Necklace and Calabash: A Chinese Detective Story (Judge Dee Mysteries)

by Robert Van Gulik

There was a slight breeze over the placid brown water, but the morning sun was hot on Judge Dee's face. He stuffed his cap into his sleeve, and put the round straw hat on his head. Fern had taken off her jacket. A red scarf was wound tightly round her well-formed bosom. Leaning back in the bow, the judge looked at her standing there in the stern, moving the long sculling oar with graceful ease. Her shoulders and arms had a golden tan. He reflected—a little sadly—that there was no substitute for youth. Then he turned his attention to the riverbank. Tall pine trees grew close to the water's edge, rising up from the tangled undergrowth. Here and there he noticed the narrow mouths of inlets and coves.

  ‘You won't catch anything worth while in there,’ she remarked. ‘Just a few crabs and mud-fish. It's too early in the year for eels.’

  As they moved upstream, the forest thickened. Moss-covered liana clung to the low branches overhanging the water. After about a quarter of an hour Fern turned the boat into midstream.

  ‘Can't we follow the bank a little further?’ the judge said quickly. ‘We must be getting near to the palace and I'd like to have a good look at it.’

  ‘And get both of us killed? Don't you see those painted buoys ahead? Over on that quay there's a notice in letters as large as your head ordering all craft to stay outside those buoys. And on the bank beyond the palace there is the same polite notice. If you cross the line, the archers on the battlements will use you for target practice with their crossbows. You'll have to admire the palace from a good distance !’

  She sculled the boat in a broad curve round the buoys. Then he saw the three-storeyed watch-tower, at the north-west corner of the palace compound. The wood ended abruptly at a narrow inlet, evidently the mouth of the moat surrounding the palace. The north wall rose directly from the water at a slightly receding angle. The crenellated ramparts were interrupted at regular intervals by lower watch-towers. The sun glittered on the spiked helmets of the archers manning the battlements.

  ‘Quite a pile, eh?’ Fern called over to him from the stern.

  ‘Rather. Let's go a little farther till we are opposite the northeast tower. Then I'll have seen everything !’

  A large cargo junk glided past, the rowers swinging the long oars to the rhythm of a plaintive song. Fern joined them in her clear young voice, adjusting her sculling to the quicker beat. The judge thought the wall looked very high and forbidding. He counted eight barred archways, just above the water, evidently the gates that fed the canals and watercourses inside. Then he saw the pavilion, jutting out from the wall just above the last water-gate. It was a kind of covered balcony of trapezoid shape, with three bay windows, a large one in front flanked by two smaller ones. He estimated that the bottom of the buttress supporting the pavilion was about six feet above the water. A small boat moored there would be invisible from above. But how could a boat get in there without being spotted by the archers on the watch-towers?

  ‘You hoping to see the beautiful princess at the window? What about crossing over to the other bank now?’

  Judge Dee nodded. It had been heavy going upstream; Fern's shoulders glistened moistly in the sun that was steadily gaining in strength. The north bank was less thickly wooded; here and there a fisherman's thatched hut appeared among the green foliage. When they were close Fern threw a hook weighted with two bricks into the water. The boat floated down the stream for a while, then the anchor caught and it lay still. She said with satisfaction :

  ‘This is just about the right place. When I was here with Tai Min the other day, we caught a couple of fine perches. Look, in this jar are the crabs’ legs, the very best bait!’

  ‘Our Master Confucius always fished with a rod,’ the judge remarked as he prepared the bait, ‘never with a net. He thought the fish ought to be given a sporting chance.’

  ‘I know the quotation. When father was still alive he used to read the Classics with me. He was the head of our village school, you see. Since mother died when I was still young, and I was the only child, father spent a lot of his time on me. No, take that other line! You need a longer one for perch.’ Throwing out her own line, she added, ‘We had a very happy life. But when father died I had to move to the inn here, for Uncle Wei was the nearest relative. I couldn't take along the books we used to read; they belonged to the school. You being a learned doctor, you must have got a large library, haven't you?’

  ‘Fairly large. But little time to use it.’

  ‘I'd like to live in a scholar's home, you know. Read books about all kinds of interesting subjects, practise painting and calligraphy. Makes you feel secure, if you know what I mean. When my aunt was still there it wasn't so bad in the Kingfisher, mind you. Uncle never gave her much for her clothes, but she inherited a few bolts of good silk, and I helped her make new robes from them. Her favourite jacket was made of red brocade, with flowers in gold thread. She thought it suited her very well, and she was right too!’

  The judge lowered his line into the brown water. Settling back in the bow, he said:

  ‘Yes, I heard that your aunt was a nice woman. I can well understand an impressionable youngster like Tai Min conceiving a kind of calf-love for her.’

  ‘He was absolutely crazy about her! I am sure he began to gamble just because he wanted to be able to give her a present now and then !’

  ‘Gambling is a sure way to lose money instead of making it,’ the judge said absent-mindedly. He thought he felt a slight tug at the line.

  ‘Tai Min won. But I think that Mr Lang let him win on purpose, the better to fleece him afterwards! That Lang gives me the creeps!’

  ‘Lang? Where did they gamble?’

  ‘Oh, Tai Min went to Lang's wing a few times. Hey, watch it!’

  He let the line slip through his fingers. In a flash he saw a pattern emerging. Lang would never have befriended the young cashier without a good reason.

  ‘Give him more line!’ Fern called out excitedly.

  Yes, he would give Lang rope. Lots of rope. It might lead to the link connecting Lang's ramshackle godown with the golden palace gates. Alternately slackening and tightening the line, he tried to survey the consequences of his discovery.

  ‘Pull him in !’ she hissed.

  Slowly gathering in the line, he saw a fair-sized perch come to the surface. He leaned over the gunwale and got the squirming fish on board and into the basket.

  ‘Well done ! Now watch me!’ She stared at her floater, her face flushed. The breeze shifted a stray strand of glossy hair from under her straw hat. The judge was eager to get back to the south bank, for he wanted to go ashore and check whether there was perhaps a pathway there. But it would be cruel to spoil her pleasure. He threw out a short line and again went over in his mind the various possibilities. The fact that the cashier had been tortured had struck him at once as curious. Now he saw a possible explanation. Her voice roused him.

  ‘They won't bite at all. Tell me, how many wives do you have?’

  ‘Three.’

  ‘Is your First a nice lady?’

  ‘Very. I have a happy and harmonious household, I am glad to say.’

  ‘You being a famous doctor, you should have four. Even numbers bring good luck! And speaking about luck, I think…’

  She tugged at her line, and brought up a smaller fish. Then they remained silent for a long time, she intent on her line, he occupied with his own thoughts. After she had caught a fairly large perch, the judge remarked:

  ‘My legs are getting a bit cramped. I'd like to try my hand at sculling the boat. Haven't done it for many a year!’

  ‘All right! As long as you don't overturn the boat!’

  Crouching on the bottom, they exchanged places. The boat began to rock, and he had to steady her with his arm round her shoulders. ‘It's very nice to be with you!’ she whispered.

  Judge Dee quickly took the long oar. He knelt in the stern and moved the boat upstream a little so that she could haul the anchor up. Then he turned the boat away from shore. It didn't go too badly, but in his kne
eling position he could not use his body weight and had to depend on his arms alone. The wound on his forearm began to throb. He tried to get to his feet, but the boat began to rock dangerously. She burst out in peals of laughter.

  ‘Well, I'll manage without standing,’ he said sourly.

  ‘Where are you heading for?’

  ‘I'd like to go ashore somewhere. I might find some medicinal herbs in the undergrowth over there. Do you mind?’

  ‘I don't. But you won't be able to do more than poke about a little around the small coves. There is no path of any sort.’

  ‘In that case we'll head back for the quay. It'll be easy; we'll have the current with us.’

  He soon found, however, that it was easier said than done. There was much traffic now, and it took all his skill to avoid collisions. He listened to her with half an ear as she chattered away happily. Suddenly he asked:

  ‘Searched? Who searched what?’

  ‘My uncle, I said! He must have searched poor Tai Min's attic. When I tidied it up this morning, I noticed someone had been over it with a fine comb! Can't imagine what uncle expected to find there! ‘I'll take over here; you'll never manage to berth it properly!’

  X

  They parted on the landing-stage. Fern took the main street, carrying the fish-basket and humming a song. Judge Dee walked past the fish-market and entered the first small eating-place he saw. He ordered a large bowl of noodles stewed with bamboo sprouts. After a quick cup of tea he went back to the Kingfisher, for he was eager to take a bath.

  As he had expected, the bath was empty, for it was the hour of the noon rice; even the bath-attendant was off duty. Stretched out in the pool, he carefully considered the move he was contemplating. It was a long shot, a very long shot. His theory was based on only two facts: first, that the poor cashier Tai Min had been severely tortured prior to his being killed; and second, that his room had been searched. All the rest was mere guess-work, based on his knowledge of the mean, grasping nature of men like Lang Liu. Yes, he would risk it. If his theory should prove correct, he would have successfully completed the first phase of his investigation. If he was wrong, he would at least have frightened a few people. And frightened people are liable to make bad mistakes.

  The bath-attendant came in while Judge Dee was putting a new bandage on his forearm. He told him to fetch clean robes from his room and to give the soiled ones to the laundrywomen. Clad in his brown travelling-robe, now crisply laundered, he went to the hall and asked the clerk if Mr Lang had finished his noon rice. When the clerk nodded he gave him his visiting-card and told him to inquire whether Mr Lang could see him for a few moments.

  ‘Mr Lang doesn't like to be disturbed directly after his meals, Doctor!’

  ‘Ask him anyway !’

  The clerk went down the corridor with a doubtful look, but he came back with a broad smile. ‘Mr Lang says you're welcome, sir ! It's the fourth door on your right.’

  Judge Dee was admitted by a thin man with a bullet-shaped head, the one he had seen that morning by the godowns. He introduced himself with an obsequious smile as Mr Lang's accountant, then took the judge through a large, cool ante-room to a vast chamber that seemed to take up the entire rear of the inn's left wing. Evidently this was the most secluded and most expensive suite of the Kingfisher.

  Mr Lang was sitting behind a heavy desk of carved ebony, a bulky ledger in front of him. The two bodyguards stood by the folding doors that gave onto the neglected back garden. Mr Lang rose and with a courteous bow invited the judge to take the other armchair. He said with a thin smile:

  ‘I was just going over this ledger with my accountant. Your esteemed visit provides me with a most welcome interruption of that tedious task!’ He motioned the accountant to serve tea.

  ‘I had planned to pay you a courtesy call earlier, Mr Lang,’ Judge Dee began affably, ‘but I had a late night, and this morning I felt a bit out of sorts. The weather is fine today, sir.’ He accepted the cup the accountant offered him and took a sip.

  ‘Apart from the rainy days,’ Mr Lang remarked, ‘I find the climate here quite agreeable.’

  The judge set his teacup down hard. Putting his hands on his knees, he said, harshly now:

  ‘Glad to hear that, Lang! For you'll have to stay here in Rivertown for a long, long time.’

  His host gave him a sharp look. He asked slowly:

  ‘What exactly do you mean by that?’

  ‘I mean that the truce is off. We'll get you as soon as you put one foot out of this special area, Lang. Last night your stupid henchmen took me to your godown on the quay and tried to kill me.’

  ‘I told you there was blood all over the floor, boss. I…’ the accountant muttered.

  ‘Shut up!’ Lang told him. And to the two bodyguards: ‘Close those damned doors! One of you stand outside in the garden, the other in the ante-room. Let no one disturb us.’ Then he fixed the judge with his large eyes that now had a hard glint. ‘I don't know what you are talking about. I suspected you were a Red when I saw you in the bath yesterday morning. Doctors don't come with a boxer's build, generally. But I deny having tried to get you killed. Our side is keeping to the truce.’

  Judge Dee shrugged.

  ‘I'll let that go, for the moment. There's a much more important matter to discuss. My orders are to make you a proposal. You employed the cashier of this inn to steal a very nice bauble. Your league must be getting short on cash, Lang—seeing that you are risking being cut to pieces. Slowly and expertly.’

  Lang retained his impassive mien, but the judge noticed that the accountant's face was filled with a sickly pallor. He resumed:

  ‘It would be a pleasure to denounce you to the authorities, Lang. But a truce is a truce, and my people stick to their word. Provided, of course, that we share. Half of eighty-four makes forty-two. Please correct me if my figures are wrong, will you?’

  Lang slowly tugged at his goatee, fixing his two bodyguards with a baleful look. The two big men made frantic gestures of denial. The accountant hastily retreated behind his master's chair. For a long while it was very silent in the large room. At last Lang said:

  ‘Your people are good, very good. I'll have to overhaul my own organization. Thoroughly. Yes, your figures are correct—it was agreed that on neutral territory we should share and share alike. I didn't let your boss know, however, because the whole thing fell through. I haven't got the pearls.’

  Judge Dee rose abruptly.

  ‘Last night's attempt to kill me proves you are lying, Lang. My orders are that, should you refuse our reasonable request, I am to inform you that the truce is ended. Which I do here and now. Good-bye!’

  He went to the door. When he had put his hand on the knob Lang suddenly called out: ‘Come back and sit down ! I'll explain the situation.’

  The judge came back to the desk but he didn't take the chair offered. He said in a surly voice:

  ‘First of all I want you to apologize for trying to have me murdered, Lang!’

  ‘I apologize for the fact that you were inconvenienced in a go-down that belongs to me, and I shall have the matter looked into at once. That satisfactory?’

  ‘It's better than nothing.’ Judge Dee sat down again. Lang leaned back in his chair.

  ‘I made a mistake, shouldn't have accepted the job. But you know our expenses nowadays! I have to pay the directors of my gambling establishments a fortune in salaries, and yet the scoundrels are cheating on the proceeds. And how can you run decent brothels when even farm-girls are in short supply? We have to pay as much for a peasant girl as for a trained courtesan! Unless we get some real good floods or a long drought and crop failure, I am going to lose on that branch. As to taxes, let me tell you that…’

  ‘Don't!’ Judge Dee interrupted. ‘Tell me about pearls!’

  ‘Well, I just wanted to explain to you that, things being what they are at present, ten gold bars is a round sum not to be sneezed at. And there were ten gold bars for me in that affair, and practic
ally no risk or expense.’ Lang heaved a deep sigh. ‘This is what happened. Last week a silk broker comes to see me—Hao he calls himself. Brings a letter of introduction from one of my men in the capital. Hao says he has a contact who has formulated a plan to steal a valuable necklace from the Water Palace here. The thing has eighty-four pearls of the best quality, he says, but they'll have to be sold one by one, of course. If I know of someone who's familiar with the river and the area around the palace, and get him to do the job, Hao's contact ‘Il pay me ten gold bars. I think at once of the cashier here, who knows every inch of the river, but I say nothing doing. Ten gold bars is a lot of money, but stealing from the palace is too much of a risk. Then, however, Hao explains all the arrangements made. My accountant ‘11 repeat them—he has a phenomenal memory. (It's the only good point he's got, the fathead!) Speak up, you! Say your lesson !’

  The bullet-headed man closed his eyes. Clasping his hands, he rattled off:

  ‘The man is to leave town by boat one hour before midnight, row to the fourth cove on the right bank, leave the boat there and take the path behind the second row of pine trees. Formerly used by the palace patrols, it leads all along the river bank to the north-west corner of the palace moat. About two feet under the surface there's an old sluice door; swim along it to the corner of the north-west watch-tower. Just above water level a ledge about a foot wide runs all along the north wall. Walk along it till you arrive at the last water-gate. Above it is a buttress that supports a covered balcony. There are many cracks among the bricks; the wall can easily be scaled. Enter the pavilion by the side-window. The pavilion is connected with a bedroom by an open, moon-shaped doorway. The necklace ‘11 be lying either on the dressing-table just inside that moon-door, or on the tea-table opposite. Remain outside the moon-door and make sure the people are asleep. Then step inside, take the necklace, and go back the same way. No need to worry about the archers on the ramparts—they'll be busy elsewhere.’

  The thin man opened his eyes and smiled smugly. Lang resumed: