and yellow. Faint red indentations encircled his wrists and ankles, while his neck had swollen around some sort of ligature.

Sano stooped to examine this, gingerly pushing aside the flaccid, cold flesh. Embedded there was a slender chain; from it dangled a small gold pendant. In meticulous detail, this portrayed a naked, bearded male barbarian suspended by his wrists from a cross. A wreath of thorns crowned his drooping head; a stake penetrated his chest.

“Gesu: the martyred Christian deity,” Sano said.

“Contraband, which is forbidden in Japan.” Governor Nagai shot a hard, questioning glance at Chief Ohira.

“All Christian relics were confiscated from the Dutch upon their arrival,” Ohira said tonelessly, “as the law requires. Jan Spaen never wore a crucifix while in my charge. I can assure you that I don’t know where it came from.”

Sano walked to the water and washed his hands in the cold, foamy waves, cleansing himself of the spiritual pollution incurred by contact with death. Returning to Governor Nagai, he said, “Possibly the crucifix came from the killer.”

There could be no doubt that this was murder, which meant that his troubles, instead of ending with Spaen’s death, had just begun.

Crowd noises filled the drawn-out silence within the circle. Then Governor Nagai, belatedly following the social convention that must be observed even during a crisis like this, introduced his other companions to Sano. “This is Yoriki Ota.” He was a stout, coarse man whose veinous nose glowed bright red, as if from drinking too much sake. “And Kiyoshi, the eldest of Chief Ohira’s six children.”