The Dutch Physician's Shadow

The surgical knife gleamed in candlelight.

Tetsuya worked with practiced precision. The Dutch method had served him well these fifteen years.

He made the final incision. The tumor came free whole.

The girl's breathing changed from ragged to steady. Her color returned.

Tetsuya bandaged the surgical site with clean cloth. He washed his hands in the basin.

The door slid open. Merchant Tanaka entered.

Tetsuya bowed. "Your daughter will recover."

Tanaka pressed coins into Tetsuya's hands. More than the usual fee.

"My thanks to you." Tanaka bowed again. "And to the Nakamura network for bringing this cure from Edo to our province."

Tetsuya's fingers closed around the coins.

"The Nakamura network?"

Tanaka smiled. "You are humble, sensei. The merchants who distributed your remedy."

He bowed once more and left.

Tetsuya stood alone in his clinic. The coins felt heavy in his palm.

Nakamura network.

He had never heard such a thing.

He locked the clinic door. Checked the window latches.

The shadows lengthened across the tatami mats as evening approached.

Tetsuya knelt beside the examination table. He pried up the tatami mat.

Then the floorboard beneath.

The hidden compartment gaped empty.