Necklace and Calabash

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They parted on the landing-stage. Fern took the main street, carrying the fish-basket and humming a song. Judge Dee walked past the fish-market and entered the first small eating-place he saw. He ordered a large bowl of noodles stewed with bamboo sprouts. After a quick cup of tea he went back to the Kingfisher, for he was eager to take a bath.

As he had expected, the bath was empty, for it was the hour of the noon rice; even the bath-attendant was off duty. Stretched out in the pool, he carefully considered the move he was con­templating. It was a long shot, a very long shot. His theory was based on only two facts: first, that the poor cashier Tai Min had been severely tortured prior to his being killed; and second, that his room had been searched. All the rest was mere guess-work, based on his knowledge of the mean, grasping nature of men like Lang Liu. Yes, he would risk it. If his theory should prove correct, he would have successfully completed the first phase of his investigation. If he was wrong, he would at least have frightened a few people. And frightened people are liable to make bad mistakes.

The bath-attendant came in while Judge Dee was putting a new bandage on his forearm. He told him to fetch clean robes from his room and to give the soiled ones to the laundrywomen. Clad in his brown travelling-robe, now crisply laundered, he went to the hall and asked the clerk if Mr Lang had finished his noon rice. When the clerk nodded he gave him his visiting-card and told him to inquire whether Mr Lang could see him for a few moments.

'Mr Lang doesn't like to be disturbed directly after his meals, Doctor!’

'Ask him anyway!’

The clerk went down the corridor with a doubtful look, but he came back with a broad smile. 'Mr Lang says you're welcome, sir! It's the fourth door on your right.'

Judge Dee was admitted by a thin man with a bullet-shaped head, the one he had seen that morning by the godowns. He in­troduced himself with an obsequious smile as Mr Lang's accoun­tant, then took the judge through a large, cool ante-room to a vast chamber that seemed to take up the entire rear of the inn's left wing. Evidently this was the most secluded and most expen­sive suite of the Kingfisher.

Mr Lang was sitting behind a heavy desk of carved ebony, a bulky ledger in front of him. The two bodyguards stood by the folding doors that gave onto the neglected back garden. Mr Lang rose and with a courteous bow invited the judge to take the other armchair. He said with a thin smile:

'I was just going over this ledger with my accountant. Your esteemed visit provides me with a most welcome interruption of that tedious task!’ He motioned the accountant to serve tea.

'I had planned to pay you a courtesy call earlier, Mr Lang,' Judge Dee began affably, 'but I had a late night, and this morning I felt a bit out of sorts. The weather is fine today, sir.' He accepted the cup the accountant offered him and took a sip.

'Apart from the rainy days,' Mr Lang remarked, 'I find the climate here quite agreeable.'

The judge set his teacup down hard. Putting his hands on his knees, he said, harshly now:

'Glad to hear that, Lang! For you'll have to stay here in River­town for a long, long time.'

His host gave him a sharp look. He asked slowly:

'What exactly do you mean by that?'

'I mean that the truce is off. We'll get you as soon as you put one foot out of this special area, Lang. Last night your stupid henchmen took me to your godown on the quay and tried to kill me.'

'I told you there was blood all over the floor, boss. I ...' the accountant muttered.

'Shut up!’ Lang told him. And to the two bodyguards: 'Close those damned doors! One of you stand outside in the garden, the other in the ante-room. Let no one disturb us.' Then he fixed the judge with his large eyes that now had a hard glint. 'I don't know what you are talking about. I suspected you were a Red when I saw you in the bath yesterday morning. Doctors don't come with a boxer's build, generally. But I deny having tried to get you killed. Our side is keeping to the truce.'

Judge Dee shrugged.

'I'll let that go, for the moment. There's a much more important matter to discuss. My orders are to make you a proposal. You employed the cashier of this inn to steal a very nice bauble. Your league must be getting short on cash, Lang — seeing that you are risking being cut to pieces. Slowly and expertly.'

Lang retained his impassive mien, but the judge noticed that the accountant's face was filled with a sickly pallor. He resumed:

'It would be a pleasure to denounce you to the authorities, Lang. But a truce is a truce, and my people stick to their word. Provided, of course, that we share. Half of eighty-four makes forty-two. Please correct me if my figures are wrong, will you?'

Lang slowly tugged at his goatee, fixing his two bodyguards with a baleful look. The two big men made frantic gestures of denial. The accountant hastily retreated behind his master's chair. For a long while it was very silent in the large room. At last Lang said:

'Your people are good, very good. I'll have to overhaul my own organization. Thoroughly. Yes, your figures are correct — it was agreed that on neutral territory we should share and share alike. I didn't let your boss know, however, because the whole thing fell through. I haven't got the pearls.'

Judge Dee rose abruptly.

'Last night's attempt to kill me proves you are lying, Lang. My orders are that, should you refuse our reasonable request, I am to inform you that the truce is ended. Which I do here and now. Good-bye!’

He went to the door. When he had put his hand on the knob Lang suddenly called out: 'Come back and sit down! I'll explain the situation.'

The judge came back to the desk but he didn't take the chair offered. He said in a surly voice:

'First of all I want you to apologize for trying to have me murdered, Lang!’

'I apologize for the fact that you were inconvenienced in a go­down that belongs to me, and I shall have the matter looked into at once. That satisfactory?'

'It's better than nothing.' Judge Dee sat down again. Lang leaned back in his chair.

'I made a mistake, shouldn't have accepted the job. But you know our expenses nowadays! I have to pay the directors of my gambling establishments a fortune in salaries, and yet the scoun­drels are cheating on the proceeds. And how can you run decent brothels when even farm-girls are in short supply? We have to pay as much for a peasant girl as for a trained courtesan! Unless we get some real good floods or a long drought and crop failure, I am going to lose on that branch. As to taxes, let me tell you that ...'

'Don't!' Judge Dee interrupted. 'Tell me about pearls!'

'Well, I just wanted to explain to you that, things being what they are at present, ten gold bars is a round sum not to be sneezed at. And there were ten gold bars for me in that affair, and prac­tically no risk or expense.' Lang heaved a deep sigh. 'This is what happened. Last week a silk broker comes to see me — Hao he calls himself. Brings a letter of introduction from one of my men in the capital. Hao says he has a contact who has formulated a plan to steal a valuable necklace from the Water Palace here. The thing has eighty-four pearls of the best quality, he says, but they'll have to be sold one by one, of course. If I know of someone who's familiar with the river and the area around the palace, and get him to do the job, Hao's contact'll pay me ten gold bars. I think at once of the cashier here, who knows every inch of the river, but I say nothing doing. Ten gold bars is a lot of money, but stealing from the palace is too much of a risk. Then, however, Hao explains all the arrangements made. My accountant'll repeat them — he has a phenomenal memory. (It's the only good point he's got, the fathead!) Speak up, you! Say your lesson!'

The bullet-headed man closed his eyes. Clasping his hands, he rattled off:

'The man is to leave town by boat one hour before midnight, row to the fourth cove on the right bank, leave the boat there and take the path behind the second row of pine trees. Formerly used by the palace patrols, it leads all along the river bank to the north-west corner of the palace moat. About two feet under the surface there's an old sluice door; swim along it to the corner of the north-west watch-tower. Just above water level a ledge about a foot wide runs all along the north wall. "Walk along it till you arrive at the last water-gate. Above it is a buttress that supports a covered balcony. There are many cracks among the bricks; the wall can easily be scaled. Enter the pavilion by the side-window. The pavilion is connected with a bedroom by an open, moon-shaped doorway. The necklace'll be lying either on the dressing-table just inside that moon-door, or on the tea-table oppo­site. Remain outside the moon-door and make sure the people are asleep. Then step inside, take the necklace, and go back the same way. No need to worry about the archers on the ramparts — they'll be busy elsewhere.'

The thin man opened his eyes and smiled smugly. Lang resumed:

'Since Hao's contact was evidently a man who knew what he was talking about, I thought I might as well see whether I could rope in the cashier. I knew he needed money. I invited him for a friendly gambling-bout, let him win at first, then lose heavily. When I told him about the planned theft, as a favour, he agreed at once. So I told Hao it was all right. If Tai Min was caught, I would, of course, disclaim all knowledge of the scheme, and point out that the boy had been tempted because he had lost all his money at the gambling-table.'

'I'll take your word for all that, Lang,' the judge said wearily. 'I am still waiting to hear why you didn't get the necklace. The rest we'll take for granted!’

'I just want to give you the whole picture,' Lang said, annoyed. 'Well, Tai Min started from my godown at the time indicated. He promised to come straight back there, deliver up the necklace, and get his twenty silver, pieces, minus what he owed me. Now I admit I make mistakes sometimes, but at least I know the routine work. I posted a couple of my men on the roads leading west, east and south from this town — just to make sure that if Tai inadvert­ently forgot about our appointment in the godown, we would be able to remind him, you see. My accountant waited for Tai in the godown for a couple of hours, in vain. Then the fellow was brought in by the two men who'd been watching the road east. They had caught Tai Min galloping blithely along, and nicely dressed too. He had gone back to the Kingfisher first, you see.'

The judge suppressed a yawn.

'You must spend a lot of your time listening to the story-tellers in the market, Lang!' Then, harshly: 'What about the necklace?'

'The bastard said he never got it! Everything went all right to the point where he had scaled the wall and was inside the pavilion. There was no one about, there, or in the bedroom. And no necklace, no baubles at all worth the taking. He came back, but didn't dare to keep our appointment. He said he was afraid we'd think he was deceiving us and had hidden the necklace some­where. Well, by an odd coincidence, that was exactly what my men thought he had done. They tried hard to make him tell the truth — so hard that he died on their hands. I don't know how well your league is managing with personnel, but as for me, I don't seem to be able to get any really good men any more.' He sadly shook his head and went on: 'Not only did they bungle the questioning of that thieving cashier, they also chose the wrong place to heave his body into the river. It ought to have been found a couple of miles downstream. As a matter of routine, I had Tai Min's attic here in the inn searched. Found nothing, of course. And I can't search every hollow tree and every nook and cranny of that blasted pine forest, can I? So I've written off the necklace, and that's all there is to it.'

Judge Dee heaved a deep sigh.

'It's a nice story, Lang. Just as nice as the one Tai Min told to your men. The only difference is that he couldn't prove his story, while you can. Just by introducing me to your good friend, Mr Hao.'

Lang shifted uneasily in his chair.

'Hao was supposed to turn up here yesterday morning. With the ten gold bars. But he didn't. And I don't know where to find him.'

There was a long silence. Then Judge Dee pushed his chair back and got up.

'I am very sorry, Lang, but I can't go back home with that story. I'm not calling you a liar, mind you; I'm just saying I must have proof. I'll be staying on here for a bit, in order to observe the situation, so to speak. Needless to say, I have a few friends hanging about here too, so don't repeat your mistake of last night! Should you feel like having another friendly chat, you know where my room is. Good-bye!’

The bullet-headed accountant conducted him respectfully to the door.