he said, and suddenly he walked in longer strides again, as though remembering something. “Come with me. I spoke with Matron Kim earlier. She would not tell me the full truth, but I know someone who might. So I’ve been meaning to request your assistance.”
My heartbeat quickened as I followed him into the bureau, across the connecting courtyards.
“Fear persuades most people to speak,” he said quietly, “but Maid Soyi withdraws deeper into silence with every interrogation. My patience is running thin.”
“What would you like me to find out, sir?”
“What she used to blackmail Matron Kim.”
Blackmail? It caught me off guard, as if a rough hand had shoved me. I could not imagine Maid Soyi to be capable of such a thing. “I don’t understand. Are you certain, sir?”
“If I were absolutely certain,” he said, “I wouldn’t have asked you to come. Thus, your task is to learn what all of us cannot. Can you do it?”
I couldn’t help but feel a spark of pride at the question, glowing brighter and brighter with each step. His favor was almost too much for me. But I wanted it—the feeling that I was part of something so much greater than myself.
“I can, sir. I will.”
* * *
Inspector Han waited outside the prison block as I followed a guard deep into the darkness, thick with the rancid smell of blood and rotting wounds. The surprise I’d felt at the inspector’s accusation vanished when we arrived before her cell. How could I feel anything but pity? Soyi cowered against the wall, terrified of the guard. The jangling of keys had become the sound of another round of interrogation.
“It’s only me,” I said.
Her shoulders slumped from relief. “Only you.”
I sat next to her, against the wooden wall. The straw pallet rustled beneath my skirt. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw that the bedding was bloodstained. Soyi sat, unable to keep her head raised. Fear twisted in my stomach. It was entirely possible that she might die in this cell.
“Why have you come?” she whispered.
“To give you advice.” I took hold of her limp hand. “I don’t think you killed your mistress, but your silence hurts you. The officers have no choice but to break you. All they know is that you tried to run.”
Soyi stared in blank exhaustion.
“There is much you could say,” I suggested calmly. “You know things others would not wish to have discovered. For instance … Matron Kim.”
Again, only silence. But I was not a police officer to her; I was not someone who would hurt her. A life among servants had taught me that no human being wished to remain silent and misunderstood.
“You must have overheard Inspector Han,” Soyi finally said.
“Yes, I overheard,” I lied, surprised by how honest I sounded. “You know how curious I am.”
“His commander is determined to beat me to death for the details.”
I sought something, anything to bring out her words. Then Inspector Han’s voice whispered to me, There is always a weakness.
“It is too late. Matron Kim spoke long of your blackmail,” I said. “She is trying to push all suspicion onto you.”
Shadows of anger clouded Soyi’s eyes.
“Matron Kim wishes you to seem darker than herself. She said that blackmail is vile, enough that you might be capable of much worse—such as murder.”
Soyi turned to me, her breath sickly hot. “She told Inspector Han everything?”
“He seemed shocked. When I heard this, I was just as disappointed…” I rubbed my eyebrows. The weight of my lies was making me falter. I didn’t know how Inspector Han did it with such ease. “But I realized you must have your own reason. Won’t you tell me your truth?”
Silence stretched, a moment of tangled thoughts, thick with hesitation. At last she licked her crusted lips. “Never liked me, Matron Kim. She wanted to dismiss me. But three years ago my young mistress ran away at night, returning the next day. No one knew but Matron and me.”
“That is what she confessed,” I said, withdrawing my hand so she wouldn’t feel the heat of my guilt. “You told Matron Kim you would gossip if she dismissed you, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but it was to survive.”
“I see…” There was little left to ask, but I knew I could not be done yet. The inspector wouldn’t have been. I rummaged through my thoughts. “Did she leave to meet a man?”
Soyi nodded, so slightly I barely noticed.
“The same man she went to on the night of her murder?”