Judge Dee nodded. "In winter its efficiency should be at its peak," he remarked. "All the sap is then accumulated in the roots."
"Your Honor has expert knowledge!" Kuo said, surprised.
The judge shrugged his shoulders.
"I like to read old books on medicine," he replied. He felt something move along his feet. Looking down he saw a small white cat. It limped away and started to stroke its back against Kuo's leg. Kuo picked it up carefully and said:
"I found it in the street with a broken leg. I put it in a splint but unfortunately it did not set rightly. I should have asked the boxing master Lan Tao-kuei, he is a wonderful bone-setter."
"My lieutenants told me about him," Judge Dee said. "According to them he is the greatest boxer and wrestler they ever saw."
"He is a good man, Your Honor," Kuo said. "There aren't many like him!"
With a sigh he put the kitten down again.
The blue curtain at the back of the shop was drawn aside and a tall, slender woman entered, carrying a tray with cups of tea. As she offered him his cup with a graceful bow, the judge noticed that she had a regular, delicately chiseled face. She wore no makeup, but her face was smooth and white as the purest white jade. Her hair was done simply in three coils. Four large cats followed on her heels.
"I have seen you about in the tribunal," Judge Dee said. "I am told that you keep the woman's jail in excellent order."
Mrs. Kuo bowed again and said:
"Your Honor is too kind. There is very little work in the jail; except for now and then a female camp follower who strays here from the north, the jail is empty."
The judge was agreeably surprised by her self-possessed, yet perfectly courteous, manner of speaking.
While he sipped the excellent jasmine tea, Mrs. Kuo carefully draped a fur cloak around her husband's shoulders. Judge Dee saw the affectionate look she gave him while she knotted his neckcloth.
Judge Dee felt reluctant to leave. The peaceful atmosphere of this small shop, pervaded by the fragrance of sweet herbs, was a welcome change after the sickening scene in the cold murder room. With a regretful sigh he put down his cup and said:
"Well, I have to be on my way!"
He stepped outside and was carried back to the tribunal.
Third Chapter
Judge Dee found the archivist waiting for him in his private office. While Sergeant Hoong and Tao Gan busied themselves over the tea stove in the corner, Judge Dee sat down behind his desk. Standing respectfully at his side, the archivist placed a sheaf of documents on the desk.
"Call the chief clerk!" the judge ordered as he started to glance through the papers.
When the clerk came in, Judge Dee looked up and said: "Presently the headman will bring the body of Mrs. Pan to the tribunal. I won't have outsiders and idlers gaping at it, so the autopsy shall not be conducted in public. Tell your assistants to help the coroner Kuo prepare everything in the side hall here, and tell the guards that besides the personnel of the tribunal, nobody shall be admitted except the two brothers of the victim, and the warden of the south quarter."
Sergeant Hoong handed the judge a cup of steaming tea. After a few sips he said with a faint smile:
"Our tea can't compare with the jasmine tea I had just now in Kuo's pharmacy. By the way, the Kuos are a rather ill-assorted couple—but they seem happy enough together."
"Mrs. Kuo was a widow," Tao Gan said. "Her first husband was a butcher here, Wang I think his name was. He died four years ago after a drinking bout. Lucky for the woman, I would say, for I have heard that he was a mean, dissolute fellow."
"Yes," the archivist added, "Butcher Wang left large debts, also in the brothel behind the market. His widow sold the shop and everything in it, but that covered only the debts incurred elsewhere. The brothel-keeper insisted that she serve as a bondmaid with him for settling the debt, but then old Kuo stepped in. He paid the money and married her."
Judge Dee impressed the large red seal of the tribunal on the document before him. Looking up, he remarked:
"She seems quite an educated woman."
"She learned much about drugs and medicine from old Kuo, Your Honor," the archivist said. "She is a fine women's doctor now. At first people disapproved of her going about in public so freely, her being a married woman, but now they are very glad that she does. She can treat women patients much better than a man, who is of course allowed only to feel their pulse."
"I am glad she is the matron of our women's jail," the judge said as he handed the papers to the archivist. "As a rule those women are despicable harridans who must be controlled continually in order to prevent them from maltreating and cheating the inmates."
The archivist opened the door but stood aside to let pass two large, broad-shouldered men, clad in thick leather riding jackets and wearing fur caps with ear flaps. These were Ma Joong and Chiao Tai, Judge Dee's other two lieutenants.
As they strode in the judge gave them an affectionate look. Originally both had been highwaymen, "brothers of the green woods," as they are euphemistically called. Twelve years before, when Judge Dee was traveling to his first post as magistrate, they had attacked him on a lonely stretch of the road. But they had been so impressed by Judge Dee's fearless and compelling personality that they had then and there forsworn their violent life and entered the judge's service. In the ensuing years this formidable pair had proved very useful to the judge in the apprehension of dangerous criminals and other difficult and risky tasks.
"What was the matter?" Judge Dee asked Ma Joong.
Loosening his neckcloth Ma Joong replied with a grin:
"Nothing to speak of, Your Honor. Two gangs of chair-bearers got quarreling in that wine shop, and when brother Chiao and I came in they were just settling down to a real knife fight. But the two of us patted them on their heads a little, and soon after, all went home quietly. We brought along the four ringleaders and if Your Honor approves we might let them pass the night in jail."
"That's all right," the judge said. "By the way, did you get that wolf the farmers were complaining about?"
"Yes, Your Honor," Ma Joong answered, "and a mighty fine hunt it was! Our friend Chu Ta-yuan spotted the fellow first, a large brute. But he fumbled getting the arrow on the string, and Chiao Tai put his straight in its throat! A fine shot, Your Honor!"
"Chu's fumbling gave me my chance," Chiao Tai remarked with his quiet smile. "I don't know why he bungled the shot, he is a marvelous bowman."
"And he is at it every day, too," Ma Joong added. "You should see him practice on those life-size targets he fashions out of snow! He shoots while galloping around them, and nearly every arrow hits them right in the head!" Ma Joong sighed in admiration. Then he asked: "What is that murder all the people are talking about, Your Honor?"
Judge Dee's face fell. "That is a nasty affair," he said. "You go to the side hall now, and see whether we can start on the autopsy."
When Ma Joong and Chiao Tai came back and announced that everything was ready, Judge Dee went to the side hall, followed by the Sergeant and Tao Gan.
The headman of the constables and two clerks stood waiting by the side of a high table. As the judge sat down behind it, his four lieutenants ranged themselves along the wall opposite. Judge Dee noticed Yeh Pin and Yeh Tai standing in a corner, together with Warden Kao. The judge answered their bows with a nod, then gave the sign to Kuo.