Necklace and Calabash

XII

Judge Dee went to his room to fetch his calabash and his sword. He had to see Captain Siew at once, tell him about the meeting in the godown, and make arrangements with him for the arrest of the mysterious Mr Hao and Lang's hoodlums.

Fern was standing at the front entrance of the Kingfisher, haggling with an old woman selling toilet articles. He was about to pass her with a friendly nod, when she laid her hand on his arm and showed him an ivory comb, set with cheap jewels. 'Do you think this one would suit me?' she asked coyly. When he bent over to look at it she quickly told him in a whisper: 'Watch out! The two men outside were asking after you.'

'It'll suit you very well,' he said and stepped out on the portico. Feigning to inspect the sky, he saw out of the corner of his eye two gentlemen standing at the gate of the Nine Clouds. Their sedate costume, grey robes with black sashes and black caps, gave them a nondescript character. They might belong to Lang's league, or they might be agents from the palace. And from now on he would have to reckon also with agents of the Red League, who might have learned that he was masquerading as one of their own. Whoever they were, they must not know that he was going to visit Captain Siew.

He strolled up the main street, occasionally halting to inspect the wares displayed in the shop fronts. Yes, the two men in grey were following him. In vain he tried a few well-known dodges. He would round a corner at a leisurely pace, then suddenly rush ahead and try to get lost in the crowd, but the two men stayed behind him, and without any apparent effort. They were old hands at the game. Getting annoyed, the judge went into a large eating-house and chose a table at the back. When the waiter came to take his order he told him he had forgotten something and ran outside by the kitchen door. But one of the gentlemen in grey was standing at the corner of the back alley. The judge walked back to the main street. If he had known the town well, he might have had another try at eluding his pursuers. As it was, he had to resort to a trick that would force them to show what they were, and at the same time get him to Headquarters.

He went along with the stream of traffic till he spotted the spiked helmets of guardsmen ahead. Then he suddenly quickened his pace, halted abruptly and turned round. As he bumped into the taller of the two pursuers, he shouted at the top of his voice: 'Pickpockets! Hold them!’

At once a small crowd gathered round them, asking excited questions. 'I am a doctor!’ Judge Dee shouted. 'This tall scoun­drel bumped into me while the other tried to put his hand into my sleeve!'

A burly coolie grabbed the tall man by his collar. 'Shame! To rob a doctor! I'll ...'

'What's all this?' A squat sergeant had pushed his way to­wards them. The two men in grey had made no move to flee. The elder one told the sergeant quietly:

'This man is falsely accusing us. Take us to your captain!’

The sergeant quickly looked the judge and his two opponents over. Hitching up his swordbelt, he told the coolie:

'Let the gentleman go! It's all a misunderstanding, if you ask me. But my captain’ll decide. Come along, gentlemen, the office is right ahead.'

While they were walking to Headquarters the two men in grey maintained a haughty silence. Lieutenant Liu took them up to the captain's office.

Captain Siew looked up from his papers. Ignoring Judge Dee, he curtly ordered the sergeant to report, then he held out his hand. 'Your papers, please!’

The two men in grey put similar papers on the desk; each had red edges and bore a number of stamps. The elder told the captain:

'This so-called doctor is an imposter. We have orders to take him to the palace. We want a military escort at once.'

Captain Siew pushed his helmet back.

'You know I can't do that, gentlemen! Not without a warrant issued by my commander. Doctor Liang's document is quite in order. Properly registered here by my own office, I see.' He scratched his nose. 'Tell you what I'll do, though. You take a note from me to Colonel Kang, then you come back here for this gentleman.' He selected a blank from the papers before him and moistened his writing-brush.

'Come back here to find our man gone?' the elder man asked with a sneer. 'We have explicit orders, Captain!'

'Sorry, but I have my orders too, sir!' Siew rapidly filled out the form, and pushed it across the desk. 'Here you are!'

While the other put it in his sleeve, he said curtly:

'You'll keep this man under detention pending our return.'

'Only if the doctor is agreeable, sir. Can't detain a properly registered citizen without a warrant. "Benevolent rule", you know! On the other hand, if the doctor is willing to co-operate ...'

'Of course!' the judge said quickly. 'I don't want the rascal these gentlemen are mistaking me for to get away. The misunder­standing must be set right as quickly as possible.'

'Well, then all is settled!’ the captain said beaming on them. 'You want horses, gentlemen?'

'We have our own.' The two men in grey turned round without another word. The sergeant took them downstairs.

'D'you know those two stick-in-the-muds?' the captain asked Liu.

'Yes, sir. They belong to the Superintendent's Office. They wear grey; the agents of the Chief Eunuch wear black.'

The captain cast a worried look at Judge Dee.

'You said it, sir! You're certainly getting involved!’

'How long will it take them to come back here?'

'An hour and a half, sir. Two hours, perhaps, if they don't find my colonel in his office.'

'That won't do. I must be in Lang's godown at six. I'm meeting Lang's accountant, and a man who calls himself Hao, a dangerous criminal. Lang doesn't trust Hao or me, and he is putting a dozen or so of his men in the godown opposite his own. I want you to throw a cordon round the godowns, arrest the whole lot of them. Can you spare sixty guardsmen tonight?'

'Depends on what you are going to charge all these people with, sir.'

'Lang's men with the murder of the cashier Tai Min. The others with a crime against the State.'

The captain gave him a searching look.

'In that case I'd better be there myself, sir. Now about those panjandrums from the palace. I am not so sure my colonel'll issue the warrant. I said in my note that you are duly registered, and he'll want more particulars first.'

'I have reason to assume,' the judge said quietly, 'that the Super­intendent will give Colonel Kang a great many particulars.'

Captain Siew turned to the lieutenant.

'What about staging a nice break from prison, eh, Liu?' When the lieutenant nodded with a pleased grin, Siew continued to Judge Dee, 'Liu'll also disguise you properly, sir, so that you can leave here now unnoticed. Wouldn't wonder if those fellows had left a few colleagues to watch this building. Liu is a master in make-up!’ Rubbing his hands, he gave the judge a judicious look. 'We start by trimming your beard and whiskers. Then ...'

'I don't want any mummery!’ the judge told him coldly. 'Can your lieutenant get me an old donkey and a pair of crutches?'

Liu nodded and went out at once.

'Wonderful fellow, Liu!’ the captain said. 'Have a cup of tea, sir!’ Then he gave the judge a circumstantial account of how Liu would make it appear that there was a prisoner in one of the cells downstairs, and how he would fake a break from that cell. He went into every detail with boyish delight. When he had finished he asked, 'What about the murder of that cashier Tai Min, sir?'

'That crime falls under your jurisdiction, Siew, for it was com­mitted right here.' He told him that Lang had admitted having had Tai Min tortured and killed because the cashier had refused to tell Lang where he had hidden the necklace he had been hired to steal. 'When you have arrested Lang's men tonight, we shall go to the Kingfisher and arrest Lang himself, and then I shall formally charge him with the crime. But that man Hao I men­tioned is far more important than Lang. As soon as Hao has arrived in the godown, I shall whistle twice on my fingers; then you let your men swoop down on them. Hao may have people with him, though. Let me give you a rough idea of the ground.'

He took a piece of paper and made a sketch of the clearing and the godowns. The captain compared it with his own map, and pointed out where he would post his men. Then Lieutenant Liu came back.

'Donkey is ready in the backyard, sir,' he announced. 'You'd better go quickly, for there's nobody watching outside. Not yet.'

Judge Dee hurriedly thanked the captain. Liu took him down a flight of rickety stairs to a small kitchen yard. While the judge was mounting the ancient donkey, Liu handed him a pair of well-worn crutches.

'Good work!’ he whispered to the lieutenant and rode through the narrow gate.

Letting his shoulders sag and keeping his head down, he guided his donkey to the street running parallel to the main thorough­fare. He was banking on Master Gourd being such a familiar figure in Rivertown, that people would take him for granted and not look at him too closely. The only obvious difference was that he carried a sword. He quickly unstrapped it, and wedged it in between the crutches across the donkey's rump.

The donkey walked along sedately, picking its way through the milling crowd. Judge Dee noted with satisfaction that no one gave him a second look. Now and then someone called out a greeting, to which he replied by raising his hand. He drove his mount in the direction of the Kingfisher, for he didn't want to tempt pro­vidence too long, and his inn would be the last place where the agents from the palace would expect him to hide.

The narrow alley at the back of the Kingfisher was completely deserted. The bustle of the noon meal was just over, the servants were taking a rest and the tradesmen would not be coming till an hour or so before the evening rice. The judge dismounted at the back door and peered inside at the untidy garden. The folding doors of Lang's suite were closed and no sounds came from the kitchen. The window of his own room on the second floor was shuttered, but the one of the room below was half-open. Someone was strumming a moon-guitar, the same melody the judge had heard on his first night there. Now he remembered it. The tune had been popular in the capital many years ago. Having observed the garden for a while, he decided that the old storehouse would serve his purpose. The door stood ajar, and he slipped inside, the crutches and his sword under his arm.

The shed did not look very inviting. Cobwebs were hanging down from the mouldy rafters, and there was a musty, unpleasant smell. Broken chairs and tables were stacked up against the back wall, but the floor was swept clean. When he had a closer look at the old furniture he discovered behind it a heap of hemp sacks, piled up against the wall.

He shoved a rickety table out of the way and prodded the sacks with the point of his sword. They contained paddy-husks. He decided they would do as a bed for a few hours. The donkey would doubtless amble back to wherever it had come from. After he had stood the crutches against the wall beside the single, barred window, he rearranged the sacks, then laid himself down on top, close to the wall. With his hands cupped behind his head, he reviewed the latest developments.

Mr Hao's letter to Lang had been good news indeed. It proved that the plotters in the palace had not yet got the necklace in their hands. Thus he could discard one possibility he had been considering, namely that they or Mr Hao had intercepted the cashier after the theft and bought the necklace directly from the thief. This theory had been based on the fact that the mysterious Mr Hao had failed to turn up the next day at Lang's. Now it was clear that Mr Hao had been detained, exactly as he had stated in his letter to Lang, and he was expecting to conclude the deal tonight, in Lang's godown. This was excellent. For Hao's arrest would make the plotters in the palace pause and ponder for a while, thus giving him, the judge, a breathing space to concen­trate on the search for the necklace. The long morning on the river had made him drowsy, and he closed his eyes.

His sleep was disturbed by many dreams. The distorted face of the bearded assassin again made its appearance; hanging in the air, it was ogling him with its single rolling eye. No, it was the dead cashier who was standing over him, with face green and swollen, bulging eyes fixed on him while mangled hands groped for his throat. The judge wanted to rise, but his entire body felt as heavy as lead, and he could not move. Desperately he gasped for air. Just when he thought he was suffocating, the cashier changed into a tall woman in a soiled blue gown. Long, dishevelled hair clotted with dry mud hung across her face, revealing only the blue, gaping mouth from which protruded a swollen tongue. With a startled cry the judge woke up.

Drenched with sweat, he got down from his improvised bed and poked about among the old furniture for a while, to get the awful nightmare out of his mind. He cursed under his breath when he stumbled over a few dusty bags. They seemed to have contained flour. He brushed off his knees, then stretched himself out again on the hemp sacks. Now he soon fell into a dreamless sleep.