Necklace and Calabash

V

Alarmed, Judge Dee realized that he had barely half a minute to decide. It would take only that long to reach the gold-lacquered door at the end of the passage.

Up to now he had not been concerned about the irregularity of the situation, for the person who had summoned him in this un­usual manner had to be someone of consequence, and fully aware of his true identity, duly reported by the wily Captain Siew. That person wished to keep the real purpose of his visit secret, and would assume full responsibility for his having entered the palace under false pretences. But evidently his unknown sponsor had not reckoned with the Chief Eunuch interfering. During the com­ing interview the judge would either have to lie to one of the highest Court officials, which went against his deepest convictions of his duties to the State, or tell the truth, the consequences of which move he couldn't even guess at. The truth might harm a good cause, but also, perhaps, thwart an evil scheme. He took hold of himself. If a corrupt courtier or a depraved official was intending to use him for a nefarious purpose it meant that he, the judge, had somewhere fallen short of the ideals of honesty and justice he wanted to live by, and hence fully deserved the ignominious death awaiting him if his true identity were dis­covered. This reflection gave him back his inner certainty. While the obese eunuch was knocking at the door, Judge Dee groped in his sleeve for one of the red visiting-cards he had written in the Kingfisher.

He knelt down just inside the door, respectfully raising the card with both hands above his bent head. Someone took the card and he heard a brief, whispered conversation. Then a thin voice spoke petulantly:

'Yes, yes, I know all that! Let me see your face, Doctor Liang!’

As the judge raised his head he saw with surprise that instead of the sumptuous office he had expected, he found himself in what seemed the elegant library of a scholar of fastidious taste. To the right and left stood high bookcases, loaded with brocade-bound volumes and manuscript rolls, and the wide window at the back opened onto a charming garden where a profusion of flowers blossomed among quaintly shaped rocks. On the broad windowsill stood a row of orchids, in coloured bowls of exquisite porcelain. Their subtle fragrance pervaded the quiet room. Beside the rose­wood desk an old man was sitting hunched in an enormous arm­chair of carved ebony. He was enveloped in a wide robe of shimmering stiff brocade that sloped down from his narrow shoul­ders like a tent. The sallow face, with thin grey moustache and wispy chinbeard, seemed small and pinched under the high tiara, lavishly decorated with gold filigree set with glittering jewels. Behind the armchair stood a tall, broad-shouldered man dressed entirely in black. With impassive face he let a red silk noose glide through his large, hairy hands. For a while the old man looked the judge over with heavy-lidded, vacant eyes. Then he said:

'Rise and come nearer!’

The judge hastily came to his feet and advanced three steps. He made a low bow, then raised his hands in his folded sleeves, waiting for the Chief Eunuch to address him. The sound of heavy breathing told him that the obese eunuch was standing close be­hind him.

'Why should the Lady Hydrangea have summoned you?' the old man asked in his querulous voice. 'We have four excellent physicians on our staff.'

'This person,' Judge Dee replied respectfully, 'could, of course, never dare to compete with the great doctors attached to the palace. It so happened, however, that by a mere stroke of good luck I succeeded in alleviating similar symptoms the Honourable Kuo suffered from. In his great kindness, the Honourable Kuo must have given the Lady Hydrangea a much exaggerated impression of this person's poor skill.'

'I see.' The Chief Eunuch slowly rubbed his bony chin, moodily surveying the judge. Suddenly he looked up and ordered crisply:

'Leave us alone!’ The man in black went to the door, followed by the obese eunuch. As the door closed behind them, the old man slowly got up from the armchair. If it hadn't been for his bent shoulders he would have been nearly as tall as the judge. He said in a tired voice:

'I want to show you my flowers. Come here!’ He shuffled to the window. 'This white orchid is a rare specimen, and most diffi­cult to raise. It has a delicate, elusive fragrance.' As Judge Dee bent over the flower, the old eunuch went on, 'I look after it per­sonally, every day. To give and nourish life, Doctor, is not entirely denied to persons of my status.'

The judge righted himself.

'The process of creation is indeed a universal one, Excellency. Those who think it is man's monopoly are very foolish indeed.'

'It's a relief,' the other said, a little wistfully, 'to have a talk with an intelligent man in private. There are too many eyes and ears in a palace, Doctor. Far too many.' Then, with a nearly shy look in his hooded eyes, he asked, 'Tell me, why did you choose the medical profession?'

The judge considered for a while. The question could be inter­preted in two ways. He decided to play it safe.

'Our ancient sages say, Excellency, that illness and suffering are but deviations from the Universal Way. I thought it would be rewarding to try returning those deviations to their natural course.'

'You'll have found out that failure is as frequent as success.'

'I have resigned myself to the limitations of human endeavour, Excellency.'

'The correct attitude, Doctor. Very correct.' He clapped his hands. When the obese eunuch had reappeared, the old man told him, 'Doctor Liang is permitted to cross the Golden Bridge.' He added to the judge in a dull voice, 'I trust that this one visit will suffice. We are greatly concerned about the health of the Lady Hydrangea, but we can't have people from outside going in and out of here all the time. Good-bye.'

Judge Dee made a very low bow. The Chief Eunuch sat down at his desk and bent over his papers.

The fat eunuch took the judge down the corridor where the young woman was waiting. He told her unctuously, 'You are permitted to take the doctor across, miss.' She turned round and walked on without deigning to reply.

The long passage ended in a round moon-door, guarded by two tall sentries. At a sign from the fat man they opened it and the three stepped down into a beautifully laid-out garden of flower­ing trees, bisected by a narrow canal. A curved marble bridge only three feet broad led across it. The elaborately carved balus­trade was encrusted with gold. On the other side rose a high purple wall with only one small gate. Above it the curved, yellow-tiled roofs of a detached palace were just visible. The eunuch halted at the foot of the bridge. 'I'll be waiting for you here, Doctor!’

'Wait till you weigh an ounce, fathead!’ the young woman snapped. 'But don't dare to put one of your flat feet on the bridge!’

As she was taking the judge across, he realized that he was now entering the strictly forbidden area, the abode of the Third Princess.

Two court ladies admitted them to a spacious courtyard where a number of young women were loitering under waving willow trees. When this bevy of beauties saw the newcomers, they began to whisper excitedly, the jewelled hair-dos of their bobbing heads glittering in the moonlight. Judge Dee's guide led him through a small side-door into a bamboo garden, and on to the open verandah at the back. A sedate matron was preparing tea at a side-table. She made a bow and whispered to the young girl, 'Her Ladyship had a bad coughing attack just now.'

The girl nodded and took the judge into a luxuriously appointed bedroom. As she bolted the door, Judge Dee bestowed a curious look upon the enormous bedstead that took up the greater part of the back wall. In front, close to the brocade bed-curtains, a high tabouret stood ready, a small cushion on its round top.

'Doctor Liang has arrived, Mother,' the young woman announced.

The bed-curtains were parted just an inch, and a wrinkled hand appeared. A bracelet of pure white jade, carved into the shape of a curving dragon, encircled the thin wrist. The girl placed the hand on the cushion, then went to stand by the bolted door.

Judge Dee put his box on the tabouret and felt the pulse with the tip of his forefinger. (Doctors are not allowed to see more of a distinguished lady-patient than her hand, and must diagnose the illness from the condition of the pulse.) Suddenly the woman behind the curtains told him in a hurried whisper:

'Go through the panel on the left of this bedstead. Quick!’

Astonished, the judge let go of her wrist and went round the bed. Set in the dark wainscot were three high panels. As soon as he pressed against the one nearest to the bed, it swung inside noiselessly. He stepped into an ante-room, lit by a high floor­lamp of white silk. Under the lamp a lady was sitting in the corner of a massive ebony couch. She was reading a book. The judge dropped to his knees, for he had seen the long-sleeved jacket of the Imperial yellow brocade. They were alone in the still room. The only sound heard was the faint crackling of the sandalwood log in the antique bronze burner standing in front of the couch. The blue smoke perfumed the room with a fleeting sweet smell.

The lady looked up from her book and said in a clear, melodious voice:

'Rise, Dee. Since time is short, you are allowed to forgo all empty formality.' She put the limp volume down on the couch and surveyed him with her large, troubled eyes. He took a deep breath. She was indeed one of the loveliest women he had ever seen. Her pale face was a perfect oval, framed by the glossy mass of her elaborate high coiffure that was fixed by two long hair-needles with knobs of translucent green jade. Thin eyebrows crossed her smooth high forehead in two long curves, and the small mouth was cherry-red under the finely chiselled nose. There was a great dignity about her, yet at the same time the natural ease of a warm unaffected personality. She resumed slowly:

'I summoned you, Dee, because I was told that you are a great investigator, and our loyal servant. I did so in this unusual man­ner because the inquiry I shall order you to conduct must be kept secret. Two days ago, towards midnight, I was in the pavilion built on the outer wall overlooking the river. Alone.' She cast a forlorn look at the silvery paper of the high lattice window. 'A brilliant moon was in the sky, just as tonight, and I went to stand at the window, to enjoy the view. First, however, I took off my necklace and laid it on the tea-table, to the left of the entrance. That necklace, Dee, is an Imperial treasure. It consists of eighty-four unusually large, perfectly matched pearls. Father gave it to Mother, and after Mother had died, the necklace was conferred upon me.'

THE THIRD PRINCESS GRANTS AN AUDIENCE

The Third Princess paused. Looking with downcast eyes at the long white hands clasped in her lap, she Went on:

'I took the necklace off because I once lost an ear-ring leaning out of that same window. I don't know how long I stood there, absorbed in the charming river scene. When at last I turned round to go back inside, the necklace was gone.'

She lifted her long-lashed eyes and looked straight at the judge.

'I ordered the palace authorities to institute a most thorough search, at once. Both in and outside my palace. As yet they haven't found the slightest clue. And the day after tomorrow I have to return to the capital. I must have the necklace back by then, for Father wants to see me wearing it, always. I think ... no, I am convinced that the theft was committed by an outsider, Dee. He must have come in a boat and scaled the wall, taking the necklace while I was standing there with my back to him. The movements of every single person in this section of my palace were checked thoroughly. Therefore the thief must be someone outside the palace, and therefore I put you in charge of the investigation, Dee.

'You shall search for the necklace in the utmost secrecy; no one in or outside the palace shall know that I entrusted this task to you. As soon as you have found it, however, you shall abandon your incognito, proceed here in your official capacity and publicly restore the necklace to me. Rip the seam of your collar open, Dee.'

While the judge pulled the seam of the right lapel of his robe apart, she took from her sleeve a tightly folded piece of yellow paper. Rising, she pushed the paper into the lining of his robe. She was tall; her coiffure brushed his face and he perceived its subtle fragrance. She sat down again and resumed:

'The paper I have just given you will enable you to enter the

palace openly, without anyone daring to interfere. You shall re­turn it to me together with my necklace.' Her beautiful lips curved in a slow smile as she added, 'I place my happiness in your hands, Dee.'

She nodded in dismissal and took up her book again.