More rockets exploded; the smell of gunpowder scorched the air. Smoke veiled the sky. Sano asked, “Were you personally acquainted with Director Spaen?”

“Before I came to Japan, I managed a temple in the Dutch trade settlement of Batavia, Indonesia, where there are many Chinese sailors, merchants, and laborers,” Abbot Liu Yun said. “Jan Spaen was stationed there at the time. We met once or twice. But I did not know him well. My command of the Dutch language is far from perfect.”

In view of the priest’s fluency in Japanese, Sano couldn’t help suspecting that this gifted linguist had achieved equal facility in Dutch. “When did you learn of Spaen’s role in the conquest of Taiwan?”

“A year later. When a merchant ship brought the news to Batavia.”

“And did you renew your acquaintance with Spaen when he arrived here?”

The abbot turned toward Deshima, where lamps burned outside the guardhouse. Sano couldn’t tell whether Liu Yun’s imperfectly aligned eyes saw the island, or some private scene, but his tranquil expression didn’t waver. “I have not seen Jan Spaen since leaving Batavia. Chance brought us both to Japan, but there was no reason for us to meet again.”

Sano knew he must check the visitor’s log and question the governor’s staff to verify this statement, but could he trust either Nagasaki’s officials or their documents? Was it really a coincidence that both Spaen and Liu Yun had ended up in Japan, or had the abbot followed his brother’s killer?

“How did you happen to get assigned here?” he asked.

“The previous abbot had died,” Liu Yun said. “My superiors chose me to replace him because of my language skills and diplomatic background.”

“I see. Do you own a gun, Your Holiness?”

The abbot chuckled again. “Certainly not. My Buddhist faith prohibits violence and killing. I have no need of weapons.”

But he did have contact with his compatriots who owned them. Sano had seen the relatively lax security around the Chinese. It wouldn’t be difficult for a merchant or sailor to smuggle weapons into the Chinese settlement, then pass them to the abbot during a ceremony such as this. A search of the temple might be necessary if the divers didn’t find the gun off Deshima, evidence against other suspects didn’t materialize, or if Sano found witnesses to acrimonious relations between Abbot Liu Yun and Spaen. For now, Sano turned the conversation to the subject that had brought Liu Yun to his attention.

“You’ve also been mentioned in connection with strange lights that have been seen around Deshima,” he said.