Judge Dee raised his eyebrows. He asked:
'What could a handful of Arabs do against a garrison of over a thousand seasoned, well-armed soldiers? Not to speak of the guards, the harbour police, and so on?'
'Mansur took an active part in the siege of many a barbarian city, sir. So we may assume that he has much experience in these matters. He must be aware of the fact that Canton, unlike the cities up north, has a large number of two-storeyed houses built of wood. If on a dry, windy day fires were started in a few well-chosen places, there would be a disastrous conflagration. And in the general confusion small bands of determined men could achieve much.'
'By heaven, he is right!’ the Prefect exclaimed. 'Further,' Liang continued, 'anyone who created a disturbance in the city would find eager allies as soon as the looting started. I mean the thousands of Tanka. They have been harbouring a deep resentment against us for hundreds of years.'
'Not entirely without reason,' Judge Dee remarked with a sigh. 'Anyway, what could those waterfolk do? They aren't organized, and they have got no arms.'
'Well,' Liang said slowly, 'they do have some kind of organization. It seems they rally around their chief sorcerers. And although they don't possess heavy weapons, in street fighting they are dangerous opponents. For they are quite handy with their long knives, and expert in strangling people with silk scarves. It's true that they mistrust all outsiders and keep very much to themselves, but since the custom of their women consists chiefly of Arab sailors, it would not be difficult for Mansur to get on a good footing with them.'
Judge Dee made no comment, he was pondering over Liang's remarks. Tao Gan addressed Liang:
'I noticed, sir, that the Tanka stranglers always leave behind the silver piece they weight their handkerchiefs with. They are quite valuable. Why don't they take them along after the deed, or use a piece of lead instead?'
'They are very superstitious,' Liang replied with a shrug. 'It's an ' offering to the spirit of their victim. They believe it prevents the ghost from haunting them afterwards.'
Judge Dee looked up.
'Show me that city map again!’
When Liang had rolled it out on the table, the judge made Prefect Pao point out to him those quarters where the houses were mostly of wood. They proved to include nearly all of the densely populated, middle-class and poor zones, crossed only by very narrow streets.
'Yes,' Judge Dee said gravely, 'a fire could easily destroy the greater part of this city. The loss of life and material damage would be so disastrous that we can not afford to ignore the rumours about Mansur. We must take adequate precautions, at once I shall order the Governor to convene a secret meeting in the palace this afternoon, and to summon, besides you two, Mr Yau Tai-kai, the garrison commander and the chief of the harbour police. We shall then consider immediate preventive measures, and also discuss what to do about Mansur.'
'It is my duty to stress again, Excellency,' Mr Liang said worriedly, 'that Mansur may well be completely innocent. He drives a hard bargain, and there is keen competition among the big traders here. Some of them will stop at nothing to eliminate a successful rival. All this talk about Mansur may be nothing but malicious slander.'
'Let's hope you are right,' the judge said dryly. He emptied his teacup and rose.
Liang Foo conducted his distinguished guests ceremoniously through all the various courts and corridors to the front yard, where he took leave of them with many a deep bow.
XIII
Chiao Tai had arrived at the palace two hours earlier, shortly after Judge Dee had left for the visit to Liang Foo. The majordomo ushered him into the hall of Judge Dee's wing.
Since that solemn palace employee had told Chiao Tai the judge was not expected back till noon, he went to the sandalwood couch, stepped out of his boots and threw himself down on the soft pillows. He intended to take a good nap.
But tired as he was, he could not get to sleep. He tossed about for a while, his spirits sinking lower and lower. Don't you get sentimental, at your age, you blasted fool! he told himself angrily. Didn't even pinch the behinds of those twin-hussies at Nee's, and they were practically asking for it! And what the hell is wrong with my left ear? He stuck his little finger into it and turned it round vigorously, but a ringing noise persisted. Then he located the sound. It came from his left sleeve.
He groped inside and brought out a small package about an inch square, wrapped up neatly in red paper. On it was written in a thin, spidery hand: To Mr Tao. Personal.
'So it's from her! ' he muttered. 'Must have got a girl friend, the wench that bumped into me in front of the captain's house. The quick-fingered hussy slipped this into my sleeve. How did she know I would be visiting Nee, though?'
He got up and went to the entrance of the hall. He put the package on the side table there, as far as possible from Judge Dee's desk. Then he returned to the sandalwood couch and laid himself down again. This time he slept at once.
He woke up only towards noon. He had just stepped into his boots and was stretching his stiff limbs luxuriously when the door opened and the majordomo showed Judge Dee and Tao Gan inside.
Judge Dee walked straight to his desk in the rear of the hall. While Chiao Tai and Tao Gan sat down in their accustomed seats, the judge took a large city map from a drawer and spread it out in front of him. Then he said to Chiao Tai:
'We had a long talk with Liang Foo. Our first assumption seems to have been right, after all. The Censor must have come back to Canton because he had discovered that the Arabs here are planning to make trouble.'
Chiao Tai listened intently while Judge Dee gave him a summary of the conversation. The judge concluded:
'Liang confirmed what the prostitute in the temple told me, namely, that the Arabs frequent the Tanka brothels. So there is plenty of opportunity for those two groups to get together. That explains why the Censor was murdered with a poison peculiar to those sinister waterfolk. And the dwarf whom you two saw in the wine-house on the quay, together with the Arab assassin, was evidently a Tanka. Now the unknown person who strangled that assassin in the passage used the silk scarf of a Tanka murderer. So it would seem that the group opposing the Arab trouble-makers is employing Tanka also. It's all very puzzling. Anyway, I am not going to risk those Arabs starting anything here. I told the Governor to convene a meeting in the council hall at two o'clock to discuss precautionary measures. How did it fare with you, Chiao Tai?'
'I found the dancer, sir. And she has indeed Tanka blood, from her mother. Unfortunately her patron is a jealous fellow, so she didn't dare to have a longer talk with me on the boat where he has established her. She said, however, that sometimes he also meets her in a small house of his south of the Kwang-siao Temple, and she'll let me know when I can have a second meeting with her there. She only visits it occasionally, for being a pariah, she's not allowed to dwell ashore.'
'I know,' Judge Dee said peevishly. 'The pariah class must be abolished, it's a disgrace to a great nation like ours. It's our duty to educate those backward unfortunates, then grant them full citizenship. Did you also visit Captain Nee?'
'I did, sir. Found him a pleasant, well-informed fellow. He had quite a bit to say about Mansur — as I had expected.'
After he had been told the captain's story, Judge Dee remarked:
'You'd better be careful with that captain, Chiao Tai. I can't believe that tale. It doesn't tally with what I heard from Liang Foo. Mansur is a wealthy princeling; why should he stoop to blackmail? And where did Nee get that story, anyway? Let me see, he told you that he had decided to stay on shore for a few years, because he likes a quiet life, and wants to devote himself to the study of mysticism. That doesn't ring true at all! He is a sailor, and a sailor needs stronger reasons than that to keep away from the sea! I think Nee himself was in love with that woman, and her family married her off during one of his voyages. Nee is staying on here, hoping that sooner or later her elderly husband will die, thus enabling him to marry his old love. Of course Nee hates Mansur because of the Arab's affair with his lady-love, and therefore he concocted that blackmail story. How does that strike you?'