The Emperor's Pearl

III

Judge Dee looked down silently at the still figure of the dead drummer. The corpse had been brought up to the dressing-room and laid out on a reed mat on the floor. The coroner of the tribunal was squatting beside it. He had been standing among the spectators on the quay watching the finish, and had cursorily examined the body directly after it was brought on land. Now he was conducting a closer examination. He had inserted a silver stave into the mouth.

Dr Pien, who had been standing in a corner with Kou Yuan-liang, came forward and said in an irritated voice:

'This is a waste of time, Your Honour! I am certain he had a heart attack. All the symptoms point that way.'

'Let my coroner finish!' Judge Dee spoke curtly. He studied the dead man's muscular body, stripped to a loin cloth. The face was distorted by the death grimace, but the regular features and the smooth, broad forehead seemed to point to an educated man rather than to a shop assistant or a coolie—the class of people the crews were usually recruited from. As the coroner righted himself, the judge asked him:

'What made you think the man was poisoned? You have heard that Dr Pien believes that he died from a heart-attack.'

'In addition to the symptoms of heart failure, Your Honour, there are small purplish spots on the tips of the fingers and toes, and I verified just now that the tongue is swollen and covered by dark stains. I happen to be from the south, and I know that the mountain people there concoct a slow-working poison that produces exactly those symptoms. As soon as I had seen the spots on his finger-tips, I knew that he must have been killed by that particular poison.'

Dr Pien bent over the corpse. The coroner opened the mouth wide with the silver stave and let the doctor look inside. Pien nodded. He said contritely to the judge:

'Your coroner is quite right, sir. I was wrong. I now remember having read about that poison. If taken on an empty stomach, it will become effective after a quarter of an hour or so. But if taken after a heavy meal, it may take an hour or more.'

'Since he was the drummer of your boat, I take it that he was an employee of yours?'

'No, sir, he was a vagrant student; Tong Mai his name was. Occasionally he helped out as a clerk in my pharmacy, in the busy season.'

'Did he have no family here?'

'He did, sir, until a few years ago. He lived with his parents in a rather nice villa, in the countryside. Then his father had bad luck in business and lost all his money. He sold the house and moved back to their native place, up north. Tong Mai stayed behind in Poo-yang, hoping to scrape up enough to keep him going till he had completed his course in Classical Literature in the Temple of Confucius here, then join his parents up north. He was a cheerful, easy­going fellow, and also an excellent sportsman. Good amateur boxer, as a matter of fact. All my employees liked him, that is why they asked him to act as drummer of our boat.'

He cast a regretful look at the prone figure.

'Tong was quite a useful young man,' Mr Kou spoke up. 'His father knew a great deal about antiques, and Tong too had quite an eye for spotting a good thing.'

'How did you come to know him, Mr Kou?' Judge Dee asked.

'He often came to see me, sir, bringing a piece of porcelain or an old bronze that he had picked up cheaply. I agree with Dr Pien that he was a nice young fellow.'

'That did not prevent somebody from murdering him,' the judge remarked dryly. 'Was there anyone who could have harboured a grudge against him?'

Dr Pien gave Mr Kou a questioning look. When the latter shrugged his shoulders the doctor replied: 'Not that we know of, Your Honour. I must add, however, that Tong used to associate with queer people, vagabonds and hangers-on who frequent cheap boxing clubs. Perhaps a quarrel with one of those rascals . . .' He did not complete his sentence.

Pien was looking pale and nervous. Judge Dee reflected that the sudden death of his part-time employee seemed to have shocked him greatly. Or it might have been his wrong diagnosis that had upset the doctor. He asked Mr Kou: 'Where did Tong live?'

'Somewhere near Halfmoon Street, sir, in the south-west corner of the city. I don't know the exact address, but I can ask his friend Sia Kwang. Sia is also a vagrant student, and also an amateur boxer, and he too dabbled in the curio trade as a side line. Sia once told me that he and Tong shared an attic over the shop of an old-clothes merchant. Sia promised to help put away my boat, he must be around somewhere.'

'Have that youngster brought up here!' Judge Dee told the coroner.

'He has gone back to the city already, sir,' Dr Pien said quickly. 'I happened to see him just before I came up here, making for the south gate. Couldn't miss him, with that ugly scar across his left cheek.'

'That's a pity,' Judge Dee remarked. He saw that Kou Yuan-liang seemed eager to go, he was shifting impatiently from one foot to the other. 'Well, gentlemen,' he resumed, 'I shall make careful inquiries into this matter. Do not let it become known that Tong was murdered, for the time being. Call it heart failure. I shall expect both of you at the session of the tribunal tomorrow morning. While you are seeing these two gentlemen down, Hoong, tell our headman to come up here, will you.'

After Pien and Kou had taken their leave, the judge said to the coroner:

'I am glad to see that you know your job. If you hadn't happened to be there, I should have dismissed this murder as an accident, on Dr Pien's authority. You may go back to the tribunal now and draw up your report on the autopsy.'

The coroner left, smiling contentedly. Judge Dee started to pace the floor, his hands clasped behind his back. When Sergeant Hoong came back with the headman, he ordered the latter: ' Fetch me the dead man's clothes!'

'They are right here, sir.' The headman took a bundle from under the table and opened it. 'These are the trousers and belt he was wearing, Your Honour, and the pair of felt shoes he had on. And this, here, is his jacket, found folded up under the drum on his boat.'

Judge Dee put his hand in the capacious sleeve of the jacket and brought out an identity card made out to Tong Mai, a certificate stating that Tong Mai had passed his first literary examination, and two silver pieces wrapped up in tissue-paper. Replacing everything he told Hoong: 'Take these clothes to the tribunal.' And, to the headman: 'Have the body wrapped up in that mat, and let your men bring it to an empty cell in our jail. You yourself go to Tong Mai's lodging and take Sia Kwang to the tribunal. I'll question him later tonight.'

The headman left to call the constables. While Sergeant Hoong was helping the judge to take off his ceremonial robe, he asked:

'Who could have murdered that student? One would think that . . .'

'Murder?' a deep voice spoke up behind them. 'I was told it was an accident!'

The judge turned round with an angry remark on his lips. But he checked himself as he saw the huge man who was standing in the door opening. It was Yang, the curio-dealer who owned a large shop opposite the Temple of Con­fucius. The judge often went there to look over his antiques. He said, not unkindly:

'It was indeed murder, Mr Yang. But I must request you to keep this to yourself.'

The giant raised his bushy eyebrows. He had a strongly-featured, sun-tanned face, with a bristling moustache and a short beard. He said, with a slow smile that bared his white, even teeth:

'As you say, sir! I came to have a look because the fisher­men down at the quay are saying that the White Woman took him.'

'What do they mean by that?' Judge Dee asked testily.

'That's what the countryfolk call the River Goddess, sir. The fishermen are glad that a man died during the races, they say that, now that the goddess has got her due, there'll be plenty of fish this year.'

Judge Dee shrugged his shoulders.

'For the time being we'll let the murderer think that the authorities share the popular belief,' he said.

'How was he murdered, Your Honour?' Yang cast a quick glance at the prone figure, then added: 'I don't see any blood.'

'If you want the details, you'll have to attend the session of the tribunal tomorrow morning,' Judge Dee said curtly. 'By the way, since Tong Mai dabbled in the antique trade, I suppose you knew him well?'

Yang shook his large head.

'Knew of him sir. I never met him. I have my own channels of supply! Got those by hard work, too! Riding up and down the countryside, rain or shine, always after farmers who dig up old stuff in their fields. Keeps me healthy, and well supplied with good, genuine articles. The other day ...'

'Ever meet Tong's friend, fellow called Sia Kwang?'

'No sir. Sorry I can't oblige.' Yang wrinkled his corru­gated brow. 'The name sounds familiar, somehow, but that's all. Well, as I was saying, the other day I got in a temple east of the city an old painting that Your Honour would be interested in, I dare say. It's in good condition, I ...'

'One of these days I'll pass by your shop, Mr Yang. I am in rather a hurry now, I must go back to the tribunal.'

The curio-dealer bowed and took his leave.

'I like to chat with Yang,' the Judge remarked to Sergeant Hoong. 'The man has an uncanny knowledge of antiques. Has a genuine love for them, too. But he came at a most inopportune moment.' He put a small black skull-cap on his head and resumed, with a wan smile: 'Since my three lieutenants won't be back in Poo-yang until the day after tomorrow, we'll have to solve this murder the two of us, Hoong!'

'It's a pity that Ma Joong and Chiao Tai took Tao Gan along on their holiday, sir!' the sergeant said wistfully. 'That sly fellow is just the man for solving a case of poisoning!'

'Don't worry, we'll manage, Hoong! I'll now take a horse and ride to Marble Bridge Village. Evidently the poison was put into Tong Mai's food or drink while the crews were being entertained there before the races. I shall have a look at things out there. I want you to go to the Temple of Con­fucius and see the Director of Studies, old Professor Ou-yang. Ask him about Tong Mai, and also about his friend Sia Kwang. The professor is a shrewd old fellow, I'd like to have his opinion on the character of those two young men. You needn't wait up for me, I'll see you tomorrow morning after breakfast, in my private office.

While they were going down the stairs together, the judge added:

'Oh yes, pass by my residence, will you, and let the steward inform my ladies that I shall be in later tonight.'