"But I still see it all before me!" she cried out. "All those horrible faces!"
"Tell me about it!" Judge Dee said encouragingly. "You know how it is with bad dreams, don't you? Once you have told them, they lose their power over you, and they are gone, gone forever. Who took you up to the gallery?"
A Young Girl in the Hands of Evil Persons
White Rose heaved a deep sigh. Staring at the curtains above her she said slowly: "I remember that after watching the stage show I felt very confused. I have always been close to my brother. I had been terribly frightened when that man threatened him with his sword. I muttered some excuse to Mrs. Pao, and joined my brother backstage. I told him that I was in awful difficulties, and that I wanted to talk with him alone. He told me to go up to his room, posing as him. He had disguised himself as an actress, you know."
She gave the judge a questioning look.
"Yes, I know all about that," Judge Dee said. "What happened after you met us up in the corridor?"
"When I had rounded the corner I ran into Mrs. Pao. She was very angry; she cursed me soundly and practically dragged me to our room. There she made some excuses. She said she was responsible for me, and couldn't allow me to associate with an actress of dubious reputation. I was angry because of her rude behaviour, and that gave me the courage to tell her that I wasn't sure that I wanted to become a nun after all. I added that I wanted to talk things over with Miss Ou-yang, whom I said I had known well in the capital.
"Mrs. Pao took this information rather calmly. She said that the decision was of course up to me, but that the monastery would have started preparations for my initiation, and that she would have to inform the abbot immediately. When she came back, she told me that the abbot wanted to see me."
Turning her eyes to Tsung Lee she continued: "Mrs. Pao took me over to the temple. We went up the staircase on the right. After having gone up and down a few flights of steps we entered a small dressing room. Mrs. Pao said I would have to change into a nun's cowl, as that was the proper dress in which to be received by the abbot. I suddenly realized that they were going to try to force me to become a nun. I refused.
"Then Mrs. Pao flew into a rage. I didn't recognize her any more; she called me awful names. She tore my clothes off. I was so stupefied by the unbelievable change in her that I hardly resisted. She pushed me naked into the next room."
She gave the judge a pitiable look. He quickly made her drink another cup of tea. She went on in a low voice: "I saw a large, luxuriously appointed bedroom. A couch stood against the back wall; the yellow brocade curtains were half drawn. A muffled voice spoke from there: ‘Come here, my bride, you shall now be properly initiated!' I knew at once that I had fallen into a trap set by evil people, and that I must try to escape. I turned round to the door, but the woman grabbed me and quickly bound my hands behind my back. Then she started dragging me by my hair to the couch. I kicked her and screamed for help as loud as I could. ‘Leave her!' the voice said. ‘I want to have a good look at her!' Mrs. Pao forced me down on my knees in front of the couch, then stepped back. I heard a chuckle from the bedstead. It sounded so horrible that I burst out crying. ‘that's better!' Mrs. Pao said. ‘Now be a good girl and do as he says!' I shouted at her that they would have to kill me first. ‘Shall I get the whip?' the loathsome woman asked. But the voice said: ‘No, it wouldn't do to break that nice skin. She needs a little time, to reflect. Put her to sleep!' Mrs. Pao stepped up to me and hit me a sharp blow on the side of my head. I fainted."
Tsung Lee wanted to say something, but Judge Dee raised his hand. After a brief pause White Rose went on: "An excruciating pain in my back made me regain my senses. I was half lying, half hanging over some hard thing. I couldn't see well because my hair was hanging over my face. I tried to open my mouth but I had been gagged. My arms and legs were held by clamps that cut into my flesh at the slightest attempt to move. My back was aching and my skin taut all over, I felt it was covered with a crust of something.
"I felt terrible, but I forgot all pain when I saw through the hair a horrible blue face leering at me. I thought I had died and that I was in the Nether World. I fainted from sheer terror. It was again the pain in my arms and legs that made me come to. By breathing hard through my nose I could blow the hairs apart a little. I realised that the devil pressing the spear to my breast was in fact a wooden statue. I understood that I had been made to replace one of the statues in the Gallery of Horrors and that my body had been painted over with a coat of plaster. My relief at still being alive was soon replaced by a new terror. Someone must be standing behind me with a candle. What new torture were they planning for me, lying there completely defenceless? Then the light went out. All was pitch-dark. I heard the sound of soft footsteps, moving away. I made a frantic attempt to open my mouth, anything was better than being left lying there alone in the dark. Soon the silence was broken by the sounds of rats scurrying about…"
She closed her eyes, a long shiver shook her body. Tsung Lee started to cry. His tears dropped on her hand. She looked up and continued wearily to the judge: "I don't know how long I was there; I was half crazed by pain and fear, and the damp cold seemed to penetrate to my very bones. At last I saw a light and heard voices. I recognized yours, sir, and did my utmost to give you a sign. I tried to move my feet and my fingers, but they were completely numb. I heard you make a remark on my unseemly exposure, but… but I did have a loincloth, at least?" She gave him an embarrassed look.
"Certainly!" Judge Dee replied quickly. "The other statues hadn't, though. Hence my remark."
"I thought so!" she said relieved. "But I didn't know for certain, because of the layer of plaster, you see. Well, then… then you went on.
"I knew my only hope was to draw your attention when you passed again on your way back. I forced myself to think clearly. Suddenly it came to me that if I could move my breast in such a way that the spearpoint resting against it would cut into my flesh, the blood would show clearly on the white plaster and thus might catch your eye. With a supreme effort I succeeded in moving my torso a little. The pain of the spear entering my flesh was nothing compared to the agonizing pain in my back and arms. The plaster coat prevented me from feeling whether much blood had come out. But then I heard a drop fall on the floor. I knew I had succeeded, and that gave me courage.
"Soon I heard footsteps again. Someone came running through the gallery, he rushed past me without another look. I knew that you would come too, but it took a very long time, it seemed. At last you came…"
"You are a very brave girl!" Judge Dee said. "I have only two questions to ask you, then you must have a rest. You gave a general description of how Mrs. Pao took you to the room where that man was waiting for you. Could you give me some more details about the way you went?"
White Rose frowned, in an effort to remember.
"I am certain," she said, "that it was in one of the buildings east of the temple. But as to the rest … I had never been there before, and we made so many turns…"
"Did you pass perhaps a square landing, with a screen of lattice-work all around it?"
She shook her head forlornly.
"I really don't remember!" she replied.
"It doesn't matter. Tell me only whether you recognized the voice that came from the bedstead. Could it have been the abbot?" Again she shook her head.
"I still hear that hateful voice in my ears, but it doesn't remind me of anyone I know. And I have good ears," she added with a faint smile. "I recognized Tsung Lee's voice when you entered the gallery the first time, though I only heard it in the distance. The relief when…"