If the lights were a man-made device meant to scare people away from the harbor, then they’d certainly succeeded. Even if they were a natural phenomenon, as Abbot Liu Yun had suggested, any crime—including murder—could take place under their cover.

Sano rode down the promenade to the harbor patrol station, which stood dark and silent. “Hello! Is anyone there?” he called.

No answer. Sano abandoned the idea of alerting the authorities and getting help catching the lights. Slapping the reins, he sped down the promenade. Several hundred paces ahead, two sentries stood outside the Deshima guardhouse. Facing inland, they seemed unaware of the lights. Sano looked across the open firebreak and over the harbor to his right. The lights flashed brighter now, drawing nearer the island’s water gates. He urged his horse to go faster.

A sharp hissing sound came from his left. Something whizzed past his face and landed with a clatter not far away. Sano ducked. His horse faltered, skidding to a stop. Heart hammering, Sano cautiously looked around. He’d recognized the sound immediately, from past attempts on his life. He didn’t need to see the arrow to know someone had shot at him.

In the direction from which the arrow had come, shops and houses crowded close to the promenade’s inland side. Amid the rooftops and firewatch towers, Sano saw a shadow move. Then he looked seaward. The lights floated up to the Deshima water gates. Black smoke drifted from them. Excitement leapt in Sano’s throat. Instead of taking cover, he rode toward Deshima.

A second arrow soared just over his head. Sano rejected the idea of calling the Deshima guards. The archer might be someone who didn’t want him near Deshima while the lights were there; someone associated with the staff, and perhaps involved in Jan Spaen’s murder. Sano turned his mount in the opposite direction. He squinted at the rooftops, trying to locate the archer, but failed. After traversing a considerable distance without attracting more missiles, he hoped the assassin thought he’d changed his mind about going to Deshima. Yet when he doubled back toward the island, another arrow almost clipped his foot. Sano glanced over his shoulder and saw the mysterious lights flashing purple, green, and white at the Deshima water gates. He veered left, up a street leading inland through a neighborhood of closely spaced houses. He paused to look around.

The street was deserted. Jutting balconies obstructed the moonlight. Sano stiffened at a rhythmic tapping sound. Footsteps on a tile roof overhead? He relaxed when he saw a loose shutter flapping in the wind, but his extra sense detected a threatening presence. Staying in the shadows beneath the balconies, Sano continued inland, as if going home. He braced himself for another onslaught of arrows. None came. He scanned the surrounding rooftops and saw no one. Encouraged, he turned right, following a road that paralleled the waterfront.