On their way back from the armory, Nadare asked Zatoichi, "So do you have any suspects? I think you mentioned somebody's name back there..."

"There was also the pretty, stupid, crab girl, the one who flirts all the time. She saw the other one."

Isawa... and Sachiko saw the killer...

Sagaki as silent for a moment, but eventually he managed to say "Thank you, good kami..." in a voice that shook a little more than it had before. He thanked the kami again, respectfully - "...you have helped us a great deal, great kami..." - and ended the communion, then stood. He went back into the main room, looked around again, checking for anything that he might have missed. There was nothing, and he returned to the hallway. He was about to set off after the other two, when he remembered that he shouldn't let anyone into the room. He considered binding it for a moment, but that would take too long. Instead he found the nearest guard, took him to the entrance room, and posted him there, ordering him not to let anyone other than Zatoichi, Nadare, or Sagaki himself into the room. That done, he set off after the other two to tell them what he had learned.

Zatoichi nodded toward Nadare. He had been thinking about possible suspects on the entire way to the armory, and the portion of the way back which they had already travelled. "Yes. Yogo Shigeru, although the only evidence I have was that he had time in which I did not see him, the murder was done swiftly and silently--in scorpion fashion--and that he knows how to remove faces as was done to the girl. It is hardly compelling. In all honesty it could have been anyone. One of the girls who was jealous of Keiyomi's dance, perhaps, or someone wishing to disturb the festivities surrounding the wedding. Perhaps someone who simply dislikes the unicorn, or Keiyomi, or her father. There are too many variables to be certain of anything."

He sighed and shook his head. "Right now, however, I see possible suspects in Shiko-san, the scorpion with the poison tipped tongue. She has a past with Yogo Shigeru, and thus may have been taught his techniques... and that past is not pleasant, so framing him is out of the question. Not to mention her anger over being upstaged by Keiyomi, and Shigeru... I do believe we should see what the kami have to say and follow up our investigation from there."

Crab guards and a few kuni arrived. The Crabs redirected any question from the courtiers in the usual fashion.

"Mind your own business, or I'll show you the true meaning of pain." one said to Keiyomi's father.

"That's my daughter's quarters." Toshimitsu said and rushed past the guards. He ran into the room and fell silent. He fell to his knees and tears filled his eyes. To his credit he did not cry out.

"So, anyone could have done it? Well, like you said, Shigeru or Shiko seem the most likely suspects, but Shigeru's been more exposed to Taint than Shiko, and as a shugenja, he might have been able to disguise himself. But even peasants can use maho, so once again, we can't draw any conclusions. "

As they arrived on the scene, Nadare saw a group of courtiers being hedged away from the crime scene by a group of Kuni and bushi. In their middle, he saw a man dressed in the colors of the Ide, on his knees. Nadare sighed inwardly.

"Get him out of here, he's in the way."

The bushi, understanding Nadare's hidden meaning, gently lifted Toshimitsu to his feet and carried him to one of the nearby guest quarters which was empty. Grief was something which one had to face alone.

Seeing the other two, Sagaki quickly pulled them aside and told them what the kami had told him.

"It seems that the murderer was a woman - very beautiful, it seems, wearing flowing orange robes with the mark of Isawa on them. And there's more - it seems that Hida Sachiko saw the killer..."

He looked at the others. "I think that I should still go and talk to Kuni Taira - Yogo Shigeru may still have been involved, given the way that her face was removed..."

The blasphemous nature of the crime had kept Asako Koyoja silent during the intial finding. Keeping to himself as he made his quiet observations of the room. Stepping inside and noticing things as they lay. Refusing to touch the body was a given, as that was a job for the eta in the castle. He whispered a silent prayer for the two fallen women in this room. The smell was almost familiar... but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Nor was it needed, as his attention was swiftly drawn to the other three. This was one of the reasons he was never chosen for Inquisitor service. Though he had the natural gifts for such a purpose, he never found the... drive, needed to fulfill such a lifes work. Watching Nadare, Sagaki, and Zatoichi take to their duties as fish in water. This was their natural environment, this is what gave their lives purpose. And here he was, Asako Koyoja, supposedly on the same grade as they are, yet he found himself still admist the ruin of the bodies, the wicked deed still engraving itself upon his memory. A single action not taken.

He had heard the Kuni shugenja speak of the spirits in the room being 'silenced', yet the ones in the hallway not. The description of a young Isawa maiden stung his ears like white hot metal upon naked flesh. To think of such an evil act coming from one such as that was offensive was in so many ways. However... He Who Must Not Be Named did not care about such things. He looked over, at the slated window, furrowing his brow. There were two entrances into the room, and two exits. If it was indeed an one who used the dreaded Maho, than perhaps they used the window. Koyoja couldn't see how they would be so... careless by leaving through such a hallway. He made his way back towards the other three, currently dividing up the duties, apparently, and bowed lightly.

"Excuse me, Kuni-san, would you indulge me a moment? I heard you speak to the kami earlier, and I was wondering if you had gotten a chance to speak to those outside the window. Perhaps they know something, as well." He smiled quietly, in his way, unnerved by the events, but knowing his duty.

Sagaki looked surprised at this suggestion, then looked at the window. "No, it hadn't occurred to me..." Without another word, he went to the window and looked outside, taking in the view as if it could tell him something just by examination. Then he lowered his head, closed his eyes, and tried to commune with the kami in the air outside the window...

The Window is latched and opens to the outside. The snow and ice on the sill tells one thing, if anyone came in to this room it wasn't through the window.