 The men, both aged 23, had been drinking, and were sleeping near the entrance to a "tea house".The British Consul in Nagasaki, Marcus Flowers, blamed the Tokugawa shogunate for failing to protect the men and believed that the "Kaientai" led by Sakamoto Ryōma was behind the killings.This belief was based on rumours that the men had been seen in the area, combined with the departure of a Tosa steamer from Nagasaki soon after the incident.