Cautiously he advanced along the north wall, testing every step along the muddy ledge with the toe of his soggy boot. Soon the sluggish, black stream right in front of him made him dizzy; he got the feeling that he and the entire palace were sailing up-river. Resolutely closing his eyes, he forged ahead. He realized that while this means of progress would be comparatively easy for a light, smallish youngster like Tai Min, his own size and weight placed him at a distinct disadvantage. At every other step one of his feet would sink deep into the silt, and he also had to reckon with gaps where a section of the ledge had crumbled. At a spot where less silt had accumulated, he turned round so that he was facing the wall. Now he opened his eyes again. This position had the additional advantage that he could locate grooves among the weatherbeaten bricks which afforded a hold for his fingertips.
It was a relief when his left hand met the bulging stone blocks that marked the arch of the first water-gate. He stuck his hand inside and got hold of a bar in the iron grating, about a foot inside the wall. Having swung himself under the arch, he grasped an upper crossbar and hooked his tired legs around a lower one, leaving his feet inside the grating, with his boots just clear of the water. It was not a very comfortable position, but he was completely safe, for the upper part of the arch shielded him effectively from watching eyes on the battlements above. He thought worriedly about the number of water-gates he had yet to pass. That morning he had counted eight. Well, Tai Min had done it, and he was following the cashier's course exactly. The only difference was that the cashier's aim had been to steal a necklace, whereas his was to steal an audience. It was the only way he could consult the Princess without disobeying her orders to observe the utmost secrecy. At the same time the route followed by Tai Min might provide some clue to where he had hidden the necklace.
After the judge had rested for a while, he moved over to the left side of the arch, and continued along the ledge, his right cheek close to the rough surface of the wall, his boots sloshing through the silt.
Gradually he was getting accustomed to this unusual, crab-like manner of locomotion, and he felt fairly safe from arrows, for he had noticed that the battlements projected a foot or so. Unless a soldier leaned out far and peered down, he would not be able to see the intruder pressed flat against the wall. Yet he was glad when his left hand, groping for a hold among the bricks, again met the bulging stones of an arch. It was much lower than the preceding one. When he bent and looked inside the barred niche, he gasped and nearly lost his precarious balance. From the inside a thin white hand was clutching the lowest crossbar.
XVI
With a desperate effort Judge Dee steadied himself. A second look showed that the slim wrist was encircled by a white jade bracelet, carved in the shape of a curving dragon. It flashed through his mind that this was not a water-gate, but the arched window of a dungeon. In front of the heavy iron grating was a three-foot-wide ledge, made of grey flagstones an inch above the water. As he swung himself onto it and squatted down, he heard a suppressed cry from the pitch dark inside, and the white hand disappeared.
‘It's me, Doctor Liang, madam.'
Now two thin hands clutched the lowest bar. Below them he vaguely saw the white oval of a face. Apparently the barred window was close to the ceiling of the dungeon, and the floor deep down.
‘How… why did you come here?’ the Lady Hydrangea asked in a weak, faltering voice.
‘I wanted to see the Princess. For I need more information in order to acquit myself of the task she assigned to me. How did you get into this awful dungeon?’
‘Terrible things have happened, Dee. I have had no food or drink since last night. Get me some water, please!’
The judge unwound the black sash from his head, folded it and scooped it full of water. Handing the dripping, improvised bag through the grating, he warned, ‘Dip your face into it but don't take more than a few mouthfuls.’ After a while she resumed:
‘I am in fact suffering from a mild form of asthma. When you had left, therefore, I thought I might as well take the medicine you had prescribed. But a court lady secretly mixed a vile drug with it. Soon after I had taken it, my head began to swim and I fell onto the floor, violent convulsions shaking my limbs. The Princess, greatly alarmed, at once called the palace doctors who pronounced me mortally ill. Then I fainted. When I came to, I was lying on the damp floor in a corner of this dungeon. No one has come to see me.’ She paused, then resumed in a tired voice:
‘I know exactly what they'll do. In the morning they'll come, when I am dying from hunger and thirst. Then they'll give me poisoned food and drink, take my body to the Princess and say that the doctors did what they could but that I died in their hands. The Imperial escort is scheduled to arrive here at noon, to take the Princess to the capital. Thus there won't be any time for a thorough inquiry into my death. Could I have another drink?’ She passed the wet cloth through the grating.
‘Who are these depraved plotters?’ he asked, giving her the water. That is one of the questions I meant to ask the Princess.’
‘It's better that you don't see her, Dee. For in her present state of mind she'll certainly distrust you, assume that you purposely prescribed the wrong medicine. Who are our enemies, you ask? How can the Princesss or I know? Scores of persons are around us every day from morning till night. Every one of them punctiliously polite, eager to please, smiling. Who knows who is a paid spy, or who is conniving at some hideous intrigue? I can only say that since they have now dared to lay their foul hands on me, the closest friend of Her Highness, I think that the Chief Eunuch and the Superintendent, the two highest officials, must at least know something of what is going on. But who knows how things are being misrepresented to them? Who knows how many persons have been bribed to tell the most awful lies, how many loyal servants have been thrown into the dungeons on cleverly trumped-up charges? There is but one person in this palace who is absolutely inviolable, Dee. And that is the Third Princess.’
Judge Dee nodded.
‘Both the Chief Eunuch and the Superintendent were markedly hostile when I came to the palace to see you, madam. And the latter is making determined efforts to have me arrested. Who told the Princess that I had arrived in Rivertown and what alias I had adopted?’
‘Master Gourd did. Five years ago, before the Water Palace was given to the Princess as a summer residence, the master came regularly to the Imperial Palace, His Majesty having charged him with teaching philosophy to the Crown Prince. The Third Princess often attended the lectures, and she conceived a great admiration for the master. After Master Gourd had retired from the world and settled down here in Rivertown, the Princess often summoned him, for she took delight in talking with him and trusted him completely. Since Master Gourd is so popular in the Imperial Palace, and in view of his advanced age, the Chief Eunuch didn't dare to object. The master must have understood that the Princess is in difficulties, for yesterday he shot a tipless arrow onto the balcony of her boudoir, at the east corner. He is an amazing archer, you know.’
‘I met him,’ the judge said. ‘He is a very good man with a sword too.’
‘Of course. He used to instruct the young princes in swords manship, for despite his crippled legs he is a marvellous fencer. He would sit on a stool, a sword in each hand, and three experienced swordsmen couldn't even come near him! Well, he attached a letter to the arrow, informing the Princess of your arrival and your alias, and also where you were staying. He advised her to contact you. The Princess called me at once, and said she wanted to charge you with recovering her necklace. Then I sent my daughter to fetch you, for besides her there's no one I can trust.’
‘I see. I have traced the thief—it was a young fellow who had been hired by gangsters, and they in their turn had been hired by evil plotters here in the palace. The youngster tried to escape without turning the necklace over to the gangsters, and they killed him before he revealed where he had hidden it. I have not yet succeeded in recovering the pearls.’ A cold gust of win
d blew in from the water, chilling his bare, sweat-covered torso, and he began to shiver. ‘Have you got something I can cover myself with?’
After a while the tip of a lady's brocade robe was stuck through the grating. ‘The despicable scoundrels didn't even give me a blanket to lie on,’ she whispered. The judge pulled the voluminous robe through the bars and wrapped himself up in it. Sitting cross-legged on the ledge, he resumed:
‘The Princess gave me to understand that the aim of the theft was to effect a rift between her and the Emperor. His Imperial… I mean… well, allow me to dispense with all honorifics, in these peculiar circumstances. Anyway, this very night your enemies committed an atrocious murder, thinking it might give them a chance of getting the necklace. Why should they be so eager to get it? They wanted it to disappear, didn't they? Furthermore, I find it hard to believe that the loss of the necklace would cause a break in the relations between father and daughter. But you are a better judge of that than I, of course.’
He paused, hoping for a reply. As the prisoner remained silent, Judge Dee went on:
‘The Princess insisted that the theft was committed by someone from outside. That suggested to me that she feared her enemies had been planning to have the necklace discovered in the possession of a person close to the Princess whom they wanted to ruin by falsely accusing him or her of the theft of an Imperial treasure. As she herself was reluctant to supply details about that person, I won't ask you to tell me who it is. But it would help me if you could at least give me a hint, or…’ He let the sentence trail off.
There was a long silence. The judge snuggled into the heavy robe. Its subtle perfume contrasted oddly with the foul smell that came up from the dark, damp dungeon. At last the Lady Hydrangea spoke.
‘The mind of the Princess is in terrible confusion, Dee. She is perilously near a complete breakdown. She could not possibly have told you more than she did. But I can, and I will. You know that the Emperor stated that he would approve any husband chosen by the Princess herself. Of course three or four contending cliques in the capital began at once to do their utmost to make the Princess choose one of their candidates. For the husband of the Emperor's favourite daughter will be a power to reckon with at court, and could greatly advance the interests of the clique he belongs to. You can imagine their anger and disappointment when the Princess began to show a marked preference for Colonel Kang, the Commander of the Guard—a man who has always kept aloof from all intrigue and who does not belong to any special clique. The opposing factions joined hands, therefore, to make a determined effort to oust Colonel Kang from her favour.’
‘In that case there's an obvious solution!’ Judge Dee interrupted. ‘Namely that she lets the Emperor know she loves the colonel. Then no one would dare to…’
‘It isn't as simple as that, Dee! The Princess isn't quite sure that she really loves the colonel, or that he really loves her. That's why the theft of the necklace was such a fiendish scheme, you see. The colonel had succeeded in arranging to visit her in secret, and she discovered the loss of the necklace after he had been with her. It was suggested to her—in a very indirect, subtle manner, of course—that the colonel had taken it, that he has a mistress somewhere, with whom he planned to escape to some far-away place. Everybody knows he has no money, and has to incur heavy debts in order to keep up his status. That's the first reason why the enemy is making such determined efforts to get the necklace. It must be found in the colonel's possession.’
The judge nodded slowly. What the Princess had said about taking the necklace off because she feared it might drop into the river had seemed a bit far-fetched to him from the beginning. Now he also remembered that she had laid undue stress on the fact that she had been alone.
‘I think’ he said, ‘that the Princess loves the colonel very much, you know. For she went out of her way to assure me that the necklace had been stolen by somebody from outside.’
‘You can't imagine the conflicting emotions that are tormenting her, Dee. Sometimes she thinks she loves him, sometimes not.’
‘Well, isn't that a most common condition with young women in love?’
He heard her sigh.
‘Since you are the only man who could still save the situation, Dee, I shall also tell you now the second reason why the despicable plotters are so keen on the necklace as a means of stirring up trouble between the Princess and the colonel. It is so terrible a secret that in ordinary circumstances I'd rather die than even hint at the possibility!’ She fell silent. After a long interval she went on, ‘Hasn't it ever struck you as strange that His Majesty never did anything to help the Third Princess find a husband? It is the fixed rule that a fiancé is found soon after a Princess has celebrated her eighteenth anniversary. And the Third Princess is already twenty-six! The Emperor's generous statement that she might choose her own husband could also be interpreted as an attempt at postponing her marriage as long as possible. In order to… to keep her with him.’
Judge Dee raised his eyebrows. ‘Why should…’ he began. Then he suddenly understood. Merciful heaven ! Cold sweat came trickling down his chest. This was terrible, unspeakable…
‘Does she… does the Princess realize…?’
‘She suspects. And there's worse. She is not as horrified by that suspicion as we would have hoped. You can imagine what the consequences might be, should this relation… reach its logical conclusion.’
The judge clenched his fists. Now he saw the scheme of the stolen necklace in all its true frightfulness. A full-blown woman of twenty-six, brought up in the hot-house atmosphere of the secluded harem, not sure of her own emotions… returning to the capital disappointed in her love for the colonel… If in that disturbed state she… if it became a fact… then a person who knew the guilty secret could.… By Heaven, if he played his cards right, he could practically impose his will on the Emperor! Suddenly he firmly shook his head. He said vehemently :
‘No, madam, I refuse to believe this! I could well believe that some such sickening scheme might enter the minds of depraved courtiers—particularly the eunuchs, those hybrid creatures with their distorted personalities, the necessary but horribly dangerous source of evil in every palace ! I can also believe that the Princess is swayed by vague, disturbing thoughts, and that she is in doubt about her own emotions. But as regards the Emperor, when my late father was Councillor of State, and honoured with His Majesty's trust, he always described the Emperor as a great and good man, who despite his unique position always retained the elevated character and sure powers of judgement befitting the Son of Heaven.’ Then he resumed, in a calmer voice, ‘Anyway, I am glad you told me, because now I know exactly what the plotters are after, and why they won't stop short of even the most atrocious murders. But whatever schemes there are afoot, the enemy will be powerless as soon as it has been proved that the colonel didn't steal the necklace. For I am convinced that when the Princess's trust in the colonel is restored, she will petition the Emperor to proclaim their betrothal.’
He disengaged himself from the robe and pushed it back through the grating. ‘Don't despair, madam ! I shall do my utmost to find the necklace this very night. Should they come for you early in the morning, try to make them postpone whatever they want to do to you. Say that you have important information for them, or whatever you think best. Whether I succeed, or not, I shall be in the palace tomorrow morning, and I shall do what I can to save you.’
‘I am not worried about myself, Dee,’ the old lady said softly. ‘May merciful heaven protect you !’
The judge righted himself and began the journey back.
XVII
As soon as Judge Dee was again under the cover of the trees at the corner of the moat, he stepped out of his seeping boots and stripped his wet trousers off. Vigorously he rubbed his naked body with the dry half of his black sash, which he had wrapped round the sword. After winding the strip round his waist by way of a loin-cloth, he put on the long black robe and placed the black skull-cap on his head
. At a loss what to do with the wet trousers, he finally threw them into a rabbit hole. Then he took up the lantern and the sword.
Bodily comfort pervaded him with a luxurious feeling of ease. But he suddenly realized that his head was empty. Reaction to the tense hour he had just spent had set in. As he followed the path through the forest he felt utterly unable to even try to digest all he had learned. Remembering Master Gourd's words about the importance of being empty, he gave up trying to concentrate, and just imagined he was the cashier Tai Min, going back along this same path, with a necklace he wanted to hide somewhere. Walking on, the judge noticed that although his mind was numb, his senses were abnormally alert. He keenly perceived all the odours of the forest, his ears were attuned to every sound that came from the dark foliage, and his eyes spotted every hollow in the tree-trunks, every hole in the mossy boulders that came within the lighted circle of his lantern. He briefly explored those spots that might have attracted the cashier's attention, but the necklace was not there.
After about an hour he barked his shins on the dead branch he had put across the path. He was glad he had thus marked his point of departure, for the trees and the brush looked alike everywhere. He parted the branches and picked his way through the undergrowth to the bank of the cove.
While walking through the forest under the canopy of the high trees, he had not noticed that the moon had come out. Now its soft light shone on the still water of the cove. Standing on the rocky ledge, he stared astonished at the boat, moored under the overhanging branches of a gnarled pine tree. Fern wasn't inside. Then there was a splashing sound behind him and she called out:
Necklace and Calabash: A Chinese Detective Story (Judge Dee Mysteries) Page 11