The Emperor's Pearl

IV

Judge Dee took the horse of one of the constables, swung himself into the saddle and rode off, heading south. The highway was crowded with people from up-country going home, they paid no attention to the solitary horseman galloping by.

The highway followed the Canal for about one mile. Small groups of men and women were still sitting on the bank, from which they had been watching the races. Then he entered the hills. There dark woods rose on either side of the road. When he had descended into the plain again he saw the coloured lights of the street-stalls that marked the en­trance of Marble Bridge Village. Crossing the high curved bridge that had given the village its name, he saw the masts of the large river junks moored at the quay farther along, at the confluence of the river and the Grand Canal.

The market-place on the other side of the bridge was glittering with hundreds of oil-lamps and lampions. A dense crowd was milling around the stalls. Judge Dee dismounted and led his horse by the bridle to the shop of a blacksmith. The man had little to do, he agreed to look after the horse for a few coppers. The judge noticed with satisfaction that the blacksmith did not recognize him as the magistrate.

He strolled along, looking for a likely place to gather information. Under the high trees on the river-bank he saw the red-lacquered pillars of a small shrine. He joined the stream of people that filed past it. Each dropped a few coppers in the offering-box that stood at the head of the stone steps leading up to the sanctuary. While contributing his coppers Judge Dee looked curiously inside. An aged Taoist priest, clad in a tattered brown cowl, was adding new oil to the single lamp that hung over the altar. On it he saw a life-size statue of the River Goddess, sitting cross-legged on her lotus-throne. The half-closed eyes seemed to be looking down on him, her lips were curved in a faint smile.

As a staunch Confucianist Judge Dee had little patience with the idolatrous popular cults. Yet the beautiful smiling face gave him a strange feeling of disquiet. With an angry shrug he went down the stairs and walked on. A little farther along he saw a barber's stall. Its open front faced the waterfront. As he entered and sat down on the low tabouret, his eye fell on a slender woman who had detached herself from the crowd and now came walking towards the stall. She wore an outer robe of black damask, and the lower half of her face was covered by a black scarf wound round her head. She could hardly be a prostitute, her quiet attire and her proud bearing clearly indicated a person of stand­ing. While taking off his skull-cap, he vaguely wondered what could have brought an unattended lady to this noisy market at such a late hour. Then he concentrated on detailed instructions to the barber as to how he wanted his beard and whiskers trimmed.

'Where might you be hailing from, sir?' the barber asked as he began to comb out Judge Dee's beard.

'I am a boxing-master from the neighbouring district,' the judge replied. He knew that boxing-masters, their pro­fession compelling them to live in an austere manner, were highly regarded by the people — the kind of persons that invite confidences. He added: 'I am on my way to the capital to visit my relatives. You must have been doing good business tonight, with all those people about here for the races.'

'Not too good, to tell you the truth! People had better things to think of than having their hair cut, you know. See that large wine-house over on the opposite bank there? Before the boats took off, the Hon'ble Pien and Kou enter­tained the rowers there, and all their friends and relatives too. Now, I ask you, who is going to spend good coppers on his hair when he can eat a snack and drink his fill, all free for nothing?'

Judge Dee agreed that that was true. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the woman in black standing close by the balustrade that separated the barber's shop from the street. Perhaps she was a prostitute after all, waiting there to accost him when he left. He said to the barber:

'I see only four waiters in the wine-house over there. They must have had a busy time serving all those rowers! I heard that there were nine dragonboats this time.'

'No, they didn't! Do you see that table in the back? Well, they had put six large wine-jars there. Each and every­one could dip in his bowl as often as he liked! And those two side-tables were heaped with cold snacks. Help your­self! Seeing that I have a couple of clients among the rowers, I thought I was more or less entitled to join the guests, and I hopped over myself. I can tell you that they served nothing but the best, sir! The Hon'ble Pien and Kou don't grudge expense when they entertain, no sir they don't! Not a bit stuck up either, they were up and about all the time, had a kind word for everyone. Do you want to have your hair washed?' As the judge shook his head the barber went on: 'Our villagers will go on drinking till midnight, I wager, even though they'll have to pay for it now! There was an accident during the races, you know, a fellow died. That's why everybody here is glad. For now that the White One has got her due, there'll be good crops this autumn!'

'Do you believe in the White Woman?'

'Well, sir, I do and I don't, so to speak. My trade not depending on the water or the field, I can afford to keep an open mind in the matter, more or less, you see. But I wouldn't willingly go near that Mandrake Grove up there, sir!' He pointed with his scissors and added: 'For that belongs to her, and I believe in keeping on the safe side!'

'I too, so stop waving those scissors around my head, man! That'll do fine, thank you. How much do I owe you?'

He paid his coppers, put on his skull-cap, and went out.

The woman in black stepped up to him and said curtly:

'I would like to have a word with you.'

Judge Dee halted and gave her a sharp look. Her cultured voice and air of assurance confirmed his first impression that she was indeed a lady. She went on quickly:

'I heard you say just now that you are a boxing-master. I might have work for you tonight.'

The judge was curious to know what this strange woman wanted. He said:

'I am travelling, and travelling costs money. I could do with something extra.'

'Follow me!'

She walked over to the rustic stone seats under the willows along the waterside and sat down. Judge Dee took the seat opposite. She let down her veil and looked steadily at him for a while with her large, gleaming eyes. She was a remarkably beautiful woman. Her almond-shaped face was not made up, but her delicate small mouth had a natural, bright-red colour, and a slight blush enlivened her smooth cheeks. He put her age at about twenty-five. Her scrutiny completed, she resumed:

'You seem to be a decent fellow, I don't think you'll take undue advantage of the situation. Well, it's quite simple, really. I agreed to meet someone, for an important trans­action, in a deserted house near the Mandrake Grove, about half an hour's walk from here. But, when I made the appointment, I stupidly overlooked the fact that on the night of the dragonboat races all kinds of riff-raff are about here. I want you to accompany me to the house, to protect me against footpads and so on. You only need to bring me up to the gate.' She felt in her sleeve, brought out a shining silver piece, and added: 'I am prepared to pay you well for this slight service.'

AN ENCOUNTER BY THE WATERSIDE

The judge thought he must certainly know more about this. So he rose abruptly and said coldly:

'I am not more averse to easy money than the next: But I am a boxing-master with an established reputation, and I refuse to connive at clandestine meetings.'

'How dare you!' she exclaimed angrily. 'All this is quite above board, I tell you!'

'You'll have to prove that first, if you want my help.'

'Sit down! Time is pressing, I'll have to humour you. And your reluctance confirms my favourable impression of you. Now then, I am commissioned to buy tonight an object of great value. The price has been agreed upon, but special circumstances make it necessary that the transaction be kept secret. There are others who want the same thing, and the owner can't afford for them to know that he is selling to me. He is waiting for me now in that house. It has been deserted for years, one couldn't imagine a safer place for a confidential transaction involving a considerable amount of money.'

Judge Dee looked at her sagging left sleeve.

'Do you mean to say,' he asked, 'that you, a woman and all alone, are carrying the purchasing price on you in cash?'

She took a square package from her left sleeve and silently handed it to him. After having made sure that no one was looking at them, he pried a corner of the thick paper loose. Involuntarily he gasped. It contained ten shining gold bars, packed close together. Returning it to her, he asked:

'Who are you?'

'You see that I trust you completely,' she replied calmly as she put the package back into her sleeve. 'I expect the same from you.' Taking out the silver piece again she asked: 'Is it a deal?'

The judge nodded and accepted the silver piece. His con­versation with the barber had made it clear that searching here for a clue to Tong Mai's poisoning was a hopeless task. The next day he would have to make a thorough inquiry into the background and relations of the murdered man, in order to discover a clue to the motive of the crime. There was no sense in going farther into the question of oppor­tunity, for anybody could have put the poison in his wine or food during the entertainment in the wine-house. He might as well see now what this strange woman was up to. As they were crossing the market together he said:

'I'd better buy a storm-lantern here.'

'I know that property like the palm of my hand!' she said impatiently.

'But I don't, and I'll have to find my way back alone,' the judge remarked dryly. He halted at a stall where house­hold goods were sold and bought a small lantern made of oil-paper stretched over a bamboo frame. When they were walking on, he asked, curiously: 'How did the fellow you are going to meet find his way out there?'

'He used to live in that house. And he'll see me back to the village — in case you are worrying about that!'

They went on in silence. After they bad entered the dark road leading up to the forest, they passed a group of young hooligans who were romping there with three streetwalkers. They began to make ribald remarks about the passing pair. But, after a second look at Judge Dee's tall frame, they stopped abruptly.

A little farther on the woman left the road and entered a pathway leading into the wood. They met two vagabonds who were hovering about under the trees. They came for them, but, when they saw the judge folding back his sleeves with the self-assured gesture of the experienced boxer, they quickly walked on. Judge Dee reflected that at least he was earning his pay. All alone the woman would never have reached her destination unmolested.

Soon he could not hear the noise of the market any more, the stillness was broken only by the eerie cries of the night­jar. The winding path led through a dense forest of high trees, whose branches met overhead so that only small patches of moonlight filtered through to the ground, covered by a thick layer of dry leaves.

The woman turned round and pointed to a tall, gnarled pine tree.

'Remember this tree,' she said. 'On your way back you turn to the left here, and keep to the left.'

She took a footpath, overgrown with weeds. She seemed to be completely familiar with it, but the judge had diffi­culty in keeping up with her without stumbling on the uneven ground. To gain time for a brief rest he asked:

'Why was this property deserted?'

'Because they thought it was haunted. It borders on the Mandrake Grove, and you heard what that fool of a barber said. Are you a coward?'

'Not more than most.'

'Good. Keep quiet then, we are nearly there.'

After what seemed to him an interminable walk she stood still. She laid her hand on his arm and pointed ahead. The treetops were farther apart there; he saw in the bleak moon­light a gatehouse of weatherbeaten bricks. On either side was a high wall. She went up the three steps that led to a heavy double door of mouldering wood, pushed it open and whispered:

'Many thanks and goodbye!'

She slipped inside.

Judge Dee turned round and walked away. But as soon as he was behind the trees again he halted. He put the lantern on the ground, tucked the slips of his long robe under his belt and rolled up his sleeves. Then he took up the lantern again and made for the gatehouse. He would locate the meeting-place of the mysterious pair, and find a corner of vantage from where he could watch them. If it were indeed a straightforward business deal he would leave at once. But, should there be any cause for suspicion, he would make his presence known, reveal his identity, and demand a full explanation.

As soon as he had gone inside, however, he realized that his task would not be as easy as he had imagined, for the country house was not built according to the usual plan. Instead of coming out on an open front courtyard, he found himself in a kind of dark tunnel. Not wanting to light the lantern, he felt his way along the moss-covered stone wall, making for the faint light that shimmered ahead.

Having passed through the tunnel, he came out on a large, neglected yard. Weeds grew among the broken stone paving. On the other side loomed the dark mass of the main building, its partly caved-in rooftops outlined against the moonlit sky. He crossed the yard, then stopped. He thought he had heard a vague noise on his right, where a narrow door opening seemed to lead to the east wing. He quickly passed through it and listened. Voices were coming from a square pavilion raised on a base about four feet high, on the other side of a small, walled-in garden, overgrown with weeds. The walls and roof of the pavilion were in a better state of repair than the rest of the compound. The door was tightly closed, and the single window shuttered. The voices came through the open transom over the entrance. Judge Dee quickly studied the situation. The outer wall on his left was only four feet high, beyond it rose the tall trees of the dark forest. The wall on his right was higher. He thought that if he climbed on top he would be able to hear and see what was going on inside through the open transom.

He selected a spot where the crumbling bricks offered a fairly easy ascent. But, when he was crouching on top of the wall, the moon was clouded over and everything became pitch dark. He crept towards the pavilion as quickly as he dared. He heard the woman say:

'I won't tell you anything until I know why you are here.'

There was an oath, then the sounds of a scuffle. The woman cried:

'Keep your hands off, I tell you!'

At that moment part of the wall gave way under Judge Dee's weight. While he steadied himself with difficulty, a mass of bricks crashed down into the rubble below. As he was groping among the broken bricks for a hold to let him­self down, he suddenly heard the woman scream. Then there was the sound of a door being opened, and of hurried foot­steps. He let himself drop among the shrubs at the foot of the wall and shouted:

'Stay where you are, my men have surrounded the house!'

It was the best he could think of, but it was evidently not good enough. As he scrambled up he heard the sound of breaking branches far ahead, near the gatehouse. The fugi­tive was escaping into the wood.

The judge looked at the pavilion. Through the half-open door he could see part of the interior, lit by a single candle. The woman in black was lying on the floor.

He stumbled through the weeds and rushed up the stone steps. He halted in the door opening. She was lying on her back, the hilt of a dagger sticking up from her breast. He quickly squatted down by her side and intently studied the still face. She was dead.

'She paid me to protect her, and I let her be murdered!' he muttered angrily.

Apparently she had tried to defend herself, for a long thin knife was clasped in her right hand. The blade was stained with blood, and a trail of red drops led across the floor to the door.

He put his hand into her sleeve. The package with the gold bars was gone. There were only two handkerchiefs, and a receipted bill made out to 'The Amber Lady, the Hon'ble Kou Yuan-liang's mansion'. Judge Dee looked again at the still, pale face. He remembered having heard people say that Kou's First Lady had been suffering for years from an in­curable disease and that Kou had taken unto him a beautiful young woman and installed her as his Second Lady. This must be she. That fool of a Kou had sent her here all alone to purchase some valuable antique for his collection! But it had been a trap, to steal the gold.

With a sigh he rose and inspected the bare room. He knitted his eyebrows in a puzzled frown Next to the chair, the only piece of furniture was a bamboo couch. There were no cupboards or wall niches, no place to store away any­thing. The walls and ceiling had been recently repaired, and the window provided with solid iron bars. The door con­sisted of thick new boards and had a large iron lock. Per­plexedly shaking his head, he took the candle up and lighted his lantern with it. Then he descended into the walled-in garden again and walked over to the main build­ing.

Not a stick of furniture was left in the dark, damp rooms. In the half-ruined main hall his eye fell on an inscription engraved in the plaster of the back wall. The two large letters read 'River Villa'. They were signed by the name Tong I-kwan.

'Good calligraphy!' he muttered as he continued his tour of the house. In the empty corridors a few bats came fluttering round his head, attracted by the light of his lantern. But apart from those and a few large rats that scurried away on his approach all was silent as the grave.

He walked back to the pavilion to collect the two knives. Then he would return to Marble Bridge and order the village headman to come with his men and bring the dead woman to the city. There was nothing he could do here in this dismal place. When he entered the walled-in garden he saw that the moon had come out again.

Suddenly he stood stock-still. Somebody was walking stealthily along the other side of the low wall that separated the garden from the forest. He saw only the intruder's tousled head, moving away from the pavilion. Evidently he had not heard the judge, for he unhurriedly continued his progress.

Judge Dee crouched and stepped noiselessly up to the low wall. Grabbing its top he vaulted over and landed in a kind of ditch, overgrown with wild plants. Scrambling up he saw that on this side the wall rose more than six feet above the narrow bank of the ditch. No one was there.

He looked up at the wall and froze in nameless terror. The tousled head was creeping along the top of the wall all by itself, with strange, jerky moves.

He stood breathless for a moment, his eyes fixed on that horrible thing. Then he smiled suddenly, and heaved a deep sigh of relief. The moonlight had played him a trick. It was just a bunch of tangled weeds, being dragged along by some small animal or other.

He reached up and pulled the weeds apart. The small land tortoise underneath gave the judge a reproachful look from its opaque eyes, then quickly drew its head and legs inside its shell.

'A wise policy, my little friend!' Judge Dee muttered. 'Wish I could do the same!'

It was a comfort to talk. The forbidding atmosphere of this strange place was beginning to oppress him. He cast an uneasy glance at the black mass of the wood, rising on the other side of the ditch from a solid wall of thick under­growth. This evidently was the Mandrake Grove, sacred to the River Goddess. Not a leaf was stirring in the silvery moonlight.

'This is no place for us,' the judge addressed the tortoise. 'You'd better come with me. You are just what I needed for enlivening my small rock-garden. The White One won't miss you, I trust!'

He took out his handkerchief and laid the tortoise on it. Having knotted the ends together, he put it in his sleeve. Then he climbed over the wall again, and back into the garden.

He went once more inside the pavilion and carefully pulled the dagger from the woman's breast. It had pene­trated straight into her heart, and the front of the black dress was soaked with blood. Then he took the other knife from her lifeless hand and wrapped both weapons in one of her handkerchiefs. He gave the room a last look, and left.

Arrived at the gatehouse, he studied the tunnel. He now saw also that a parapet ran all along the top of the outer wall. Evidently the owner of this lonely villa had fortified the approaches, fearing attacks by bandit bands. He shrugged his shoulders and left the villa. Aided by his lan­tern, he found the way back to Marble Bridge without difficulty.

The market still presented a gay scene. The villagers were not thinking yet of turning in. He ordered a loafer to take him to the village headman. He told the headman who he was, and gave the frightened man instructions about the corpse. He also ordered him to post a dozen or so militia in the villa, to stand guard till daybreak. Then he fetched his horse from the blacksmith, put the two daggers and the tortoise in his saddle-bag and rode back to the city.