The judge said with a frown:
"When he comes back you will tell him to repair to this tribunal immediately. He must personally register his withdrawal of the charge against Pan Feng." He rapped his gavel, then announced:
"Pan Feng is now released. This tribunal will continue its efforts to locate the murderer of his wife."
Pan Feng hastily knocked his forehead on the floor several times to show his gratitude. When he rose Yeh Pin quickly stepped up to him and started to apologize.
Judge Dee ordered the headman to bring the brothel-keeper, the two procurers and the two prostitutes before him. He handed the cancelled receipts to the women and told them they were free. Then he condemned the brothel-keeper and the two touts to three months in prison, to be released after a flogging. The three men started to protest loudly, the brothel-keeper loudest of all. For he reflected that a lacerated back will heal, but that it is difficult to recover the purchase price of two strapping wenches. While the constables dragged the men off to jail, the judge told the two prostitutes that they could work in the kitchen of the tribunal, pending the departure of the military convoy that would take them back to their native place.
The two women prostrated themselves before the bench and expressed their gratitude with tears in their eyes.
When Judge Dee had closed the session he ordered Sergeant Hoong to call Chu Ta-yuan to his private office.
The judge sat down behind his desk, and motioned Chu to take an armchair. His four lieutenants took their customary places on the stools in front. A clerk served tea in mournful silence.
Then Judge Dee spoke:
"Last night I did not further discuss the murder of Master Lan, because I wanted first to have the results of the autopsy, and also because I wanted to have the advice of Mr. Chu here, who has known the master all his life."
"I'll do anything I can to bring the fiend who killed our boxer to justice!" Chu Ta-yuan burst out. "He was the finest athlete I have ever seen. Has Your Honor any idea who could have done that foul deed?"
"The murderer," Judge Dee said, "was a young Tartar, or at least a man dressed up like one."
Sergeant Hoong shot a quick look at Tao Gan. Then he said:
"We have been wondering, Your Honor, why it should be that youngster who murdered Master Lan. After all, there are more than sixty bathers on the list drawn up by Ma Joong and Chiao Tai."
"But none of them," the judge said, "could have gone in and out of Master Lan's room unnoticed. The murderer, however, knew that the attendants wear black oilcloth, and that resembles the black Tartar dress. The murderer entered the bathhouse together with the three youngsters. In the anteroom he did not hand in his tally, but walked straight on to the corridor, posing as an attendant. Remember that the steam is so thick there that one cannot see clearly who is about. He slipped inside Lan's room, put the poisoned flower in the teacup, and walked out again. He left the bathhouse probably by the servants' entrance."
"The clever scoundrel!" Tao Gan exclaimed. "He thought of everything."
"Yet there are some clues," Judge Dee observed. "The Tartar dress and the tally he'll of course have destroyed. But he must have left without noticing that Master Lan in his death struggle tried to make a figure with the Seven Board, and that figure may contain a clue to the criminal's identity. Further, Master Lan must have known the man well, and we have his general description as given by that youngster. Mr. Chu can probably tell us whether Master Lan had a pupil who was thin and rather small and wore his hair fairly long?"
"He did not," Chu Ta-yuan replied immediately. "I know them all, they are husky fellows, and the master insisted that they shave their heads. What a shame, that splendid fighter killed by poison —the despicable weapon of a coward."
All were silent. Then Tao Gan, who had been slowly twisting the three long hairs that sprouted from his left cheek, suddenly said:
"The weapon of a coward, or of a woman!"
"Lan never bothered about women," Chu Ta-yuan said contemptuously. But Tao Gan shook his head. He said:
"That may be precisely the reason why he was killed by one. Lan may have rebuffed a woman, and that causes sometimes a violent hatred."
"I know that much," Ma Joong added, "that many a dancing girl lamented that Master Lan took no notice of her, they told me so themselves. His very reserve seemed to attract the wenches, though only Heaven knows why."
"Stuff and nonsense!" Chu exclaimed angrily.
Judge Dee had been listening silently. Now he said:
"I must say that the idea appeals to me. It would not be difficult for a woman of slight build to disguise herself as a Tartar boy. But then she must have been Master Lan's mistress. For when she went into his bath room he didn't even try to cover himself up. The towels were hanging on the rack."
"Impossible!" Chu shouted. "Master Lan and a mistress! Out of the question!"
"I remember now," Chiao Tai said slowly, "that when we visited him yesterday, he did make unexpectedly a very bitter remark about women, something about them sapping a man's strength. And as a rule he was very mild in his remarks."
As Chu was muttering angrily, Judge Dee took from his drawer the Seven Board that Tao Gan had made for him, and arranged six pieces in the way they had been found on the table. He tried to make a figure by adding the triangle. After a while he said:
"If Lan were murdered by a woman, this figure might contain a clue to her identity. But he disturbed the pieces while falling down, and he died before he could add the last triangle. It's a difficult problem." Brushing the pieces aside he went on: "However that may be, our first task is to investigate all persons Master Lan used to associate with. Mr. Chu, I propose that you now consult with Ma Joong, Chiao Tai and Tao Gan on how to divide this work, so that each can start immediately on his allotted task. Sergeant, you'll go to the market, and question the two other youngsters about the appearance of that Tartar youth. If you do that in a friendly manner, drinking a cup of wine with them or so, they may come up with more information. Ma Joong has their names and addresses. And on your way out, Sergeant, tell Kuo to come here, I want to know more details about that poison."
After Chu Ta-yuan and his four lieutenants had taken their leave, Judge Dee slowly drank a few cups of tea, deep in thought. Yeh Tai's absence worried him. Could the scoundrel suspect that the tribunal was on his heels? The judge rose and started pacing the floor. With Mrs. Pan's murder unsolved, and now the poisoning of Master Lan, it would be a great relief to be able to settle at least the case of Miss Liao.
When Kuo came in the judge greeted him with a few kind words. He sat down again behind his desk, and. motioned the hunchback to take a stool. Then Judge Dee said:
"As a pharmacist you can doubtless tell me how the murderer could have obtained that poison. It must be fairly rare."
Kuo pushed the lock of hair away from his forehead. Placing his large hands on his knees he said:
"Unfortunately it can be easily obtained, Your Honor. If used in small quantities it is a good stimulant for the heart, and therefore most pharmacies keep it in stock."
Judge Dee heaved a sigh. "So we can't hope for a clue there," he said. Placing the pieces of the Seven Board in front of him and shifting them about aimlessly he pursued: "Of course this puzzle might provide a clue."
Judge Dee and coroner Kuo
The hunchback shook his head. He said sadly:
"I don't think so, Your Honor. That poison causes an unendurable pain, and death ensues in a few moments."
"But Master Lan was a man of extraordinary will power," the judge observed, "and he was very clever with this Seven Board. He knew he could not make the door to call an attendant, so I think he tried to indicate the murderer in this way."