Murder in Canton

XIX

They found Judge Dee sitting behind his desk, making notes by the light from two enormous silver candelabras. Laying his writ­ing-brush down and staring at their dishevelled clothes, he asked astonished:

'What have you two been at?'

Chiao Tai and Tao Gan sat down, and gave an account of what had happened in the compound of the Examination Hall. When they had finished, the judge smote his fist on the desk.

'Tanka stranglers, Arab hooligans, all these sinister killers seem to be roaming about at will in this city! What in the name of heaven are the Governor's men doing?' Mastering himself, he added, calmer, 'Show me those maps, Tao Gan!’

Tao Gan took the cricket cage from his sleeve and put it care­fully at the end of the table. Then he got the maps out and folded them open. The cricket began to make a penetrating, whirring sound.

Judge Dee gave the cage a sour look, then settled down to a study of the maps, slowly tugging at his sidewhiskers. He looked up and said:

'These maps are old; this one of the Arab quarter is dated thirty years back, when the Arab ships began to arrive regularly here. But it is fairly accurate, as far as I can see. That red spot marking Chiao Tai's inn has been put in quite recently. The girl is no more blind than you or I, my friends! Can't you make that noisy insect shut up, Tao Gan?'

Tao Gan put the small case back into his sleeve. Then he asked:

'Have the men who followed Yau Tai-kai come back yet, sir?'

'No,' Judge Dee replied curtly. 'The letter from the capital hasn't arrived either. And it's getting on for midnight!’

He fell into a morose silence. Tao Gan got up and poured fresh tea. When they had drunk a cup, the majordomo came in with a thin man in a plain blue gown who was wearing a small skull-cap. His moustache was grey but he carried his broad shoulders in a soldier-like fashion. After the majordomo had left, he reported in a dry voice:

'Mr Yau went straight home, and had his evening rice alone, in his garden-pavilion. Then he retired to his inner apartments. Our subsequent interrogation of the maidservants revealed that he then summoned his four wives and scolded them for being lazy good-for-nothings. Accusing his first lady of being responsible, he had the maids pull her trousers down and hold her while he per­sonally gave her a caning. Then he called his six concubines and informed them that their allowances would be halved. Finally he went to his library and got himself thoroughly drunk. When the house steward said that Mr Yau was sound asleep, I came here to report to Your Excellency.'

'Is there any news of Mansur?' the judge asked.

'No sir. He must have hidden somewhere outside the city walls, for we combed the Arab quarter, and the constables checked all the low-class inns.'

'All right, you may go.'

When the agent had left, Chiao Tai burst out:

'What a mean bastard that Yau is!'

'Not a very pleasant person,' Judge Dee agreed. 'And shrewd enough to have foreseen that I was going to have him followed, apparently. He tugged at his moustache, then suddenly asked Chiao Tai, 'Are Nee's two slave-girls all right?'

'Oh yes, they escaped with a shaking!’ He added with a grin, 'However, by now they are no longer slaves, nor are they girls — if I appraised the situation correctly. I had the distinct impression, sir, that the captain, after he had recovered somewhat from the shock of his old love's murder, suddenly realized that their pure, detached relationship had worn a bit thin in the course of the years — even for a mystic like him! And that now that he had become a free man again, so to speak, he had better recon­sider his paternal attitude towards his two young wards. Espec­ially since those two saucy bits of skirt would like nothing better!'

Tao Gan had given the judge a curious look when he heard his question about the twins. Now he asked:

'Are those twins connected with the Censor's case, sir?'

'Not directly,' Judge Dee replied.

'What could those two, even indirectly...' Chiao Tai began, astonished. But Judge Dee raised his hand and pointed to the en­trance. The majordomo was ushering in two officers in full battle-array. They wore peaked helmets and brass-bordered coats of mail, marking them as captains of the mounted military police. After they had stiffly saluted the judge, the elder took a large, heavily sealed letter from his boot. Laying it on the desk, he said respect­fully:

'This letter we brought here on the orders of the Grand Council, in a special mounted convoy.'

Judge Dee signed and sealed the receipt, thanked the captains and ordered the majordomo to see to it that all the members of the convoy got food and suitable lodgings.

He slit the envelope open, and slowly read the long letter. His two assistants anxiously watched his worried face. At last he looked up and said slowly:

'Bad news. Very bad. His Majesty's illness has taken a turn for the worse. The physicians in attendance fear that the Great Demise is imminent. The Empress is forming a powerful political alliance that will advocate a Regency, with all executive power vested in her as Empress-Dowager. The Council insists that the Censor's disappearance must now be officially announced, and someone appointed to replace him at once, else the loyal group will have no one to rally to. Since any further delay would have disastrous consequences, the Council orders me to abandon my search for the missing Censor, and return to the capital at my earliest convenience.'

The judge threw the letter on the desk, sprang up and began to pace the floor, angrily shaking his long sleeves.

Chiao Tai and Tao Gan exchanged an unhappy look. They did not know what to say.

Suddenly Judge Dee halted in front of them.

'There's only one thing we can do,' he said firmly. 'A desperate measure, but justified by our woeful lack of time.' He resumed his seat. Leaning forward on his elbows, he went on, 'Go to the atelier of a Buddhist sculptor, Tao Gan, and buy a wooden model of a man's severed head. It must be nailed tonight to the gate of the tribunal, up high, so that from below you can't see it is a fake. Underneath it, on a placard, will be posted an official announce­ment, which I shall draw up now.'

Ignoring the astonished questions of his two lieutenants, he moistened his writing-brush and quickly jotted down a brief text. Then he sat back in his chair and read it aloud:

President Dee of the Metropolitan Court, now on a tour of inspection in Canton, has discovered here the corpse of a pro­minent official who, guilty of high treason, had fled from the capital with a price on his head. After the autopsy proved that the said criminal had been poisoned, the corpse was posthum­ously quartered, and the head is now displayed for three days in succession, as prescribed by the law. Whosoever brought about the death of this despicable traitor is ordered to present himself before the aforesaid President, so that he may receive a reward of five hundred gold pieces. All crimes or offences he may have committed previously, with the exception of capital crimes, shall be pardoned.

As he threw the paper on the desk, Judge Dee resumed:

'The main criminal won't be taken in by this ruse, of course. I am counting on his Chinese henchmen; for instance, the two men disguised as constables who brought the Censor's dead body to the Temple of the Flowery Pagoda. If the head is displayed and the same notice put up all over the city this very night, there's a good chance that someone seeing them early tomorrow morning will come rushing here before his principal has had time to warn him that it is nothing but a hoax.'

Chiao Tai looked dubious, but Tao Gan nodded eagerly and said:

'It's the only way to get quick results! The main criminal must have at least a dozen or so accomplices, and five hundred gold pieces they wouldn't get in five hundred years! They'll come rushing here, trying to beat each other to the reward!'

'Let's hope so,' Judge Dee said wearily. 'It's the best I can think of, anyway. Set to work!'