Murder in Canton: A Judge Dee Mystery

by Robert Van Gulik

  He recognised the large temple that rose on his right; it was dedicated to the God of War. He detached himself from the crowd and walked up the broad marble steps to the high gatehouse, its double doors flanked by two huge stone lions, each crouching on an octagonal pedestal. As usual the male lion on the left scowled down with tightly closed mouth, while the female on the right kept its large head raised, her jaws wide open.

  ‘She can never keep her blasted mouth shut!’ Tao Gan muttered sourly. ‘Just like that wretched former wife of mine!’

  Slowly pulling at his frayed moustache, he reflected wryly that for twenty years he had hardly thought of his adulterous wife. It was revisiting this city where he had lived a few years in his youth, that suddenly brought it all back to him. The wife he had loved had basely deceived him, and had tried to bring about his ruin, so that he had had to flee for his life. He had then sworn off women and, determined to get his own back on a world that disgusted him, had become an itinerant swindler. But later he had met Judge Dee, who had made him reform and had taken him on as his assistant, thus giving him a new interest in life. He had served with Judge Dee in his various posts as district magistrate, and after the judge had been promoted to his present high office in the capital, Tao Gan had been made chief secretary. A twisted smile lit up his long gloomy face as he told the lioness complacently:

  ‘Canton is still the same, but look at me! I am not only a ranking official now, but also a man of means. Of considerable means, I should say!’ He adjusted his cap with a jerk, nodded haughtily at the ferocious stone face and entered the temple compound.

  Passing the main hall, he cast a quick look inside. In the flickering light of the tall red candles a small group of people were adding new incense sticks to those already in the large bronze burner on the high altar. Through the thick blue smoke he vaguely saw the towering gilt statue of the bearded war god brandishing his long sword. Tao Gan sniffed, for he hardly admired military prowess. He lacked the bulk and strength of his colleague Chiao Tai, and he never carried any arms. But his utter lack of fear and quick wit made him nonetheless a dangerous opponent. He walked on and circled the main hall to the back gate of the compound. Remembering that the city's largest market was directly to the north of the temple, he thought he might as well have a look around there before taking the main street leading up to the Governor's Palace, in the northern part of the city.

  The quarter behind the temple consisted of poor wooden houses, noisy with shouting and laughter. A smell of cheap frying fat hung in the air. Further along, however, it suddenly became very quiet. Here stood only abandoned houses, many in ruins. The piles of new bricks and big jars filled with mortar that stood about at regular intervals proved that a building project was in progress. He looked behind him a few times, but he saw no one about. He went on at a sedate pace, keeping his caftan close to his bony body despite the stifling heat.

  When he was rounding the corner of another alley, he heard the noise of the market ahead. At the same time he saw a commotion at the farther end. Under the lantern that hung from a dilapidated doorpost two dishevelled ruffians were attacking a woman. As he quickly ran to them, Tao Gan saw that the one behind her had his arm crooked round the lower half of her face, while his other hand held her arms together behind her back. The second ruffian, standing in front of her, had ripped her robe apart and was now fondling her shapely bare bosom. As he began to tear loose the sash round her waist, she frantically kicked his legs. But the man behind her jerked her head farther back, and the other hit her a hard blow in her exposed midriff.

  Tao Gan took quick action. With his right hand he picked up a brick from the nearest pile, and with the other scooped a handful of quicklime from the jar next to it. Tiptoeing up to the men, he struck the one holding the girl a sharp blow on the shoulder with the edge of the heavy brick. The man let go of her and clasped his crushed shoulder with an agonized cry. The other ruffian turned on Tao Gan, groping for the dagger in his belt. But Tao Gan threw the quicklime into his eyes, and the man put his hands to his face, howling with pain.

  ‘Arrest the bastards, men!’ Tao Gan shouted.

  The ruffian with the crushed shoulder grabbed his yelping comrade's arm. Dragging him along, he ran down the alley as fast as he could.

  The girl was pulling her robe close to her, gasping for air. He vaguely saw that she was quite handsome; her hair was gathered at the nape of her neck in two coils, the hair-do of an unmarried girl. He put her age at about twenty-five.

  ‘Come along to the market, quick!’ he addressed her gruffly in Cantonese, ‘before those two fellows discover I bluffed them.’

  As she seemed to hesitate, he took her sleeve and pulled her along towards the noise of the market.

  ‘Walking alone in such a deserted quarter is asking for trouble, miss,’ he said reprovingly. ‘Or did you know those two scoundrels?’

  ‘No, they must be vagrant bullies,’ she replied in a soft cultured voice. ‘Coming from the market, I took this short cut to the Temple of the War God, and met those men. They let me pass, then suddenly grabbed me from behind. Thanks very much for your timely help!’

  ‘Thank your lucky star!’ Tao Gan growled. When they had stepped out on the crowded street that ran along the south side of the brilliantly lit market place, he added, ‘Better postpone your visit to the temple till broad daylight! Good-bye.’

  He wanted to enter the narrow passage between the market stalls, but she laid her hand on his arm and asked timidly:

  ‘Please tell me the name of the shop in front of us. It must be a fruit shop, for I can smell the tangerines. If I know where we are, I can find the way by myself.’

  So speaking, she took a thin bamboo tube from her sleeve and shook several thinner joints from it. It was a collapsible walking-stick.

  Tao Gan quickly looked at her eyes. They were a dead, opaque grey.

  ‘I'll see you home, of course,’ he said contritely.

  ‘That's quite unnecessary, sir. I am thoroughly familiar with the quarter. I only need a starting point.’

  ‘I should have killed those cowardly bastards!’ Tao Gan muttered angrily. And to the girl, ‘Here, this is the tip of my sleeve. If I guide you, you'll get there quicker. Where do you live?’

  ‘You are very thoughtful, sir. I live near the north-east corner of the market.’

  They walked along, Tao Gan pushing his way with his bony elbows. After a while she asked:

  ‘You are an officer temporarily attached to the city administration, aren't you?’

  ‘Oh no! I am just a merchant, from the west city,’ Tao Gan replied quickly.

  ‘Of course. Excuse me!’ she said meekly.

  ‘What made you think I am an officer?’ Tao Gan asked, curious.

  She hesitated for a moment, then replied:

  ‘Well, your Cantonese is fluent, but my sense of hearing is very acute, and I detect the accent from the capital. Secondly, when you were bluffing those two men, your voice had the genuine ring of authority. Thirdly, in this city everybody strictly minds his own business. No ordinary citizen would dream of tackling alone two ruffians who assault a woman. I may add I have a distinct feeling that you are a kind and considerate man.’

  ‘Good reasoning,’ Tao Gan commented dryly. ‘Except for your last statement, which is wide of the mark indeed!’

  Giving her a sidelong glance, he saw that a slow smile lit up her still face. Her wide-set eyes and full mouth gave her a slightly outlandish appearance, yet he found her uncommonly attractive. They walked on in silence. When they had arrived at the north east corner of the market, she said:

  ‘I live in the fourth alley, on the right. From now on you'd better let me guide you.’

  The narrow street became very dark as they went on, the girl lightly tapping the cobblestones with her stick. On either side stood decrepit, two-storeyed wooden houses. When they had entered the fourth side street, everything was pitch-dark. Tao Gan had to tread warily so as not to stumble o
n the uneven, slippery ground.

  ‘In the tenement houses here live several families of market vendors,’ she said. ‘They don't come home till late at night, that's why it's so quiet here. Well, here we are. Mind the stairs, they are very steep.’

  This was the moment to say good-bye, but he told himself that since he had come as far as this, he might as well find out more about this strange girl. Thus he followed her up the creaking, dark staircase. On the landing she guided him to a door, pushed it open and said:

  ‘You'll find a candle on the table directly to your right.’

  Tao Gan lit it with his tinderbox and surveyed the small, bare room. The floor consisted of wooden boards; three walls were covered with cracked plaster, but the front was open. There only a bamboo balustrade divided the room from the flat roof of the adjoining house. In the distance the curved roofs of higher buildings stood out against the evening sky. The room was scrupulously clean, and a faint breeze had dispelled the stifling heat that still hung about in the streets. Next to the candle stood a cheap tea-basket, a cup of earthenware, and a platter bearing a few slices of cucumber and a long, thin knife. In front of the table was a low stool of plain wood, and against the side wall a narrow bench. At the rear he saw a high bamboo screen.

  ‘I haven't much to offer, as you see,’ she said gravely. ‘I took you here because there's nothing I hate more than incurring debts. I am young, and not too bad-looking. If you want to sleep with me, you may do so. My bed is behind that screen.’ As he stared at her in speechless astonishment, she added placidly, ‘You need have no qualms, for I am not a virgin. I was raped by four drunken soldiers last year, you see.’

  Tao Gan looked sharply at her still, pale face. He said slowly:

  ‘You are either thoroughly depraved, or else utterly, unbelievably sincere. Whatever it is, I am not interested in your offer. I am interested, however, in human types, and yours is a new one to me. So a brief talk and a cup of tea will nicely settle the debt you think you owe me.’

  She smiled faintly.

  ‘Sit down! I'll change this torn robe.’

  She disappeared behind the screen. Tao Gan poured himself a cup from the pot in the basket. Sipping his tea, he looked curiously at the row of small boxes that hung by bamboo hooks on a pole suspended under the eaves. There were about a dozen of them, each of different size and shape. Turning round, he saw on the shelf above the bench four large pots of green earthenware, with tight-fitting covers of woven bamboo. He listened intently, with a perplexed frown. Above the confused noise of the city he heard a persistent, whirring sound that he couldn't place at all. It seemed to come from the small boxes.

  He rose and went to stand by the balustrade, scrutinizing them. Every box was perforated with small holes, and the noise came from there. He suddenly understood. They contained crickets. He himself was not particularly interested in those insects, but he knew that many people love to listen to their chirruping, and keep a few of them about the house, often in costly small cages of carved ivory or silver wire. Others are addicted to cricket-fighting. They match their champions in wine-houses and in the market place, putting a pair of these bellicose insects in a tube of carved bamboo and tickling them with thin straws to urge them on. Considerable bets were laid on these fights. He now noticed that each cricket made a slightly different sound. All were dominated, however, by the clear, sustained note coming from a tiny calabash hanging at the end of the row. It began low, then gradually rose to a high pitch of astonishing clarity. He took the calabash down and held it close to his ear. Suddenly the vibrating note changed into a low buzz.

  The girl came out from behind the screen, now dressed in a simple, olive-green robe with black borders and a thin black belt. She came up to him quickly and frantically groped in the air for the small cage.

  ‘Be careful with my Golden Bell!’ she cried out.

  Tao Gan put the calabash into her hands.

  ‘I was just listening to its nice sound,’ he said. ‘Do you sell these insects?’

  ‘Yes,’ she replied, hanging the calabash back on the pole again. ‘I sell them either on the market, or directly to good customers. This is my best one; it's very rare, especially here in the south. The experts call it the “Golden Bell”.’ Sitting down on the bench and folding her slender hands in her lap, she added, ‘In the pots on the shelf behind me I keep a few fighting-crickets. They are rather pitiful; I hate to think of their sturdy legs and beautiful long feelers getting broken in fights. But I have to keep them in stock, for there's a steady demand for them.’

  ‘How do you catch them?’

  ‘I just walk at random along the outer walls of gardens and old buildings. I recognize good crickets by their song and use sliced fruit as bait. The tiny creatures are very clever; I even think they know me. When I let them loose in this room, they always come back to their boxes as soon as I call them.’

  ‘Is no one looking after you?’

  ‘I don't need anyone, I can look after myself quite well.’

  Tao Gan nodded. Then he looked up sharply. He thought he had heard the stairs creak outside.

  ‘Didn't you say that your neighbours here come home only late at night?’

  ‘They do indeed,’ she replied.

  He listened intently. But now he only heard the singing of the crickets. He must have been mistaken. He asked dubiously:

  ‘Is it all right for you to be all alone in this building most of the time?’

  ‘Oh yes! You can speak your own language, by the way. I am quite familiar with it.’

  ‘No, I much prefer to practise my Cantonese. Do you have no family here in the city?’

  ‘I have. But after the accident with my eyes I left the house. My name is Lan-lee, by the way. And I still think you are an officer.’

  ‘Yes, you are right. I am a sort of clerk, a member of the suite of an official from the capital. My name is Tao. Do you earn enough from these crickets for your daily needs?’

  ‘Enough and to spare! I only need money for an oil-cake in the morning and at night, and for a bowl of noodles at noon. The crickets cost me nothing, and they sell at a good price. Take that Golden Bell, for instance. He is worth one silver piece, you know! Not that I'd ever think of selling him, though! I was so happy this morning when I woke up and heard him sing.’ She smiled, then went on, ‘I got him only last night, you see. It was a wonderful piece of luck. I happened to walk along the west wall of the Hwa-ta…do you know that Buddhist temple?’

  ‘Of course. The Temple of the Flowery Pagoda, in the west quarter.’

  ‘Exactly. Well, I suddenly heard his voice there; it sounded frightened. I put a slice of cucumber at the foot of the wall and called him, like this.’ She pursed her lips and made a sound that curiously resembled the chirruping of a cricket. ‘Then I squatted down, waiting. At last he came; I heard him munching the cucumber. When he had eaten his fill and was quite happy, I coaxed him into that hollowed-out calabash I always carry in my sleeve.’ Raising her head, she said, ‘Listen! Now he sings very nicely again, doesn't he?’

  ‘He certainly does!’

  ‘I think that you too might become fond of them, in course of time. Your voice sounds kind; you can't be a bully. What did you do to those two men who assaulted me? They seemed to be in great pain.’

  ‘Well, I am not a fighter. I am an elderly man, you know. About twice your age. But I have been around a lot and have learned how to take care of myself. I hope you'll learn to do so too, Lan-lee, from now on. The world is full of nasty persons who are out to take advantage of a girl like you.’

  ‘Do you really think so? No, I have found people rather kind-hearted, on the whole. And if they are nasty, it's mainly because they are unhappy or lonely, or can't get the things they want; or have got too many of the things they want, perhaps. Anyway, I'll wager that those two men didn't even have enough to buy themselves a square meal, let alone a woman! They frightened me, because I thought they'd beat me senseless after they were
through with me. But now I realize that they wouldn't have done that after all, because they'd know that I, being blind, could never denounce them.’

  ‘Next time I meet them,’ Tao Gan said crossly, ‘I'll present each with a silver piece, as a reward for their kind intentions!’ He emptied his cup, then resumed with a contented grin, ‘Speaking about silver, they'll need that badly, I suppose! For one will never use his right arm again, and the other will try to wash the lime from his eyes and be crippled for life!’

  She sprang up.

  ‘What horrible things you did!’ she exclaimed angrily. ‘And you seem to take delight in it too! You are a nasty, cruel man!’

  ‘And you a very foolish young woman!’ Tao Gan retorted. Getting up and making for the door, he added sourly, ‘Thanks for the tea!’

  She groped for the candle and stepped out on the landing after him, holding it high.