The Emperor's Pearl: A Judge Dee Mystery (Judge Dee Mystery Series)

by Robert Van Gulik

  ‘Kou knows that the time for taking vengeance has come when Amber tells him the rigmarole about the Emperor’s pearl. Since Kou is a learned antiquarian, he realizes at once that it is a hoax, a scheme by which Tong and Amberhope to get funds for eloping together. This is his chance.

  ‘Kou summons Sia Kwang. He tells him not to go ahead with the scheme for kidnapping the prostitute Lee. Maltreating her would only have been a routine amusement, now his mind is on bigger things. Sia promises hell warn the three ruffians that the deal is off. We know now that luckily for us, Sia didn’t get round to that, but that’s neither here nor there. Kou gives Sia a map of the deserted house and the pavilion, and tells him that Tong and Amber will meet there after the races, Amber bringing with her gold stolen from him, and that they plan to elope together. Kou proposes that Sia go there in Tong’s place, kill the adulterous Amber, and bring back the stolen gold. Kou promises Sia a generous reward. Kou can afford that, for his plan includes the ultimate removal of Sia.’

  Judge Dee took up his fan. Leaning back in his chair, he went on, slowly fanning himself:

  ‘What happens last night? Kou poisons Tong Mai when he and Dr Pien entertain the crews of the dragonboats at Marble Bridge. Thereby Kou achieves a threefold aim. One, he takes revenge on his wife’s lover. Two, he eliminates a troublesome assistant. Three, he nets a tidy profit from cornering the racing-bets. Sia Kwang keeps the appointment in the deserted house, kills Amber, and brings the gold back to Kou. Then Kou tells Sia that the gold was not exactly stolen, but that it was to be the payment for the Emperor’s pearl, hidden by Tong somewhere in the pavilion, and that Tong and Amber had planned to flee with the gold and the pearl. Kou adds that he purposely hadn’t told Sia about the pearl before, because he hadn’t wanted Sia to tarry in the pavilion for a search, after the murder of Amber. Kou points out that it had been a wise precaution, for Amber had for some mysterious reason been followed to the deserted house by officers of the tribunal, who nearly caught Sia. Kou adds that they’ll still get the pearl. The next morning they’ll go out there together and search the pavilion.

  ‘This morning, at dawn, as soon as the city gates are open, Kou and Sia go to the deserted house separately: Kou on a morning ride allegedly to take him out of himself a bit, Sia disguised as a carpenter going out on an early job outside the city. Kou lets Sia search the pavilion, because that will give him a chance of killing Sia when he is off-guard, and also because the fact that the pavilion has been searched will bear out the rigmarole Kou told me about the pearl. At a suitable moment Kou smashes Sia’s skull with a brick, throws the body into the ditch, and rides back to the city.

  ‘Later this morning Kou attends the session of the tribunal. After he has left, he sees in the street Miss Liang leading her procession here. He doesn’t know her or the three ruffians, but he does recognize Miss Lee. He realizes that something has gone wrong, and that now we’ll learn from the kidnappers about Kou’s secret haunt, the house of old Mrs Meng behind the Taoist temple. And Mrs Meng knows him. So Kou hurries out there and strangles her. Now everything has been nicely attended to. He has avenged himself on his unfaithful wife and her paramour, he has got his ten gold bars back, and, in addition, the winnings of the boat race. Tong, Sia and Mrs Meng, the only persons who could ever testify against him, are dead. Finish,’

  The judge paused. Sergeant Hoong silently poured out a fresh cup of tea for him. judge Dee took a sip, wiped off his face again with a cold towel, and resumed:

  ‘If Kou is innocent, then he is a much-wronged man. In that case his First Lady really lost her memory because of a sudden attack of malignant brain-fever, and Amber’s scars must date from the time when she was still a slave-girl; in some households those unfortunates are often harshly treated. In that case Kou believed the story about the Emperor’s pearl. It was plausible enough, I myself thought that it was true, at first. Well, let’s now forget, for the time being, everything I said about Mr Kou, and concentrate on our second suspect, namely Dr Pien Kia.

  ‘In the first place: what could have been the doctor’s motive? I think it was a feeling of frustration that brought him to his depraved debauches, as an indirect protest against his domineering wife who did not allow him to take another woman in the house. The man had no other outlet, for his wife’s jealousy and the decorum inherent in his profession precluded open association with prostitutes or courtesans. And perhaps there was a cruel streak in him anyway. We know really very little about all those things, Hoong.

  ‘However this may be, at first Pien vented his perverted passion on common, uneducated women provided for him first by his henchman Tong Mai, later by Sia Kwang; he must have shifted from Tong to Sia for the same reasons as quoted in my theory about Kou. Now the terrible thing about such perverts is that they crave for ever stronger excitement. Coarse, vulgar women soon can’t satisfy Pien any more, he wants to humiliate by his sordid passion refined ladies, and Kou’s secondary wife, beautiful and cultured Amber, becomes the target for his vile lusts. He sees her regularly, for he is Kou’s First Lady’s physician, as the curio-dealer Yang told me. However, to maltreat the wife of a prominent citizen is no small matter, Pien has to bide his time. He tells Sia to watch affairs in the Kou household; if Sia can get the Amber Lady for him, only for one night, he will be richly rewarded.’

  Judge Dee sat up and took a few sips from his tea. Settling back into his chair again he continued:

  ‘In this second theory we must assign quite different roles to Tong and Sia. In the first theory we assumed that Sia didn’t know about the plan of Tong and Amber until Kou told him about it. Now, on the contrary, we must take it that Sia had learned from Tong about the latter having agreed to meet Amber in the deserted house, there to exchange a pearl for a large amount of gold. But Tong is a careful scoundrel, he did not tell Sia that the pearl was a hoax, and that he was planning to elope with Amber. Sia sees a chance for getting the reward Dr Pien promised him. He prepares a sketch-map of the deserted house and the pavilion on the basis of information wormed out of Tong, then he goes to Dr Pien and tells him that now the doctor can get the Amber Lady into his hands. If Dr Pien can manage to get Tong out of the way that night, he, Sia, is willing to go to the deserted house in Tong’s place, and lock Amber up in the pavilion. Thereafter Pien can go there and have his way with the “ chicken in the coop “. Sia will take the gold and the pearl, and he and Pien will divide the loot. They’ll arrange that the next morning the Amber Lady is discovered in the pavilion. Everybody, including Kou, will then ascribe her terrible experience to an outrage committed by vagrant rowdies.

  ‘Dr Pien readily agrees with this proposal. He’ll not only get the Amber Lady into his hands, but also ten gold bars—which nicely solves his financial problems. I doubt whether Pien believed the story about the pearl. He is clever enough to have put two and two together, and to realize that Tong had invented the story of the pearl because he was planning to elope with the Amber Lady. But that does not concern him.

  ‘Pien puts poison in Tong’s wine-cup during the entertainment at Marble Bridge. That rids him of a troublesome henchman and nets him a sizeable sum by betting against his own boat. Later the Amber Lady finds Sia waiting for her in the pavilion. He tries to overpower her, but she puts up resistance and suddenly draws a knife. In the ensuing scuffle Sia is wounded, and he kills her, either accidentally or on purpose. Anyway this killing will give him more power over Pien. Sia takes the gold, but my arrival prevents him from making a search for the pearl. Sia goes back to the city and reports his failure to Dr Pien. He tells the doctor that he wants more than the share agreed upon, for Pien is responsible for the death of Amber. Sia does not realize, however, that he is dealing with a ruthless maniac. Pien feigns to agree, and works on Sia’s greed by remarking that it would be a pity to let the pearl go. Sia, who doesn’t realize that the pearl can never be sold, lets himself be persuaded by Pien to go together with him to the deserted house this morning, in order to get the pearl. Pie
n lets Sia search the pavilion, then kills him. Give me another cup, Hoong, my throat is parched! ‘

  While pouring out the tea, the sergeant asked:

  ‘What would Dr Pien have done this morning, sir, after he had murdered Sia? ‘

  ‘He would have concealed himself among the trees along the path leading to the villa, I think, waiting till Mr Kwang had passed by on his way to their appointment. The doctor would have given Kwang sufficient time for discovering the ransacked pavilion, then he would have gone there too. Before leaving his hiding-place, however the doctor saw you and me walk along there. That was even better, now he would have two witnesses! He followed us to the pavilion.

  ‘Well, the rest is very much the same as I explained in my first theory. Dr Pien had the same opportunity as Kou Yuan-liang for recognizing Miss Lee in the street, for Pien also had left the session earlier. The doctor rushed to the north quarter and strangled Mrs Meng. To sum up: Dr Pien had to forgo his amusement with the Amber Lady, but he has got rid of two expensive and troublesome henchmen, and all his financial troubles are over, for he has obtained ten gold bars and, in addition, a considerable sum won at the races. Neat case, no loose ends left.’

  Judge Dee paused. He listened for a while to the distant rumble of thunder that came from outside. As he was replacing the wet towel round his neck again, Sergeant Hoong observed:

  ‘This second theory, sir, seems to me more probable than the first, if I may say so. It is simpler, for one thing. And other points against Dr Pien are that he tried to maintain that Tong Mai had died from a natural cause, and that he told Your Honour a deliberate lie when he said that he had seen Sia go back to the city after the races.’

  ‘Significant, but not conclusive,’ the judge said. ‘Tong Mai’s symptoms seemed indeed to point to heart failure. And, since Sia’s face is disfigured by a scar, Dr Pien may well have mistaken in good faith another man with a similar scar for Sia. If Pien is innocent, that is!’

  ‘Who would have repaired the pavilion, Your Honour? ‘

  ‘I am inclined to believe it was Tong Mai. He had lived there, and consequently knew the place thoroughly. He did not repair the pavilion in order to store the curios he traded in, however, as I wrongly assumed at first. The barred window, the heavy door, the new lock—all these precautions were not meant to prevent outsiders from entering the pavilion, but to prevent someone confined there from getting out! The pavilion was even better suited for secret debauches with unwilling victims than the house of the old procuress behind the Taoist temple. “No one will hear the chicken cackle,” as Sia told Miss Violet Liang.’

  Sergeant Hoong nodded. He thought for a while, slowly tugging at his thin goatee. Suddenly he frowned and said:

  ‘Your Honour said that three suspects headed the list. Would Mr Kwang Min be the third? I must confess that-’

  He broke off. Hurried steps of nailed boots resounded in the corridor outside. The door opened and the headman came bursting inside.

  ‘Dr Pien has been assaulted and nearly killed, sir!’ he panted. ‘Down the street here, in front of the Temple of Confucius!’

  XV

  Judge Dee gave the sergeant a startled look. He righted himself in his chair and asked the headman: ‘Who did it?’

  ‘The man escaped, Your Honour! Dr Pien is still lying in the street where he was knocked down.’

  ‘How did it happen? ‘

  ‘The doctor was attacked while walking along the street, sir, towards the bridge over the waterway. The ruffian knocked him down, but, just when he was going to take the doctor’s money, Mr Yang, who had heard him cry for help, came rushing out of his curio-shop. The man let go of the doctor, and ran for it, with Mr Yang on his heels. But he had disappeared in the maze of crooked alleys on the other side of the waterway before Mr Yang could catch him. Mr Yang made sure that Dr Pien was still alive and conscious, then he called the gatekeeper of the temple and came here to warn us.’ The headman took a deep breath, and resumed: 4 Dr Pien insisted that he should not be moved until another doctor could verify that there were no dangerous fractures.’

  Judge Dee rose.

  ‘We’ll go out there at once. Call the coroner, headman, and let your men bring a stretcher. Come along, Hoong!’

  The sky was still covered by low-hanging, dark clouds. They walked quickly down the steaming hot street, keeping close to the high outer wall of the tribunal. Arrived at the Temple of Confucius, they saw a cluster of people gathered near the gatehouse. The headman roughly pushed the onlookers aside to let Judge Dee pass.

  Dr Pien lay spread-eagled on the ground, at the foot of the wall. Yang was placing a folded jacket under his head. Pien’s cap had fallen off, his topknot had become loose, and his long greying hair was sticking in moist strands to his livid face. There was a large lump above his left ear, the left side of his face was badly bruised. His robe, a mass of dust, was torn from shoulder to waist. As the coroner squatted down by his side the doctor muttered:

  ‘Check chest, hips, right arm and right leg. My head is all right. The bruise is painful, but I don’t think the temple has been damaged.’

  While the coroner began to go over Pien’s chest with his sensitive fingers, Judge Dee stooped and asked:

  ‘How did it happen, doctor?’

  ‘I was walking along here, on my way to see a woman in labour. In Halfmoon Street, over on the other side of the bridge. There was no one about. I…’ He broke off, his lips twitched in pain as the coroner felt the ribs.

  ‘The villain attacked him from behind!’ the curio-dealer blurted out angrily.

  ‘I suddenly heard furtive footsteps behind me,’ Dr Pien went on in a weak voice. ‘Just when I wanted to look round, I received a blow against the left side of my head that smashed me against the wall. I fell down, half-dazed. I vaguely saw a tall ruffian looming over me. I began to shout for help, but he silenced me by kicking me viciously. Then he bent over me and tore my robe loose. Suddenly he stopped. I saw him run away towards the bridge, with Mr Yang behind him.’

  ‘He was a tall fellow, clad in a dark-brown jacket and trousers, sir!’ Yang said excitedly. ‘He had bound his hair up with a rag.’

  ‘Could you see his face, Mr Yang?’ Judge Dee asked.

  ‘Got only a glimpse, sir. Rather round face, with short beard and whiskers. That’s about it, isn’t it, doctor?’

  Dr Pien nodded.

  ‘Do you as a rule carry much money on your person?’ the judge asked him. As Pien shook his head, Judge Dee asked again: ‘No important papers?’

  ‘A few prescriptions, and one or two receipted bills,’ Dr Pien muttered.

  The coroner rose. He said cheerfully :

  ‘No need to worry, doctor! Your chest is badly bruised, but no ribs broken, as far as I can see. Right elbow is wrenched, and your knee too. I would like to examine you more carefully in my office.’

  ‘Put the doctor on the stretcher,’ Judge Dee told the coroner. And, to the headman: ‘Send four of your men to Halfmoon Street. Let them make a thorough search for a ruffian as just described by Mr Yang. Fellow is left-handed.’ Thereupon the judge turned to the gatekeeper and snapped at him: ‘Didn’t you see or hear anything? What were you doing? Did nobody ever tell you that you are supposed to guard the temple? ‘

  ‘I…I had just dozed off, Excellency! ‘the frightened man stammered. ‘In my lodge next to the gate, I was. I was roused by Mr Yang hammering on the door.’

  ‘I would have been having my afternoon nap too,’ Yang said. ‘It so happened, however, that my assistant had been sorting out a rather valuable collection of jade pieces in the shop downstairs, so I went down to make sure he had locked everything away properly before he left for his noon rice. When I was down in the shop I heard a cry for help outside, and rushed out into the street at once. Saw the ruffian tearing at Dr Pien’s robe. He heard me and ran. I went after him, but I wasn’t fast enough. Old age is catching up with me, I am afraid,’ he added with a rueful smile.

 
; ‘You probably saved the doctor’s life, Mr Yang,’ the judge said.’ You may come with us to the tribunal now, and write out an official statement. Lower the stretcher, constable! And don’t touch the doctor!’

  He watched the efforts of the coroner and Mr Yang to get Dr Pien on to the stretcher. With Sergeant Hoong’s help they got him comfortably established there. As the two constables were carefully lifting the stretcher up, the judge said in an undertone to Hoong:

  ‘The time was well chosen. During the siesta few persons are about. And the quarter across the bridge is a veritable rabbit-warren, an excellent place to hide.’ He motioned the sergeant and the headman to follow him.

  While the three men were walking back to the tribunal, with the stretcher bearers and the coroner and Yang behind them, Judge Dee said to the headman:

  ‘Take a horse and ride to the landing-stage as fast as you can. Board Mr Kwang’s junk, and summon him to come to the tribunal. If he isn’t there, you wait for him. Hurry up ! ‘As the headman ran ahead, the judge whispered to Sergeant Hoong: ‘You go to Mr Kou’s house at once, and check whether he is taking his siesta!’