Necklace and Calabash

VI

Judge Dee made a low bow, and stepped back into the room of the Lady-in-waiting. The panel closed noiselessly behind him. The Lady Hydrangea's white hand still reposed on the small cushion. As he felt her wrist again, there was a knock on the door. Her daughter pulled the bolt back without making any noise, and admitted two court ladies. The first bore a tray of writing implements, the other a bamboo basket with a clean night-robe.

The judge let go of the slender wrist, opened his flat box and took a prescription blank. He beckoned the first court lady, selected a brush from her tray and rapidly jotted down his prescription: a mild dose of ephedrine and a sedative. 'Have this medicine pre­pared at once,' he told Hydrangea's daughter. 'I trust this will greatly relieve the patient.' He snapped the box closed and went to the door. The young woman silently took him across the court­yard and to the bridge, then left without so much as saying good-bye.

On the other side the obese eunuch was waiting for him. 'You were only a short time, Doctor,' he said with satisfaction. He con­ducted the judge through the many corridors of the Chief Eunuch's residence to the main entrance, where the litter was standing ready.

Leaning back against the soft upholstery, Judge Dee went over the amazing interview in his mind. The Princess had given him the bare facts, nothing more. Evidently the background of this amazing theft had to do with delicate matters which she could not or would not explain in detail. But he had the distinct feeling that what she had left unsaid was much more important than the facts of the case. She was convinced that the theft had been com­mitted by an outsider, but the thief had obviously had an accomplice inside the palace. For he must have known in ad­vance that the Princess would be in the pavilion at that particular hour, then been informed in some way that she had taken off her pearl necklace and placed it on the corner-table. Only a man watching her from a secret coign of vantage in that section of the palace could have seen her, and given a sign to warn the thief waiting in a small boat under the pavilion.

The judge frowned. At first sight it seemed a most risky and unnecessarily complicated scheme. Even if the Princess really was in the habit of standing at the pavilion window around midnight, she would surely be accompanied by one or more of her court ladies most of the time. And the organizers of the theft could hardly have had a boat moored under the pavilion every night there was a brilliant moon! One would have to assume that the ramparts of the palace were manned by guards day and night, and they would soon spot any boat lying there. The more he thought about it, the less he liked it. It all seemed very far-fetched. The only point that was clear was why she had chosen him to help: she suspected a particular person in her closest retinue of being concerned in the theft, therefore she needed an investigator who had no connections in the palace and whom nobody in the palace knew to be engaged in the search for the necklace. Hence her insisting on the utmost secrecy. It was a pity she had not given him a general idea of the lay-out of her section of the palace. His first task was evidently to have a look at the north wall from the river, and study the location of the pavilion and the surround­ing area.

He sighed. "Well, he need not worry any more about his having entered the palace under false pretences, or about having lied to the Chief Eunuch. The document concealed in the lining of his collar would doubtless state clearly that he was acting on the express orders of the Third Princess. Nor was there any need to worry about Captain Siew's motives any more. That sly fellow must have known about the theft, probably through his chief, Colonel Kang, who, as commanding officer of the Imperial Guard, must have taken part in the investigation. And Siew had recom­mended him, the judge, as a suitable person to conduct a secret inquiry all by himself. He smiled wryly. The rascal had hood­winked him good and proper!

The litter was lowered and the door-curtain pulled aside. They were in the courtyard where he and Hydrangea's daughter had changed palankeens. A lieutenant of the guard told him gruffly:

'Follow me. I have orders to take you to His Excellency the Superintendent.'

Judge Dee bit his lip. If he were found out now, he would be betraying the confidence of the Princess before he had even begun the task entrusted to him. He was ushered into a lofty hall. Be­hind the ornamental desk in the centre, piled with papers, sat a thin man with an austere face, a grey moustache and stringy chinbeard stressing his ascetic look. His winged brown cap had golden rims, and his square shoulders were encased in a robe of stiff brown brocade. He seemed engrossed in the document be­fore him. A portly courtier wearing the blue robe and cap of a councillor stood behind his chair, reading over his shoulder. In front of the desk were gathered about a dozen courtiers. Some carried document boxes, others bulky dossiers. When the judge bent his head and raised his hands in a respectful salutation, he felt their eyes boring into his back.

'Doctor Liang has arrived, Excellency,' the lieutenant reported.

The Superintendent looked up. As he leaned back in his chair, the judge cast a quick look at the document the Superintendent and the councillor had been studying so intently. His heart sank. It was his own identity paper. Fixing the judge with his small piercing eyes, the Superintendent asked in a crisp, metallic voice:

'How is the Lady Hydrangea?'

'I prescribed a medicine for her, Excellency. I trust her lady­ship will make a speedy recovery.'

'Where did the consultation take place?'

'I suppose it was in her ladyship's bedroom, Excellency. Her daughter was present, and also two court ladies.'

'I see. I hope that the medicine you prescribed will prove effec­tive, Doctor. In the first place for her, of course. But also for you. Since you have taken over the treatment, from now on you will be held responsible for her, Doctor.' He pushed the identity paper over to Judge Dee. 'You shan't leave Rivertown until you have obtained my permission. You may go.'

The lieutenant took Judge Dee outside. When they were half­way across the yard, the lieutenant suddenly halted and saluted sharply. A very tall officer strode past in the gold-plated armour and plumed helmet of a colonel of the guard, his iron boots clank­ing on the marble slabs. The judge got a brief glimpse of a pale, handsome face, with a jet-black moustache and a clipped chin­beard.

'Was that Colonel Kang?' he asked the lieutenant.

'Yes, sir.' He led the judge to the first courtyard where the same black palankeen that had fetched him from the Kingfisher stood ready. He stepped inside and was carried out through the high gates.

When they had crossed the broad marble bridge over the moat, Judge Dee pulled the window-curtain aside to let the evening air cool his flushed face. It had been a tremendous relief that his faked paper had passed muster. But how must he interpret the suspici­ous attitudes of, first, the Chief Eunuch and, just now, the Super­intendent? Did these high officials always adopt such a hostile manner towards strangers visiting the palace? Or were they per­haps implicated in the theft of the necklace? No, he was letting his imagination run away with him! Of course it was out of the question that high-ranking officials of the Imperial Court would stoop to connive at a theft! Money meant nothing to them, why should they risk... . Suddenly the judge sat up straight. Could it be that the pearl necklace was the gage in some complicated court intrigue, some subtle power struggle between opposing court cliques? That would explain why the Princess had kept the pur­pose of his visit secret from even her two closest servants, the Chief Eunuch and the Superintendent. On the other hand, if one or both had a special interest in the necklace, and suspected that he had met the Princess and been informed of the theft, why had they let him go without a really thorough questioning? To that question there was an obvious answer. They had only let him go because they didn't dare to oppose the Princess openly. They planned to have him eliminated outside, in a manner that could be conveniently explained as an accident. He felt under the bench. His sword was gone.

At the moment he made this unpleasant discovery, the palan­keen was lowered to the ground. A tall man in black pulled the door-curtain aside.

'Please descend here, sir. Just follow this road, and you'll be in town in a few minutes.'

It was not the same foreman who had come to fetch him. Judge Dee stepped down and quickly looked around. They seemed to be in the middle of the pine forest. The bearers stared at him with impassive faces.

'Since the town is so near,' he told the foreman curtly, 'you had better carry me to my inn. I am tired.' He moved to re-enter the palankeen; but the foreman barred his way.

'I am very sorry, sir, but I have my orders.' The bearers lifted the palankeen on their shoulders, turned it round quickly and trotted back the way they had come, their foreman bringing up the rear. The judge was all alone among the tall, silent pines.