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  The captain gave his guest a thoughtful look. ‘Yes,’ he said slowly, ‘you might easily be mistaken for a doctor, in your present garb.’ After a slight pause he resumed, ‘Master Gourd must have been disappointed when he learned you weren’t a physician. He knows a lot about medicinal herbs, and likes to talk about them.’

  ‘As a matter of fact,’ Judge Dee said, a little self-consciously, ‘I didn’t undeceive him. It saved me a long explanation, you see. Who is he, really?’

  ‘A kind of philosopher; has been about here for the last four or five years. Lives like a hermit, in a hut somewhere in the forest. Have another cup, sir!’ The captain scratched his nose. Darting a quick glance at the judge, he went on, ‘Well, if you really want to have a quiet time here in our town, sir, I advise you to stick to your physician’s role. This being a Special Area, there are all kinds of government agents about, and your incognito might be eh … misinterpreted, so to speak. I once was a special service man myself, and I know their mentality!’

  The judge pulled at his moustache. As a visiting magistrate he would have to make official calls, all dressed up in his ceremonial robe and winged cap-and they were still in Kuan-ti-miao with his heavy luggage. He could borrow a set, of course, and rent an official palankeen, but this was exactly the sort of thing he wanted to get away from for a few days… . Captain Siew noticed his hesitation, and resumed quickly:

  ‘I’ll fix everything for you, sir! You are fully entitled to a few days of rest. Heard all about that case of the Buddhist temple you solved in Poo-yang. Fine piece of detecting, sir! * (* See the novel The Chinese Bell Murders.) Let me see, now. Yes, I know a retired doctor in the capital, Liang Mou his name is. Tall fellow, long beard. Specialist in lungs and liver.’ He pulled a sheet of paper towards him, moistened his writing-brush and jotted down a few lines. ‘You have studied a bit of medicine, of course, sir? Fine! May I have your identity document?’

  Judge Dee pulled the paper from his riding-boot and put it on the desk. ‘I don’t think …’ he began. But the captain was absorbed in his study of the document. Looking up, he exclaimed:

  ‘Couldn’t be better, sir! Birth-date fits, more or less!’ He rapped his knuckles on the desk and shouted, ‘Liu!’

  The lieutenant came in at once, apparently he had been waiting just outside the door. The captain gave him his note together with Judge Dee’s identity document. ‘Make out a new one, in this name, Liu. Not too new, though, eh!’

  The lieutenant saluted and went out. Captain Siew put his elbows on the desk.

  ‘Fact is, I am faced with a little problem, sir,’ he said earnestly. ‘Your being here incognito would help me to solve it. Wouldn’t take much of your time, and you’d be doing me a tremendous favour, sir! You rank much higher than me, of course, but our work being similar, so to speak… . Would help me no end, sir! I always say that in order to get a fresh look at things… .’

  ‘You’d better explain what your problem is,’ Judge Dee interrupted dryly.

  The captain got up and went to the large map on the wall. From where he sat the judge could see that it showed the area south of the river, with a detailed plan of the town. To the east there was a blank square, marked in large letters ‘Water Palace’. With a sweep of his arm Captain Siew said:

  ‘The entire Special Area is under the direct administration of the Palace. You know of course, sir, that for four years now the Water Palace has been the summer residence of the Third Princess.’

  ‘No, I didn’t.’ But Judge Dee knew about the Third Princess. She was the Emperor’s favourite daughter, said to be exceedingly beautiful. The Emperor granted her every wish, but apparently she was not the spoilt palace-doll one might expect, but a very intelligent, level-headed young woman who took a deep interest in the arts and sciences. Various prominent young courtiers had been mentioned as future imperial sons-in-law, but the Emperor had always postponed a decision. The Princess must now be about twenty-five, the judge thought. Captain Siew continued:

  ‘The highest authorities here are three officials, two civil and one military. The Chief Eunuch is responsible for the Third Princess, her court-ladies and all their womenfolk. Then we have the Palace Superintendent who is responsible for the rest of the personnel, a thousand persons in all. My chief, Colonel Kang, is the Commander of the Guard. He is in charge of the security of the palace, and the rest of the Special Area. He has his offices in the palace and is fully occupied with his work there. So he has assigned two hundred guardsmen to me, and put me in charge of the administration of the town and the countryside. It’s a quiet, orderly little town, for in order to prevent epidemics from spreading to the palace no brothels are allowed here, no streetwalkers, no theatres, and no beggars. Crimes are rare, because any offence committed here could be construed as lese-majesty, and be punished with the “lingering death”. And not even the most hardened criminal wants to risk being sliced to pieces slowly! Ordinary executioners take only two or three hours over the process, but those in the palace can keep their man alive for a couple of days, I am told.’ The captain rubbed his nose reflectively, then added, ‘They are the best that can be had, of course. Anyway, the result is that all robbers, thieves and vagrant ruffians shun this area like the plague!’

  ‘Then your job is simple, Siew. Just the administrative routine.’

  The captain sat down.

  ‘No, sir,’ he said gloomily, ‘there you are wrong. Its very security from smaller criminals makes this area a proper paradise for the big ones! Suppose you were a wealthy crook with many personal enemies. Where better than here could you pass a quiet holiday? Here no assassin would ever dare to attack you. Or suppose you were the boss of an influential smuggling-ring, or of a secret criminal league? In your own territory you’d have to be on your guard day and night against killers sent by rival organizations. But here you could walk about freely without any fear of being molested. Do you see my problem now, sir?’

  ‘Not quite. Since all arrivals must register, why not send those questionable characters back where they came from?’

  The captain shook his head.

  ‘First, hundreds of our tourists are decent people, and most merchants come here on legitimate business. We can’t possibly verify the antecedents of every one of them. Second, a considerable portion of the income of the local people is derived from the tourist traffic. If we clamped down on all travellers, they would avoid this place, and we have strict orders from the capital to keep on good terms with the population. “Benevolent Rule” is His Majesty’s reign-name, as you know, sir. It’s a ticklish situation, for no one can tell when trouble’ll flare up among some of the big scoundrels on holiday here. And I am responsible for the maintenance of peace and order in Rivertown!’

  ‘Quite true. But I can’t see what I can do about it.’

  ‘You might just have a look at the situation, sir! From the other side of the counter, so to speak. A man of your long experience and splendid record as a criminal investigator would ‘…’

  Judge Dee raised his hand.

  ‘All right. I don’t mind getting a first-hand impression of the problems presented by a Special Area. I …’

  There was a knock and the lieutenant came back. He put two sheets before his chief. One was Judge Dee’s own identity document. The captain concentrated his attention on the second, a slightly soiled piece of paper with frayed edges.

  ‘Good!’ he exclaimed with a broad smile. ‘Very good indeed, Liu! Have a look at this, sir!’ He pushed the second document over to the judge. It was an official identity paper issued four years before by the metropolitan authorities and made out to Dr. Liang Mou. The date of birth was Judge Dee’s own, but the address was a well-known residential quarter in the capital.

  ‘You notice the date, sir?’ Captain Siew asked, rubbing his hands. ‘The exact date on which the metropolitan authorities issued new papers to all citizens! Well done, Liu!’ He took a seal from his drawer, stamped a corner of the paper, then wrote acr
oss it: ‘Bearer is on his way back to the capital. Permitted to stay three days.’ He added the date, and initialled it with a flourish of his brush. ‘There you are, sir! All set! Your own paper I’ll keep here under lock and key for you. Awkward if you were found to be carrying two different ones! I advise you to stay in the Kingfisher, sir; it’s a nice quiet hostel, and most of the bigwigs lodge there.’ Rising he added briskly, ‘Needless to say, I am completely at your service, sir! Any time, day or night!’

  Judge Dee got up too.

  ‘To tell you the truth, Siew, when you mentioned your problem, I thought you were referring to the murder of the cashier of the Kingfisher. The man whose corpse you viewed on the quay.’

  ‘Bad case, that! But the chap was murdered outside my territory, sir. Had it looked into at once. The night-watch spotted him leaving town an hour or so after midnight, going east. And my patrols haven’t found any trace of robbers or highwaymen inside or near this area. Chap was murdered somewhere on the road to the mountains, and his body thrown into the river a couple of miles upstream. Got caught in the water-weeds opposite the ferry-house here. I’ll be passing the case on to your colleague, the magistrate of our neighbouring district, to the east of Rivertown. Together with the stuff over there that we found in his sleeves.’

  He took the judge to a side-table and pointed at a folded map, an abacus, a package of visiting-cards and a string of cash. Judge Dee casually unfolded the map and studied it for a while.

  ‘It’s a detailed map of the province,’ he remarked. ‘The road from Rivertown to Ten Miles Village, beyond the eastern mountain-ridge, is marked in red.’

  THE CAPTAIN SHOWS JUDGE DEE A MAP

  ‘Exactly! That’s evidently where the chap was heading for, absconding with his employer’s twenty silver pieces. That innkeeper is a notorious miser, you know. Fellow had the cheek to ask me to make good his loss! Please take this abacus and give it back to the old skinflint, sir. Wouldn’t put it beyond him to accuse me of having stolen it!’

  The judge put the counting-frame into his sleeve.

  ‘I’ll gladly do that. But you had better mention the thing in your report to my colleague. It might have a bearing on the case. It might mean, for instance, that the cashier was prepared for some complicated financial transaction in the village he was going to.’

  The captain shrugged.

  ‘An abacus goes with a cashier, sir. But I’ll mention it anyway.’

  While Judge Dee was strapping his sword to his back he asked:

  ‘How do you know that the cashier wanted to steal the silver?’

  ‘Old Wei stated that the youngster took the silver from the cash-box, sir. And you can trust Wei to know how much there was, to the very last copper! He runs the Kingfisher well, but he’s a sour old codger. People say that his wife did wrong, of course, but they don’t blame her too much. She eloped, you know, couple of weeks ago. Well, I am awfully grateful that you’ll let me have your views on the situation, sir. But don’t let it keep you from making a few fishing-trips up river! They have fine perch here. Trout too.’

  He conducted the judge ceremoniously downstairs, and the burly lieutenant Liu opened the door. It was pouring with rain.

  ‘Beastly weather, sir! Fortunately the Kingfisher is only a little way ahead-on your right. Good-night!’

  Chapter 3

  The judge quickly walked on, holding the oiled cloth over his head as protection against the downpour. The main street was deserted, for the hour of the evening rice was approaching. With a wry smile he reflected that Captain Siew had been much too glib. His story about the problem presented by unwanted visitors had been so much eyewash. And Siew wasn’t interested in the murder of the cashier either. There must be another reason why Captain Siew wanted him to stay in Rivertown incognito. And a very cogent reason too, otherwise the captain wouldn’t-have made such elaborate arrangements to furnish him with a new identity. Siew was a shrewd customer, and observant too-he had spotted him at once on the quay, despite his dishevelled appearance.

  Suddenly Judge Dee halted in his steps, oblivious of the rain. On the quay the captain had seemed rather slim, whereas Siew was a thick-set man. And on the quay he had got only a glimpse of the man’s face, half-covered by his neckcloth. The judge creased his thick eyebrows. The lieutenant had expertly whisked him upstairs by a side-entrance, and nobody had seen him, the judge, enter or leave the captain’s office. Now he was alone in a town he didn’t know, and carrying faked papers. For one brief moment he had a premonition of trouble ahead. Then he shrugged. If there was any trickery about, he would know soon enough.

  A large lampion was dangling from the eaves of a pillared portico, inscribed ‘Inn of the Kingfisher’. Across the street he saw an even bigger one, bearing the inscription ‘Inn of the Nine Clouds’. After a momentary hesitation he stepped onto the portico of the first. Having shaken out the wet oil-cloth, he entered the cavernous hall. It was lit by a tall brass candle that threw weird shadows on the plastered walls.

  ‘All the large rooms are taken, sir,’ the young clerk behind the

  counter informed him. ‘But we have a nice small back-room left on the second floor.’

  ‘That will do,’ Judge Dee said. While filling out the register with his new name and profession, he added, ‘Before going up I want a bath and a change of clothes. When you have shown me the bathroom, you’ll send a man to the blacksmith on the quay to fetch my saddle-bags.’ As he pushed the register back over the counter, he felt the weight in his sleeve. He took the abacus out. ‘When I registered at Headquarters, they asked me to return this counting-frame. It belonged to the cashier here, whose body was found in the river.’

  The clerk thanked him and put the abacus in the drawer. ‘When the boss saw our poor Tai on the quay,’ he said with a sneer, ‘he thought this thing was the package with his twenty silver pieces. Serves the old miser right!’ He cast a quick glance over his shoulder at the high screen of lattice work. Behind it a man sat bent over a writing-desk. I’ll lead the way, Doctor!’

  The bath was located in the back of the inn. The dressing-room was empty, but the bundles of clothing lying about there and the raucous voices coming from behind the bamboo sliding-doors proved that other guests were using the pool. Judge Dee stepped out of his riding-boots and laid his sword, his wet cap and the calabash on the rack. He took the brocade folder with his money and his papers from his sleeve and put it under his cap, then stripped and opened the sliding-doors.

  The shouting came from two naked men who were shadow-boxing in front of the large sunken pool. They were encouraging each other with bawdy remarks. Both were powerfully built and had the coarse faces of professional bullies. They fell silent at once when they saw the judge and gave him a sharp look.

  ‘Go on boxing but keep your foul mouths shut!’ a dry voice ordered. The speaker was a portly, middle-aged man who was sitting on the low bench by the side of the pool. The bath attendant standing behind him was vigorously kneading his flabby shoulders. As the two bullies resumed their exercise, Judge Dee squatted on the black-tiled floor and sluiced himself with the bucket of hot water. Then he sat down on the bench, waiting for his turn to be scrubbed by the attendant.

  ‘Where are you from, sir?’ the elderly man by his side inquired politely.

  ‘From the capital. My name is Liang; I am a doctor.’ It would have been rude not to give a civil answer to a fellow bather. The bath is the only place in an inn where the guests meet socially.

  The other surveyed Judge Dee’s muscular arms and broad chest.

  ‘You are a living advertisement for your medical skill, Doctor! My name is Lang Liu, from the south. Those two yokels are my assistants. I am … brr!’ He broke off, for the attendant had sluiced him with cold water. He took a deep breath. ‘I am a silk merchant, taking a holiday here. Hadn’t counted on such infernal weather!’

  They exchanged some remarks about the climate down south while the attendant scrubbed the judge clean. Then he
stepped into the pool and stretched himself out in the hot water.

  The elderly man had himself rubbed dry, then told the two boxers curtly, ‘Get a move on!’ They quickly dried themselves and meekly followed the portly man into the dressing-room.

  Judge Dee thought that Lang didn’t look like one of the wealthy crooks the captain had spoken about. He even had rather a distinguished appearance with his regular, haughty face and wispy goatee. And wealthy merchants often travelled with a bodyguard. The hot water was loosening up his stiff limbs, but now he realized that he was getting hungry. He got up and had the attendant vigorously rub him dry.

  His two saddle-bags had been put ready in a corner of the dressing-room. Opening the first to get out a clean robe, he suddenly checked himself. His assistant Ma Joong, who always packed his bags for him, was a neat man; but these clothes were folded carelessly. He quickly opened the second bag. His night-robes, felt shoes and spare caps were all there, but this bag had also been tampered with. He quickly looked under his cap on the rack. Nothing was missing from the brocade folder, but a corner of his new identity paper was wet.

  ‘Inquisitive fellow, Mr Lang Liu,’ he muttered. ‘Or just careful perhaps.’ He put on a crisp, clean under-robe of white cotton and on top of that a long-sleeved, dark-grey gown. His felt shoes were very comfortable on his tired feet. Leaving his wet clothes and dirty boots there for the servants to take care of, he covered himself with a high square cap of black gauze, took his sword and calabash and walked back to the hall.

  The clerk brought him to a small but clean room upstairs, and lit the candles on the table. He promised the judge his dinner would come soon. Judge Dee opened the window. The rain had ceased; a brilliant moon was shedding its silvery light on the glistening wet roofs of Rivertown. He noticed that the backyard of the inn had a neglected look. In the centre was a patch of scrawny trees and tangled shrubs; behind it a low store-house was built against the back wall. The gate to the narrow, dark alley behind the inn stood ajar. On the right of the yard were the stables, which reminded him that the next day he would have to tell the groom to get his horse from the blacksmith. The confused noise of shouted orders and the clatter of plates coming from the left wing proved that the kitchen was located there. In that corner of the yard was a roughly made chicken-run, perhaps a profitable hobby of one of the cooks. A knock on the door made him turn round.