The Red Pavilion

Feng rose and knelt in front of Judge Dee, and his daughter followed his example. They started to protest their gratitude for his leniency but the judge cut them short impatiently. He made them rise, and said:

'I disapprove of Paradise Island, Feng, and of all that goes on here. But I do realize that in a way such resorts are a necessary evil. And a good warden like you ensures that it is at least a controlled evil. You can go.'

When Feng was taking his leave he asked, somewhat diffidently :

'I suppose it would be presumptuous to ask you, sir, what two capital crimes Your Honour was referring to just now?'

The judge considered this question for a while. Then he replied:

'Not presumptuous, no. After all, you are the warden here, you have a right to know. Premature, rather. For my theory has not yet been confirmed. As soon as I have obtained that confirmation, I shall let you know.'

Feng and his daughter made their obeisance and left.

XIX

The next morning Ma Joong came to report for duty very early, when Judge Dee was still eating his morning rice, out on the veranda. A thin mist hung over the silent park; the wet garlands of coloured silk drooped limply among the trees.

The judge gave his lieutenant a brief account of his talk with Feng and his daughter. He concluded: 'Presently we shall go and try to find Miss Ling. Tell the manager to have two horses ready for us. If Miss Ling is not back in her hovel, we'll have to make a fairly long ride up-country, to the north of the island.'

When Ma Joong came back Judge Dee was just putting down his chopsticks. He rose and went inside, telling Ma Joong to lay out his brown travelling robe. While helping the judge to change, Ma asked:

'I suppose that Kia Yu-po isn't implicated in all those queer goings on, sir?'

'No. Why?'

'I happened to hear last night that he plans to leave the island, together with a girl he has fallen in love with. His engagement to Miss Feng was more or less foisted on him, I gathered.'

'Let them go. I don't need him. I think we'll be able to leave here too today, Ma Joong. In your spare hours you got all the amusement you wanted, I trust?'

'I did indeed! But Paradise Island is a very expensive place!'

'I don't doubt it,' the judge said, winding the black sash round his waist. 'But you had two silver pieces, those'll have sufficed.'

'To tell you the truth, sir, they didn't! I had a very good time, but all my money is gone.'

'Well, I hope it was worth it! And you still have your capital, the gold you inherited from your uncle.'

'That's gone too, sir,' Ma Joong remarked.

'What's that? Those two gold bars you intended to save for later? That's incredible!'

Ma Joong nodded sadly.

'The fact is, Your Honour, that I found here too many attractive girls, far too many! And far too expensive!'

'It's disgraceful!' Judge Dee burst out. 'Squandering two whole gold bars on wine and women!' He adjusted his black cap with an angry jerk. Then he sighed and said with a resigned shrug: 'You'll never learn, Ma Joong.'

They walked in silence to the front courtyard and ascended their horses.

Riding ahead, Ma Joong took the judge through the back streets and across the piece of wasteland. At the entrance of the path leading on among the trees, he halted his horse and remarked that it was there that he and his two friends had been attacked. He asked:

'Did Feng know what was behind that attack, sir?'

'He thinks he does, but he doesn't. I know. It was aimed at me.'

Ma Joong wanted to asked what that meant but the judge had already urged on his horse. When the large yew-tree came into sight Ma Joong pointed at the hovel standing against its gnarled trunk. Judge Dee nodded. He dismounted and handed the reins of his horse to Ma Joong, saying:

'You stay here and wait for me.'

He walked on alone through the wet grass. The morning sun had not yet succeeded in piercing the dense foliage that overhung the shed's roof. It was clammy in the shadow; there was an unpleasant odour of rotting leaves. A faint shimmer of light appeared behind the dirty oil-paper of the single window.

Judge Dee stepped up close to the ramshackle door and listened. He heard a strangely beautiful voice softly croon an old melody. He remembered that it had been popular when he was still a child. He pulled the door open and entered. While he was standing there, just inside the entrance, the door fell shut behind him, creaking on rusty hinges.

The light of a cheap earthenware oil lamp lit the drab room with its uncertain light. Miss Ling was sitting cross-legged on the bamboo couch, cradling the repulsive head of the leprous beggar in her arms. He was lying flat on his back on the couch, the sores on his limbs showed through the soiled rags that partly covered his emaciated body. His one remaining eye shone dully in the lamp-light.

She raised her head and turned her blind face to the judge.

'Who is it?' she asked in her rich, warm voice.

'It is I, the magistrate.'

The leper's blue lips contorted in a lopsided sneer. Looking fixedly at his one eye, the judge spoke:

'You are Dr Lee Wei-djing, the Academician's father. And she is the courtesan Green Jade, reported dead thirty years ago.'

'We are lovers! ' the blind woman said proudly.

'You came to the island,' Judge Dee continued to the leper, 'because you had heard that the Queen Flower Autumn Moon had driven your son to his death, and you wanted revenge. You were wrong. Your son killed himself because he had discovered swellings, on his neck, and thought that he had got the disease too. Whether rightly or wrongly, I don't know; I couldn't examine the corpse. He lacked your courage, he couldn't face a leper's miserable end. But Autumn Moon didn't know that. In her foolish hankering after fame she stated that he had killed himself because of her. You heard that from her own lips when, hidden in the shrubbery in front of the veranda of the Red Pavilion, you eavesdropped on our conversation.'

He paused. There was only the laboured breathing of the leper.

'Your son trusted Autumn Moon. He gave her a letter for you wherein he explained his decision. But she forgot all about it, didn't even open it. I found it, after you had murdered her,'

He took the letter from his sleeve, and read it aloud.

'I bore a son of you under my heart, dear,' the woman said tenderly. 'But after I was cured, I had a miscarriage. Our son would have been handsome, and courageous. Just like you!'

Judge Dee threw the letter on the couch.

'After you had come to the island you were watching Autumn Moon all the time. When, late that night, you saw her going to the Red Pavilion, you went after her. Standing on the veranda you saw her through the barred window, lying naked on the bed. You called her name. Then you stood yourself next to the window, your back against the wall. When she came to the window, probably pressing her face close to the iron bars to see better who was calling, you suddenly came forward. You stuck your hands through the bars and grabbed her throat, to throttle her. But your deformed hands could not hold her. On her way to the door to call for help, she had a heart attack and collapsed on the floor. You killed her, Dr Lee.' . The red, inflamed eyelid fluttered. She bent over the deformed face and whispered:

'Don't listen to him, dear! Rest, my sweet, you are not well.'

The judge averted his eyes. Staring at the damp floor of stamped earth, he went on:

'Your son rightly mentioned in his letter your indomitable courage, Dr Lee. You were mortally ill and your wealth had dwindled away. But you still had your son. You would make him a great man, and quickly too. Paradise Island, that treasure house of gold, was situated on the boundary of your land. First you sent your ruffians to rob Feng's gold transport, but it was too well guarded. Then you thought of a better plan. You told your son that the curio-dealer Wen Yuan hated Feng and wanted to oust him as warden. You ordered your son to establish contact with Wen, and execute with him the plot that would result in Feng's being dismissed in disgrace. Your son would then get Wen appointed in Feng's place as warden of the island, and through him you would be able to tap the island's wealth. Your son's death brought all that to nought.