"Over there in that dark house!" Ma Joong shouted. He rushed ahead, kicked the door open and entered, followed by his two companions.
They ran across a deserted sitting room to a broad wooden staircase. Upstairs there was only one large room, on the street side. It presented a confused scene. In the center two ruffians were beating and kicking two men who lay writhing on the floor. A half-dressed woman was cowering by the bed near the door; on the bed in front of the window another woman was trying to cover her nakedness with a loincloth.
The ruffians let go of their victims. One of them, a thickset fellow with a patch over his right eye, picked out Master Lan as the weakest link in the attack, misled by the boxer's shaven head. He launched a quick blow at Lan's face. The boxer moved his head imperceptibly; as the blow glanced past his face he gave the man's shoulder a casual push. The ruffian shot forward like an arrow from the bow and fell against the wall with a crash that made the plaster come down. At the same time the other ruffian had ducked, aiming a thrust with his head at Ma Joong's stomach. But the latter raised his knee so that it hit the other right in his face. The naked woman screamed again.
The one-eyed man had gotten up. He said, panting:
"If I had my sword I'd make mincemeat out of you crooks!"
Ma Joong wanted to knock him down, but Lan laid a restraining hand on his arm.
"I believe," he said quietly, "that we are joining the wrong side, brother." To the ruffians he added: "These two men are officers of the tribunal."
The two victims, who had scrambled up now, hurriedly made for the door, but Chiao Tai quickly stood himself in their way.
The face of the one-eyed man had lit up. Looking the three friends over he instinctively addressed himself to Chiao Tai, saying:
"I regret the mistake, officer! We thought you were in with those two touts. Me and my friend are foot soldiers of the Northern Army, on leave."
"Show your papers!" Chiao Tai said curtly. The man pulled a crumpled-up envelope from his girdle. It bore the large seal of the Northern Army. Chiao Tai quickly looked through the papers inside. As he gave the envelope back he said:
"That is in order. Tell your story."
"The wench on the couch there," the soldier began, "accosted us in the street, and invited us to come up and amuse ourselves. We went in, and found that other wench waiting here. We paid in advance, and amused ourselves, then we had a nap. When we woke up, we found all our money gone. I started shouting, then those two slick touts appeared, and said the two wenches were their wives. If we didn't go away quietly, they would call the military police and report we had raped the women.
"We were in a nasty fix, for once the military police have you, I tell you that you go through all the Ten Hells, guilty or not. They'll beat a fellow up just to keep warm. So we decided to say good-by to our money, but first give those two bastards something to remember us by."
Ma Joong had been looking the two other men up and down. Now he exclaimed suddenly:
"Don't I recognize these two heroes! They belong to the second brothel two streets down!"
The two men immediately fell on their knees and begged for clemency. The elder one produced a money pouch from his sleeve, and handed it to the one-eyed soldier. Ma Joong said disgustedly: "Can't you dog's heads think up a new trick, for once? You are getting tiresome! You come to the tribunal, and the women too."
"You can file a complaint," Chiao Tai said to the soldiers.
The one-eyed man gave his comrade a doubtful look. Then he said:
"To tell you the truth, officer, we had rather not. We are due back in camp in two days, and kneeling in the tribunal is not our idea of a last good fling. We have our money back, and I must say the girls did their best. Couldn't you allow us to leave it at that?"
Chiao Tai looked at Ma Joong, who shrugged his shoulders and said:
"It's the same to me. We have those touts anyway because this is not a licensed house." He asked the elder man: "Hey you, do you rent this house also to gentlemen who bring their own bed-warmers?"
"Never, Excellency," the man answered virtuously. "It's against the law to give the clients opportunities with unregistered women. You'll find such a house in the next street, near the wine house, The Breeze of Spring. The proprietress wasn't even a member of our association. But the house is closed now, she died day before yesterday."
"May her soul rest in peace," Ma Joong said piously. "Well, then, we are about through here. We'll have the warden of the market and his men convey these two fellows and their ladies to the tribunal." And to the soldiers, "You can go."
"Thanks very much, officer," the one-eyed soldier said gratefully. "That's the first stroke of luck these last days. After that mishap with my eye we got nothing but trouble."
When Ma Joong saw that the shivering naked woman on the bed hesitated to get her clothes, he shouted:
"Don't be prudish, my girl! All you have is an advertisement for the house."
As the girl got down from the bed, Lan Tao-kuei turned his back on her and casually asked the soldier:
"What happened to your eye?"
"It got frozen when we were on our way here down from Five Rams Village," the soldier replied. "We looked for someone to help us to get to the city quick, but we saw only an old fellow on horseback. And he must have been a crook for he galloped away as soon as he had seen us. I said to my mate . . ."
"Halt!" Ma Joong interrupted him. "Was that fellow carrying something along with him?"
The soldier scratched his head. Then he said:
"Yes, now you mention it, he had a leather bag or something hanging on the pommel."
Ma Joong gave Chiao Tai a quick look.
"It so happens," he said to the soldier, "that our judge is interested in the fellow you saw. You'll have to come around to the tribunal, but I promise it won't take long." Turning to Master Lan he said: "Let's be on our way."
"Now that I have seen that you two fellows actually earn your pay," the boxer said with a grin, "I'll say good-by here. I'll pick up some food, then I am going to the bathhouse."
Eighth Chapter
When Ma Joong and Chiao Tai arrived at the tribunal together with the two soldiers, the guards at the gate said that Tao Gan was back already, and now closeted with the judge and Sergeant Hoong in the private office. Ma Joong told them that soon the warden of the market would come bringing two men and two women. The men could be handed to the warden of the jail, and they were to summon Mrs. Kuo to take care of the two prostitutes. These things having been attended to, they went on to Judge Dee's office. They told the two soldiers to wait in the corridor outside.
The judge was deep in conversation with Hoong and Tao Gan, but when he saw his two other lieutenants enter he ordered them to report immediately.
Ma Joong gave a detailed account of what had happened in the market, saying in conclusion that the two soldiers were waiting outside.
Judge Dee looked very pleased. He said:
"Together with what Tao Gan found out, we now have at least a general idea of what happened to that girl. But bring those soldiers in first."
When the two soldiers had respectfully greeted the judge, he made them tell their story again in detail. Then he said:
"Your information is very important. I'll give you a letter to the military commander, proposing that you two be assigned to garrison duty in the neighboring district, so that I can summon you to deliver testimony should that prove necessary. The Sergeant shall now take you to the jail and confront you with a suspect there, then you'll go to the chancery and dictate a statement to the clerk. You can go."