With difficulty Judge Dee concealed his astonishment.
"What are you talking about, my man?" he asked curtly.
"The exercise of my profession," Tao Gan replied with a deprecating smile, "necessarily encourages a sharpening of one's powers of deduction. I happened to overhear Your Honor asking about a country house. But I noticed that Your Honor was unconversant with its appearance and the name of its occupant."
He slowly wound the long hairs sprouting from his cheek round his forefinger, then continued placidly:
"Kidnapers will bandage the eyes of their victim and take him to a distant place where by dire threats they force him to send a letter to his family, asking them to send a large ransom. After the money has been received, they either kill their victim, or send him home again with his eyes bandaged as before. In the latter case such an unfortunate man may have a vague impression of the direction in which he was taken. But, of course, he doesn't know what the house looked like, or the name of its owner. Since I thus deduced that a victim of such a dastardly crime had reported to Your Honor's tribunal, I made bold to offer my advice."
Again the gaunt man bowed deeply.
Judge Dee said to himself that this was a remarkably astute fellow. He said:
"Let's for the sake of argument assume that your deduction is correct. What would then be your advice?"
"In the first place," Tao Gan answered, "I have been all over this district; in this plain there is no such house. On the other hand, I know several of such villas in the mountains north and west of Han-yuan."
"Now suppose that the victim remembered distinctly that the greater part of the journey went along a level road?" the judge asked. A sly smile spread over Tao Gan's sardonic face.
"In that case, Your Honor," he answered, "the house is located inside the city."
"What a preposterous remark!" Judge Dee exclaimed angrily.
"Not quite, Your Honor," the other said calmly. "The only thing those rascals need is a house with a fairly large garden and a raised terrace. Having brought their victim in a palanquin inside the compound, they'll carry him slowly round about there for an hour or so. They are very skillful; they create the impression of passing a mountainous region by climbing up and down the terrace, muttering from time to time: 'Look out for that ravine!' or similar remarks. Those crooks have carefully studied that technique, Your Honor, and execute it in a most convincing manner."
The judge looked thoughtfully at the thin man, slowly caressing his side whiskers. After a while he said:
"An interesting theory! I'll keep it in mind for future reference. Before you go, listen to my advice. Change your life, my friend; you are clever enough to earn your living in a decent way!" He wanted to dismiss him, but asked suddenly: "By the way, how did you fool those peasants? I am just curious to know; I shan't take action against you."
The thin man smiled faintly. He called the waiter and ordered him:
"Go downstairs and bring His Excellency's right riding boot!"
When the waiter returned with the boot, Tao Gan, with nimble fingers, removed two dice from its folded rim, and handed them to the judge. He said:
"After I had snatched these loaded dice from the yokel who was going to give them to Your Honor, I presented to you for inspection a pair of normal dice, which I had kept concealed in the palm of my hand. While everybody was looking intently at Your Honor inspecting those dice, I took the liberty of depositing the false ones in Your Honor's boot, temporarily, I hoped."
Judge Dee couldn't help laughing.
"Without boasting," Tao Gan continued earnestly, "I can say that my knowledge of the tricks and ruses of the underworld is equaled by few in the Empire. I am thoroughly familiar with forging documents and seals, drawing up ambiguous contracts and false declarations, picking all kinds of ordinary and secret locks on doors, windows and strongboxes, while I am also an expert on hidden passages, secret trap doors and such-like contrivances. Moreover, I know what people are saying at a distance by watching their lips, I-"
"Halt!" Judge Dee interrupted him quickly. "Do you mean to say that the last item of your imposing catalogue is really true?"
"Certainly, Your Honor! I may add only that it is easier to practice lip reading on women and children than on, for instance, old men with heavy beards and mustaches."
The judge made no comment. In this manner the words of the courtesan could have been intercepted by others in the room besides Han Yung-han. When he looked up, Tao Gan said in a low voice:
"I have already told your lieutenant the unfortunate occurrence which made me a bitter man. After that galling experience I completely lost faith in my fellow men. For nearly thirty years I have been roaming over the Empire, taking delight in swindling and cheating whom I could. But I swear that I have never inflicted grave bodily harm on anyone; neither did I ever cause irreparable loss. Today, Your Honor's kindness has given me a new outlook on life; I want to give up my career as a guest of rivers and lakes. My various abilities, while necessary for the exercise of my profession, can, I presume, also be employed in the detection of crime and the apprehension of miscreants. I therefore place before Your Honor my humble request that I be allowed to serve in Your Honor's tribunal. I have no family-I broke with them long ago when they sided with my wife. Further, I have saved some money. Thus the only reward I hope for is an opportunity to make myself useful and receive Your Honor's instruction."
Judge Dee looked hard at this curious person. He thought he could detect in that cynical face the signs of genuine emotion. Also, this man had already supplied him with two important pieces of information, and he possessed a store of special knowledge and experience none of his other assistants had. Under suitable supervision he might indeed prove a useful addition to his personal staff. At last he spoke.
"You'll realize, Tao Gan, that I can't give you a definite answer here and now. Since, however, I do believe that you are in earnest, I shall allow you to work as a volunteer in my tribunal for a few weeks or so. Then I shall decide whether or not I can accept your proposal."
Tao Gan knelt and touched his forehead to the floor three times, to express his gratitude.
"These men," Judge Dee went on, "are my two lieutenants. You'll assist them to the best of your ability, and they on their part will instruct you in the affairs of the tribunal."
Tao Gan made his bow in front of each. Chiao Tai looked the gaunt man up and down with a noncommittal expression, but Ma Joong clapped him on his bony shoulder and exclaimed, highly pleased:
"Come along downstairs, brother! You can teach me a few of your gambling tricks!"
Chiao Tai snuffed all but one candle; then he wished the judge a good night, and followed the two others downstairs.
After he had gone, Judge Dee remained sitting at the table. For a long time he idly observed the swarm of gnats buzzing around the candle flame, deep in thought.
Now that Tao Gan had shown that Han's story could be true, even though they had not been able to locate the house he was abducted to, he had again to consider the possibility that the White Lotus Society was indeed weaving its evil web of treachery and corruption over the Empire. Han-yuan was a small, isolated town, but it occupied a strategic position, being very close to the hub of the realm, the Imperial capital. Thus it was a most suitable location for the headquarters of a conspiracy against the Throne. That was-, then, the explanation of the oppressive atmosphere of hidden evil that he had felt by intuition soon after his arrival.