Murder in Canton

XII

Prefect Pao and Tao Gan helped Judge Dee descend from the palankeen in the front yard of Liang Foo's residence. The judge saw that the dimensions of the compound were indeed palatial. The court was paved with carved marble slabs, and the broad stairs that led up to the iron-bound double gate in the rear were of the same costly material. Mr Liang came hurrying down the steps, followed by an old man with a ragged grey beard, apparently the housemaster.

Liang Foo bowed deeply and bade the judge welcome. Then he started on a long speech explaining how unworthy he was to receive such an eminent official from the capital together with the Prefect of the city. Judge Dee let him go on for a while, then interrupted:

'I fully realize that my visit is against the rules of conduct for high officials, Mr Liang. I am keen, however, to see the house of such a great national hero as your late father. And I always like to see people in their own surroundings — a habit that has stayed with me from the days when I was still a district magistrate. Lead the way!’

Liang made another elaborate bow.

'Allow me to take Your Excellency to my late father's library. I have kept it exactly as it was.'

They ascended the marble stairs and walked through a dim hall-lined on either side by enormous pillars. After they had crossed a flower garden, they entered a second two-storeyed building, even larger than the first. It was sparsely furnished with heavy antique pieces of carved ebony. Painted on the walls were pictures of naval battles, in full colour. Except for an old maidservant who scurried away as soon as she saw them, there was no one about.

'Don't you need a host of servants to keep up this palatial re­sidence?' Judge Dee asked after they had crossed another court­yard.

'No, Excellency, for I use only one side wing. I come here really only at night; during the day I am always in my office down­town.' He paused and continued with a smile, 'Until now I have been kept so occupied by my business that I have always post­poned getting married and founding a family. But next year, when I am thirty-five, I shall take that important step. Here we enter the section I actually live in. My father's library is at the rear.'

The old steward preceded them into the broad, covered corridor. Liang Foo followed behind him, together with Judge Dee and the Prefect. Tao Gan brought up the rear.

The corridor first led round a bamboo garden. Here the rustling leaves of tall trees afforded a cool shade. Then it brought them to another single-storeyed building. To the left of the corridor now broad windows gave on to a rock garden, while to the right was a row of closed rooms, with a black-lacquered balustrade all along their front. The sliding windows were pasted over with clean white paper.

Suddenly, Tao Gan tugged at Judge Dee's sleeve. He took him apart and whispered excitedly:

'I saw the blind girl! In the second room we passed. She's read­ing a book!’

'Go and get her!’ the judge said tersely. As Tao Gan rushed back the way they had come, Judge Dee said to Mr Liang, 'My assistant reminded me that I had forgotten my fan. Let's wait here a while. What a beautiful rockery that is over there!'

An angry woman's voice resounded behind them.

'What's that?' Liang exclaimed. He hurried back, followed by Judge Dee and the Prefect.

Tao Gan stood gripping the balustrade in front of the second room. He was looking up in speechless astonishment at the beautiful young woman standing inside the small, elegantly furnished room. A screen decorated with a landscape was visible at the back. The woman angrily addressed Liang:

'Who is this impudent man? I had just slid the window open to get better light, when he suddenly appeared and began to shout that I had fooled him!’

'It was a mistake!’ Tao Gan quickly told the judge, then added in an undertone, 'She resembles her, but it isn't she.'

'Who is this lady, Mr Liang?' the judge asked.

'My sister, Excellency. Our Prefect's wife.'

'When she heard that I was going to accompany Your Excel­lency here,' the Prefect explained, 'my wife decided to come too, and have a look at her old room here.'

'I see,' Judge Dee said. And to Mrs Pao, 'My apologies, Madam! My assistant mistook you for someone else.' Casting a cursory glance at the book lying open on the table, he added, 'I see that you are reading poetry. Excellent pastime. It improves the style.'

'Poetry?' Pao asked, giving his wife a curious look. She quickly closed the book and said curtly:

'Just a volume I picked up at random.'

The judge noticed that she was really very beautiful. She had an attractive, sensitive face, with the same long curved eyebrows that gave her brother a slightly feminine air. With a shy look she resumed:

'It's a great honour indeed to meet Your Excellency, I...'

'Your husband said that you know a girl who sells crickets,' Judge Dee interrupted. 'I would like to meet her.'

'I'll tell her so when I see her again, sir.' Then, with an annoyed glance at the Prefect, 'My husband scolded me just now for not having asked her address. But she told me she's about in the market practically every day, so...'

'Thank you, Madam! Good-bye.'

Walking on, Judge Dee asked Mr Liang:

'Have you other brothers and sisters, Mr Liang?'

TAO GAN DISTURBS A READING LADY

'No, Excellency, I am the only son. There were two daughters, but the elder one died a few years ago.'

'The accident happened shortly after our marriage,' Prefect Pao remarked in his dry, precise voice. 'It was a great shock for my young wife. And also for me, of course.'

'What kind of accident?' Judge Dee asked.

'When she was asleep,' Liang replied, 'the wind blew her cur­tain against an oil lamp and set the room afire. She must have become unconscious from the fumes. We only found the charred remains.'

The judge expressed his sympathy. Liang opened a heavy door and led them into a high-ceilinged, cool room. On a sign from Liang the steward shuffled to the windows and rolled up the bamboo sunshades. Judge Dee looked round with an appraising eye. The walls were covered with shelves loaded with books and rolls of papers. An enormous desk in the centre of a blue carpet was bare except for two silver candelabras and a set of writing implements. Mr Liang led them to the tea-table in the corner. He made Judge Dee sit down in the large armchair behind it, and offered the Prefect and Tao Gan the straight-backed chairs in front. He himself took a lower chair somewhat apart and ordered the steward to prepare the tea.

Stroking his long beard, the judge said with satisfaction:

'I perceive an atmosphere of subdued elegance — as one might expect in the studio of a man who excelled in the arts of both war and peace.'

Sipping tea, they spoke for some time about the naval cam­paigns of the Subduer of the South Seas, and Liang showed them some valuable old city maps from the admiral's collection. Examining one of the maps, the judge suddenly pointed with his forefinger and exclaimed:

'Here we have the temple of the Flowery Pagoda! I had occa­sion to visit it last night.'

'It's one of our historic sights, sir,' Liang said. 'I go there at least once a week, to have a game of chess with the abbot. He's a strong player! And a great scholar, too. He is now working on a new book, a historical account of the transmission of the scrip­tures.'

'Since he is of a studious disposition,' the judge observed, 'he leaves the administration of the temple to the prior, I suppose?'

'Oh no, sir! The abbot is most diligent about all his duties. Has to be, for such a large temple, open to the public, needs strict supervision. All kinds of shady characters go in there, wanting to fleece unwary visitors. I mean pickpockets, confidence tricksters, and so on.'

'You should have added murderers,' Judge Dee said dryly. 'I discovered the dead body of a government agent there yester­day.'

'So that's what those monks were talking about!' Liang ex­claimed. 'The abbot was suddenly called away from our chess game. When he didn't come back, I asked the monks, who said something about a murder. Who did it, sir?'

The judge shrugged his shoulders.

'Hooligans,' he replied.

Liang shook his head. He took a sip of his tea, then remarked with a sigh:

'That's the other side of our prosperous city, Excellency. Where there is great wealth, there's bound to be dire poverty too. The casual observer sees only the glittering surface of city life. He doesn't know that underneath it there thrives a pitiless under­world where foreign criminals rub shoulders with Chinese hood­lums.'

'All kept under strict control,' Prefect Pao said coldly. 'More­over, I wish to stress that their criminal activities remain confined to their own milieu, that of the scum one finds in every larger city.'

'I don't doubt it,' Judge Dee said. He emptied his teacup, then turned to Liang. 'You mentioned foreign criminals just now. I heard unfavourable rumours about Mansur. Would he employ Arab hooligans for some criminal purpose?'

Liang sat up straight. Pulling at his wispy goatee, he thought for a long while before he replied:

'I don't know Mansur personally, sir, but I have heard much about him, of course, mainly from my friend and colleague Mr Yau. On the one hand, Mansur is an experienced sea captain, resourceful and courageous, and also a shrewd trader. On the other, he is an ambitious Arab, with a fanatic devotion to his people and his religion. In his own country he is quite a promi­nent person, a distant nephew of the Khalif, under whom he fought many battles against other barbarians from the west. He ought to have been appointed military governor of one of the conquered regions, but he once offended the Khalif by some in­advertent remark, and was banished from court. So he embarked upon the adventurous career of sea captain. But he has never given up hope of regaining the Khalif's favour, and he'll shrink from nothing to attain that.'

Liang paused, considered for a while, and went on, choosing his words carefully:

'Thus far I have related facts which I have thoroughly checked. What I am going to say now is based on mere hearsay. Some people whisper that Mansur thinks if he could create a serious disturbance here in Canton, pillage the city and then sail home with rich booty, the Khalif would consider such a spectacular feat an addition to Arab prestige, and as a reward re-install Mansur in his former position at court. I repeat, however, that this is mere rumour. I may well be doing Mansur a grave in­justice.'

Judge Dee raised his eyebrows. He asked:

'What could a handful of Arabs do against a garrison of over a thousand seasoned, well-armed soldiers? Not to speak of the guards, the harbour police, and so on?'

'Mansur took an active part in the siege of many a barbarian city, sir. So we may assume that he has much experience in these matters. He must be aware of the fact that Canton, unlike the cities up north, has a large number of two-storeyed houses built of wood. If on a dry, windy day fires were started in a few well-chosen places, there would be a disastrous conflagration. And in the general confusion small bands of determined men could achieve much.'

'By heaven, he is right!’ the Prefect exclaimed. 'Further,' Liang continued, 'anyone who created a disturbance in the city would find eager allies as soon as the looting started. I mean the thousands of Tanka. They have been harbouring a deep resentment against us for hundreds of years.'

'Not entirely without reason,' Judge Dee remarked with a sigh. 'Anyway, what could those waterfolk do? They aren't organized, and they have got no arms.'

'Well,' Liang said slowly, 'they do have some kind of organiza­tion. It seems they rally around their chief sorcerers. And although they don't possess heavy weapons, in street fighting they are dangerous opponents. For they are quite handy with their long knives, and expert in strangling people with silk scarves. It's true that they mistrust all outsiders and keep very much to themselves, but since the custom of their women consists chiefly of Arab sailors, it would not be difficult for Mansur to get on a good footing with them.'

Judge Dee made no comment, he was pondering over Liang's remarks. Tao Gan addressed Liang:

'I noticed, sir, that the Tanka stranglers always leave behind the silver piece they weight their handkerchiefs with. They are quite valuable. Why don't they take them along after the deed, or use a piece of lead instead?'

'They are very superstitious,' Liang replied with a shrug. 'It's an ' offering to the spirit of their victim. They believe it prevents the ghost from haunting them afterwards.'

Judge Dee looked up.

'Show me that city map again!’

When Liang had rolled it out on the table, the judge made Prefect Pao point out to him those quarters where the houses were mostly of wood. They proved to include nearly all of the densely populated, middle-class and poor zones, crossed only by very nar­row streets.

'Yes,' Judge Dee said gravely, 'a fire could easily destroy the greater part of this city. The loss of life and material damage would be so disastrous that we can not afford to ignore the rumours about Mansur. We must take adequate precautions, at once I shall order the Governor to convene a secret meeting in the palace this afternoon, and to summon, besides you two, Mr Yau Tai-kai, the garrison commander and the chief of the harbour police. We shall then consider immediate preventive measures, and also discuss what to do about Mansur.'

'It is my duty to stress again, Excellency,' Mr Liang said worriedly, 'that Mansur may well be completely innocent. He drives a hard bargain, and there is keen competition among the big traders here. Some of them will stop at nothing to eliminate a successful rival. All this talk about Mansur may be nothing but malicious slander.'

'Let's hope you are right,' the judge said dryly. He emptied his teacup and rose.

Liang Foo conducted his distinguished guests ceremoniously through all the various courts and corridors to the front yard, where he took leave of them with many a deep bow.