Murder in Canton: A Judge Dee Mystery

by Robert Van Gulik

XV

  In the meantime Judge Dee had eaten his noon rice in his private dining-room, together with Tao Gan. They had lingered over their tea, waiting for Chiao Tai. When it was getting on for two o'clock, and Chiao Tai had not yet made his appearance, the judge rose and told the majordomo to take them to the Council Hall.

  The Governor and Prefect Pao stood waiting just inside the entrance, and by their side a bearded man in shining armour. The Governor introduced him as the garrison commander, and the other, slightly younger officer standing behind him as the harbour master. After Mr Liang Foo and Yau Tai-kai had also greeted the judge, the Governor led him to the head of the large conference table that had been prepared in the centre of the hall.

  It took some time before all these distinguished persons had been seated in the proper order. At last, after the scribes had taken their places at two lower tables somewhat apart, and moistened their writing-brushes to take down the proceedings, Judge Dee opened the conference. After he had outlined briefly the problem confronting them, he called upon the garrison commander to give them an outline of the strategic situation.

  The commander did so in a commendably succinct manner. Within half an hour he had completed his description of the layout of the city, and the distribution of the garrison forces. He was interrupted only once, when a clerk came in and handed a letter to Prefect Pao. The Prefect glanced through it, then asked the judge to excuse him for a while.

  Judge Dee was just going to ask the commander what safety measures he would recommend, when the Governor rose and began a speech, intended, as he was careful to point out, to present the city's main features from a broader, administrative angle. While he was talking, Prefect Pao came back and resumed his seat. The Governor spoke for more than half an hour, going into much irrelevant detail. Judge Dee was just beginning to shift impatiently in his chair, when an adjutant came in. He asked Judge Dee in a whisper whether he might show in Colonel Chiao, who wanted to speak to him urgently. Judge Dee, welcoming this opportunity to stretch his legs, decided to disregard official protocol by going outside to see him. He rose and asked the company to excuse him for a few moments.

  In the anteroom Chiao Tai quickly told him what had happened in Captain Nee's house.

  ‘Go to the Arab quarter and arrest Mansur at once!’ Judge Dee said angrily. ‘This is the first direct proof we have against the scoundrel! And Ahmed and Aziz were the two the Censor mentioned in his note. Take my four agents with you.’ As Chiao Tai turned to leave with a happy grin, the judge added, ‘Try also to get Captain Nee. If he is not yet back, tell the tribunal to issue a warrant for his arrest to all the city wardens. I want to have a talk with that sea captain! A mystic forsooth!’

  After Judge Dee had resumed his seat at the head of the conference table, he said gravely:

  ‘One of the items on our agenda is what measures to take concerning Mansur, the leader of the Arab community here. I have just received certain information that has obliged me to issue orders for his immediate arrest.’ As he said this, he quickly surveyed the faces of the persons round the table.

  All nodded in approval except Mr Yau, who looked very doubtful.

  ‘I too have heard rumours about an impending Arab revolt,’ he said. ‘But I dismissed them at once as based on irresponsible gossip. As to Mansur, I think I may say that I know him well. He is a quick-tempered, haughty man, but I am certain he would never even dream of engaging upon such a treacherous undertaking.’

  The judge threw him a cold glance.

  ‘I admit,’ he said evenly, ‘that I have no concrete evidence against Mansur—as yet. But since he is the head of the Arab community, he is personally responsible to us for everything happening among his compatriots. He will now have every opportunity to prove himself innocent. Of course, since we must reckon with the possibility that Mansur is not the ringleader after all, his impending arrest does not make precautionary measures superfluous. I request the garrison commander now to formulate those measures.’

  When the commander had done so, in his customary crisp manner, the harbour master added a few suggestions regarding a restriction of the movement of Arab vessels in port. After agreement had been reached on these proposals, Judge Dee ordered Prefect Pao to draw up the texts of the necessary orders and proclamations. It took considerable time for all the texts to be completed and approved, but at long last Judge Dee could sign and seal the papers. Just as he was about to close the conference, the Governor took a bulky package of notes from his bosom and put it on the table. He cleared his throat importantly, then spoke:

  ‘I deeply regret that the sudden cropping up of this Arab affair has taken so much of Your Excellency's valuable time. Since I am not oblivious of the fact that the purpose of Your Excellency's visit here is to review the foreign trade situation, I have had the port authorities draw up a report, which quotes in detail the import and export figures of all more important commodities. If Your Excellency will allow me, I shall now, on the basis of these documents, briefly describe the general position.’

  Judge Dee was about to remark sharply that he had better things to do, but checked himself in time. After all, he had to keep up appearances. And the Governor had shown commendable zeal. Thus he nodded and resignedly leaned back in his chair.

  While the Governor's voice droned on, he thought over what Chiao Tai had told him about Captain Nee. The fact that Mansur had intended Nee to be accused of Chiao Tai's murder seemed to prove that the captain was not involved in the nefarious scheme. Was he perhaps working together with the blind girl? When Chiao Tai was visiting him, the captain had received a written message, and when Chiao Tai had left the blind girl's package had been put into his sleeve. The judge wanted to whisper something to Tao Gan, but saw that his lieutenant was listening in rapt attention to the Governor's speech. He sighed. He knew that Tao Gan was always keenly interested in financial matters.

  The Governor's speech lasted more than an hour. When he was through at last, the servants came in to light the silver candlesticks. Now Liang Foo rose and began to discuss the figures quoted by the Governor. Judge Dee was glad when he saw the adjutant come in again. With a worried face he said quickly to the judge:

  ‘The warden of the north-west quarter is here, Excellency, with an important message for the Prefect.’

  Pao looked questioningly at the judge. When he nodded his assent, the Prefect hastily got up and followed the adjutant outside.

  Judge Dee had just began to compliment the Governor and Mr Liang on their masterly speeches, when suddenly Prefect Pao came rushing inside, his face a deadly pale.

  ‘My wife has been murdered!’ he brought out in a choking voice. ‘I must…’

  He broke off as he saw Chiao Tai come in. Chiao Tai quickly stepped up to the judge and said contritely:

  ‘Mansur has completely disappeared, sir. And so has Captain Nee. I can't understand what…’

  Judge Dee cut him short with his raised hand. He quickly ordered the Governor, ‘Send out your men to arrest Mansur. And also the sea captain Nee. At once!’ Then he told Chiao Tai that Mrs Pao had been found murdered. He turned to the Prefect. ‘Accept my sincere sympathy, Mr Pao. I shall accompany you to your house now together with my two lieutenants. This new outrage…’

  ‘It didn't happen in my house, sir!’ the Prefect cried out. ‘She was murdered in a house south of the Kwang-siao Temple, an address I have never even heard of! On the south corner of the second street!’

  Mr Yau uttered a suppressed cry. He stared at the Prefect with his mouth open, his bovine eyes enlarged by fright.

  ‘Do you know that place, Mr Yau?’ Judge Dee asked sharply.

  ‘Yes, indeed. I…it belongs to me, as a matter of fact. I use it for entertaining business associates.’

  ‘I order you to explain how…’ the Prefect began, but Judge Dee cut him short.

  ‘Mr Yau shall accompany us to the scene of the crime. He shall give further explanations there.’

  He rose briskly, t
old the Governor to execute at once the measures agreed upon, then left the Council Hall followed by his two lieutenants, Prefect Pao and Yau Tai-kai. In the front courtyard the guards were lighting the lanterns already. While the judge stood waiting there for his palankeen, he asked Pao:

  ‘How was it done?’

  ‘She was strangled from behind with a silk scarf, sir,’ Pao answered in a toneless voice.

  Judge Dee gave his two assistants a meaningful look, but he refrained from comment. As the stepladder of the palankeen was being lowered, he told the Prefect:

  ‘You'll ride together with me, Mr Pao, there's plenty of space inside. Warden, you'll take Mr Yau in your litter.’

  He made Prefect Pao sit next to him, and Chiao Tai and Tao Gan took the seat opposite. As the bearers hoisted the long shafts on their calloused shoulders, Chiao Tai said eagerly:

  ‘Yau mentioned that address to me last night, sir! It seems he keeps a couple of nice girls there. He put a woman in charge and…’

  ‘Now I know why that worthless wife of mine went there!’ the Prefect burst out. ‘She went there to meet that lecher, Captain Nee! They were lovers before I—old fool that I was—married her. I often suspected they had been continuing their sordid affair behind my back. Cheap adultery! And Yau connived at it. I demand that Yau and Nee are placed under arrest, sir, and I…’

  Judge Dee raised his hand.

  ‘Calm yourself, Mr Pao! Even if your wife went there to meet the captain, that does not prove that it was he who murdered her.’

  ‘I shall tell you exactly what happened, sir! My wife knew that I would be in the palace the whole afternoon, for the conference, and therefore she made the appointment with her paramour. But although she is flighty, and often rather foolish, she is fundamentally a decent woman…I am to blame, sir, I neglected her. Had to, the Governor always kept me so busy, I had no time…’ His voice trailed off. He shook his head and passed his hand over his face. Then he took hold of himself and resumed in a soft voice, as if to himself, This time my wife must have told Nee that she wanted to put an end to the sordid affair, once and for all. Nee flew into a rage, and killed her. That must have been how it happened.’

  ‘The fact that Nee seems to have gone into hiding may indeed point to his guilt,’ Judge Dee remarked. ‘But let's not indulge in premature deductions, Mr Pao.’

  XVI

  Four constables stood in front of the two-storeyed house, two of them waving paper lanterns on which four red letters signified ‘The Tribunal of Canton’. They stood at attention when the bearers set the large palankeen down. Judge Dee descended, followed by Prefect Pao and his two lieutenants. He waited till the warden and Mr Yau had stepped from their litter, then asked the former:

  ‘In what room was the murder committed?’

  ‘The tea-room just to the left of the hall, Excellency,’ the warden replied. ‘Allow me to show the way.’

  He conducted them into a fairly large hall, lit by lampions of white silk, hanging from two beautifully carved stands. A constable stood at the door on the left; on the right there was a sidetable and a big armchair. In the rear of the hall was a moon-door, a round door-opening with a half-drawn curtain of blue beads. They made a rattling sound as a white hand quickly pulled the curtain close.

  ‘You sit down there and wait!’ Judge Dee told Mr Yau, pointing at the armchair on the right. Then he asked the warden, ‘You didn't touch anything on the scene of the crime, did you?’

  ‘No sir. I went inside only once, put two lighted candles on the table, and verified that she was indeed dead. The woman in charge here knew her as Miss Wang. But I found in her sleeve a brocade folder with visiting cards, which said clearly that she was our Prefect's wife. I left everything exactly as it was, sir.’

  The constable had opened the door. They saw a small tea-room. In the centre stood a table of rosewood and three chairs; on the left a wall-table, bearing a vase filled with wilting flowers. The walls were plastered a spotless white, and decorated by a few choice scroll paintings of birds and flowers. In front of the single window lay a woman, dressed in a simple brown gown, her face to the floor. By her side was the fourth chair, overturned. Evidently it had been standing by the side of the table nearest to the window.

  Judge Dee took one of the candles from the table, and gave a sign to Tao Gan. His lieutenant knelt and turned the dead woman over on her back. The Prefect quickly averted his face. Chiao Tai went to stand between him and the dead body. Her features were horribly distorted, her swollen tongue protruding from her bloodstained mouth. With some difficulty Tao Gan loosened the silk scarf that had been tightened round Her neck with savage force. He silently showed the judge the silver coin tied in the corner of it

  Judge Dee motioned Chiao Tai to cover the dead face, then he turned round and asked the warden, who had remained standing just outside the door:

  ‘How was the murder discovered?’

  ‘About half an hour after she had arrived here, sir, the youngest maid went in to serve tea, assuming that the man she was wont to meet here would have arrived too. When she saw the dead body, she began to shriek at the top of her voice. People passing in the street heard her. The window there was open, you see, just as it is now. It gives on to a narrow alley between this house and the next. Well, two men who were passing the entrance of the alley heard the maid shout and at once ran to my office to warn me. So I hurried here to see what was wrong.’

  ‘Quite,’ Judge Dee said. He ordered Chiao Tai and Tao Gan to search the room for possible clues, then to arrange the removal of the dead body to the tribunal. To Prefect Pao he said, ‘I shall now interrogate the woman in charge here, together with you, Mr Pao. Warden, where did you put the inmates?’

  ‘The woman in charge, a kind of housekeeper, I put in the reception room back of the hall, sir. The four young girls who are living here I ordered to keep to their own rooms, on the second floor. The maidservants I told to stay in the kitchen.’

  ‘Good work! Come along, Mr Pao!’

  As he went across the hall to the moon-door, Mr Yau jumped up from the armchair, but Judge Dee pointedly ignored him. The Prefect glared at him in passing and the harassed Mr Yau quickly resumed his seat.

  The small reception room contained only a tea-table of carved blackwood, two chairs of the same material, and a high cupboard. The quietly dressed, middle-aged woman who was standing at the cupboard quickly made a low bow. Judge Dee sat down at the tea-table and motioned the Prefect to take the other chair. The warden pressed the woman down on her knees, then remained standing behind her, his arms crossed on his breast.

  Judge Dee began to question her, starting with her name and age. She spoke the northern tongue haltingly, but by skilful questions the judge elicited that Mr Yau had bought the house five years ago, and put her in charge of four girls. Two were ex-courtesans bought out by Mr Yau, the others former actresses. All of them were being paid a generous salary. Mr Yau used to come there about twice a week, either alone or with two or three friends.

  ‘How did you come to know Mrs Pao?’ Judge Dee asked her.

  ‘I swear I never knew she was the wife of His Excellency the Prefect!’ the woman wailed. ‘Else I'd of course never have agreed to Captain Nee bringing her here. He…’

  ‘Didn't I tell you so?’ Prefect Pao shouted. ‘The lecher has…’

  ‘Leave this to me, Mr Pao,’ the judge interrupted. He glanced at the housekeeper. ‘Proceed!’

  ‘Well, the captain came here a couple of years ago, as I said, and he introduced her as a Miss Wang. Could he use a room now and then in the afternoon, to have a talk with her? he asked. Now the captain is a well-known man, sir, and since he offered to pay well for the tea and cakes, I…’

  ‘Did Mr Yau know of the arrangement?’ the judge asked.

  The woman went red in the face. She stammered:

  ‘Since the captain always came in the afternoon, sir…and only for a cup of tea, I…I didn't think it necessary, really, to consult
Mr Yau and…’

  ‘And you pocketed the captain's money.’ Judge Dee completed her sentence in a cold voice. ‘You know, of course, full well that the captain slept with the woman. This means that you'll be flogged, for having kept a bawdy house without a proper licence.’

  The woman knocked her forehead on the floor several times, then she cried out:

  ‘I swear that the captain never as much as touched her hand, sir! And there isn't even a couch or bench in that room, anyway! Ask the maids, please, sir! They went in and out there all the time, bringing tea and sweets, and so on. They'll tell you how they just sat there talking. Sometimes they played a game of chess—that was all!’ She burst into tears.

  ‘Stop your sniffling and rise! Warden, verify her statement with the maids!’ Then he asked the woman again, ‘Did the captain always warn you beforehand when he came here with Mrs Pao?’

  ‘No sir, he didn't.’ She wiped her face with the tip of her sleeve. ‘Why should he? He knew that Mr Yau never came in the afternoon. The captain and she always came separately, sometimes the captain was first, other times she was. Today she arrived first. The maid let her into the room they always used, thinking that the captain would turn up too, before long. But he didn't come this time.’