'Next time I meet them,' Tao Gan said crossly, 'I'll present each with a silver piece, as a reward for their kind intentions!’ He emptied his cup, then resumed with a contented grin, 'Speaking about silver, they'll need that badly, I suppose! For one will never use his right arm again, and the other will try to wash the lime from his eyes and be crippled for life!’
She sprang up.
'What horrible things you did!’ she exclaimed angrily. 'And you seem to take delight in it too! You are a nasty, cruel man!’
'And you a very foolish young woman!’ Tao Gan retorted. Getting up and making for the door, he added sourly, 'Thanks for the tea!'
She groped for the candle and stepped out on the landing after him, holding it high.
'Be careful,' she said quietly, 'those steps are slippery.'
Tao Gan muttered something and went down.
"When he was standing in the alley, he strained his eyes to get a good look at the house. Just from habit, he told himself; I haven't the slightest inclination ever to come back here, of course. I have no use for women, let alone for that silly bit of skirt with her crickets! He walked on, considerably annoyed.
IV
The main thoroughfare that crossed the city from north to south was brilliantly lit by the gaudy lampions of shops, restaurants and wine-houses. Moving along with the motley crowd and hearing fragments of bitter quarrels and spirited altercations, Tao Gan's temper improved. He was smiling his accustomed sarcastic smile again when the high outer walls of the Governor's Palace came into sight.
Here there were fewer shops, and the traffic grew less. He now saw mainly high buildings, their gates guarded by armed sentries. Those on the left housed the various offices of the city tribunal, on the right was the garrison headquarters. Tao Gan passed by the broad marble steps leading up to the magnificent red-lacquered palace gate. Following the forbidding, crenelated wall, he knocked on the peephole of a smaller gate at the east corner of the compound. He explained to the sentry who he was. The door swung open and he walked through the long, echoing marble corridor to the separate courtyard in the east wing, where Judge Dee had taken up residence.
In the anteroom the smartly uniformed majordomo scrutinized the dishevelled visitor with raised eyebrows. Tao Gan calmly took off his goatskin caftan. Underneath he wore a dark-brown robe, with the gold-embroidered collar and cuffs that indicated his secretarial rank. The majordomo quickly made a low bow, and respectfully took the shabby garment from him. Then he pushed the high double door open.
The vast, empty hall was dimly lit by a dozen silver candelabras, standing in between the thick, red-lacquered pillars that formed two stately rows all along the side walls. On the left stood a broad couch of carved sandalwood and a table with a tall bronze flower vase, while the centre of the hall was just a vast expanse of dark-blue carpet. At the far end Tao Gan saw an enormous desk, standing in front of a gilded wall screen. Judge Dee sat behind it, Chiao Tai on one of the low chairs opposite. It was cool in the hall, and very quiet. As Tao Gan walked to the rear, he noticed the faint fragrance of sandalwood and of wilting jasmine flowers.
Judge Dee wore a purple robe with gold-embroidered rims, and his high, winged cap with the golden insignia indicating a Counsellor of State. He was leaning back in a capacious armchair, his arms folded in his wide sleeves. Chiao Tai seemed deep in thought too; he was staring at the antique bronzes on the desk, his broad shoulders hunched. It struck Tao Gan again that the judge had aged considerably these last four years. His face had grown thinner, and there were many deep lines round his eyes and mouth. His tufted eyebrows were still jet-black, but his long beard, moustache and sidewhiskers were streaked with grey.
When Tao Gan came up to the desk and made his bow, Judge Dee looked up. He righted himself, shook out his long sleeves, and spoke in his deep, resonant voice:
'Sit down there, next to Chiao Tai. There is bad news, Tao Gan. I was right in sending you two in disguise to the quay, for that set things moving. Fast.' And to the majordomo who had remained standing there: 'Bring fresh tea!'
After the majordomo had left, the judge placed his elbows on the desk, regarded his two lieutenants for a while, then resumed with a bleak smile:
'It's good to be among ourselves again for once, my friends! After our arrival in the capital, each of us was kept so busy there by his own particular duties that there was but rarely an occasion for an informal discussion, as we used to have nearly daily when I was still a district magistrate. Those were good days, when old Sergeant Hoong was still with us and...' He passed his hand over his face in a tired gesture. Then he took hold of himself and sat up straight. He opened his folding fan, and said briskly to Tao Gan, 'Just now Chiao Tai witnessed a particularly nasty murder. Before I let him tell you about it, however, I would like to hear your impressions of this city.'
He nodded to the thin man, leaned back in his chair and began to fan himself. Tao Gan shifted in his chair, then began quietly:
'After Chiao Tai and I had escorted Your Honour to the palace here, we went in a litter to the south city, looking for lodgings near the Arab Quarter, as you had ordered, sir. Brother Chiao chose an inn near the Moslem mosque, I one just outside the south gate, on the quay. We met again in a small eating-house for our noon rice, and passed the entire afternoon strolling about all along the river front. We saw many Arabs about; I heard that about a thousand of them have settled down in the city, and there are another thousand on the ships they have in port. They keep very much to themselves, however, and don't seem to mix much with the Chinese. Some Arab sailors got nasty when a custom-guard hit one of them, but they soon calmed down when the soldiers had marched out and after one of their leaders had reprimanded them.' He pensively stroked his moustache and resumed, 'Canton is the wealthiest city in the entire south, sir, famous for its gay nightlife, especially on the flowerboats in the Pearl River. Life moves here at a feverish pace: merchants who are rich today may be beggars tomorrow, and at the gaming tables fortunes are made and lost every night. It goes without saying that this is a veritable paradise for all kinds of racketeers and swindlers, big and small, and that there's a considerable amount of financial juggling going on. But the Cantonese are businessmen first and foremost, they don't bother much with politics. If they grumble a bit now and then about the central government, it's only because, just as most businessmen, they resent official interference with their trade. But I found no signs of any real discontent, and I just can't see how a handful of Arabs could ever stir up real trouble here.'
As Judge Dee remained silent, Tao Gan pursued:
'Before leaving the quay, we made, in a wine-house, the acquaintance of a sea captain called Nee, rather a nice fellow who speaks Arabic and Persian, and used to trade to the Persian Gulf. Since he may prove a useful connection, Chiao Tai accepted his invitation to visit him tomorrow.' He gave the judge a diffident look, then asked, 'Why are you so interested in those black barbarians, sir?'
'Because, Tao Gan, they represent our only hope of obtaining a clue to the whereabouts of a very important man who has disappeared in this city.' The judge waited till the two servants had placed a tea-tray loaded with exquisite antique porcelain on the desk, under the watchful eye of the majordomo. After the latter had poured the tea, Judge Dee told him, 'You may go and wait outside.' Then he resumed, looking steadily at his two lieutenants: