The Lacquer Screen: A Chinese Detective Story (Judge Dee Mystery)

by Robert Van Gulik

  IX

  Judge Dee spent a most uncomfortable night The dog hole assigned to him and Chiao Tai was barely large enough for two narrow plank-beds. The judge had lain down as he was, but his robes did not protect him long against the hordes of voracious vermin that instantly opened their attack. He hardly slept at all. Chiao Tai had found a better solution. He just stretched himself out on the floor between the beds, with his head to the door, and soon had joined the snoring orchestra that reverberated through the thin wooden partitions of the other rooms.

  They got up soon after dawn and went downstairs. There was no one yet in the taproom. The inmates of the Phoenix Inn evidently did not believe in early hours. Chiao Tai rekindled the kitchen stove and they made a perfunctory toilet When Chiao Tai had prepared a pot of hot tea for the judge, he went off to deliver the letter to the coroner. Judge Dee sat down at the corner table, and sipped his tea.

  Carnation came down, woke up the waiter by thumping the counter hard with her fist, and then went to the kitchen to prepare the morning gruel. Soon afterwards the Corporal and his four assistants also made their appearance. The Corporal drew up a chair to Judge Dee's table, but indignantly refused a cup of tea. He shouted at Carnation to warm a bowl of wine for him. When he had drunk that with evident satisfaction, he asked:

  ‘How did it fare last night, brother?’

  ‘The dead woman must have been a wealthy lady,’ the judge replied. ‘And the fellow who did it was rich too, for he left these baubles on her.’ He took the earrings and the bracelets from his sleeve and laid them on the table. ‘When I have disposed of these, you'll get half the proceeds.’

  ‘Heaven!’ the Corporal said admiringly, ‘that was well worth a trip to the marsh, eh? She was surely murdered by a man of her own sort; you must have a fat purse to let such good stuff go! Keep on trying to find the bastard, you might blackmail him. And tell him at the same time that, if he has other women to kill, I'd thank him for doing the job outside my city.’

  A ragged vagabond came in and asked for a free bowl of gruel. When he had greedily gobbled it down, standing at the counter, he called out to the Corporal:

  ‘Have you heard the news, boss? They've just brought the dead body of the magistrate's wife to the tribunal. She's been murdered in the marsh.’

  The Corporal hit his fist on the table and cursed violently.

  ‘You were damn well right when you called her a lady I' he shouted at the judge. ‘You'd better find that murderer quick, brother! Bleed him for as much as you can, then bring him to the tribunal. Hell and Heaven—the magistrate's wife, of all people!’

  ‘Why the excitement?’ Judge Dee asked astonished.

  ‘You know what an Imperial official is, don't you? If your or my wife gets her throat cut and we report it, the constables just beat us up and say that we should look after our household goods better. But the wife of a magistrate, brother, that's something else! If the fellow who did it isn't found plenty quick, this whole town'll be crawling with military police, secret police, special agents from the Prefecture, special investigators and their men, and all the other vermin that call themselves the law. They'll comb the city, brother, and make arrests left and right. You and me'll have to pack up in a hurry and leave! That's why I am excited, brother, and that's why I tell you: set to work and get the bastard!’ He stared moodily at his wine-cup. Judge Dee said:

  ‘It won't be so easy though, seeing that the fellow was a member of her own class.’

  ‘He was her sweetheart, of course!’ the Corporal growled. ‘Those so-called gentlewomen! The knots of their trouser-cords are tied as loosely as those of our own jades! The fellow got tired of her, she made a fuss, and he bashed her head in. Old story! Well, I'll call my men together, and let them have a look at these baubles. They'll ferret out where the slut used to play her games with our magistrate's belly-cousin. That'll help you to trace the son of a dog.’

  ‘That's a good idea,’ the judge said, just to humour his host Suddenly he looked up from his gruel and asked curiously: ‘How would your men go about that? None of them will even know her by sight!’

  ‘They'll know her baubles, won't they?’ the Corporal asked impatiently. ‘It's their job! When you or me see an expensive skirt go by, either on foot or carried in a litter, we try to get a peep at her muzzle. But a beggar looks only at the trinkets she carries. He has been trained to do that, it's his rice-bowl! If he sees a valuable earring behind a veil, or a nice bracelet on the hand that moves the curtain of a palankeen, he appraises its value, and, if it's good stuff, he knows it'U be worth while to follow that woman. She may let drop an expensive handkerchief, or even a few coins. Now these baubles are high-class workmanship and made to order, so there's a good chance that one of my men noticed them. Do you get it now?’

  Judge Dee nodded. He pushed the jewels over to the Corporal, reflecting that he was picking up interesting knowledge that might come in useful on a future occasion. He saw Chiao Tai coming in and said to his host:

  ‘I'll be off now to look after a little affair of mine. I'D be back presently.’

  While the two men were walking towards the market place, Chiao Tai asked:

  ‘I suppose now we go straight to your colleague Teng with the story of that banker's malversations?’

  ‘Not so fast!’ the judge replied. ‘First we go to visit Leng Chien, and verify the truth of Kun-shan's story by blackmailing the banker.’

  As the dumbfounded Chiao Tai made no response, Judge Dee continued:

  ‘If Leng Chien lets himself be blackmailed, it means that he confesses that he has been guilty of fraud. We must reckon with the possibility, however, that Kun-shan is playing us some nasty trick. I'll observe the banker's reactions. If I think we can go ahead, I'll give you a sign.’

  Chiao Tai nodded. He hoped for the best.

  Leng Chien's silver shop presented an impressive front. It occupied a large, two-storeyed building on a busy corner of the market place. The shop front was open to the street, and had a counter more than twenty feet long. Behind it a dozen clerks were busy serving a crowd of customers, weighing silver, appraising jewels, exchanging coppers for silver and vice versa. Above the babble of voices one heard the monotonous singsong of two cashiers who were checking accounts.

  Judge Dee walked over to the chief clerk, who was sitting at the end of the counter behind a high desk, busily clicking the beads of his abacus. He pushed his visiting-card under the wooden grille and said politely:

  ‘I would like to speak to Mr Leng personally, if possible. I wish to transfer a sum of money. It's rather a large amount.’

  The clerk looked doubtfully at the two tall men, and asked some questions about the deal they were engaged in. Judge Dee told a plausible story about a speculation on the rice market. The cleric, reassured by his cultured language, jotted down a few words on his card. Then he shouted to an office boy to take the card upstairs. After a while the boy came back with the message that Mr Leng would see Mr Shen and his associate.

  The banker, clad in a neat white mourning-dress, was seated at a large red-lacquered table. While busily talking to two clerks he pointed to two high-backed chairs at the tea-table in front of the window, and one of the clerks quickly poured out tea for the visitors. Judge Dee looked at the banker while he was giving his final instructions to the two clerks. He thought the man was looking pale and worried. Then he surveyed the room. He was struck by a scroll hanging on the wall behind the banker, a large painting of lotus flowers, accompanied by a long poem written in an expressive hand. From where he was sitting he could just make out the signature: ‘Your ignorant younger brother, Te’. Evidently this was Leng Chien's brother Leng Te, the young painter who had died two weeks before, as the spectator in the tribunal had told him.

  Leng sent the clerks away. Turning to his guests, he asked briskly what he could do for them.

  ‘It concerns the partial transfer of about one thousand in gold, Mr Leng’ Judge Dee said evenly. ‘This is th
e most important document pertaining to the transaction.’

  He took the notebook page out of his sleeve, and placed it on the table.

  Leng's face turned ashen. He stared aghast at the piece of paper. Judge Dee felt relieved. He nodded to Chiao Tai. The big fellow stood up and ponderously walked to the door, which he bolted. Then he stepped up to the window and pulled the shutters closed. The banker followed his movements, panic in his eyes. As Chiao Tai went to stand behind the banker's chair, Judge Dee continued:

  ‘I have, of course, the rest of the papers too. Quite a bulky notebook.’

  ‘How did you get it?’ Leng asked tensely.

  ‘Come now, Mr Leng!’ the judge said reprovingly.’ Let's not digress, shall we? I am not an unreasonable man, you know, but, as you have seen from my visiting-card, I am a commission agent, and I expect of course my commission on your profit. I calculate that you made about one thousand gold pieces.’

  ‘How much do you want?’ the banker asked in a strained voice.

  ‘Only seven hundred,’ Judge Dee replied calmly.’ That'll leave you a nice capital to start working with again.’

  ‘I ought to denounce you to the tribunal!’ Leng muttered.

  ‘And I ought to denounce you!’ the judge said affably. ‘So let's call it quits.’

  Suddenly Leng buried his face in his hands. He wailed:

  ‘It's Heaven's retribution! Ko's ghost is persecuting me!’

  There was a knock on the door. Leng Chien wanted to jump up, but Chiao Tai laid his heavy hands on his shoulders and pressed him down again, whispering hoarsely into his ear:

  ‘Don't get excited now, please! That'd ruin your health! Tell them to go away!’

  ‘Come back later! I can't be disturbed now!’ the banker called out obediently.

  Judge Dee had been studying him, slowly caressing his sidewhiskers. Now he asked:

  ‘Since Ko didn't know about your cheating him, why worry about his ghost?’

  The banker gave the judge a startled look.

  ‘What are you saying?’ he panted. ‘Tell me, was the envelope open or closed?’

  The judge had not the faintest idea what the agitated banker was talking about He had taken it more or less for granted that Kun-shan had stolen the notebook when robbing Leng Chien's house. But apparently it was much more complicated than that. He said pensively:

  ‘Let me see now, I did not particularly notice….’ He reflected that the notebook had evidently been placed in an envelope. It seemed probable that it had been sealed. He added: ‘Yes, I remember now! The envelope was dosed.’

  ‘Heaven be praised!’ Leng exclaimed.’ Then I didn't send him to his death!’

  ‘Now you have said so much, you'd better tell the entire story!’ Judge Dee commented dryly. ‘I told you already that I am a reasonable man, I might be willing to talk over the deal.’

  Leng wiped the sweat from his forehead. Evidently it was a relief to be able to tell someone now about his secret worries. He said:

  ‘I made a stupid mistake. When Ko had invited me to dinner, he asked me to bring along for him a bundle of documents which he wanted to check. I placed them in an envelope, sealed it, and put it in my bosom. But when I arrived at Ko's place, I forgot to give him that envelope. When we were half-way through die dinner, just before Ko became ill, he asked me about it I put my hand in my bosom and by mistake took out the sealed envelope containing my notebook, which I always carried about with me and which was the same size and weight as the one with the business papers. I handed that envelope to Ko, and realized my terrible mistake only after Ko had gone back to the house to take his medicine. When I saw him throw himself into the river, I assumed of course that he had opened the envelope in his bedroom, discovered that I, his best friend, had been deceiving him, and committed suicide in despair. That terrible thought has been obsessing me all through these last two days. I couldn't sleep at night, I…’

  He shook his head disconsolately.

  ‘Well, you can't complain that you aren't getting your money's worth from us!’ Judge Dee said. ‘I suppose you were planning to sneak out of the city one of these days?’

  ‘I was’ Leng Chien replied. ‘If Ko hadn't died, I would have fled this week, leaving a letter for him in which I explained everything, and begged him to forgive me. I needed nine hundred gold pieces for paying my debts, and planned to use the rest for starting anew in a far-away place. After Ko died, I hoped to get the tribunal to register his demise quickly. Then I would have had access to his safe, where I know he keeps two hundred gold pieces. But now I'll have to leave as soon as possible. My debtors will have to do without their money.’

  ‘I won't keep you much longer,’ the judge said. ‘Our business is quite simple. Where did you deposit the gold?’

  ‘With the Heavenly Rain gold shop.’

  ‘Good!’ Judge Dee said. ‘Make out two drafts of three hundred and fifty gold pieces each and addressed to that shop. Sign and seal them, but leave the name of the pavee blank.’

  Leng took from a drawer in his desk two large sheets, covered with the seals of his silver shop. He groped for his writing-brush and filled them out. The judge took them and saw that they were in order. Putting the sheets in his sleeve, he said: ‘May I borrow that nice writing-brush for a moment, and a sheet of paper?’

  He turned his chair so that the banker could not see what he was writing. Chiao Tai remained standing behind Leng's chair.

  Judge Dee spread the paper out on the tea-table and jotted down a brief message in his own, expressive handwriting: To Kan, the elder brother. I beg you to send your men to Leng Chien's silver shop immediately and arrest the banker on the charge of fraud. This case is connected with Ko Chih-yuan's demise. I shall explain later.

  The younger brother Dee Jen-djieh bows twice

  He put the sheet in an envelope of the shop, and sealed it with the small personal seal he always carried with him. He rose and spoke:

  ‘I'll say goodbye now, Mr Leng! You'll not leave this shop for one hour. My assistant here'U watch from the other side of the street. It would be unhealthy for you to try to leave earlier. Perhaps we'll meet again I’

  Chiao Tai unlocked the door, and the two men went downstairs.

  When they were in the street Judge Dee handed Chiao Tai his note to Magistrate Teng. Adding one of' Mr Shen's' visiting-cards, he said:

  ‘Run as fast as you can to the tribunal, and see that the magistrate gets this letter immediately! I am going back to the Phoenix Inn.’

  X

  When the judge entered the taproom he found the Corporal standing at the counter, talking to an old man clad in a tattered robe. The waiter was pouring out a cup of wine for them. Carnation sat cross-legged on a stool near by, paring her toenails.

  ‘Come here, brother!’ the Corporal shouted. ‘I have good news for you. Hear what this fellow has to say!’

  The old man gave the judge a baleful look from watering, red eyes. He had a thin, weather-beaten face, as wrinkled as the skin of a crab-apple. Pulling at his ragged, greasy beard, he began in a whining voice:

  ‘My regular stand is on the corner of the second street on the left side of the west gate. The fourth building there is a closed bawdy house, but of class, you see. I have a good, steady income there.’

  ‘It's a nice place’ Carnation remarked, ‘I've been taken there once or twice, when my luck was in.’

  The beggar turned round to her and gave her a bleary look.

  ‘I saw you!’ he said sourly. ‘Next time you'd better tell your customer to give me more than two coppers! Tell him I expect at least four. Sometimes I even get more, if the gentleman comes out with a pleased mug!’

  ‘Come to the point!’ the Corporal snapped.

  ‘Well, the jade wearing the earrings you showed me went there two times. I couldn't see her face because she wore a veil, but I did see those earrings peeping out from under. When she comes out with the young fellow, she looks at me and says to him, “Giv
e the poor man ten coppers” Which he did.’

  ‘You needn't look so astonished,’ the Corporal said to Judge Dee. ‘Those beggars make good money, you know I You should try it yourself, some day!’

  The judge managed to mutter something. This was a totally unexpected development. Barring the most unlikely eventuality—that there existed a second pair of those earrings in “Wei-ping—Mrs Teng must have had a secret lover, which was not only unlikely, but wholly unthinkable! He asked the beggar sharply: ‘Are you quite sure she was actually wearing those same earrings?’

  ‘Look here, you!’ the old man said indignantly. ‘My eyes may run a little bit now and then, and then only on really windy days, but I'll wager they're better than yours, see!’