The Willow Pattern

XIII

Early in the morning, just after daybreak, Judge Dee walked out on the marble terrace, still clad in his night­robe. One look at the thick, impenetrable wall of yellow fog that surrounded the terrace on all three sides sufficed. This same fog had greeted him every morning for the last three weeks. It meant that there was no breeze, no change of weather and hence no chance of rain. The stricken city was facing one more suffocating day, in a hot, pestilence-laden air.

He went back inside, and pulled the terrace door shut behind him. It was hot in the large, low-ceilinged room, but he had to keep the unhealthy fog outside. Normally this room, located on the top storey of the Governor's palace, was used as banquet hall for smaller parties in summer, when the guests could enjoy the evening cool out on the marble terrace. After the emergency had been declared, and the Grand Council assigned the palace of the Metropolitan Governor to Judge Dee, the judge had decided to make this room his private headquarters. He had the four banquet tables arranged so as to form a square, and placed his own writing-desk in its centre. On the first table were put all dossiers and documents relating to the routine city administration, on the second those concerning the emergency measures, on the next the papers of the High Court, while the fourth table was littered with files and folders on the food supply. Thus he had all these docu­ments within easy reach when he sat working at his desk.

Against the back wall stood a couch and a tea table with four chairs, in the corner a simple wash-stand. Judge Dee had lived, eaten, slept and worked here, ever since he had sent his three wives and his children to the mountain villa of one of his friends and locked up his own official residence, to the south of the Imperial palace.

It was from this room that he directed the administration of the city which the Emperor had personally entrusted to him, three weeks before. Then the Emperor, the Court, the Cabinet and all national government organizations had moved to the Imperial Camp in the cool mountain plain, thirty miles from the capital. There a temporary city of tents and barracks had been constructed, and this was now the administrative centre of the huge Chinese empire. The capital, its teeming population reduced to two-thirds of the normal figure, had become an island, as it were, isolated by the Black Death that walked its streets. It was left to Judge Dee to see this city of fear through the present emergency.

In Judge Dee's improvised headquarters scores of clerks and orderlies maintained liaison between him and the more important branches of the city government he had installed in the palace. The military administration, headed jointly by Ma Joong and Chiao Tai, was located on the third floor below; the archives, assigned to Tao Gan, on the second floor, while the Municipal Chancery took up the entire ground floor of the palace, as in normal times.

An orderly came in and placed a bowl of rice and a platter of salted fish and vegetables on the tea table. Judge Dee sat down. But after he had lifted his chopsticks he realized that he had no appetite at all. He had been drafting official documents and proclamations with Tao Gan till long after midnight. The two hours of sleep thereafter had been dis­turbed by bad dreams, a fitful slumber that had left him more tired than before. His throat was sore, and he greedily drank the cup of strong, hot tea. While he was sipping his second cup, Chiao Tai came in. After he had wished the judge a good morning, he poured himself a cup too, and said:

'Everything was quiet uptown, sir. There was only one major crime, just about an hour ago. A sordid affair. Four scavengers who had been called to the house of a captain who had died of the plague, violated the widow and her two daughters. Fortunately their cries attracted the attention of a patrol that was passing by, and the scoundrels were arrested. In accordance with your instructions, sir, I had the military police take them at once to the square of the communal pyre, where most of the scavengers gather. There they were beheaded, with black hoods and all.'

Judge Dee nodded.

'I trust this will serve as a warning. How many of those scavengers are there at present?'

About three thousand are registered with the munici­pality, sir. Numbered identification tags are issued to them, and on showing those they are paid their salary every week. It must be feared, however, that many scoundrels joined their ranks, just by putting on a black cloak and hood; not for the salary, but for pilfering and committing other offences unpunished.'

The judge set down his teacup hard.

'We need inspectors to check them,' he said. 'But no one likes to go near those men, and with our shortage of man­power ...'

The door opened and Ma Joong came in, followed by Tao Gan.

'I have news about Hoo, sir!’ Ma Joong announced with a happy grin. He sat down and told the judge about his night's adventure.

Astonishing story!’ Judge Dee exclaimed. 'Evidently it was she whom Hoo was expecting when you, Tao Gan, and I paid him our surprise visit last night.' He gave Ma Joong a keen look and asked: 'Are you quite sure her story was on the level?'

'You don't think she jumped stark naked into the canal for a nice healthy swim, sir?' Ma Joong asked indignantly.

'Hardly that,' the judge admitted. He thought for a moment or two, then resumed: 'That girl must tell us more about Hoo's relations with her father. Do you know where to find them?'

Ma Joong looked embarrassed.

'Somewhere behind the Taoist temple, sir. But I shall meet her at noon, tomorrow.'

Judge Dee shot him a shrewd look. 'I see,' he said. 'Well, after that meeting you bring her here. Together with her father. In any case, we have now a definite charge against Hoo, namely the capital one of attempted rape. And that comes in very handy.' He went over to his desk and selected an official form. He filled it out rapidly with his red writing-brush. Impressing the large red seal of the High Court on it, he told his three lieutenants: 'With Hoo safely under lock and key, we shall collect more evidence about Yee's murderer.' He clapped his hands.

He gave the warrant to the orderly who came in, and said:

'Hand this to a captain of the guard at once, and tell him to effect the arrest with four men. Hoo may put up resistance, but I want him alive, and with a whole skin, mind you!’

The orderly saluted smartly. Rushing out, he nearly collided with the senior scribe, who told the judge:

'A Mr Fang asks for an audience, my lord. He belongs to the, ah ... Special Services of the municipality.'

Tao Gan bent over to the judge and whispered:

'He is the chief of the section charged with the super­vision of brothels and gambling houses, sir. Good man, I hear.'

'Show him in!' Judge Dee ordered.

A small, wiry man entered, clad in a simple blue gown and wearing a round skullcap. At first sight one would take him for a shopkeeper, but one glance at his face belied that impression. Deep lines divided it as it were into segments. The left eye opened and shut continually through a tic of the drooping eyelid, the other had a cold, unwavering stare. He reminded the judge forcibly of a lizard. He made to kneel, but the judge said impatiently:

'Skip the formalities, and state your business!’

'My office received orders to make a search for a dancer called Porphyry, my lord,' the small man began quietly. 'Since brothels and gambling houses do little business in this emergency, I decided to take the matter in hand per­sonally, and devoted all night to it. I had a talk with the secretary of the Brothel-keepers' Guild and with some of its leading members, while my secret agents questioned the stool pigeons we maintain all over the licensed quarters. The result may be summed up as follows. In the first place, it is out of the question that the girl is an apprentice. Appren­tices are allowed to work outside the quarter only when accompanying a full-fledged courtesan, to assist her changing dress, serve wine to the guests, and to sing or play a musical instrument. They are not allowed to dance in public before they have passed their examination, and certainly not lascivious dances performed in the nude; for that is the privilege of a special class of courtesans, who receive an extra allowance. Second, the name Porphyry does not appear on any official or unofficial list. Third, none of the brothels or houses of assignation has received during the past two weeks any order from the late Mr Yee, despite the fact that before that he had been a most regular customer.'

Fixing the judge with his one unblinking eye, the small man resumed:

'My conclusion is, my lord, that the said girl and the man acting as her tout are imposters. The secretary of the gild was highly incensed at this fraud. He passed the word around and put up a reward at once. I expect they will be found very soon.' It was difficult to know whether he winked with his left eye or whether it was just the tic when he concluded in his dry voice: 'The gild council and its members don't take kindly to poaching on their pre­serve.'

'Thank you,' the judge said. 'This is most useful infor­mation.' He wanted to dismiss the lizard-like man, but Tao Gan bent over and whispered something in his ear. After some hesitation, the judge cleared his throat and asked:

'You are accustomed to handle confidential matters, aren't you, Mr Fang?'

'That's why I could keep my post for twenty years, my lord,' the small man replied with a thin smile.

'The fact is,' Judge Dee resumed, 'that I would like you to gather, with the utmost discretion, data about the ante­cedents of Mrs Mei, the widow of my valued friend Merchant Mei. It has been suggested that originally she was a courtesan.'

'It so happens, my lord, that I can supply that information right away. The little I have, that is. No, she was not a real courtesan. An apprentice, rather. She was registered under the professional name of Sapphire. In a brothel of the old city, thirteen years ago.'

'Did Mr Mei redeem her?'

'He did not, my lord. She just went to live with him.' Seeing that Judge Dee raised his eyebrows, he continued hurriedly: 'I am very sorry, my lord, but this is one of the very few cases within my jurisdiction which I could never solve satisfactorily. I found myself up against two barriers which are particularly difficult to surmount. In the first place, the brothel she worked in belonged to the "old world" — and I have standing orders to leave that milieu alone as long as no crimes are committed there. Moreover, the brothel burned down shortly after, and the keeper and most of the inmates perished in the flames. She was bought out, but I could not discover by whom. Second, the man she went to subsequently was Merchant Mei. Although he was a pro­gressive member of the old set, he would yet become remarkably reticent when their particular problems were brought up. On top of that, he was the wealthiest merchant of the capital, not the kind of person to brook snooping into his private life. That's why I remember the case so well, my lord. Because it is one of the very few that remain open in my books.'

'I don't doubt that,' the judge said. 'I have full confidence in your ability, Mr Fang. Let me know at once when the pseudo-courtesan Porphyry has been traced.'

When the door had closed behind Fang, Judge Dee exclaimed angrily:

'Hoo told us a pack of lies! If I hadn't that ear-pendant, I would believe that the dancer and her companion never existed except in the imagination of Hoo and the maid. I am all the more glad that I issued that warrant for Hoo's arrest, for ...' He looked round at the orderly and asked, annoyed: 'What is it now?'

'A messenger from the municipal tribunal reports that Mrs Yee has hanged herself, my lord. Doctor Lew dis­covered her. The constables ...'

'I shall deal with the case personally,' the judge told him curtly. He rose and said to his lieutenants: 'What next, I wonder! And Doctor Lew found her! That suave phil­anderer again. What is my schedule for this morning, Tao Gan?'

'In an hour's time you have to preside at a council of the wardens, sir, to devise means for persuading the farmers to continue bringing their vegetables to the city. Thereafter you will have to receive ...'

'All right all right! We have an hour to see what happened at Yee's. Get me my robe and cap, we shall go there at once. The four of us.'