The Chinese Lake Murders

Ninth Chapter

When Judge Dee had finished his dinner he told the clerk to serve tea on the terrace.

The judge slowly ascended the broad stone staircase and seated himself in a comfortable armchair. A cool evening breeze had swept away the clouds. The full moon cast its eerie radiance over the wide expanse of the lake.

He sipped the hot tea; the clerk disappeared noiselessly on his felt shoes. The judge was all alone on the broad terrace. With a contented sigh he loosened his robe, leaned back in the chair and looked up at the moon.

He tried to review the events of the past two days. He found to his dismay, however, that he could not concentrate his thoughts. Disconnected images kept flitting across his mind's eye. The face of the dead courtesan staring up at him from under the water, the horribly disfigured head of the murdered carpenter, the haggard face outside the window of the bridal room-all those kept turning round and round in quick succession.

Judge Dee got up impatiently. He went to stand by the marble balustrade. The town below was alive with human activity. He could hear faintly the din from the market place in front of the Temple of Confucius. This was his town, with thousands of people entrusted to his care. Yet foul murderers stalked about there planning who knew what new crimes. And he, the magistrate, was unable to stop them.

Greatly vexed, the judge started pacing the terrace, his hands on his back.

Suddenly he stopped; he thought for a while, then turned round and hurriedly left the terrace.

In his deserted private office he opened a box containing discarded articles of clothing. He selected an old, tattered robe of faded blue cotton. Having donned that disreputable garment, he added an old patched jacket on top of it which he fastened with a rope round his waist. He took off his gauze cap, loosened his topknot, and bound up his hair with a dirty rag. After he had put two strings of cash in his sleeve, he went outside and tiptoed across the dark courtyard. He left the tribunal compound by the side door.

In the narrow alley outside he scooped up a handful of dust and rubbed that in his beard and whiskers. Then he crossed the street and walked down the steps leading into the city.

When he got to the market place he soon found himself in the midst of a seething crowd. He elbowed his way to a street stall and bought an oil cake baked in rancid fat. He forced himself to take a bite from it, smearing the fat in his mustache and over his cheeks.

Walking idly hither and thither, he tried to strike up an acquaintance with some of the vagabonds hanging around there, but all seemed bent on their own business. He tried to begin a conversation with a meatball vendor. But before he had opened his mouth the man hastily pressed a copper coin in his hand and hurried on, shouting lustily: "Finest meatballs, only five coppers apiece!"

Judge Dee reflected that a cheap eating house might afford better opportunity for getting into contact with the underworld. He entered a narrow side street where he had seen a red lantern advertising hot noodles. He drew aside the dirty door curtain.

The smell of burning fat and cheap liquor met him. A dozen or so coolies were seated at the wooden tables, noisily gobbling their noodles. Judge Dee sat down on a bench behind a corner table. A slovenly waiter walked up to him, and the judge ordered a bowl of noodles. He had studied the ways of the underworld so that he could freely use their jargon, yet the waiter gave him a suspicious look.

"Where might you be from, stranger?" he asked in a surly voice.

The judge realized with dismay that he had overlooked the fact that in such a small, self-contained community any stranger was apt to be noticed. He answered hurriedly:

"I just arrived here this afternoon from Chiang-pei. What is it to you anyway! You get me my noodles and I'll get you your coppers. Get a move on!"

The man shrugged and shouted the order to the kitchen at the back.

Suddenly the door curtain was roughly drawn aside and two men came in. The first was a tall, burly fellow with baggy trousers, his torso covered by a sleeveless jacket that left his long, muscular arms bare. He had a nearly triangular face with a stiff short beard and a bristling mustache. The other was a lean fellow dressed in a patched robe. His left eye was covered by a black plaster. He nudged his companion and pointed at the judge.

They quickly stepped over to his table and sat down on either side of him.

"Who asked you to sit down here, you dog's-heads?" the judge growled.

"Shut up, you dirty interloper!" the tall man hissed. The judge felt the point of a knife prodding his side. The one-eyed man pressed close to him; he exuded an offensive odor of garlic and stale sweat. He said with a sneer:

"I myself saw you pocketing a copper in the market place. Do you think we beggars will allow a dirty interloper to lap from our rice bowl?"

In a flash the judge understood the full extent of his folly. By exercising the profession of a beggar without having joined their guild he had gravely offended against age-old, unwritten rules.

The point of the knife became more insistent. The tall man rasped: "Come along outside! Behind there is a quiet yard. Our knives will decide whether you have a right to be here or not!"

Judge Dee thought quickly. He was a good boxer and an expert swordsman, but he was completely ignorant of the knife fighting practiced in the underworld. To reveal his identity was, of course, out of the question; he would rather die than become the laughingstock of the entire province! The best plan was to goad the ruffians into a fight here and now. The coolies would probably join the fray and that would give him a better chance. With a powerful push he shoved the one-eyed man onto the floor. At the same time he knocked the knife away with a backward blow of his right elbow. He felt a sharp pain in his side. But now he could jump up, crashing his fist into the knife wielder's face. He kicked the bench away and ran round the table. He picked up a tabouret and, after wrenching off one leg for a club, raised it as a shield. Cursing loudly, the two ruffians scrambled up and went for the judge, now openly displaying their long knives. The coolies turned round. Far from joining the scuffle, they settled down contentedly to watch gratis a good fight.

The tall man lunged forward with his knife. The judge parried the blow with the tabouret, then hit out with his improvised club for the other's head. As the man ducked quickly, a truculent voice called out loudly from the door:

"Who is making trouble here?"

A cadaverously lean man with a slight stoop came toward them. The two ruffians hastily put away their knives and bowed. Resting his hands on a knobstick the old man stood there surveying them with crafty eyes from under gray tufted eyebrows. Although clad in an old brown robe and wearing a greasy skullcap, he had an unmistakable air of authority. Looking at the husky man he said sourly:

"What are you at now, Mao Loo? You know that I don't like killings inside the city."

"The rule is that an interloper be killed!" the other muttered.

"That's for me to decide!" the old man said gruffly. "As head of the Beggars' Guild I have my responsibilities. I don't condemn a fellow before I have heard him. Hey, you, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"I just wanted to have a bite before I went to see you," Judge Dee answered sullenly. "I came to this accursed town only a few hours ago, but if a man can't eat his noodles in peace here I'd better return where I came from!"

"It's true, boss!" The waiter now joined the conversation. "He said he had come from Chiang-pei when I talked to him just now."

The graybeard looked speculatively at the judge. He asked:

"Have you any money?"

The judge took a string of cash from his sleeve. The other snatched it from his hand with amazing quickness, then said placidly:

"The entrance fee is half a string, but I'll accept the whole string, as mark of your good will. Every night you'll come to the Inn of the Red Carp and hand me ten per cent of your earnings." He threw a dirty slip of wood inscribed with a number and some cabalistic signs on the table and added: "This is your membership tally. Good luck!"

The tall ruffian gave him a nasty look.

"If you ask me-" he began.

"I don't scare!" the head of the beggars snapped at him. "Don't forget that it was me who took you on when the Guild of the Carpenters' had kicked you out! What are you doing here anyway! I was told that you had gone to Three Oaks Island!"

Mao Loo muttered something about having to see a friend first. The one-eyed man said with a leer:

"A friend in skirts! He had come to fetch his wench but she pretended to be ill! That's why he is in that nasty temper!"

Mao Loo cursed.

"Come along, you fool!" he growled. The two men bowed to their boss and left.

Judge Dee wanted to engage the graybeard in some further conversation, but that worthy had lost interest in him. He turned round and was respectfully conducted to the door by the waiter.

The judge resumed his former seat. The waiter placed a bowl of noodles and a beaker in front of him and said, not unkindly:

"An unfortunate misunderstanding, brother! Here; the manager gives you a cup of wine, for free! Come in often!"

Judge Dee quietly ate his noodles and found them surprisingly appetizing. He thought to himself that it had been a good lesson. If ever again he would go out in disguise, he would choose the part of an itinerant doctor or soothsayer. For those stay as a rule only a few days in one place, and they are not organized in guilds. When he had finished his noodles he noticed that the wound in his side was bleeding. He paid his coppers and left.

He went to a pharmacy in the market place. While the assistant was washing his wound he remarked:

"You were in luck, my man! It's only a flesh wound, this time. I trust you hit the other fellow better!"

He covered it with an oil plaster; the judge paid five coppers, and went uptown again. As he slowly climbed the steps leading up to the street of the tribunal, the shopkeepers were already putting up their wooden shutters. He heaved a sigh of relief when he' came to the level road running in front of the tribunal. After having ascertained that none of the guards was about, he quickly crossed the street and slipped into the narrow alley where the side entrance was. Suddenly he stood still, then pressed himself against the wall. Farther ahead he saw a figure, clad in black, in front of the side door. The man was stooping, apparently studying the lock.

Judge Dee strained his eyes to see what he was doing. Suddenly the man righted himself and looked round to the entrance of the alley. The judge couldn't see his face; he had wound a black scarf around his head. He saw the judge and quickly turned to flee. But Judge Dee was on him in three jumps and grabbed his arm.

"Leave me alone!" the black figure cried. "I'll shout if you don't!"

Greatly amazed, the judge let go. It was a woman.

"Don't be afraid!" he said quickly. "I am from the tribunal. Who are you?"

The woman hesitated. Then she said with a trembling voice:

"You look like a footpad!"

"I went out in disguise on a special mission!" the judge said, irritated. "Now speak up, what are you doing here?"

The woman lowered the scarf. It was a young girl with an intelligent, very attractive face. She said:

"I have to see the magistrate on urgent business."

"Why, then, didn't you present yourself at the main gate?" Judge Dee asked.

"Nobody of the personnel must know that I come to see the magistrate," the girl said quickly. "I hoped to attract the attention of a maidservant, and let her take me to the private residence of the judge." Giving him a searching look she asked: "How do I know that you are from the tribunal?"

The judge took a key from his sleeve and unlocked the door. He said curtly:

"I am the magistrate. Follow me!"

The girl gasped. Stepping up to him, she said in an urgent whisper:

"I am Willow Down, the daughter of Han Yung-han, Your Honor! My father sent me; he has been attacked and wounded. He begs you to come quickly! He told me that only Your Honor must know about this; it's of the utmost importance!"

"Who attacked your father?" Judge Dee asked, astonished.

"It was the murderer of Almond Blossom, the courtesan! Please come now to our house, Your Honor; it isn't far!"

The judge went inside. He broke two red roses from the shrub that grew against the garden wall. Then he stepped back into the alley, locked the door and handed the two flowers to the girl. "Stick these in your hair," he ordered. "Then lead the way to your house!"

The girl did as he had said, and walked toward the entrance of the alley, the judge following a few paces behind her. If they should meet the night watch or some late passer-by, they would think she was a prostitute going home with a client.

A short walk brought them to the sumptuous gate of the Han mansion. She quickly led him round the house to the kitchen door. She opened it with a small key she took from her bosom, and went inside, with Judge Dee close behind her. They crossed a small garden to a side building. Willow Down pushed a door open, and motioned the judge to go inside.

The back wall of the small but luxuriously appointed room was taken up almost entirely by a large, high couch of carved sandalwood. On the couch Han was lying back among a number of large silk pillows; the light of the silver candle on the tea table by the window shone on his pale, haggard face. When he saw the judge in his unusual attire, he uttered a frightened cry and wanted to get up. Judge Dee said quickly:

"Don't be afraid. It is I, the magistrate! Where are you wounded?"

"He was felled by a blow on his temple, Your Honor!" Willow Down said. As the judge sat down on the tabouret by the couch, she went to the tea table and took a towel from the hot-water basin. She wiped her father's face with it, then pointed at his right temple. Judge Dee leaned forward and saw that there was indeed a nasty-looking, dark-blue bruise. Willow Down carefully held the hot towel against it. Now that she had shed her black mantle, the judge saw that she was a very elegant and attractive girl indeed. The anxious look she gave her father proved that she was very fond of him.

Han stared at the judge with wide, frightened eyes. He was quite a different man from that of the afternoon. All his haughty airs were gone. There were pouches under his bleary eyes, and lines of strain around his mouth. He whispered hoarsely:

"I am most grateful that Your Honor came! I was kidnaped tonight, Your Honor!" He cast an anxious look at the door and the window, then added in a low voice: "By the White Lotus!"

Judge Dee straightened up on the tabouret.

"The White Lotus!" he exclaimed incredulously. "Stuff and nonsense! That sect was exterminated scores of years ago!"

Han slowly shook his head. Willow Down went to the table to prepare tea.

The judge gave his host a hard and wary look. The White Lotus had been a nationwide conspiracy to overthrow the Imperial House. The movement had been led by some discontented high officials who claimed that Heaven had granted them supernatural powers, and had given them to understand by certain portents that the Mandate of the Imperial House was about to be withdrawn, and that they should found a new dynasty. Great numbers of over-ambitious and wicked officials, leaders of robber bands, army deserters and ex-convicts had joined the secret society. It had ramifications all over the Empire. But their treacherous plans had leaked out, and the strong measures of the authorities had nipped the plot in the bud. The leaders had been executed, together with their entire families, and all members mercilessly prosecuted and killed. Although all this had happened during the preceding reign, the attempted rebellion had shaken the Empire to its core, and even now few people dared to mention that dangerous, dreaded name. But the judge had never heard about attempts to revive the antidynastic movement. He shrugged his shoulders and asked:

"Well, what happened?"

Willow Down offered the judge a cup of tea, then gave one to her father. Han drank greedily, then began:

"After the evening meal I often take a brief stroll in front of the Buddhist Temple, to enjoy the evening breeze. I never take an attendant with me. Tonight there were few people about there, as usual. Passing in front of the temple gate, I only met a closed palanquin, borne by six bearers. Then suddenly a thick cloth was thrown over my head from behind. Before I knew what was happening my arms had been bound on my back; I was lifted up and thrown inside the palanquin. Then my legs were tied together with a piece of rope, and the palanquin was borne away at a quick pace.

"The thick cloth prevented me from hearing anything, and I nearly suffocated. I started kicking with my bound feet against the side of the palanquin; then someone loosened the cloth a little, so that I could breathe again. I don't know how long the trip lasted; it took at least one hour, I would say. Then the palanquin was put down. Two men roughly pulled me out of it, and carried me up a flight of stairs. I heard a door open. They put me down, cut the rope round my ankles, and made me walk inside. I was pressed down into an armchair, and they took the cloth from my head."

Han took a deep breath. Then he pursued:

"I found myself sitting at a square blackwood table in a small room. On the other side sat a man in a green robe. His head and shoulders were completely covered by a white hood, with only two slits for his eyes. Still half-dazed and stuttering, I began to protest. But the man angrily hit his fist on the table and-"

"What did his hand look like?" Judge Dee interrupted.

Han hesitated. He thought a moment, then replied:

"I really don't know, Your Honor! He was wearing thick hunting gloves. There was absolutely nothing by which I would be able to identify him; his green robe was hanging loosely around him, so that his body was just a formless shape, and the hood muffled his voice. Where was I: now? Oh, yes. He cut my protest short, saying: 'This is a warning, Han Yung-han! The other night a dancer told you something she shouldn't have told. You know what happened to her. It was very wise of you that you didn't tell the magistrate, Han, very wise! The White Lotus is powerful, as proved by our execution of your paramour Almond Blossom!' "

Han felt the bruise on his temple with his fingertips. Willow Down hurried over to him, but he shook his head and continued in a plaintive voice:

"I hadn't the faintest idea what the man was talking about, Your Honor! The dancer my paramour, forsooth! And you know yourself that during the banquet she had hardly spoken to me at all! Well, I said angrily that he was talking nonsense. He laughed; I can tell you it sounded horrible from behind the mask. He said, 'Don't lie, Han! It's no use! Shall I tell you exactly what she said to you? Listen! She said: "I must see you later. A dangerous conspiracy is plotted in this town!'" When I looked at him, dum-founded by that nonsense, he went on with a nasty sneer: 'You have nothing to say to that, eh, Han? The White Lotus knows everything! And we are also all-powerful, as you found out tonight. Obey my command, Han, and forget what she said, all of it, and for good!' He gave a sign to someone who must have been standing behind my chair and went on: 'Help that lecher to forget, and not too gently, mind you!' I received a fearful blow on my head, and I lost consciousness." Han heaved a deep sigh, then concluded:

"When I came to, I was lying in front of the back door of my house here. Fortunately, there was no one about. I scrambled up, and succeeded in reaching my small study here. I had my daughter called, and told her to go to Your Honor at once. But nobody must know that I reported this, Your Honor! My life is at stake! And I am convinced that the White Lotus has its spies everywhere-even inside the tribunal!"

He leaned back against the pillows, and closed his eyes.

Judge Dee pensively caressed his side whiskers. Then he asked:

"What did that room look like?"

Han opened his eyes. He frowned and seemed to think deeply. After a while he replied:

"I could see only the section that was in front of me, I have the impression that it was a small, hexagonal room. I would have thought it was a garden pavilion, but the air was much too close for that. The only other piece of furniture besides the square table was a black-lacquered cabinet against the wall, behind the chair of the hooded man. I also seem to remember that the walls were covered with faded green hangings."

"Have you any idea," Judge Dee asked again, "in what direction your kidnapers took you?"

"Only some vague impression," Han answered. "At first I was so confused by the attack on me that I didn't pay much attention, but I am sure that generally we kept to an easterly direction. I think we descended a slope; thereafter, the last three-quarters of our way we went over level ground."

Judge Dee rose. The wound in his side was throbbing; he was eager to go home.

"I appreciate it that you reported this matter so promptly to me," he said. "I am inclined to believe that somebody played a prank on you. Do you have some enemy who could have indulged in this ill-timed and wholly irresponsible practical joke?"

"I have no enemies!" Han exclaimed indignantly. "And a prank? Let me assure you that the fellow was in dead earnest!"

"I was thinking of a practical joke," Judge Dee said calmly, "because I have come to the conclusion that after all it probably was one of the oarsmen who murdered the courtesan. I noticed among them one rascal who seemed very ill at ease when I heard him. I think I'd better question him in the tribunal with legal severities."

Han's face lit up.

"Didn't I say so at once, Your Honor?" he exclaimed triumphantly. "At the very first moment when we heard about the murder, my friends and I knew that the criminal would be found among those oarsmen! Yes, now I come to think of it I feel inclined to agree that my kidnaping was only a trick. I'll try to think who could have done me that ill turn!"

"I also shall institute a few inquiries," the judge said. "Very discreetly, of course. I shall keep you informed."

Han seemed pleased. He said with a smile to his daughter:

"The doorman will be asleep already; lead His Excellency to the main gate, my girl! It isn't seemly for our magistrate to leave our house as a thief by the back door!"

He folded his pudgy hands and reclined on the pillows with a deep sigh.