He had an adjutant take him straight to the Governor's private study on the second floor of the main building.
It was a small but elegantly furnished room. The arched windows looked out over the palace garden and the lotus lake. A teaset of eggshell porcelain and a jade bowl filled with white roses stood on the tea-table to the left, the right wall being taken up entirely by a heavy ebony bookcase. The Governor was sitting behind a high desk that stood in the rear. He was giving instructions to an old clerk standing by the side of his chair.
When the Governor saw Judge Dee, he hurriedly rose and came round from behind his desk to greet him. He invited the judge to be seated in the comfortable armchair next to the tea-table, and himself took the chair opposite. After the old clerk had served tea, the Governor dismissed him. Leaning forward with his hands on his knees, he asked tensely:
'What's afoot, Excellency? I saw the proclamation you issued. Who is that high official?'
Judge Dee eagerly emptied his teacup. He suddenly noticed how tired he was. He put his cup down, loosened the collar of his robe and then said placidly:
'It was a most unfortunate tragedy. The Censor Lew was murdered here, you know. The dead body I found in the Temple of the Flowery Pagoda was his, in fact. I shall now give you the official version of what happened. The Censor came to Canton because of a love affair with a local girl. She had a lover already, and that scoundrel poisoned him. My proclamation was a ruse. It made a friend of the murderer come forward and denounce him. He has been arrested, and even now is being conveyed to the capital, for a secret trial. You will understand that even this official version, concise as it is, must not be divulged. The central government does not like the indiscretions of high officials to be bruited about.' 'I see,' the Governor said slowly. 'I fully realize how awkward your position is,' Judge Dee said gently. 'I remember vividly the occasions when a ranking official from the capital visited my territory, when I was still a district magistrate. But such things can't be helped; they are inherent in our administrative system.' The Governor gave the judge a grateful glance. Then he asked: 'Would it be possible to tell me why the residence of Mr Liang has been surrounded by military guards?'
'I received information that Tanka robbers had entered his house. I went there to warn him, but found that he had met one, and had died from a heart attack. My lieutenants are now rounding up the robbers. This affair too must be treated with the utmost discretion. For Mr Liang was a distinguished citizen, and if it became known among the people of Canton that it was Tanka who had caused his death, there might be communal trouble. You shall leave this matter entirely in the hands of my two lieutenants.' He took a sip from his tea. 'As to the Arab question, I have taken measures for the arrest of Mansur, the ringleader. After he has been put behind lock and key, the emergency measures for the maintenance of the public peace can be cancelled. I shall lay before the Grand Council the proposal I outlined to you yesterday relating to the segregation of barbarians. So there need be no fear of future trouble from them.'
'I see,' the Governor said again. After a while he resumed, rather diffidently, 'I hope that all the ah ... irregularities that occurred here will not be ascribed to an inefficient administration, sir. If the authorities in the capital received the impression that I had been er ... remiss in my duties, I...' He darted a worried glance at his guest.
But Judge Dee did not take the hint. Instead he said quietly: 'In the course of my investigation there have come to light a few facts not germane to the main issue, yet not without importance. In the first place the circumstances of the death of Mrs Pao. The Prefect is looking into those, and I prefer that you leave it to him to wind up that tragic case. Second, I learned about another tragedy that occurred here, many years ago. Regarding a Persian lady who committed suicide.' He cast a quick glance at his host. The Governor's face had suddenly paled. The judge went on, 'When we met in the garden pavilion yesterday morning, you were most eager to take the investigation of the Persian community out of my hands. Since apparently you have made a special study of their affairs, you can supply me with more details about this tragedy, I suppose.'
The Governor averted his face. He stared out through the window at the green palace roofs. Judge Dee took a large white rose from the bowl, and inhaled its delicate fragrance. The Governor began in a strained voice:
'It happened many years ago, when I had been sent out to serve as a junior assistant in the tribunal here. My first post, as a matter of fact. I was young and impressionable, and the exotic features of the foreign communities captured my fancy. I frequented the house of a Persian merchant, and met his daughter. We fell in love with each other. She was a refined, beautiful girl. I failed to notice that she was highly-strung, of an extremely nervous disposition.' He turned round and looking the judge full in the face, went on, 'I loved her so much I decided to give up my career and marry her. One day she let me know that she could not see me any more. Like the foolish youngster I was, I suspected nothing, I thought she wanted to end our relationship. In despair I began to frequent a Chinese courtesan. Then, after some months, she sent a message. It said that I was to meet her that day at dusk, in the Temple of the Flowery Pagoda. I found her sitting in the tea-pavilion, all alone.' He lowered his eyes and fixed them on his tightly clasped hands. 'She was wearing a long saffron robe; a thin silk shawl was draped round her small head. I wanted to speak, but she cut me short and told me to take her up the pagoda. In silence we climbed the steep stairs, higher and higher, till we were on the narrow platform of the highest storey, the ninth. She went to stand by the balustrade. The rays of the setting sun threw a reddish glow over the sea of roofs, far below. Without looking at me, she told me in a strange, impersonal voice that she had twin girls by me. Since I had deserted her, she had drowned them. While I stood there petrified, she suddenly stepped over the balustrade. I ... I...'
He had been controlling his voice with a great effort, but now he broke down completely and buried his face in his hands. Judge Dee caught a little of what he was muttering: 'I meant well, heaven is my witness! And she ... It was just that ... that we were too young. Too young....'
The judge waited for the Governor to regain his self-control. He slowly turned the rose round in his hand, watching the white petals as they dropped on to the shining black table top, one by one. When the Governor at last raised his head, the judge put the flower back into the bowl and said:
'She must have loved you very dearly, else she would not have become possessed by such a fierce desire to hurt you. And so she killed herself, and told you the lie about killing your two daughters.' As the Governor was about to jump up, Judge Dee raised his hand. 'Yes, that was a lie. She gave the twins to a Chinese friend. When he went bankrupt, a Chinese with Persian blood, who had known her mother, took them and looked after them well. They have grown up into charming young girls, I am told.'
'Where are they? Who is the man?' the Governor burst out.
'His name is Nee, the sea captain I mentioned to you once. He is a mystic, a somewhat peculiar man, but a man of principles, I must admit. Although he had been told that you had basely deceived the young Persian lady, he preferred to remain silent, because he thought that no one would be served by stirring up this old affair, least of all the two girls. You might go to see him some day; incognito, perhaps. The captain has technically become your son-in-law by now, if my information is correct.' The judge rose. Straightening his robe, he added, 'I shall forget everything you have told me here and now.'