'Yau would indeed do nicely as patron of Zumurrud,' he said.
Judge Dee nodded and resumed:
'Finally, I come back to this morning's outrage. Mansur has gone into hiding; he wouldn't dare to follow and spy on Zumurrud. I think it was either her patron or his henchman who sent the javelin-thrower, to kill her. For he was afraid that she would reveal his identity, and he had to sacrifice her to his own safety.
'Now I shall tell you the practical consequences of all this theorizing. On the basis of the facts at our disposal now, we can't take any steps against the Governor, the Prefect or Mr Liang, for to all appearances none of them is in any way connected with the crimes perpetrated here. We must, therefore, attack the criminal, whoever he is, through his henchmen. Mansur has disappeared, but we still have Yau. I shall have him arrested at once, on the charge of being implicated in Mrs Pao's murder. The arrest will be made in complete secrecy, by my four agents. I shall send you two away on some faked mission, to divert the attention of the criminal who is watching our every move. Once Yau is under lock and key, I shall search his house, and...'
The door burst open and Chiao Tai came rushing in, breathing heavily.
'Her body is gone!’ he shouted.
Judge Dee sat up in his chair.
'Gone?' he asked perplexed.
'Yes, sir. When I unlocked the door, we saw only the empty bed. There were a few drops of blood on the floor between the bed and the window, and a large smear on the sill. Someone must have entered by the window. He took the body away, over the roofs into the Arab quarter. We made house to house inquiries there, but nobody had heard or seen anything. It is...'
'What about her maid, and the people on her boat?' Judge Dee interrupted. 'Did they know who her patron was?'
'The body of the maidservant was found floating in the river, sir. Strangled. And the crew had hardly ever seen her patron; he used to come and go in the night, and always kept his face covered with his neckcloth. The swine, they...' He choked on the words.
The judge leaned back in his chair. 'Utterly preposterous!’ he muttered.
Chiao Tai sat down heavily, and vigorously rubbed his moist face with the tip of his sleeve. Tao Gan bestowed a thoughtful glance upon him. He started to say something, then changed his mind and looked at Judge Dee. When the judge made no comment, Tao Gan poured a cup of tea for Chiao Tai. His friend gulped it down, then sat there staring straight ahead with unseeing eyes. There was an uneasy silence.
At last the judge got up, came round from behind his desk, and began to pace the floor, his bushy eyebrows creased in a deep frown.
Tao Gan anxiously watched Judge Dee's face every time he walked past, but he seemed completely oblivious of his two lieutenants. Finally he halted in front of the nearest window, and remained standing there, his hands behind his back, looking out over the palace yard, which was sweltering in the strong morning sun. Tao Gan pulled Chiao Tai's sleeve. He told him in a whisper about the impending arrest of Yau Tai-kai. Chiao Tao nodded absent-mindedly.
Suddenly Judge Dee turned round. Stepping up to them, he said in brief, hurried phrases:
'The stealing of the body is the criminal's first mistake. But a fatal one. I now understand his warped personality. I was partly right, but the main point escaped me. Now I see all that has happened here in its true light. I shall confront that man at once with his dastardly crimes, and make him tell me who his sponsors are!' He paused, then added with a frown, 'I can't arrest him outright, for he is a resourceful and determined man, and he might kill himself rather than give me the information I so desperately need. On the other hand he may have his henchmen about him, and I must take certain precautions. You will accompany me, Tao Gan. Chiao Tai, you call my four agents, and the captain of the palace guards!'
XXII
The headman of Judge Dee's palankeen bearers had to knock for a long time before the high double gate opened. The bent figure of the old house steward appeared. With bleary eyes he looked astonished at the two visitors.
'Please announce us to your master,' the judge told him affably. 'Tell him that this is quite an informal visit; I want to see him for a few moments only.'
The steward led the judge and Tao Gan to the second hall and asked them to sit down on one of the enormous benches of carved ebony. Then he shuffled away.
Judge Dee silently stared at the huge coloured murals and slowly stroked his long beard. Tao Gan darted uneasy glances now at the judge, now at the door.
Sooner than Judge Dee had expected, the steward came back. 'This way, please!’ he wheezed.
He took them through a corridor in the west section of the compound to a wing that seemed completely deserted. They met no one in the series of empty courtyards, whose white flagstones lay blazing in the sun. At the rear of the third, the old man entered a cool, semi-dark corridor. It led to a flight of broad wooden stairs, blackened by age.
At the top the steward halted for a moment to regain his breath, then took them up two other staircases, each narrower than the one before. They came upon a spacious landing. A faint breeze blew through the latticework of the high windows. Apparently they were on the top floor of a kind of tower. No carpet covered the floorboards, there was only a tea-table and two high-backed chairs. Above the double door in the back wall hung a huge wooden board bearing four engraved characters: 'Ancestral Hall of the Liang Family', in the impressive calligraphy of the former Emperor.
'The master is waiting for Your Excellency inside,' the steward said, as he pushed the door open.
Judge Dee gave a sign to Tao Gan who took one of the chairs at the tea-table. Then the judge entered.
He was met by the heavy smell of Indian incense. It came from the large bronze burner on the high altar in the rear of the hall, dimly lit by two candelabras. Below the altar stood a magnificent antique sacrificial table, laid out for a memorial service. Liang Foo was sitting at a lower table in front of it, wearing a ceremonial robe of dark-green brocade and the high cap indicating his literary degree.
He rose quickly and came to meet the judge.
'I do hope you did not mind all those steps, sir!’ he said with a courteous smile.
'Not at all!’ Judge Dee assured him quickly. After a glance at the life-size picture of Admiral Liang in full armour hanging on the wall opposite, he added, 'I deeply regret that I have to interrupt memorial rites for your late father.'
'Your Excellency is welcome at any time,' Liang said calmly. 'And my late father won't mind interruption; he was always wont to put official matters before his family interests — as his children knew only too well! Be seated, please!’
He led his guest to a chair on the right of the table. On it lay a large chess-board, a few black and white pieces distributed over it in a pattern suggesting the final phase of a game. By its side stood two brass bowls, one containing the discarded white pieces, the other the black. Liang had apparently been studying a chess problem. Sitting down and straightening his robe, Judge Dee said:
'I wanted to discuss with you a few new facts that have come to light, Mr Liang.' He waited till his host had seated himself on the other side of the table, then added, 'More in particular about the theft of a woman's dead body.'
JUDGE DEE DISCUSSES A CHESS-PROBLEM
Liang raised his curved eyebrows.
'What a curious object to steal! You must tell me more about it! But let's first have a cup of tea!’
He rose and went to the tea-table in the corner.
The judge quickly looked round him. The flickering light of the candles shone on the offerings on the sacrificial table, covered with a piece of embroidered brocade. On it stood golden vessels heaped with rice cakes and fruit, between two fine antique vases filled with fresh flowers. The broad niche above the sacrificial table, where the soul-tablets of the ancestors are always displayed, was hidden by a scarlet curtain. The heavy fragrance of the incense could not conceal the curious smell of foreign spices, which seemed to come from behind the scarlet curtain. Raising his head, the judge saw that the room was very high, and the grey incense clouds clustered about the blackened rafters. The bare floor consisted of broad wooden boards, polished to a dark, glossy finish. He rose abruptly. Pulling his chair round to the left side of the table, he remarked casually to Liang, who was coming up to him: