He looked out of the window and saw the black mass of the Drum Tower looming against the starry winter sky.
"We'll soon be there!" he said.
The bearers halted in front of an imposing gate. The high, red-lacquered doors swung open, and a very tall and heavy man, swathed in costly sable furs, came forward and helped the judge descend from his palanquin. He had a broad, florid face and a neatly trimmed black beard.
After Chu Ta-yuan had welcomed the judge, two other men made their bows. Judge Dee recognized with dismay the old guild-master Liao with his thin face and quavering gray goatee. He reflected that during the dinner Liao would certainly question him about the progress made in locating his lost daughter. The young man standing next to him was Yu Kang, Chu's secretary. Seeing his pallid, nervous face, the judge knew that he also would doubtless ask news about his fiancee.
Judge Dee was still more dismayed when Chu, instead of taking them to the large reception hall inside, led them to an open terrace in the southern wing.
"I had planned," Chu Ta-yuan said boisterously, "to offer Your Honor a dinner in the hall, but we are but simple northern peasants here, you know; we could never compete with the cooking Your Honor gets at home! I thought Your Honor would much prefer to have a real hunter's dinner out in the open. Roasted meat and rustic liquor, just country fare, you know, but not entirely without taste, I hope!"
The judge made a polite reply but secretly he thought this idea of Chu's a most unfortunate one. The wind had subsided, and high screens of felt stood all around the terrace, but it was still very cold. The judge shivered. His throat was feeling sore. He thought he must have caught a bad cold that morning in Pan's house, and would have much preferred a comfortable dinner in the warm hall.
The terrace was lighted by numerous torches; their flickering light shone on a large square formed by four tables, thick boards placed on trestles. In the center stood an enormous brazier, heaped with glowing coals. Three servants stood around it, roasting pieces of meat on long iron forks.
Chu Ta-yuan made the judge sit down on a campstool at the head of the table, between himself and Master Liao. Sergeant Hoong and Tao Gan were placed at the table on the right, together with Chu's secretary, Yu Kang, opposite two elderly men whom Chu introduced as the masters of the guilds of the paper merchants and wine dealers. Ma Joong and Chiao Tai sat at the table opposite the judge, with the boxing master Lan Tao-kuei.
Judge Dee looked with interest at the famous boxer, the champion of the northern provinces. The light shone on his closely shaved head and face. The boxer had shaved off all hair so as not to be encumbered by it while fighting. The judge knew from the enthusiastic tales of Ma Joong and Chiao Tai that Lan devoted himself entirely to his art; he had never married and he lived a most austere life. While making the usual polite conversation with Chu, Judge Dee reflected that he was glad that Ma Joong and Chiao Tai had found in Pei-chow such congenial friends in Chu Ta-yuan and Lan Tao-kuei.
Chu proposed a toast to the judge, which he had to return, although the raw liquor hurt his aching throat.
Then Chu inquired after the murder, and Judge Dee gave him a brief account, in between tastes of the roasted meat. But the fat made his stomach turn. He tried to pick up some vegetables but found it difficult to handle the chopsticks as the others did with gloves on. He impatiently pulled them off, but then his fingers froze and made eating still more difficult.
"That murder," Chu said in a hoarse whisper, "has greatly disturbed our friend, Liao, here. He fears that his daughter Lien-fang may have met with a similar sad fate. Couldn't Your Honor cheer him up a bit?"
Judge Dee said a few words to Master Liao about the efforts made to locate his daughter, but that encouraged the gray-beard to launch upon a long account of her excellent qualities. The judge felt much sympathy for the old gentleman, but he had heard his story several times in the tribunal, and he had a splitting headache. His face was glowing, but his back and legs were ice-cold. He wondered unhappily whether his wives and children would not have a very uncomfortable journey in this weather.
Chu again leaned over to the judge, and said:
"I do hope that Your Honor will find that girl, either dead or alive! My secretary is fretting himself to death about her; I quite understand, mind you, for she is his fiancee, and a fine wench. But there is much work to do on my property, you know, and the fellow really hasn't been much use, of late!"
Whispering at his ear, Chu enveloped the judge in a smell of liquor and garlic. He suddenly felt sick. He murmured that everything possible was being done to find Miss Liao, then rose and asked to be excused for a moment.
At a sign from Chu, a servant with a lamp led Judge Dee inside. Through a maze of dark corridors they reached a small courtyard with a row of washrooms at its back. Judge Dee quickly entered one of them.
When he came out another servant stood waiting for him with a copper basin of hot water. The judge rubbed his face and neck with a hot towel, and felt somewhat better.
"You needn't wait!" he told the servant, "I remember the way." He started pacing the moonlit courtyard. It was very quiet there. The judge thought he must be somewhere at the back of this vast mansion.
After a while he decided to rejoin the party. But inside the house the corridors were pitch-dark and he soon found he had lost his bearings. He clapped his hands to summon a servant, but no one answered. Apparently all the servants were out on the terrace serving the dinner.
Peering ahead he saw a faint streak of light. Carefully walking on he came to a door standing ajar. It gave onto a small garden, surrounded by a high wooden fence. It was empty except for a few shrubs in the farthest corner, near the back door. The branches were weighed down by a thick coat of frozen snow. Looking out over this garden, Judge Dee suddenly felt afraid. "I must really be getting ill!" he muttered. "What is there to be afraid of in this peaceful back garden?" He forced himself to descend the wooden steps, and walked across the garden to the back door. The only sound he heard was the crunching of the snow under his boots. But he felt positively afraid now; the uncanny feeling of a hidden menace was upon him. He involuntarily halted in his steps, and looked around. His heart stood still, A strange white figure was sitting motionless under the shrubs.
Standing stock-still, the judge stared at it in horror. Then he sighed with relief. It was a snowman, made to resemble a life-size Buddhist priest sitting cross-legged against the fence, in meditation.
The judge wanted to laugh, but the smile froze on his lips. The two pieces of charcoal that represented the snowman's eyes had disappeared, and the empty sockets fixed him with an evil leer. There emanated from the figure an oppressive atmosphere of death and decay.
Sudden panic seized the judge. He turned and quickly walked back to the house. He stumbled while climbing the steps, and hurt his shin. But he walked ahead as fast as he could, feeling along the wall of the dark corridor.
After two turns he met a servant with a lamp, and he was led back to the terrace.
The diners, in high spirits, were lustily intoning a hunting song. Chu Ta-yuan was beating the measure with his chopsticks. As he saw the judge Chu quickly rose. He said anxiously:
"Your Honor doesn't look too well!"
"I must have caught a bad cold," Judge Dee said with a forced smile, "and imagine, a snowman in your back yard gave me quite a fright!"
Chu laughed loudly.
"I'll tell the servants that their children may make only funny snowmen," he said. "Here, another drink will do Your Honor good!"