Judge Dee at Work

THE COFFINS OF THE EMPEROR

The events described in this story took place when Judge Dee was occupying his fourth post as magistrate, namely of Lan-fang, an isolated district on the western frontier of the mighty T'ang Empire. Here he met with considerable trouble when taking up his duties, as described in the novel The Chinese Maze Murders. The present story tells about the grave crisis that threatened the Empire two years later, in the winter of the year A.D. 672, and how Judge Dee succeeded in solving, on one and the same night, two difficult problems, one affect­ing the fate of the nation, the other the fate of two humble people.

As soon as Judge Dee had entered the dining-room on the res­taurant's top floor, he knew that the banquet would be a dismal affair. The light of two large silver candelabras shone on the beautiful antique furniture, but the spacious room was heated by only one small brazier, where two or three pieces of coal were dying in the embers. The padded curtains of embroidered silk could not keep out the cold draught, reminding one of the snowy plains that stretched out for thousands of miles beyond the western frontier of the Chinese Empire.

At the round table sat only one man, the thin, elderly magis­trate of Ta-shih-kou, this remote boundary district. The two girls who were standing behind his chair looked listlessly at the tall, bearded newcomer.

Magistrate Kwang rose hastily and came to meet Judge Dee.

'I profoundly apologize for these poor arrangements!’ he said with a bleak smile. 'I had invited also two colonels and two guildmasters, but the colonels were suddenly summoned to the Marshal's headquarters, and the guildmasters were wanted by the Quartermaster-General. This emergency ...' He raised his hands in a helpless gesture.

The main thing is that I shall now profit from your instructive conversation!’ Judge Dee said politely.

His host led him to the table and introduced the very young girl on his left as Tearose, and the other as Jasmine. Both were gaudily dressed and wore cheap finery — they were common pros­titutes rather than the refined courtesans one would expect at a dinner party. But Judge Dee knew that all the courtesans of Ta-shih-kou were now reserved for the high-ranking officers of the Marshal's headquarters. When Jasmine had filled Judge Dee's wine beaker, Magistrate Kwang raised his own and said:

'I welcome you, Dee, as my esteemed colleague of the neighbour-district and my honoured guest. Let's drink to the victory of our Imperial Army!’

'To victory!' Judge Dee said and emptied his beaker in one draught.

From the street below came the rumble of iron-studded cart­wheels on the frozen ground.

'That'll be the troops going to the front at last for our counter-offensive,' the judge said with satisfaction.

Kwang listened intently. He sadly shook his head. 'No,' he said curtly, 'they are going too slowly. They are coming back from the battlefield.'

Judge Dee rose, pulled the curtain aside and opened the win­dow, braving the icy wind. In the eerie moonlight he saw down below a long file of carts, drawn by emaciated horses. They were packed with wounded soldiers and long shapes covered with canvas. He quickly closed the window.

'Let's eat!’ Kwang said, pointing with his chopsticks at the silver bowls and platters on the table. Each contained only a small quantity of salted vegetables, a few dried-out slices of ham and cooked beans.

'Coolie fare in silver vessels — that sums up the situation!’ Kwang spoke bitterly. 'Before the war my district had plenty of everything. Now all food is getting scarce. If this doesn't change soon we'll have a famine on our hands.'

Judge Dee wanted to console him, but he quickly put his hand to his mouth. A racking cough shook his powerful frame. His colleague gave him a worried look and asked, 'Has the lung epi­demic spread to your district too?'

The judge waited till the attack had passed, then he quickly emptied his beaker and replied hoarsely, 'Only a few isolated cases, and none really bad. In a milder form, like mine.'

'You are lucky,' Kwang said dryly. 'Here most of those who get it start spitting blood in a day or two. They are dying like rats. I hope your quarters are comfortable,' he added anxiously.

'Oh yes, I have a good room at one of the larger inns,' Judge Dee replied. In fact he had to share a draughty attic with three officers, but he didn't like to distress his host further. Kwang hadn't been able to accommodate him in his official residence because it had been requisitioned by the army, and the magistrate had been obliged to move with his entire family into a small ramshackle house. It was a strange situation; in normal times a magistrate was well-nigh all-powerful, the highest authority in his district. But now the army had taken over. 'I'll go back to Lan-fang tomorrow morning,' the judge resumed. 'There are many things to be attended to, for in my district also food is getting scarce.'

Kwang nodded gloomily. Then he asked: 'Why did the Mar­shal summon you? It's a good two days' journey from Lan-fang to here, and the roads are bad.'

'The Uigurs have their tents on the other side of the river that borders my district,' Judge Dee replied. 'The Marshal wanted to know whether they were likely to join the Tartar armies. I told him that ...' He broke off and looked dubiously at the two girls. The Tartar spies were everywhere.

'They are all right,' Kwang said quickly.

'Well, I informed the Marshal that the Uigurs can only bring two thousand men in the field, and that their Khan went on a prolonged hunting trip to Central Asia, just before the Tartar emissaries arrived at his camp to ask him to join forces with them. The Uigur Khan is a wise man. We have his favourite son as hostage, you see, in the capital.'

'Two thousand men won't make any difference either way,' Kwang remarked. 'Those accursed Tartars have three hundred thousand men standing at our frontier, ready to strike. Our front is crumbling under their probing attacks, and the Marshal keeps his two hundred thousand men idle here, instead of starting the promised counteroffensive.'

For a while the two men ate in silence, while the girls kept their cups filled. When they had finished the beans and salted vegetables, Magistrate Kwang looked up and asked Tearose impatiently, 'Where is the rice?'

'The waiter said they don't have any, sir,' the girl replied.

'Nonsense!' the magistrate exclaimed angrily. He rose and said to Judge Dee: 'Excuse me a moment, will you? I'll see to this myself!'

When he had gone downstairs with Tearose, the other girl said softly to Judge Dee, 'Would you do me a great favour, sir?'

The judge looked up at her. She was a not unattractive woman of about twenty. But the thick layer of rouge on her face could not mask her sallow complexion and hollow cheeks. Her eyes were unnaturally wide and had a feverish glow.

'What is it?' he asked.

'I am feeling ill, sir. If you could leave early and take me with you, I would gladly receive you after I have rested awhile.'

He noticed that her legs were trembling with fatigue. 'I'll be glad to,' he replied. 'But after I've seen you home, I shall go on to my own lodging.' He added with a thin smile: 'I am not feel­ing too well myself, you know.'

She gave him a grateful look.

When Magistrate Kwang and Tearose came back, Kwang said contritely, 'I am very sorry, Dee, but it's true. There is no rice left.'

'Well,' Judge Dee said, 'I enjoyed our meeting very much. I also think that Jasmine here is quite attractive. Would you think it very rude if I asked to be excused now?'

Kwang protested that it was far too early to part, but it was clear that he too thought this the best solution. He conducted Judge Dee downstairs and took leave of him in the hall. Jasmine helped the judge don his heavy fur coat, then they went out into the cold street. Sedan-chairs were not to be had for love or money; all the bearers had been enlisted for the army transports.

The carts with the dead and wounded were still fifing through the streets. Often the judge and his companion had to press themselves against the wall of a house to let dispatch-riders pass, driv­ing their weary horses on with obscene curses.

Jasmine led the judge down a narrow side street to a small hovel, leaning against a high, dark godown. Two struggling pine trees flanked the cracked door, their branches bent low under the load of frozen snow.

Judge Dee took a silver piece from his sleeve. Handing it to her, he said, 'Well, I'll be going on now, my inn ...' A violent attack of coughing seized him.

'You'll come inside and at least drink something hot,' she said firmly. 'You aren't fit to walk about as you are.' She opened the door and dragged the judge inside, still coughing.

The attack subsided only after she had taken his fur coat and made him sit down in the bamboo chair at the rickety tea-table. It was very warm in the small dark room; the copper brazier in the corner was heaped with glowing coals. Noticing his astonished glance, she said with a sneer; 'That's the advantage of being a prostitute nowadays. We get plenty of coal, army issue. Serve our gallant soldiers!’

She took the candle, lit it at the brazier, then put it back on the table. She disappeared through the door curtain in the back wall. Judge Dee surveyed the room in the flickering light of the candle. Against the wall opposite him stood a large bedstead; its curtains were drawn, revealing rumpled quilts and a soiled double-pillow.

Suddenly he heard a queer sound. He looked round. It came from behind a faded blue curtain, which was covering something close to the wall. It flashed through his mind that this could well be a trap. The military police flogged thieves on the street corners till their bones lay bare, yet robbery and assault were rampant in the city. He rose quickly, stepped up to the curtain and ripped it aside.

He blushed despite himself. A wooden crib stood against the wall. The small round head of a baby emerged from under a thick, patched quilt. It stared up at him with its large wise eyes. The judge hurriedly pulled the curtain close, and resumed his seat.

The woman came in carrying a large teapot. Pouring him a cup, she said, 'Here, drink this. It's a special kind of tea; they say it cures a cough.'

She went behind the curtain and came back with the child in her arms. She carried it to the bed, pulled the quilts straight with one hand and turned the pillow over.

'Excuse this mess,' she said at she laid the child on the bed. 'I had a customer here just before the magistrate had me called to attend our dinner.' With the unconcern marking women of her profession, she took off her robe. Clad only in her wide trousers, she sat on the bed and leaned back against the pillow with a sigh of relief. Then she took up the child and laid it against her left breast. It started drinking contentedly.

Judge Dee sipped the medicinal tea; it had an agreeable bitter taste. After a while he asked her: 'How old is your child?'

'Two months,' the woman replied listlessly. 'It's a boy.'

His eye fell on the long white scars on her shoulders; one broad weal sorely mutilated her right breast. She looked up and saw his glance. She said indifferently, 'Oh, they didn't mean to do that, it was my own fault. When they were flogging me, I tried to wrench myself loose, and one tongue of the scourge curled over my shoulder and tore my breast.'

'Why were you flogged?' the judge asked.

'Too long a story to tell!’ she said curtly. She concentrated her attention on the child.

Judge Dee finished his tea in silence. His breathing came easier now, but his head was still throbbing with a dull ache. When he had drunk a second cup, Jasmine carried the baby back to the crib and pulled the curtain shut. She came to the table, stretched herself and yawned. Pointing at the bedstead, she asked, 'What about it? I have rested a bit now, and the tea hardly covers what you paid me.'

'Your tea is excellent,' the judge said wearily; 'it more than covers what I gave you.' In order not to offend her he added quickly, 'I wouldn't risk infecting you with this accursed lung trouble. I'll have one more cup, then I'll be on my way.'

'As you like!’ Sitting down opposite him, she added, 'I'll have a cup myself, my throat is parched.'

In the street footsteps crunched in the frozen snow. It was the men of the night watch. They beat midnight on their wooden clappers. Jasmine shrank in her seat. Putting her hand to her throat, she gasped, 'Midnight already?'

'Yes,' Judge Dee said worriedly, 'if we don't start our counter-offensive very soon, I fear the Tartar hordes will break through and overrun this area. We'll drive them back again, of course, but since you have that nice child, wouldn't it be wiser if you packed up and went east tomorrow morning?'

She was looking straight ahead, agony in her feverish eyes. Then she spoke, half to herself, 'Six hours to go!' Looking at the judge, she added: 'My child? At dawn his father will be be­headed.'

Judge Dee set his cup down. 'Beheaded?' he exclaimed. 'I am sorry. Who is he?'

'A captain, name of Woo.'

'What did he do?'

'Nothing.'

'You aren't beheaded for nothing!' the judge remarked crossly.

'He was falsely accused. They said he strangled the wife of a fellow officer. He was court-martialled and condemned to death. He has been in the military jail now for about a year, wait­ing for the confirmation. It came today.'

Judge Dee tugged at his moustache. 'I have often worked to­gether with the military police,' he said. 'Their judicial system is cruder than our civilian procedure, but I have always found them efficient, and very conscientious. They don't make many mistakes.'

'They did in this case,' Jasmine said. She added resignedly: 'Nothing can be done; it's too late.'

'Yes, since he is to be executed at dawn, there isn't much we can do about it,' the judge agreed. He thought for a while, then resumed, 'But why not tell me about it? You would get my mind off my own worries and perhaps it might help you to pass the time.'

'Well,' she said with a shrug, 'I am feeling too miserable to sleep anyway. Here it is. About a year and a half ago, two captains of the garrison here in Ta-shih-kou used to frequent the licensed quarters. One was called Pan, the other Woo. They had to work together because they belonged to the same branch of the service, but they didn't get along at all; they were as differ­ent as can be. Pan was a milksop with a smooth face, a dandy who looked more like a student than an officer. With all his fine talk he was a nasty piece, and the girls didn't like him. Woo was just the opposite, a rough-and-ready boy, a good boxer and swords­man, quick with his hands and quick with a joke. They used to say that the soldiers would go through fire and water for him. He wasn't what you'd call handsome, but I loved him. And he would have no one but me. He paid the owner of the brothel I belong to at regular times so that I didn't have to sleep with the first comer. He promised to buy and marry me as soon as he got his promotion, that's why I didn't mind having his child. Usually we get rid of them when we are pregnant or sell them. But I wanted mine.' She emptied her cup, pushed a lock away from her forehead, and went on, 'So far so good. Then, one night about ten months ago, Pan came home and found his wife lying there strangled to death, and Woo standing by her bed, looking dazed. Pan called in a passing patrol of the military police, and accused Woo of having murdered his wife. Both were brought before the military tribunal. Pan said that Woo kept bothering his wife, who wouldn't have him. The slimy bastard said he warned Woo many times to leave her alone; he hadn't wanted to report him to the colonel because Woo was his fellow-officer! Well, Pan added that Woo knew that Pan was on night duty in the armoury that evening, so he had gone to Pan's house and again tried to bed with his wife. She had refused, and Woo had flown into a rage and strangled her. That was all.'

'What did Woo have to say to that?' Judge Dee asked.

'Woo said that Pan was a dirty liar. That he knew that Pan hated him, and that Pan himself had strangled his wife in order to ruin him.'

'Not a very clever fellow, that captain of yours,' the judge re­marked dryly.

'Listen, will you? Woo said that when he passed by the armoury that night, Pan hailed him and asked him to go round to his house and see whether his wife needed anything, for she had felt indisposed that afternoon. When Woo got there, the front door was open, the servants gone. No one answered his calls, so he went into the bedroom where he found her dead body. Then Pan came rushing inside and started hollering for the military police.'

'A queer story,' Judge Dee said. 'How did the military judge formulate his verdict? But no, you wouldn't know that, of course.'

'I do. I was there myself, sneaked in with the others. Wet all over with fright, I tell you, for if they catch a whore in a mili­tary establishment she gets scourged. Well, the colonel said that Woo was guilty of adultery with the wife of a fellow-officer, and sentenced him to have his head chopped off. He said he wouldn't say too much about murder, for his men had found out that Pan himself had sent his servants away after dinner that night, and as soon as he had gone on duty at the armoury, he had told the military police that he had been warned about thieves in his neighbourhood, and asked them to keep an eye on his house. The colonel said that it was possible Pan had discovered that his wife was carrying on with Woo, and that he had therefore strangled her. That was his right; according to the law, he could have killed Woo too, if he had caught them in the act, as they call it. But maybe Pan had been afraid to tackle Woo, and had chosen this roundabout way of getting at him. Anyway that was neither here nor there, the colonel said. The fact was that Woo had played games with the wife of a fellow-officer, and that was bad for the morale of the army. Therefore he had to be beheaded.'

She fell silent. Judge Dee caressed his sidewhiskers. After a while he said, 'On the face of it I would say that the colonel was perfectly right. His verdict agrees with the brief character sketch you gave me of the two men concerned. Why are you so sure that Woo didn't have an affair with Pan's wife?'

'Because Woo loved me, and wouldn't even look at another woman,' she replied promptly.

Judge Dee thought that this was a typical woman's argument. To change the subject, he asked: 'Who flogged you, and why?

'It's all such a stupid story!’ she said in a forlorn voice. 'After the session I was furious with Woo. I had discovered that I was pregnant, and the mean skunk had been carrying on with the Pan woman all the time, behind my back! So I rushed to the jail and got inside by telling the guards I was Woo's sister. When I saw him I spat in his face, called him a treacherous lecher, and ran off again. But when I was so far gone I couldn't work any more, I got to thinking things over, and I knew I had been a silly fool, and that Woo loved me. So eight weeks ago, after our child had been born and I was a little better, I again went to the military prison to tell Woo I was sorry. But Woo must have told the guards how I fooled them the time before — and he was right, too, the way I had shouted at him! As soon as I was inside they lashed me to the rack and gave me a flogging. I was in luck, I knew the soldier who handled the scourge; he didn't hit too hard, else the army would have had to supply a coffin then and there. As it was, my back and shoulders were cut to ribbons and I was bleeding like a pig, but I am no weakling and I made it. As strong as a farmhand, father used to say of me before he had to sell me to pay the rent for our field. Then there came rumours about the Tartars planning an attack. The garrison commander was called to the capital, and the war started. What with one thing and another Woo's case dragged on. This morning the decision came, and at dawn they'll chop his head off.'

Suddenly she buried her face in her hands and started to sob. The judge slowly stroked his long black beard, waiting till she had calmed down. Then he asked:

'Was the Pans' marriage a happy one?'

'How do I know? Think I slept under their bed?'

'Did they have children?'

'No.'

'How long had they been married?'

'Let me see. About a year and a half — I know that. When I first met the two captains, Woo told me that Pan had just been called home by his father to marry the woman his parents had got for him.'

'Do you happen to know his father's name?'

'No. Pan only used to brag that his father was a big noise in Soochow.'

'That must be Pan Wei-liang, the Prefect,' Judge Dee said at once. 'He is a famous man, a great student of ancient history. I have never met him, but I have read many of his books. Quite good. Is his son still here?'

'Yes, attached to headquarters. If you admire those Pans so much, you'd better go there and make friends with the mean bastard!’ she added contemptuously.

Judge Dee rose. 'I'll do that,' he said, half to himself.

She mouthed an obscene word. 'You are all the same, all of you!' she snapped. 'Am I glad I am just an honest whore! The gentleman is choosy, doesn't want to sleep with a woman with half a breast gone, eh? Want your money back?'

'Keep it!’ Judge Dee said calmly.

'Go to hell!' she said. She spat on the floor and turned her back on him.

Judge Dee silently put on his fur coat and left.

While he was walking through the main street, still crowded with soldiers, he reflected that things didn't look too good. Even if he found Captain Pan, and even if he succeeded in extracting from him the fact he needed for the testing of his theory, he would then have to try to obtain an audience with the Marshal, for only he could, at this stage, order a stay of execution. And the Marshal was fully occupied by weighty issues, the fate of the Empire was in the balance. Moreover, that fierce soldier was not notorious for his gentle manner. Judge Dee set his teeth. If the Empire had come to such a pass that a judge couldn't prevent an innocent man from being beheaded ...

The Marshal's headquarters were located in the so-called Hunt­ing Palace, an immense compound that the present Emperor had built for his beloved eldest son, who had died young. The Crown Prince had been fond of hunting on the western frontier. He had died on a hunting expedition there, and it had been his wish to be buried in Ta-shih-kou. His sarcophagus had been placed in a vault there, and later that of his Princess beside it.

Judge Dee had some trouble in getting admitted by the guards, who looked with suspicion on every civilian. But at last he was led to a small, draughty waiting-room, and an orderly took his red visiting-card to Captain Pan. After a long wait a young officer came in. The tight-fitting mail jacket and the broad swordbelt accentuated his slender figure, and the iron helmet set off his handsome but cold face, smooth but for a small black moustache. He saluted stiffly, then stood waiting in haughty silence till the judge addressed him. A district magistrate ranked much higher, of course, than an army captain, but Pan's attitude suggested that in wartime things were different.

'Sit down, sit down!' Judge Dee said jovially. A promise is a promise, I always say! And better late than never!'

Captain Pan sat down on the other side of the tea-table, look­ing politely astonished.

'Half a year ago,' the judge continued, 'while passing through Soochow on my way to Lan-fang, I had a long conversation with your father. I also am a student of history, you know, in my spare time! When I was taking my leave, he said: "My eldest son is serving in Ta-shih-kou, your neighbour-district. If you should happen to pass by there, do me a favour and have a look how he's doing. The boy had awfully bad luck." Well, yesterday the Marshal summoned me, and before returning to Lan-fang I wanted to keep my promise.'

'That's most kind of you, sir!' Pan muttered, confused. 'Please excuse my rudeness just now. I didn't know ... and I am in a terrible state. The bad situation at the front, you see ...' He shouted an order. A soldier brought a pot of tea. 'Did ... did my father tell you about the tragedy, sir?'

'Only that your young wife was murdered here last year. Accept my sincere ...'

'He shouldn't have forced me to marry, sir!' the captain burst out. 'I told him ... tried to tell him ... but he was always too busy, never had time ...' With an effort Pan took a hold of himself, and continued, 'I thought I was too young to marry, you see. Wanted my father to postpone it. For a few years, till I would've been stationed in a large city, for instance. Give me time to ... to sort things out.'

'Were you in love with another girl?'

'Heaven forbid!’ the young officer exclaimed. 'No sir, it was simply that I felt I was not the marrying kind. Not yet.'

'Was she murdered by robbers?'

Captain Pan sombrely shook his head. His face had gone a deadly pale. 'The murderer was a fellow-officer of mine, sir. One of those disgusting woman-chasers; you could never have a decent, clean conversation with him. Always talking about women, women, always letting himself be caught in their filthy little games ...' The young man spat out those last words. He quickly gulped down the tea, then added in a dull voice, 'He tried to seduce my wife, and strangled her when she refused. He'll be beheaded at dawn.' Suddenly he buried his face in his hands.

Judge Dee silently observed the stricken youngster for a while. Then he said softly: 'Yes, you had very bad luck indeed.' He rose and resumed in a businesslike manner, 'I must see the Marshal again. Please take me there.'

Captain Pan got up quickly. As he conducted the judge down a long corridor where orderlies were rushing to and fro, he said: 'I can take you only as far as the anteroom, sir. Only mem­bers of the High Command are allowed beyond.'

'That'll do,' Judge Dee said.

Captain Pan showed the judge into a hall, crowded with officers, then said he would wait outside to lead the judge back to the main gate. As soon as the judge had entered, the hubbub of voices ceased abruptly. A colonel stepped up to him. After a cur­sory glance at Judge Dee's cap he asked coldly: 'What can I do for you, Magistrate?'

'I have to see the Marshal on urgent business.'

'Impossible!’ the colonel said abruptly. 'The Marshal is in con­ference. I have strict orders to admit nobody.'

'A human life is at stake,' the judge said gravely.

'A human life, you say!’ the colonel exclaimed with a sneer. "The Marshal is deliberating on two hundred thousand human lives that are at stake, Magistrate! May I lead the way?'

Judge Dee grew pale. He had failed. Piloting the judge politely but firmly to the exit, the colonel said: 'I trust that you'll under­stand, Magistrate... .'

'Magistrate!’ shouted another colonel who came rushing in­side. Despite the cold his face was covered with sweat. 'Do you happen to know where a colleague of yours is, called Dee?'

'I am Magistrate Dee,' the judge replied.

'Heaven be praised! I have been looking for you for hours! The Marshal wants you!'

He dragged the judge by his sleeve through a door at the back of the anteroom into a semi-dark passage. Thick felt hangings dampened all sound. He opened the heavy door at the end, and let the judge go inside.

It was curiously still in the enormous palace hall. A group of high-ranking officers in resplendent armour stood round a monu­mental desk, piled with maps and papers. All were looking silently at the giant who was pacing the floor in front of it, his hands clasped behind his back.

He wore an ordinary mail jacket with battered, iron shoulder-plates and the baggy leather trousers of a cavalry man. But on top of his high helmet the golden marshal's dragon raised its horned head. As the Marshal walked to and fro with heavy tread, he let the point of the broad sword that was dangling from his belt clatter carelessly on the delicately carved, marble floor-tiles.

Judge Dee knelt down. The colonel approached the Marshal. Standing stiffly at attention, he said something in a clipped voice.

'Dee?' the Marshal barked. 'Don't need the fellow anymore, send him away! No, wait! I still have a couple of hours before I order the retreat.' Then he shouted at the judge: 'Hey there, stop crawling on the floor! Come here!’

Judge Dee rose hurriedly, went up to the Marshal and made a deep bow. Then he righted himself. The judge was a tall man, but the Marshal topped him by at least two inches. Hooking his thumbs in his swordbelt, the giant glared at the judge with his fierce right eye. His left eye was covered by a black band — it had been pierced by a barbarian arrow during the northern campaign.

'You are good at riddles, they say, eh, Dee? Well, I'll show you a riddle!' Turning to the desk, he shouted: 'Lew! Mao!’

Two men wearing generals' armour hurriedly detached them­selves from the group round the table. Judge Dee recognized the lean general in the shining golden armour as Lew, commander of the left wing. The broad-shouldered, squat man wearing a golden cuirass and a silver helmet was Mao, commanding general of the military police. Only Sang, the commander of the right wing, was missing. With the Marshal these three were the highest military leaders; in this national crisis the Emperor had placed the fate of the Chinese people and the dynasty in their hands. The judge made a low bow. The two generals gave him a stony look.

The Marshal strode through the hall and kicked a door open. They silently passed through a number of broad, empty corridors, the iron boots of the three officers resounding hollowly on the marble floor. Then they descended a broad staircase. At the bottom two palace guards sprang to attention. At a sign of the Marshal they slowly pushed open a heavy double-gate.

They entered a colossal vault, dimly ht by tall silver oil lamps, placed at regular intervals in recesses in the high, windowless walls. In the centre of the vault stood two enormous coffins, lac­quered a bright red, the colour of resurrection. They were of iden­tical size, each measuring about ten by thirty foot, and over fifteen foot high.

The Marshal bowed, and the three others followed his example. Then the Marshal turned to Judge Dee and said, pointing at the coffins, 'Here is your riddle, Dee! This afternoon, just when I was about to order the offensive, General Sang came and accused Lew here of high treason. Said that Lew had contacted the Tartar Khan and agreed that as soon as we would attack, Lew would join the Tartar dogs with his troops. Later Lew would get the southern half of the Empire as a reward. The proof? Sang said that Lew had concealed in the coffin of the Crown Prince two hundred suits of armour complete with helmets and swords, and marked with the special sign of the traitors. At the right moment Lew's confederates in the High Command would break the coffin open, don those marked suits of armour and massacre all the staff officers here who aren't in the plot.'

Judge Dee started and looked quickly at General Lew. The lean man stood there stiffly erect, staring ahead with a white, taut face.

'I trust Lew as I trust myself,' the Marshal went on, aggres­sively thrusting his bearded chin forward, 'but Sang has a long and honourable career behind him, and I can't take any chances. I must verify the accusation, and quick. The plans for our counter-offensive are ready. Lew will head a vanguard of fifteen thousand men and drive a wedge into the Tartar hordes. Then I'll follow up with a hundred and fifty thousand men and drive the dogs back into their own steppes. But there are signs that the wind is going to shift; if I wait too long we'll have to fight with snow and hail blowing right into our faces.

'YOU ARE GOOD AT RIDDLES, THEY SAY, EH, DEE?' THE MARSHAL GROWLED

'I have examined the coffin of the Crown Prince for hours, to­gether with Mao's best men, but we can find no sign that it has been tampered with. Sang maintains they excised a large section of the lacquer coating, made a hole, pushed the stuff inside and replaced the section of coating. According to him, there are ex­perts who can do this without leaving a trace. Maybe there are, but I must have positive proof. But I can't desecrate the coffin of the Emperor's beloved son by breaking it open — I may not even scratch it without the special permission of His Majesty — and it'll take at least six days before I can get word from the capital. On the other hand I can't open the offensive before I have made sure that Sang's accusation is false. If I can't do that in two hours, I shall have to order a general retreat. Set to work, Dee!'

The judge walked around the coffin of the Crown Prince, then he also examined cursorily that of the Princess. Pointing at a few long poles that were lying on the floor, he asked, 'What are these for?'

'I had the coffin tilted,' General Mao said coldly, 'in order to verify whether the bottom hadn't been tampered with. All that was humanly possible has been done.'

Judge Dee nodded. He said pensively, 'I once read a description of this palace. I remember that it said that the August Body was first placed in a box of solid gold, which was then placed in one of silver, and that in turn in a case of lead. The empty space around it was filled up with the articles of adornment and court costumes of the Crown Prince. The sarcophagus itself consists of thick logs of cedarwood, covered on the outside with a coat of lacquer. The same procedure was followed two years later, when the Princess died. Since the Princess had been fond of boating, behind the palace a large artificial lake was made, with models of the boats used by the Princess and her court ladies. Is that correct?'

'Of course,' the Marshal growled. 'It's common knowledge. Don't stand there talking twaddle, Dee! Come to the point!'

'Could you get me a hundred sappers, sir?'

'What for? Didn't I tell you we can't tamper with that coffin?'

'I fear the Tartars also know all about these coffins, sir. Should they temporarily occupy the city, they'll break the coffins open to loot them. In order to prevent the coffins from being desecrated by the barbarians, I propose to sink them to the bottom of the lake.'

The Marshal looked at him dumbfounded. Then he roared: 'You accursed fool! Don't you know the coffins are hollow? They'll never sink. You ...'

'They aren't meant to, sir!’ Judge Dee said quickly. 'But the plan to sink them provides us with a valid reason for deplacing them.'

The Marshal glared at him with his one fierce eye. Suddenly he shouted: 'By heaven, I think you've got it, Dee!’ Turning to General Mao, he barked: 'Get me a hundred sappers here, with cables and rollers! At once!’

After Mao had rushed to the staircase, the Marshal started pacing the floor, muttering to himself. General Lew covertly ob­served the judge. Judge Dee remained standing there in front of the coffin of the Crown Prince, staring at it silently, his arms folded in his long sleeves.

Soon General Mao came back. Scores of small, squat men swarmed inside behind him. They wore jackets and trousers of brown leather and peaked caps of the same material, with long neck- and ear-flaps. Some carried long round poles, others rolls of thick cable. It was the sappers corps, expert at digging tunnels, rigging machines for scaling city walls, blocking rivers and har­bours with underwater barriers, and all the other special skills used in warfare.

When the Marshal had given their commander his instructions, a dozen sappers rushed to the high gate at the back of the vault, and opened it. The bleak moonlight shone on a broad marble terrace. Three stairs descended into the water of the lake beyond, which was covered by a thin layer of ice.

The other sappers crowded round and over the coffin of the Crown Prince like so many busy ants. One heard hardly a sound, for the sappers transmit orders by finger-talk only. They are so quiet they can dig a tunnel right under a building, the occupants becoming aware of what is happening only when the walls and the floor suddenly cave in. Thirty sappers tilted the coffin of the Crown Prince, using long poles as levers; one team placed rollers under it, another slung thick cables round the huge sarcophagus.

The Marshal watched them for a while, then he went outside and on to the terrace, followed by Dee and the generals. Silently they remained standing at the water's edge, looking out over the frozen lake.

Suddenly they heard a low rumbling sound behind them. Slowly the enormous coffin came rolling out of the gate. Dozens of sappers pulled it along by thick cables, while others kept plac­ing new rollers underneath it. The coffin was drawn across the terrace, then let down into the water as if it was the hulk of a ship being launched. The ice cracked, the coffin rocked up and down for a while, then settled with about two-thirds of it under water. A cold wind blew over the frozen lake, and Judge Dee started to cough violently. He pulled his neckcloth up over the lower part of his face, beckoned the commander of the sappers and pointed at the coffin of the Princess in the vault behind them.

Again there was a rumbling sound. The second coffin came rolling across the terrace. The sappers let it down into the water where it remained floating next to that of the Crown Prince. The Marshal stooped and peered at the two coffins, comparing the waterlines. There was hardly any difference, if anything the coffin of the Princess was slightly heavier than that of the Crown Prince.

The Marshal righted himself. He hit General Lew a resounding clap on his shoulder. 'I knew I could trust you, Lew!' he shouted. 'What are you waiting for, man? Give the signal, go ahead with your troops! I'll follow in six hours. Good luck!'

A slow smile ht up the general's stern features. He saluted, then turned round and strode off. The commander of the sappers came and said respectfully to the Marshal: 'We shall now weigh the coffins with heavy chains and rocks, sir, then we ...'

'I have made a mistake,' the Marshal interrupted him curtly. 'Have them drawn on land again, and replace them in their original position.' He barked at General Mao: 'Go with a hundred men to Sang's camp outside the West Gate. Arrest him on the charge of high treason, and convey him in chains to the capital. General Kao shall take over his troops.' Then he turned to Judge Dee, who was still coughing. 'You get it, don't you? Sang is older than Lew, he couldn't swallow Lew's appointment to the same rank. It was Sang, that son of a dog, who conspired with the Khan, don't you see? His fantastic accusation was meant only to stop our counteroffensive. He would have attacked us together with the Tartars as soon as we started the retreat. Stop that blasted coughing, Dee! It annoys me. We are through here, come along!’

The council room was now seething with activity. Large maps had been spread out on the floor. The staff officers were checking all details of the planned counteroffensive. A general said ex­citedly to the Marshal: 'What about adding five thousand men to the force behind these hills here, sir?'

The Marshal stooped over the map. Soon they were deep in a complicated technical discussion. Judge Dee looked anxiously at the large water-clock in the corner. The floater indicated that it would be dawn in one hour. He stepped up to the Marshal and asked diffidently: 'May I take the liberty of asking you a favour, sir?'

The Marshal righted himself. He asked peevishly: 'Eh? What is it now?'

'I would like you to review a case against a captain, sir. He's going to be beheaded at dawn, but he is innocent.'

The Marshal grew purple in his face. He roared: 'With the fate of our Empire in the balance, you dare to bother me, the Marshal, with the life of one wretched man?'

Judge Dee looked steadily into the one rolling eye. He said quietly: 'A thousand men must be sacrificed if military necessity dictates it, sir. But not even one man must be lost if it's not strictly necessary.'

The Marshal burst out in obscene curses, but he suddenly checked himself. With a wry smile he said: 'If ever you get sick of that tawdry civilian paperwork, Dee, you come and see me. By God, I'll make a general officer out of you! Review the case, you say? Nonsense, I'll settle it, here and now! Give your orders!'

Judge Dee turned to the colonel who had rushed towards them when he heard the Marshal cursing. The judge said, 'At the door of the anteroom a captain called Pan is waiting for me. He falsely accused another captain of murder. Could you bring him here?'

'Bring also his immediate superior!' the Marshal added. 'At once!'

As the colonel hastened to the door, a low, wailing blast came from outside. It swelled in volume, penetrating the thick walls of the palace. It was the long brass trumpets, blowing the signal to assemble for the attack.

The Marshal squared his wide shoulders. He said with a broad smile: 'Listen, Dee! That's the finest music that ever was!’ Then he turned again to the maps on the floor.

Judge Dee looked fixedly at the entrance. The colonel was back in a remarkably short time. An elderly officer and Captain Pan followed him. The judge said to the Marshal, 'They are here, sir.'

The Marshal swung round, put his thumbs in his swordbelt and scowled at the two men. They stood stiffly at attention, with rapt eyes. It was the first time they had ever seen the greatest solder of the Empire face to face. The giant growled at the elderly officer: 'Report on this captain!’

'Excellent administrator, good disciplinarian. Can't get along with the men, no battle experience ...' The officer rattled it off.

'Your case?' the Marshal asked Judge Dee.

The judge addressed the young captain coldly: 'Captain Pan, you weren't fit to marry. You don't like women. You liked your colleague Captain Woo, but he spurned you. Then you strangled your wife, and falsely accused Woo of the crime.'

'Is that true?' the Marshal barked at Pan.

'Yes, sir!’ the captain replied as if in a trance.

'Take him outside,' the Marshal ordered the colonel, 'and have him flogged to death slowly, with the thin rattan.'

'I plead clemency, sir!' Judge Dee interposed quickly. 'This captain had to marry at his father's command. Nature directed him differently, and he couldn't cope with the resulting problems. I propose the simple death penalty.'

'Granted!' And to Pan: 'Can you die as an officer?'

'Yes, sir!’ Pan said again.

'Assist the captain!' the Marshal rasped at the elder officer.

Captain Pan loosened his purple neckcloth and handed it to his immediate superior. Then he drew his sword. Kneeling in front of the Marshal, Pan took the hilt of the sword in his right hand, and grabbed the point with his left. The sharp edge cut deeply into his fingers, but he didn't seem to notice it. The elder officer stepped up close to the kneeling man, holding the neckcloth spread out in his hands. Raising his head, Pan looked up at the towering figure of the Marshal. He called out:

'Long live the Emperor!'

Then, with one savage gesture, he cut his throat. The elder officer quickly tied the neckcloth tightly round the neck of the sagging man, staunching the blood. The Marshal nodded. He said to Pan's superior, 'Captain Pan died as an officer. See to it that he is buried as one!' And to the judge: 'You look after that other fellow. Freed, reinstated to his former rank, and so on.' Then he bent over the map again and barked at the general: 'Put an extra five thousand at the entrance of this valley here!'

As the four orderlies carried the dead body of Pan outside, Judge Dee went to the large desk, grabbed a writing-brush and quickly jotted down a few lines on a sheet of official paper of the High Command. A colonel impressed on it the large square seal of the Marshal, then countersigned it. Before running outside Judge Dee cast a quick look at the water

It took him a long time to cover the short distance between the Palace and the Military Jail. The streets were crowded with mounted soldiers; they rode in rows six abreast, holding high their long halberds, so greatly feared by the Tartars. Their horses were well fed and their armour shone in the red rays of dawn. It was General Lew's vanguard, the pick of the Imperial army. Then there came the deep sound of rolling drums, calling up the Marshal's own men to join their colours. The great counteroffensive had begun.

The paper with the Marshal's seal caused Judge Dee to be admitted at once to the prison commandant. A sturdily built youngster was brought in by four guards; his thick wrestler's neck had been bared already for the sword of the executioner. The commandant read out the document to him, then he ordered an adjutant to assist Captain Woo in donning his armour. When Woo had put on his helmet, the commandant himself handed him back his sword. Judge Dee saw that although Woo didn't look too clever, he had a pleasant, open face. 'Come along!’ he said to him.

Captain Woo stared dumbfounded at his black judge's cap, then asked: 'How did you get involved in this case, Magistrate?'

'Oh,' Judge Dee replied vaguely, 'I happened to be at Head­quarters when your case was reviewed. Since they are all very busy there now, they told me to take care of the formalities.'

When they stepped out into the street Captain Woo muttered: 'I was in this accursed jain almost a year. I have no place to go.'

'You can come along with me,' Judge Dee said.

As they were walking along the captain listened to the rolling of the drums. 'So we are attacking at last, eh?' he said morosely. 'Well, I am just in time to join my company. At least I'll die an honourable death.'

'Why should you deliberately seek death?' the judge asked.

'Why? Because I am a stupid fool, that's why! I never touched that Mrs Pan, but I betrayed a fine woman who came to see me in jail. The military police flogged her to death.'

Judge Dee remained silent. Now they were passing through a quiet back street. He halted in front of a small hovel, built against an empty godown.

'Where are we?' Captain Woo asked, astonished.

'A plucky woman, and the son she bore you are living here,' the judge answered curtly. 'This is your home, Captain. Good-bye.'

He quickly walked on.

As Judge Dee rounded the street comer, a cold blast blew full into his face. He pulled his neckcloth up over his nose and mouth, stifling a cough. He hoped that the servants would be on hand already in his inn. He longed for a large cup of hot tea.