‘Did she have any special friends among the customers, or among the inmates here?’ the judge asked.
The madame ceremoniously poured him a cup of tea.
‘As to the gentlemen who patronize this establishment,’ she said quietly, ‘nearly all of them knew Small Phoenix. Being a superb dancer, she was in great demand for parties. Since she wasn’t exactly handsome, only a few elderly gentlemen solicited her special favours, doubtless attracted by her boyish figure. She always refused, and I refrained from exercising pressure on her, for she brought in enough by her dancing.’ A slight frown appeared on her smooth white brow as she continued, ‘She was a quiet girl, never needed any correction, and was most diligent about her dancing lessons. But the other girls hated her, they said she … smelled, and that she was really a vixen that had assumed human shape. It’s an onerous task, sir, to preserve order among all those young women… . Asks for much patience, and kind consideration of …’
‘She didn’t engage in a bit of blackmail now and then?’
The madame raised her hands in protest.
‘I beg your pardon, sir!’ she exclaimed, giving him a reproachful look. ‘All my girls know that the first who would dare to try anything irregular would find herself standing stripped at the whipping post, at once! This house has an old-established reputation, sir! Of course she accepted tips, and … well, it seems she was rather skilful in raising the amount, by ah … various but wholly acceptable means. Since she was an obedient girl, I allowed her to visit sometimes the strange woman who acts as guardian of the Black Fox Shrine. Only because she taught Small Phoenix interesting songs that proved popular with the guests.’ She compressed her thin lips. ‘All kinds of vagabonds hang about in the neighbourhood of the South Gate, sir. She must have struck up an undesirable acquaintance there, and it was he who perpetrated this cruel crime. Goes to show one should never let those girls out of sight. If I think of the good money I invested in her dancing lessons, and …’
‘Talking about the guardian of the fox shrine, was it from this house she escaped, formerly?’
For the second time the madame gave him a reproachful look.
‘Certainly not, sir! That girl had been sold to a small place near the East Gate. A very low-class house, frequented by coolies and other scum. A … a brothel, sir, with your permission.’
‘I see. Did Small Phoenix ever mention that the guardian of the shrine was not an orphan, and that her father was still living in this city?’
‘Never, sir. I once asked the dancer whether the woman ever received gentlemen … callers, but she said she was the only one who ever visited the shrine.’
‘The poetess Yoo-lan was greatly distressed about the dancer’s demise. Was there any special interest, on either side?’
The madame lowered her eyes.
‘The honourable Yoo-lan was visibly impressed by the dancer’s shy, youthful deportment,’ she replied primly. Then added quickly, ‘And by her great talents, of course. I am most tolerant of female friendships, sir. And since I had the honour to know the poetess in the capital, formerly …’ She shrugged her heavy shoulders.
Judge Dee got up. While the madame was conducting him to the gate, he remarked casually:
‘His Excellency the Academician, the Honourable Chang Lan-po and His Reverence Loo were all disappointed not to see Small Phoenix dance. They must have seen her perform before, I imagine.’
‘That seems hardly possible, sir! Those two illustrious persons honour this district with a visit sometimes, but they never partake in any public or private parties. It’s the talk of the town that they have accepted His Excellency’s invitation this time! But His Excellency Lo is such a wonderful man! Always so kind and understanding… . What was the name of the religious gentleman you mentioned, sir?’
‘It doesn’t matter. Good-bye.’
Back in the tribunal, Judge Dee had a clerk announce him to Magistrate Lo. He found his colleague in his private office, standing in front of the window, his hands clasped behind his back. He turned round and said listlessly:
‘Hope you slept well, Dee. As for me, I had a rotten night! One hour after midnight I crept into the main bedroom, thought that was my best bet for a good night’s rest, for my First Lady always goes to sleep early. But I found her wide awake, with my Third and Fourth standing in front of her bed, shouting at each other! My First said I had to resolve their quarrel. In the end I had to accompany my Fourth, and she kept me awake for another hour, telling me in great detail how the quarrel had begun!’ Pointing at the large official envelope on his desk, he added dramatically, ‘That letter was brought for you by a special messenger from the Prefecture, If it’s a summons from the Prefect, I’ll jump into the river!’
Judge Dee slit the letter open. It was a short official notice that, the Prefect not requiring his presence, the judge should return to his post without undue delay. ‘No, I am ordered back to Poo-yang. I’ll have to leave here tomorrow morning, at the latest!’
‘Heaven preserve me! Well, that leaves us today, at least. What did you find out from the madame?’
‘Only facts that aggravate the case against Yoo-lan, Lo. First, the poetess did indeed conceive a liking for the dancer. Second, none of our three guests has ever visited the Sapphire Bower and the madame thought it most unlikely any of them had ever met the dancer before.’ As the small magistrate nodded morosely, he asked, ‘Do you know what our guests’ plans are for this afternoon?’
‘At four we’ll gather in the library, to read and discuss together my latest volume of verse. And to think I had been looking forward to that session so eagerly!’ He sadly shook his round head.
‘Do you think that your housemaster’s men are good enough at their job to follow one of your guests, should he go out after the noon rice?’
‘Good heavens, Dee! To follow them, you mean? ‘ Then he shrugged resignedly. ‘Well, my career is probably ruined anyway. Yes, I think I could take the risk.’
‘All right. I also want you to order the sergeant in charge of the South Gate to post two armed guards in one of the street-stalls opposite the entrance to the wasteland, to keep an eye on the gate. Let them arrest anyone who wants to visit the Black Fox Shrine. I wouldn’t want anything untoward to happen to that poor girl there, and I might need the men when I go there myself, this afternoon. Where are your guests now?’
‘They’re having breakfast. Yoo-lan’s with my First Lady. That gives me time to take you to the chancery archives, Dee!’
He clapped his hands, and when the headman appeared, he ordered him to proceed personally to the South Gate and instruct the sergeant of the guard. On his way out he was to tell Counsellor Kao that he was wanted in the archives.
The magistrate took Judge Dee through a maze of corridors to a cool, spacious room. The walls were covered up to the lofty, coffered ceiling with broad shelves, loaded with red leather document boxes, ledgers and dossiers. There was an agreeable smell of wax, used for polishing the boxes, and of the camphor strewn among the papers to keep insects away. At one end of the huge trestle table in the centre of the red-tiled floor, an old clerk was sorting out some papers. At the farthest end Sexton Loo sat bent over a file.
Chapter 14
THE OBESE SEXTON was now dressed in a brown robe of hemp, fastened on his left shoulder by a clasp of rusty iron. He gravely accepted the greetings of the two magistrates, then listened silently to Lo’s effusive thanks for the scroll he had written for him the night before. Then he tapped the dossier in front of him with his thick forefinger and said in his hoarse voice:
‘Dropped in here to read up on the peasant revolt, two hundred years ago. There was a massacre at the South Gate. If all the people who were then put to the sword were still about there, you wouldn’t be able to shoulder your way through the gate! You need this particular file, Lo? ‘
‘No, sir. Just came to locate a document.’
The sexton gave him his toad-like stare.
‘You
did, did you? Well, if you can’t find it, just seal this room, and light a stick of incense in your fox shrine. When you come back here, you’ll find the dossier you want sticking out beyond the others on those shelves. The fox spirit’ll help an official. Sometimes.’ He shut the file and got up. ‘Well, isn’t it time to view your Moon Altar?’
‘I’ll take you there now, sir! Hope you’ll join us later, Dee. Ha, there’s my counsellor! Help my colleague to find his way among the dossiers, Kao!’
Lo went out, respectfully opening the door for the sexton.
‘What can I do for you, sir?’ Mr Kao asked in his precise voice.
‘I was told that in the Year of the Dog there occurred an unsolved murder here, Mr Kao. I’d like to have a look at the dossier on that case.’
‘The Year of the Dog is notorious because of the conspiracy of the Ninth Prince, sir! But an unsolved murder, no, I don’t remember ever having read about that. Perhaps the greybeard over there’ll know, sir. He was born and bred here! Hey there, Liu, do you recall an unsolved murder in the Year of the Dog?’
The old clerk thought, fingering his ragged chinbeard.
‘No, sir. It was a bad year for us here in Chin-hwa, all right, with the high treason of General Mo Te-ling. But no unsolved murder, no, sir.’
‘I have read about the case of General Mo,’ Judge Dee remarked. ‘He was a confederate of the rebellious Ninth Prince, wasn’t he?’
‘Oh yes, sir. All the documents are in that large red box, up on the fifth shelf on the right there. The paperbound dossiers beside it deal with other judicial cases of that same year.’
‘Let’s get the whole lot down here on the table, Mr Kao.’
The old clerk put the stepladder up against the shelves, and took the files down one by one, handing them to the counsellor who placed them in chronological order on the table. As the row grew longer and longer, Judge Dee realized the magnitude of his task. It needn’t have been an unsolved murder, of course. It might as well have been a case recorded as solved, but where an innocent man had been convicted. His accuser was then technically the murderer of the executed man.
‘You keep the archives in excellent order, Mr Kao,’ he remarked. ‘There isn’t a speck of dust on them!’
‘I have the clerks take all the dossiers down once every month, sir,’ the counsellor said with a pleased smile. ‘The boxes are polished, and the documents aired, which also keeps insects out!’
The judge reflected that in this case it was a pity that the archives were in such a spick-and-span condition. If these old files from the upper shelves had been covered with dust, recent smudges might tell which ones the student had been consulting.
‘The murdered student used to work here at this table, I suppose? ‘
‘Yes, sir. The files stacked on the lower shelf there are those regarding the peasant revolt which Soong was studying. A very intelligent young man, sir, with a wide interest in administrative problems. When I came in here, I often found him also reading files of a more recent date. A serious research worker, never tried to keep me here for a talk. Well, this is the lot, sir.’
‘Thank you. I won’t keep you from your work, Mr Kao. If I need a particular document, I shall ask the old clerk.’
When the counsellor had taken his leave, Judge Dee sat down at the table and opened the first dossier. The greybeard returned to the papers he was sorting out at the other end of the table. Soon the judge was immersed in a variety of criminal cases. One or two posed interesting problems, but none suggested a miscarriage of justice, and the name Soong occurred only once, as defendant in a minor case of fraud. When a young clerk brought fresh tea, he learned to his astonishment that it was already one hour before noon. The clerk informed him also that the magistrate was still in the fourth courtyard of the residence, together with his guests. It seemed that the noon meal would be served there too.
Heaving a sigh, the judge decided he would tackle the box containing the papers relating to General Mo Te-ling’s high treason. A man found guilty of a crime against the State was executed together with all his accomplices, and it was not impossible that one of those had been falsely accused.
As soon as he had opened the box, a thin smile of satisfaction curved his lips. The folders the box was packed with had been stuffed carelessly inside and not in the correct sequence. In these exceptionally well-kept archives, this was a sign he was on the right track. The student had evidently consulted this file, and hastily put the folders back when someone entered the room. He carefully arranged the dossiers on the table according to their serial numbers.
The first one gave a summary of the case against the Ninth Prince. It was suggested in guarded terms that the prince had been of unbalanced mind: morbidly suspicious, subject to fits of deep depression, jealous and quarrelsome. After he had nearly killed a courtier in a fit of rage, the Emperor had relegated him to the palace in Chin-hwa, hoping that the quiet life there would have a beneficial influence. However, the prince had begun to brood over imagined wrongs. His toadying courtiers kept assuring him that he was the favourite prince of the nation, and his ambitious, masterful consort goading him, he finally conceived the fantastic plan of fomenting a rebellion and usurping the Dragon Throne. When he tried to win for his cause some disgruntled civil and military officials, the clumsy plot leaked out. The Emperor dispatched a Censor with full executive powers to Chin-hwa, accompanied by a regiment of Imperial Guardsmen. The guards surrounded the palace, and the Censor summoned the prince and his consort for questioning. He told the prince that the Emperor knew everything, but was willing to forgive him, on condition that he ordered his bodyguard to surrender their arms, and that he and his consort would return to the capital at once. The prince drew his sword and killed his consort on the spot, then cut his own throat. The guards entered the palace and placed the inmates under arrest while the Censor confiscated all documents. This happened on the fourth day of the second month, eighteen years ago.
That same day the Censor opened the investigation. All courtiers who had been cognisant of the scheme and all other accomplices of the prince were summarily executed. For although the Emperor had been willing to forgive the prince because of his sick mind, there was no excuse for the other plotters. During the hectic days that followed a number of false accusations were filed-evil people trying to utilize the opportunity for ridding themselves of personal enemies, as often happens in such serious cases with wide ramifications. The Censor had sifted these accusations, most of them anonymous, with meticulous care. Among them was a long, unsigned letter, stating that the retired General Mo Te-ling had been in the plot, and that incriminating correspondence with the Ninth Prince could be found hidden in such and such a place, in the general’s women’s quarters. The Censor had the general’s mansion searched, the letters were indeed found in the place indicated, and he was arrested on a charge of high treason. The general denied everything, maintaining that the letters were forged and planted in his mansion by some old enemy. Now the Censor knew that General Mo, thinking he had been passed over for promotion, had resigned from the service before his time and gone into retirement in his native district of Chin-hwa, brooding over his wrongs. Former associates of the general testified that he had often talked to them about impending changes, that would give all able men a chance to come into their own. The Censor studied the letters and found them perfectly authentic. The general was convicted and executed together with his two adult sons, as dictated by the harsh law on high treason. All his possessions were confiscated by the State.
Judge Dee leaned back into his chair. It was a fascinating account, and the fact that he was studying it here in the same tribunal where the sensational trial had been enacted gave it an immediacy that most old legal documents lacked. The judge selected the file listing the members of the general’s household and his confiscated possessions. Suddenly he sucked in his breath. The general had had three wives, and two concubines. The surname of the second concubine was Soong. There
were no further details about her, for she had not been questioned: she had committed suicide by hanging herself on the evening of the third day of the second month, one day before the Censor had arrived in Chin-hwa. She had given the general one son, named I-wen, who had been five years old when disaster struck the Mo household. Everything fitted! This was, at long last, the clue he had been hoping to find! He sat back in his chair with a satisfied smile.
Suddenly, however, the smile froze on his face. The student had come back to avenge his father. This could only mean that Soong had discovered proof that General Mo had been innocent, that he suspected the writer of the anonymous letter of having planted the evidence, and therefore considered him as his father’s murderer. And the fact that this unknown man had murdered the student was irrefutable proof that the student had been right. Heavens, there had been a terrible miscarriage of justice, eighteen years ago!
The judge took the dossier with the record of the hearing of the case. Slowly tugging at his whiskers, he read it through. There was but one point in General Mo’s favour, namely that none of the other plotters had known that the Ninth Prince had won the general to his cause. The Censor, however, had dismissed this on the grounds that the Ninth Prince had been over-suspicious, and distrusted his own confederates. He had based his case on the letters found in the general’s residence. These were in the handwriting of the prince, on his own private letter-paper, and provided with his own personal seal.
Shaking his head, Judge Dee selected the text of the anonymous letter. It was a chancery copy in the indifferent handwriting of a clerk, all original documentary evidence having been forwarded to the capital. But judging by the impeccable style, it must have been written by an accomplished man of letters. In the margin was a copy of the Censor’s personal comment: ‘This letter probably emanates from a disgruntled courtier. Check content and handwriting at once.’ Reading the next document, Judge Dee found that despite all efforts by the Censor’s men the writer had not been identified. The government had issued a proclamation promising him a substantial reward, but no one had come forward to claim it.
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