The Red Pavilion

XX

When Judge Dee had rejoined Ma Joong, his lieutenant asked eagerly:

'You were quite some time. What did she say, sir? '

The judge wiped the beads of perspiration from his forehead, then swung himself on his horse. He muttered:

'No one was there.' Taking a deep breath of the fresh morn­ing air, he added: 'I made a thorough search of her lodging, but found nothing. I had a theory, but it proved to be wrong. Let's ride back to our hostel.'

While they were crossing the piece of waste land, Ma Joong suddenly pointed ahead with his riding-whip and exclaimed:

'Look at all that smoke over there, sir! They have begun to burn the altars. The Festival of the Dead is over!'

The judge stared at the dense columns of black smoke billow­ing over the rooftops.

'Yes,' he said, 'the Gates of the Other World have closed.' Closed, he thought, on the ghosts of the past. Thirty years the shadows of that one night in the Red Pavilion had dragged on, darkening the lives of the living. And now at last, after thirty long years, those shadows had slunk away to that dank, evil-smelling hovel; now they were cowering there, with a dead man, and a dying woman. Soon they would have gone, gone for ever, never to come back.

When they had returned to the Hostel of Eternal Bliss, Judge Dee told the manager to prepare the bill. He ordered the groom to look after the horses, then went on with Ma Joong to the Red Pavilion.

While Ma Joong was packing the saddlebags, the judge sat down and re-read his report on the Academician's suicide that he had drawn up the night before, then wrote the concluding passage of his report on the demise of Autumn Moon. He gave as his verdict that she had died from a heart attack, after over­indulgence in alcohol.

Afterwards he wrote a brief letter to Feng Dai, stating that he had found that one and the same man had murdered both Tao Kwang and Autumn Moon, but that the criminal had died and that these matters therefore would be best let alone. In conclusion he wrote: 'I am informed that Dr Lee Wei-djing, his mind deranged by the last phase of leprosy, has been roaming about in this area, and died in the hovel of the former courtesan Miss Ling, who is mortally ill. Should the woman have died also, I order you to have the hovel burned, together with the two corpses, so as to prevent the disease from spread­ing. Inform the Lee family. The woman has no known relatives.' Then he signed the letter. Having re-read it he again moistened his writing brush and added a postscript, saying: 'I also learned that Kia Yu-po has left the island together with a girl he loves. An older and deeper affection shall comfort your daugh­ter, to whom convey my best wishes for her future happiness.'

He took a new sheet and indited a letter to Tao Pan-te, in­forming him that his father's murderer had been identified, but that he had died after a long and painful disease. He added: 'Thus Heaven has avenged your wrong, and nothing stands in the way of a closer union between the houses of Tao and Feng, sealing the old friendship.'

He closed the two letters and marked them ' personal'. Then he rolled up his official reports, together with all the enclosures, and put the bulky roll in his sleeve. Getting up from his chair, he said to Ma Joong:

'We'll go home via Chin-hwa. There I'll hand my report to Magistrate Lo.'

They walked to the hall together, Ma Joong carrying the saddlebags.

Judge Dee settled the bill with the manager, and handed him the letters to Feng Dai and Tao Pan-te, for immediate delivery.

Just as they had stepped out into the front courtyard to mount their horses, there was a clanging of gongs in the street outside, and loud shouts of ' Make way, make way!'

A dozen perspiring bearers carried a large official palankeen inside. It was followed by a troop of constables, holding high the large red placards inscribed with Magistrate Lo's full rank and titles. Their headman moved the door curtain aside with a respectful bow, and Magistrate Lo descended, resplendent in his green official robe and winged judge's cap, and vigorously fanning himself with a small folding fan.

When he saw Judge Dee standing by his horse he ran up to him with mincing steps, exclaiming excitedly:

'My dear Elder Brother, what a terrible thing! The Queen Flower of Paradise Island dead, and under mysterious circum­stances! The whole province'll be talking about it! Came rush­ing back here, despite this awful heat. As soon as I heard the shocking news! Wouldn't dream of saddling you with more extra work, of course!'

'Her death must indeed have been a shock to you,' the judge remarked dryly.

Lo gave him a shrewd look. He said airily:

'I am always interested in a beautiful woman, Dee, always! "Along the dusty road of weary life's routine, blooms all too rare this full-blown rose, that laves the traveller with its dew-decked sheen, and tee-tums him to sweet repose " — that's how I put it in a recent poem. I am still groping for a telling verb in the last line. Not bad though, eh? Well, what happened to the poor girl?'

Judge Dee handed him the roll of documents.

'It's all here, Lo. I had planned to pass by Chin-hwa to hand you these papers, but you'll allow me to give them to you here and now. I am eager to get home.'

'By all means!' Lo closed his fan and stuck it jauntily in his collar behind his head. Then he quickly unrolled the papers. When he had glanced the first report through he nodded and said:

'I see you confirmed my verdict of the Academician's suicide. Mere matter of routine. As I told you.'

He went on with the report on the Queen Flower's death. After he had verified that his own name was not mentioned in connection with her he nodded approvingly, rolled all the docu­ments up and said with a contented smile:

'Excellent work, Dee! Ably written too. I can send the report on to the Prefect unchanged — practically unchanged, that is. Style seems a bit on the heavy side, if I may say so, Dee. I'll give it a somewhat lighter touch here and there, make it easier to read. Modern style, that's what the metropolitan officials like nowadays, you know. I am told you can even put in a bit of humour—very subdued, needless to say. Shan't fail to mention your valuable assistance, of course.' Putting the papers in his sleeve, he asked briskly: 'Well, who caused the Queen Flower's death? You have locked him up in the warden's place, I suppose?'

'When you have read the rest of my report,' Judge Dee replied evenly, 'you'll perceive that the Queen Flower died of a heart attack.'

'But everybody is saying that you refused to confirm the coroner's verdict! The Mystery of the Red Pavilion, they call it. Almighty Heaven, Dee, you don't mean to say that I'll have to continue the investigation?'

'It's indeed something of a mystery. But my verdict of acci­dental death is amply supported by proof. You can rest assured that the higher authorities will consider the case closed.'

Lo sighed with undisguised relief.

'There's only one thing left to do,' Judge Dee continued. 'Among the papers you'll find a confession of the curio-dealer Wen Yuan. He delivered false testimony in court and tortured a courtesan. He deserves a flogging, but that would probably kill him. I propose that you have him stand in the pillory a day, with a notice stating that he is under a suspended sentence, and that he'll be flogged as soon as a new complaint is lodged against him.'

'I'll do that with pleasure! The scoundrel has fine porcelain, but his prices are atrocious. He'll bring them down a bit now! I presume. Well, I am deeply obliged, Dee. Sorry to see you are leaving already. I may as well stay on a bit here to ah ... study the aftermath of the cases. Have you seen yet the new dancer that arrived here yesterday? No? They say she is absolutely wonderful, remarkable skill, and a charming voice too. And a figure . . .' With a pensive smile he twirled his moustache, elegantly lifting his little finger. Suddenly he gave the judge a searching look. Raising his eyebrows, he added loftily: 'I am disappointed, though, that you didn't get to the bottom of that mystery of the Red Pavilion. Dee. Heavens, man, you have the reputation of being the most clever judge of our whole province! Always thought you solved murders and things in between two cups of tea, so to speak!'

'Reputations are not always founded on fact!' the judge remarked with a bleak smile. 'I'll be off now, back to Poo-yang. Do come and see me next time you call there. Goodbye!'