Poets and Murder

XII

Judge Dee pulled up another chair and sat down opposite his colleague.

'It can hardly be as bad as all that,' he said soothingly. 'It's never pleasant to have a murder in your own residence, of course, but such things happen. As to the motive of this brazen murder, it'll interest you that the flute-player down­town, whom I consulted about Soong's musical score, told me that Small Phoenix was an expert in fleecing her customers. A girl who encourages men, then refuses them at the last moment, is liable to make bitter enemies. I suppose one of those utilized the bustle of caterers and tradesmen going in and out of here for slipping inside unnoticed, and reached the green-room by that dark flight of stairs I noticed opposite the door.'

Lo had hardly listened. Now, however, he lifted his head and said wearily:

The door at the bottom of that staircase has been locked as long as I've lived here. My womenfolk aren't always as obedient as one would wish, but I am still far removed from putting the Consort's Staircase to use.'

'A consort's staircase? What on earth is that?'

'Ah, well, you don't read modern poetry, do you? Fact is that the notorious Ninth Prince who resided here twenty years ago was not only a traitor, but a henpecked husband to boot. Some say it was the goading and nagging of his consort that made him attempt his ill-fated rebellion. It was she who ruled "from behind the screen", as the saying goes. She had that room behind the banquet hall built, and the flight of stairs, which connects down below with a corridor leading straight to the women's quarters. There was a high screen standing in the rear of the hall, then as now. When the prince was sitting on his throne in front of the screen, holding an audience, his consort went to that room and stood herself behind the screen, listening to the proceedings. If she knocked on the screen once, the prince knew he had to say no, if twice he could say yes. The story became so well known that the term "consort's staircase" is now widely used as a literary allusion, meaning a henpecked husband.'

Judge Dee nodded. 'Well, if the murderer couldn't get to the green-room by the backstairs, how then did he manage to ...'

Lo heaved a deep sigh, sadly shaking his head.

'Don't you see it, Dee? It was that confounded poetess who did it, of course!’

The judge sat up in his chair. 'Impossible, Lo! Do you mean to say that Yoo-lan went into the green-room just when the dancer ...' He broke off in mid-sentence. 'Holy heaven!’ he muttered. 'Yes, she could've done just that, of course. But why, in the name of heaven?'

'You read the biographical account I wrote, didn't you? I made things sufficiently clear there, I trust. She had got fed up with men. When she met Small Phoenix, she took a fancy to her. I thought it was a bit strange that she personally took the dancer to my office. "My dear this" and "my dear that"! Tonight she came to the banquet hall well ahead of time, to help the dancer prepare for her dance. Prepare, my foot! She hung about in that green-room for more than half an hour! Tried to make up to the wench, of course. The dancer threatened to lodge a complaint. During the first half of the dinner that blasted poetess worked out a plan to silence her.'

'Just because the dancer threatened to complain?' the judge asked, incredulous. 'Yoo-lan couldn't care less! In the past she has had a number of ...' He clapped his hand to his forehead. 'My humble apologies, Lo! I am very dense to­night! Merciful heaven, an official complaint by the dancer could've brought Yoo-lan to the scaffold! It would support the testimony of the murdered maid's lover, and turn the scales against her!’

'Exactly. The affair that forced her to leave Szuchuan was effectively hushed up. The girl concerned being a Prefect's daughter, there was no danger of any damaging evidence com­ing from that quarter. But imagine a professional dancer appearing in court, delivering a frank testimony, with all the lurid details, about an offence committed right here, next door to the hall where an official banquet was being held! It would settle Yoo-lan's hash, once and for all! The poetess was desperate.' He rubbed his podgy hand over his moist face. 'But not more desperate than I am now! It was my good right, as magistrate of this district, to detain an accused being escorted across my territory. But I had to give the sergeant in charge of her guarantee, of course. Stating in black and white, and over my seal and signature, that I am completely responsible for the prisoner as long as she is under my roof. And now the woman has committed a murder here, and a murder of exactly the same nature as the one she stands accused of! The damned cheek of it! She expects me to gloss over the crime, of course, report it as committed by the famous unknown intruder from outside. So as to save her skin and mine! But there she's got me wrong!'

The magistrate sighed and went on sombrely:

'It's damned hard luck, Dee! As soon as I have reported this disgraceful affair, the Metropolitan Court will suspend me, as guilty of dereliction of duty and criminal negligence. I'll be condemned to hard labour on the frontier — if I am lucky, that is! To think that one of my reasons for inviting the woman here was to earn the praise of the panjandrums in the capital, for a kind gesture made to a famous poetess in distress!’ He pulled a large silk handkerchief from his sleeve and mopped his face.

Judge Dee leaned back in his chair. He knitted his bushy eyebrows. His friend was in a very nasty predicament indeed. The Academician could pull strings for him, of course, try to have the case dealt with in the capital behind closed doors. Publicity wouldn't be good for the Academician's town repu­tation either. On the other hand ... no, he was going much too fast. Taking hold of himself, he asked quietly:

'What did the poetess say?'

'She? When she comes into the green-room, she says, and sees the dancer lying there bleeding like a pig, she rushes up to her, and tries to raise her by her shoulders, to see what's wrong! When she sees she's dead, she rushes to us for help. At this moment she's languishing on a couch in my First Lady's room, being pampered with cold towels and what have you!'

'Didn't she say anything about who could have done it?'

'Oh yes. Came across with the same information that flute-player downtown gave you, only with a different slant. Yoo-lan maintains that Small Phoenix was a pure girl, and many nasty, nasty men hated her for that! Says a rejected suitor slipped inside and killed her. Thus suggesting to me the easy way out! I left her without making any comment, only asked her to keep to the story of the dancer's accident, for the time being.'

'What about the coroner's report?'

'Nothing there we didn't know or couldn't have guessed, Dee. Confirmed she had been killed shortly before we saw her, ten, fifteen minutes at the most. Added that she was a virgin. Which doesn't astonish me a bit. That pinched face, flat bosom! Well, the last people who saw her alive were two young dancing-girls, who brought Small Phoenix tea and cakes just before they packed up and went back to the Sap­phire Bower. Then the wench was as right as rain.'

'What did the servants say? And the musicians?'

'Still thinking of that unknown intruder, eh? No such luck! Have been questioning everybody, together with my counsellor. The musicians watched the fireworks from the side-hall, and none of them left the room. And all that time there were a number of servants about, on the main stairs, and on the staircases at either end of the balcony. Impossible for your unknown intruder to have got up to the second floor unnoticed. Grilled everybody about a possible connection with the dancer. Nothing doing. She was a pure girl, remember! Also, that pair of scissors was of course a typical woman's weapon. Fine, complete case! Beautifully simple.' He pounded the table with his fist. 'Great heavens, what a trial it'll be! Nation-wide sensation! And me on the wrong side of the bench, mind you! A disgraceful ending to a promising career!’

The judge remained silent for some time, pensively caress­ing his sidewhiskers. At last he shook his head doubtfully.

'There is an alternative solution, Lo. But I am afraid you won't like that either!’

'Can't say you are a comforting kind of chap, elder brother. But let's have it anyway. A man in my desperate position'll clutch at a straw!'

Judge Dee put his elbows on the table.

'There are no less than three other suspects, Lo. Namely your three distinguished dinner guests.'

The small magistrate jumped up.

'You've had one too many, Dee, at dinner!’

'I probably had. Else I'd have thought earlier of the alterna­tive. Go back to when we were watching the fireworks from the balcony, Lo. Can you visualize us as we were standing there at the balustrade? The poetess was on my left, and you were standing beside her. A little further on were your coun­sellor and your housemaster. Now although your firework display was lovely, I did look about me from time to time, and I know that none of us stirred from the balustrade. But I don't know about Shao, Chang and the sexton, who were somewhere behind us. I got a glimpse of the Academician once at the beginning, and again at the very end of the dis­play, when he came forward together with Chang and Sexton Loo. Did you see any one of them while the fireworks were going on?'

The magistrate, who had been pacing the floor, now halted and resumed his seat.

'When the fireworks started, Dee, the Court Poet was stand­ing close behind me. I offered him my place, but he said he could see very well over my shoulder. And I got a glimpse of Sexton Loo, who was standing beside Chang. In the middle of the display I wanted to apologize to the sexton for the lack of Buddhist motifs among the symbolical figures, but when I looked round I saw nobody — the banquet hall was pitch dark, and my eyes were blinded by the flares of the fireworks.'

'Just as I feared. Well, you yourself pointed out to me just now that every poet knows the story of the Consort's Stair­case, complete with the room behind the hall, and the door in the wall concealed by the screen. That means that each of your three guests had a splendid opportunity to murder the dancer in the green-room. They knew in advance she was there, because you had announced she would dance directly after the fireworks. Plenty of time to work out a simple and effective plan. When the servants had put out all the lights, and everybody was watching the garden, the murderer stepped back into the hall, slipped behind the screen and into the green-room. While saying a few kind words, he picked up the pair of scissors and killed her. Then he came coolly back to the balcony by the same route. Can't have taken him more than three minutes, all of it.'

'What if he had found the door locked, Dee?'

'In that case he could have afforded to knock, for your fireworks were making a great deal of noise. And if he had found a maid together with Small Phoenix, he could just say that the fireworks bored him, and that he had dropped in for a friendly chat. Postponing his murderous plan for a subsequent occasion. It was a perfect set-up for murder, Lo.'

'It certainly was, if you come to think of it,' Lo said pen­sively, pulling at his short moustache. 'But good heavens, Dee, isn't it absurd that one of these great men would ...'

'How well do you know them, Lo?'

'Well ... you know how it is with those famous persons, Dee. I've met all three of them a couple of times, but always in company, and we talked about literature, and art, and so on. No, I know very little about their real characters. But look here, elder brother! Their careers are public property! If any of them had a strange streak in him, people would have ... Except as regards the sexton, of course. He'd stick at nothing, absolutely nothing! Fellow wasn't always as unworldly as now, you know. Formerly he administered a large tract of ecclesiastical property in the Lake District, and used to bleed the tenant farmers white. Later he repented, of course, but...' He smiled wanly. 'To tell you the truth, I haven't yet digested this new development, Dee!’

'I quite understand, Lo. It is indeed a bit of a shock when you have to consider those three illustrious persons as murder suspects. As to the sexton, he wrote a beautiful scroll for you, at the dinner table. I had it stuck up on the wall screen. Well, let's forget all about great talent and exalted position, and consider our three men just as ordinary suspects in a murder case. We know all three had the opportunity. The next ques­tion is that of motive. The first thing is to make inquiries about the dancer in the Sapphire Bower. All of your three guests seem to have been in Chin-hwa for a day or two already, which means that they may have met Small Phoenix before she was introduced to them this afternoon. How did she meet them, by the way?'

'Oh, when I was going upstairs with Shao and Chang to show them the banquet room, Yoo-lan and the dancer were just coming down, and I introduced her. Afterwards I saw from the balcony that Small Phoenix ran into Sexton Loo, in front of my fox shrine. He's staying in the small room be­hind the shrine, you know.'

'I see. Well, when you're back from the Sapphire Bower, we must try to find in the archives which dossier Soong had been studying there. For ...'

'Holy heaven! The murdered student! Two murders to solve! Wait, what did my housemaster tell me again about Soong's landlord? Oh yes, his chaps nosed about in that quarter, but the tea-merchant is a popular man there. Not a breath of scandal or shady dealings. I think his eagerness to foist his theory of the vagrant ruffian on us was just an attempt to show off his cleverness. Most people love to act the amateur detective, you know!'

'Yes, we may count Meng out. I had been toying with the idea that Soong might have had a secret love-affair with Meng's daughter. She's a good-looking young girl, and her maid told me she could hear in her room the sentimental tunes Soong played on his flute at night. If Meng had learned about the liaison ... However, now we know that it was Saffron Soong was fond of, and that he wanted to buy the silver trinkets for her. And Soong mentioned his landlord to Saffron, without saying a word about suspecting him of hav­ing murdered his father, so we have absolutely nothing against the tea-merchant.' He smoothed his long black beard. 'To come back to Small Phoenix. We were going to ask her for a description of Saffron's father. You might inquire in the Sapphire Bower whether the dancer ever mentioned there that the guardian of the Black Fox Shrine was an illegitimate child, and that her father was still about here in Chin-hwa. Let's draw up a programme for tomorrow, Lo. First, your visit to the Sapphire Bower. Second, a search in your old archives, for the eighteen-year-old case that interested the murdered student. Third ...'

'You'll have to take care of the Sapphire Bower for me, Dee! I promised my wife and children that I would take my guests to view the Moon Altar they built in the fourth court­yard, and I am supposed to do that tomorrow morning. If my old mother feels well enough, she'll be there too.'

'All right, I'll visit the Sapphire Bower directly after break­fast. Please send a letter of introduction over to my quarters, Lo, for the lady in charge there. Then I'll join all of you to see the Moon Altar, and as soon as possible afterwards the two of us can go to the chancery and consult the archives together. As to my third point, I'll have to see to that alone. Namely, go to the Black Fox Shrine, and persuade Saffron to leave that horrible place. You have a secluded corner here where she can stay, I suppose?' When his colleague nodded, the judge went on slowly, 'It won't be easy to wean her away from her foxes and that ghastly lover of hers, but I hope I'll be able to handle her. Talking about Saffron, Lo, I must tell you that Sexton Loo was staying in a temple very near the wasteland. And he has a weird theory that some human beings have a special affinity with foxes.' He tugged at his moustache. 'It's a pity I didn't ask Saffron whether her father was thin or heavy.'

'Nonsense, Dee!' Lo said impatiently. 'Saffron told you that, according to the dancer, the man was good-looking!’

Judge Dee nodded approvingly. Despite his absent-minded airs, his colleague was a very good listener.

'She did indeed, Lo. But Small Phoenix may have said that just to please the poor girl. I shall go after luncheon to the ruined temple to get her so that I have the whole afternoon for that delicate job. Unless, of course, the Prefect should summon me.'

'Heaven forbid!’ Magistrate Lo shouted, aghast. 'Can't tell you how grateful I am, Dee! You have given me a ray of hope!’

A very thin ray only, unfortunately. What time were you thinking of starting the banquet on the Emerald Cliff, by the way? The place lies outside the city, I suppose?'

'It does. Our most famous scenic spot, elder brother! High up on the nearest mountain range, about half an hour by litter from the west city gate. At the Mid-autumn Festival one's supposed to ascend a high place, as you know! There's a pavilion there, on the edge of a century-old pine forest. You'll love it, Dee! The servants'll go ahead in the afternoon, to prepare everything. We'll have to leave here about six, so that we'll be there in time to admire the sunset.' He got up. 'It's past midnight, and I am dog-tired, Dee. I think we'd better be off to bed. I'll just nip upstairs for a moment, though, to have a look at the scroll Sexton Loo wrote for me.'

Judge Dee had risen too.

'You'll find the writing magnificent,' he said. 'But the con­tents suggest that he knew the dancer was dead.'