Finally, both women came to the cell door, and my language teacher jumped up, ready to chase Jianxu if she decided to make a run for it. But she didn’t. In fact she looked very relaxed for someone whose execution had only been delayed. If I could find no fault with the judgement passed down by Li Wen-Tao, and confirmed by Taitemir, she would still be beheaded. And a beautiful head it was too, with thick, black hair braided and hanging down her back, and a pale face with exquisite almond eyes. She stared at me as Gurbesu crossed the courtyard towards me, and I smiled. And even though her face remained impassive, I suddenly wanted with all my heart for her to be innocent. Gurbesu saw where I was looking, and stood in my line of vision.
‘Do you want to know what I learned from Jianxu? Or does it not matter any more?’
I grinned inanely at her.
‘Of course. Tell me everything.’
‘She says that she doesn’t know how the soup that killed Old Geng was poisoned. She admits to making it, but not with the aim of killing Geng. In fact, she says she made the soup for her mother-in-law, Madam Gao.’
‘So she intended to kill her?’
Gurbesu snorted and shook her head.
‘No! Do pay attention, Nick. She made the soup because Madam Gao felt unwell. It was a broth to nourish and revive her spirits, as she hadn’t eaten for two days. Old Geng saw her taking it to Madam Gao, and told her to give it to him. He was hungry, he said. She was annoyed, but couldn’t show it, and obediently gave Geng the soup. She went back to the kitchen to make some more, and the next thing she knew, the boy…’
‘Wenbo.’
‘Yes, Wenbo came into the kitchen saying his father was dying. That he was complaining of cramps and numbness at the same time, and was vomiting. Wenbo said his father had tried to rise from his bed but his limbs wouldn’t move. He begged Jianxu to come and help. When they got to the old man’s room, he was lying in a foul pool of his own internal fluids. He was already dead.’
‘That ties up with the doctor’s report on the body. I saw it in Lin’s files on the case. It said that, from the symptoms observed, aconite or wolfsbane must have been added to the soup. If so, it would have been an unpleasant death.’
I could see over Gurbesu’s shoulder that Jianxu still stood in the doorway of her cell. She had not moved a muscle as Gurbesu and I had been speaking, and I had the feeling she was a person very much in control of her emotions. In fact, she made me feel uneasy for a moment. Taking Gurbesu’s arm, I led her a little way away from the prison. When I no longer felt we were being observed, I looked Gurbesu in the eye.
‘If she claims to be innocent, did she say why she signed a confession?’
Gurbesu nodded, her thick, dark hair swirling round her face.
‘Yes. She did it to spare Madam Gao being tortured as she, Jianxu, had been by the prefect. Her feet and legs are only just now healing.’
‘You see what I mean about torture? It rarely provides you with the truth. So the girl claims not to be the poisoner now. Does she have any idea who might have been? Who could have got in the kitchen to doctor the soup?’
Gurbesu pulled a face.
‘She wouldn’t say, but I thought she had an opinion. You know what these Chinee women are like. True to the Three Duties of women: obedience to your father before marriage; obedience to your husband after marriage; and obedience to your son after your husband’s death. Obedience, obedience, obedience, grrrrrr.’
Gurbesu growled, and if I hadn’t been already leaning with my back against the tree trunk, I would have backed off. She was a tiger in this sort of mood. Instead of retreating, I asked her another question.
‘Do you believe everything she told you?’
She had to pause and think about that. We watched as the gaoler closed and locked the cell door on Jianxu, leaving her as a pale face outlined by the grille. Finally, she answered me.
‘I think so.’
‘But you are not sure?’
‘Everything she said was so precise and considered. As though she had rehearsed it.’
I shrugged.
‘Not surprising. She has been taken through the story many times, and often under duress with her feet tied up and being beaten. She would have ended up telling the prefect anything he wanted to hear. He could even have prompted her. And since being incarcerated to await our arrival, she has had weeks to think about what she would say.’ I paused before asking the final question. ‘Is she innocent?’
Once again, my favourite Kungurat pondered the question. She pursed her full, red lips.
‘Mmmmm. Too early to tell. I am going to reserve judgement.’
That was one split vote, then. And I respected Gurbesu’s intuition. But anyway, she was right. It was early days, and we needed to gather a whole lot more information. I took Gurbesu’s arm, and we walked away from the prison.
‘Let’s go back to the house, and see what Lin and Tadeusz have found out.’
The girl watched from behind the door of her cell, which had once again been locked securely. She watched as the red-haired man and the strange woman walked away. She had never experienced such an odd pair. The demon looked as though he would scare anyone into submission, but the dark-skinned woman had brushed him aside as if he didn’t matter. He had then sat with her gaoler while the woman spoke to her. The girl had assumed the woman was the demon’s wife, though she didn’t behave like any Chin wife. They had spoken at first in her native tongue, but mostly they had conversed in the tongue of the Mongols who had conquered her native land many years ago. The true emperor still lived, somewhere in southern Song, but the Mongols were pressing ever southwards. It was inevitable that the barbarian hordes would win, and she had picked up as much of their tongue as she was able. It had now served her well.
The woman had probed for the facts of the death of Old Geng, and she had told her story well, she thought. She felt she had convinced the Kungurat of her innocence. When the woman, who called herself Gurbesu, had asked if she had any idea who had killed the old man, she had hesitated. Just like a good, obedient woman, she had demurred, not accusing anyone directly. But she thought she had convinced Gurbesu that she did suspect someone. So she knew the demon and his wife would be back.
‘Li Wen-Tao could tell me nothing that was not in the official records already. I could tell he was toeing the party line. He even had the nerve to refer me to Taitemir, knowing of course that even a Chin official as highly connected as I am could not contradict a Mongol. It was a waste of my time. How about the girl?’
We had met up over a meal in Lin’s rooms, which were, as usual, far better organized than any of ours. Mind you, he had a servant, and I would have expected nothing less of Lin. He always surrounded himself with serenity, whereas I thrived on chaos. We complemented each other in that way. Before I answered his question, I looked at Gurbesu. Did she want to voice her opinions directly? She gave a little shake of her head, which left me, as ever, in her debt. She knew I needed to maintain my position as the main investigator, even amongst our little group. So it was I who replied to Lin’s question.
‘She did no more than confirm what was in the documents we already have. Her story has not changed. So there is nothing new yet. But it is only the beginning. We need to talk to the son and the old lady
… what’s her name?’
‘Madam Gao.’
‘Yes, we need to speak to her. And maybe I can have a go at the prefect myself.’ I grinned wolfishly. ‘I can be a mite rougher than you, Chu-Tsai. Besides, I want to appeal to his baser instincts.’
Lin frowned a little, though his face was normally impassive and didn’t show too much about his inner workings.