“So she didn’t kill them?”
Hiroko shook her head fiercely. “No, oh, no.”
“Then what happened to them?”
Hiroko looked pained, and she took a moment to compose herself. “You told me before that you care for Victoria-san?”
Nash had to glance away for a moment. “Yes, yes, I did.”
“Well, she harmed no one. It was. . .it was . . .” The woman apparently could not bring herself to say it.
Nash had a sudden idea. “It was Masuyo?”
Hiroko burst into tears and left the room. Nash heard water running and a few minutes later the woman slowly walked back in, her face very pink and her eyes and nose reddened. He rose and helped her to sit down.
“Are you okay?” he said anxiously after retaking his chair.
She nodded and pressed her fingertips together. “You must understand that I have never spoken of this to anyone.”
“I understand. I hope you feel you can trust me enough to tell me about it.”
“I do, Dillon-san. I truly do after what you have told me. Because it is clear to me that Victoria-san trusts you.”
“Go on,” he prompted.
“Victoria-san was always her mother’s favorite. I have my thoughts on this.”
“What sorts of thoughts?”
“I have known Masuyo a very long time. I served her before Victoria-san was born. I know things about her that many do not. I have seen things—” She broke off and nervously studied her hands.
“What are you trying to say?” prompted Nash.
Hiroko seemed to summon up her courage. “Masuyo did not love her husband, Dillon-san. She is actually Chinese, not Japanese. I am Chinese like her. She came to Japan to. . .do her duty to her country.”
Nash had learned this from the FBI, but he acted startled. “You mean she was, what, some sort of spy?”
“I do not know the correct term. But what I do know is that she quickly turned to the bad. She did terrible things. She married and she began to do even more terrible things. I wanted to leave. I tried to separate myself from all of it, but she would not allow it. She would have killed me, I am sure of that.”
“My God, Hiroko-san.”
Hiroko wiped her eyes with a tissue and eyed him closely. “There is something else.”
“What?”
“I am not sure I can tell you. Even though I do trust you.”
Nash thought quickly. “Hiroko-san, you say that there are people here you do not trust. They may wish Ms. Steers harm. If I can prevent that, as her bodyguard, I need to know all you can tell me. Please.”
She considered this and finally nodded. “All right. What you say makes a great deal of sense. As I said, she did not love her husband. But she did love another man. A tall, handsome man from our country. And this man, and not her husband, was Victoria-san’s father.”
Nash nearly dropped his teacup. “Jesus, does she know?”
Hiroko shook her head. “Never one word has been spoken about it. You see, Masuyo believed her other children to be unpure, their father being a white man. But Victoria-san is wholly Chinese.”
“I wondered about that. From a picture I saw she didn’t seem to take after Masuyo’s husband, and now I know why. But I’m actually very surprised you’re telling me all this.”
She looked at him wistfully. “Victoria-san visits me here, as you know. She speaks highly of you, Dillon-san, as I told you before. So very highly. I have never known her to speak of another man as she does you. And I am an old woman. My light grows dim. But since you proved to me that Victoria-san trusts you, I needed to reveal to you what I know. I cannot tell Victoria-san because I know it will break her heart. But I felt I could tell you, in confidence. I know you will do the right thing. And that you will never tell her.”