Mariko is in the final few weeks of her pregnancy. She is confined to the house and whiles away the hours painting or sewing, which is boring her to death. In fact, Mariko so bored that she frequently had to be roused from daytime slumbers by the strains of energetic koto music. One day there is some excitement though. There is a great deal of commotion, people shouting etc. A valuable document of Lord Ito's has gone missing - an extremely valuable map. Needless to say it must be found, but no-one can work out how it could have been stolen. Mariko decides to investigate, but can only send for people and ask questions. First she talks to the scribe, Kaite. He says that he put it in the strongbox yesterday morning and hasn't seen it since. He was the first to open the strongbox again this morning and the map was missing. Mariko asks the Main House guard, Akaikusa, what visitors have been to the house recently. He says that the only visitors in the last few days have been the estate scribes, cooks, etc. and members of Lord Ito's clan, plus a few deliverymen. Mariko then asks to see everyone that was in the house last night, instigate a search of the house and grounds, and examine the roofs for signs of burglary. This took all day - but all drew blanks.

In another flash forward to Mariko's late stages of pregnancy, we recap her progress on the case of the missing map. She interviews Kaite the scribe and learns that the map was put in the strongbox yesterday and was found to be missing this morning. The house guard, Akaikusa, confirms that the only people to enter the house in the last few days were the usual staff, clan members, an armourer, two porters delivering food and a locksmith, changing the strongbox lock after an attempted burglary. Mariko sends some people to interview armourer and locksmith. The armourer is well known and trustworthy. The locksmith lives on the mainland, a few days away. She also talks to the outer gate guard, who says that these days no-one can get inside the compound without alerting the guards. Mariko suspects that the locksmith made copy of key and gave it to an accomplice - but how did they get in and out with the map?

Mariko at last gets a lead. She questions the gate guard and the house guard together and finds one discrepancy. The gate guard reports letting through an envoy from Lord Shiyo of Settsu province, but the house guard saw only household staff, clan members and two porters delivering food. Mariko checks these out and finds nothing suspicious, but one of the household staff reports seeing the stranger inside the house around noon. She assumed he was a guest of Lord Ito and kept out of the way. The gate guard provided a sketch of the stranger's mon, clearly distinguishable from Lord Ito's mon. Mariko orders another search but turns up nothing. She has a nagging feeling that there's more to the house guard, Akaikusa, than meets the eye.

Lord Ito's Mon	Lord Shiyo's Mon

The following day, Mariko has had an idea about the mysterious envoy from Lord Shiyo. She (finally) asks her husband about the map and the envoy. He knows nothing about any envoy. Mariko is stumped once again. What does the guard's name, Red Grass, mean? Suddenly the answer hits her like a sledgehammer^*. He's colour blind - grass looks red, and Lord Shiyo's mon looks almost identical to Lord Ito's. He didn't sneak past the house guard, he walked past as if he were a member of the clan. Tricky play! (Later, when Emiko heard the story she immediately said, "Oh, I'll bet he was colour blind." Mariko winced.) It turns out that Akaikusa's affliction is well known, but a newcomer like Mariko hadn't yet heard about it. But there was still the puzzle of what happened to the map. A report back from the locksmith's showed that he had been paid 10GP for a copy of the key, but the bogus envoy (no-one had heard of a Lord Shiyo, and as the name means "private" it was suspected that it might imply "mind your own business") could not have escaped with the map. However, all became clear when Lord Ito announced that he had sold a painting and it was to be picked up today. Mariko immediately goes to see the painting and finds the missing map stuck to the back. Thinking quickly, she copies the map but amends the details to mislead the spy. Then she details some trusted guards to follow the painting after it is collected to see where the trail leads.

How the mon appeared to Akaikusa

Lord Ito's Mon	Lord Shiyo's Mon