"You call it a pleasant meal?" Judge Dee asked sourly. "I only had a few cups of wine and some tea, the rest made my stomach turn!"
"I had a very satisfactory dinner," Tao Gan said contentedly. "And all that good food gratis, for nothing!"
Judge Dee smiled. He knew that Tao Gan was inclined to be parsimonious. The gaunt man resumed: "Kuan invited me to come up to his room for a few more drinks, but I think I ought to have a look around for our mysterious actor first."
"Do that!" the judge said. "I'll go now and pay a visit to Mrs. Pao and her daughter. Their relation to Miss Ou-yang puzzles me. Tsung Lee suggested that White Rose isn't Mrs. Pao's daughter, and that she is being forced to become a nun, against her will. But the fellow was drunk. He also maintained that the former abbot had been murdered, but I asked the abbot and Master Sun, and that proved pure nonsense. Do you know where Mrs. Pao's room is?"
"On the second floor, sir, the fifth door in the second corridor, I would say."
"Good. Let's meet again in Kuan's room. I'll join you there after my talk with Mrs. Pao. I don't hear the rain any more, so we can go to the east wing directly by crossing the courtyard."
But a drenched novice who just came in informed them that although the storm had abated somewhat, it was still raining. The judge and Tao Gan made the detour through the front hall of the temple, now crowded with monks. They parted in front of the assembly hall on the ground floor of the east wing.
Judge Dee found the second floor completely deserted. The narrow, cold corridors were scantily lit by an occasional lantern. It was very still; he only heard the rustling of his brocade robe.
He was just about to start counting doors when he thought he heard whispered voices. He stood still and listened. He heard a swishing of silk behind him and at the same time smelled a sweet, cloying perfume. He was about to turn around when suddenly a searing pain shot through his head and everything went black.
X
Judge Dee's first thought was that his cold must have suddenly taken a turn for the worse. His head was aching badly and he had a queer empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. He smelled a faint, feminine perfume. He opened his eyes.
He stared astonished at the blue silk curtains above his head. He was lying, fully dressed, in a strange bedstead. He raised his hand to his head and found that his cap and the bandage were gone. There was a large lump on the back of his head. He felt it with his fingertips, and winced. "Try to take a sip of this!" a soft voice spoke up by his side.
Miss Ting bent over him, a teacup in her hand. She passed her left arm round his shoulders and helped him to sit up. Suddenly he felt dizzy. She steadied him, and after a few sips of the hot tea he felt somewhat better. Slowly he began to realize what had happened.
"I was knocked down from behind," he said looking sourly at her. "What do you know about that?"
Miss Ting sat down on the edge of the bed. She said placidly: "I heard a bump against my door. I went to open it and found you lying unconscious on the floor, your head against my doorjamb. Since I thought that signified that you had intended to pay me a visit, I dragged you inside and put you on the bed. Fortunately I am rather strong, for I can assure you that you are by no means a light burden. I wet your temples with cold water till you came to. That's all I know."
Judge Dee frowned. He asked curtly: "Whom did you see in the corridor?"
"Nobody at all!"
"Did you hear the sound of footsteps?"
"No!"
"Let me see your satchel with perfume!"
Miss Ting obediently loosened the small brocade satchel from her sash and gave it to the judge. He smelled it. It was a sweet perfume, but quite different from the cloying smell he had perceived just before he was attacked. He asked again: "How long have I been unconscious?"
"Quite some time. I would say two hours or so. It's nearly midnight now." Then she added, pouting: "Is the verdict guilty or not guilty?" Judge Dee smiled wanly.
"I am sorry!" he said. "I was a bit confused. You were very kind, Miss Ting. If it hadn't been for you, the rascal who knocked me down would doubtless have finished me off then and there."
"It was the bandage under your cap that saved your life," Miss Ting remarked. "They must have hit you a vicious blow with something sharp, and if you hadn't been wearing that thick bandage filled with orange peel around your head, the blow would have cracked your skull."
"I ought to go up and thank my wives!" Judge Dee muttered. "It was they who insisted on my wearing the bandage. But I must first look into this treacherous attack!" He wanted to climb down from the bed, but a sudden attack of dizziness forced him to lie down again.
"Not so quick, Magistrate!" Miss Ting said. "It was a nasty blow. I'll help you get down and over to that arm-chair there."
When the judge was sitting at the rickety table, she dipped the bandage in the brass water basin on the dressing table. "I'll put this around your head again," she remarked, "it'll help to make the lump go down."
Sipping his tea Judge Dee looked thoughtfully at her pleasant, frank face. She was not particularly handsome, but decidedly attractive. He put her age at about twenty-five. The straight robe of black silk with the broad red sash set off her narrow waist and small, firm breasts. She had the lithe, supple body of the trained acrobat. After she had wound the bandage round his head and replaced his cap, the judge said: "Sit down and let's talk a little, while I am getting ready to go. Tell me, why did you, a nice-looking and capable young girl, choose this particular profession? I don't consider it dishonourable, mind you, but I'd have thought that a girl like you could easily have found a better way of life."
She shrugged her shoulders. Pouring out another cup of tea for the judge she answered: "Oh, I fear that I am a rather wayward and self-willed person. My father has a small pharmacy in the capital, and also five daughters, worse luck! I am the eldest, and father wanted to sell me as a concubine to the wholesale drug-dealer to whom he owed money. I thought the dealer was a nasty old man, but the alternative was a brothel and I didn't fancy that either. I had always been rather strong and fond of sports, so with my father's permission I joined Kuan's troup. Kuan advanced the money my father needed. I soon learned to act, and also to do acrobatic dances and juggling. After one year Kuan had the loan back, plus the interest. Kuan is a decent fellow. He never made passes at me or forced me to grant my favours to patrons of our show. So I stayed on." She wrinkled her nose as she went on: "I know that people say all actors are crooks and all actresses whores, but I can assure you that Kuan is scrupulously honest. And as regards myself, though I don't claim to lead a saintly life, I never sold my body and I never will."
Judge Dee nodded. He resumed: "You say that Kuan never bothered you, but what about Mo Mo-te?"
"Well, he did make a few passes at me in the beginning, but rather because he felt it was his duty as a man than because he really wanted me. I could feel that immediately. Yet he took my refusal badly. It hurt his stupid pride. He has been unpleasant to me ever since, which I regret, for he is a superb swordsman and I would have liked to do an act with him."
"I didn't like the way he threatened Miss Ou-yang on the stage," the judge remarked. "Do you think Mo is the type of man who takes delight in inflicting pain on a woman?"