The Red Pavilion

Ma Joong went up and rattled the brass knocker vigorously. After he had announced to the solemn head-waiter the arrival of Assessor Dee, he waited till the judge had been shown inside, then rushed down the marble staircase and joined the motley crowd thronging the street.

III

Judge Dee told the manager who came to meet him in the hall that he had been invited to the dinner in honour of Magistrate Lo. After the man had made a low obeisance, he took the judge up the broad staircase, covered with a thick blue carpet, and ushered him into a large room on the second floor.

An agreeable fresh air greeted the judge, for the room was artificially cooled by two brass basins, filled with ice-blocks. In the middle stood a round dining-table of shining blackwood, loaded with porcelain plates of cold meats and silver wine beakers. Six highbacked chairs of carved ebony with cool marble slabs as seats stood around it. In the bay window four gentlemen were drinking tea and nibbling melon seeds, sitting at an elegant side-table with a red marble top. They looked up, astonished, when Judge Dee entered. A lean, elderly man with long, greying sidewhiskers got up and came to meet him. He asked politely:

'Who might you be looking for, sir?'

'Are you Mr Feng Dai?' Judge Dee asked. When the other nodded, he took Magistrate Lo's authorization from his sleeve and gave it to him, explaining that Lo had asked him to attend the banquet in his place.

Feng Dai returned the document with a low bow, and said:

'I am the warden here, I am completely at Your Honour's service. Allow me to introduce the other guests!'

The thin old man with the small skullcap was presented as Wen Yuan, a wealthy curio-dealer who owned all the antique and souvenir shops of Paradise Island. He had a long face with hollow cheeks, but his small eyes looked very observant, under grey, ragged eyebrows. He had a short, grey moustache, and a pointed, neatly trimmed beard. The distinguished-looking younger gentleman, wearing a square gauze cap and seated next to the curio-dealer, proved to be the head of the guild of wine merchants, called Tao Pan-te. And the handsome youngster sitting with his back to the window was introduced as Kia Yu-po, a student on his way to the capital to take part in the literary examinations. Feng added proudly that the young man had already made a name for himself as a poet.

Judge Dee reflected that the company looked more promising than he had expected. He conveyed to the four men in a few polite phrases Magistrate Lo's apologies. 'Since I happened to be passing through here,' he concluded, 'the magistrate charged me with settling the case of the Academician's suicide that occurred three days ago. I am, of course, a newcomer here. Therefore I'd be grateful if you would let me have your views on this case.'

There was an uneasy silence. Then Feng Dai spoke gravely:

'The suicide of the Academician Lee Lien was a most regrettable occurrence, sir. Unfortunately, however, such cases are not rare here. Some visitors who lose heavily at the gaming tables choose that way of ending their troubles.'

'I understood that in this particular case the motive was rather unrequited love,' Judge Dee observed.

Feng cast a quick look at the three others. Tao Pan-te and the young poet looked studiously at their tea cups. The curio-dealer, Wen, pursed his thin lips. Plucking at his goatee, he asked cautiously:

'Did Magistrate Lo say so, sir?'

'Not in so many words,' the judge admitted. 'My colleague was pressed for time, he couldn't give me more than a bare outline.'

Wen gave Feng a significant look. Tao Pan-te regarded the judge with his tired, melancholy eyes, and began quietly:

'The atmosphere of Paradise Island is, unfortunately, conducive to emotional conflicts, sir. We who have grown up here have become accustomed to a rather frivolous, casual attitude to love. We have come to regard it as a kind of elegant pastime, a game played for the trifling stakes of a few hours of ephemeral pleasure. The man who meets with success is a happy memory the richer, the loser good-humouredly seeks for a more complacent playmate. But people from outside often find it difficult to see their liaisons in this detached manner. And, since our dancing girls and courtesans are skilled in all the arts of love, those outsiders often allow themselves inadvertently to become too deeply involved—with tragic result.'

Judge Dee had not expected such well-chosen words from a wine merchant. He asked curiously:

'Are you a native of this island, Mr Tao?'

'No, Your Honour, we are from the south. About forty years ago my father settled down here and bought all the wine shops. Unfortunately he died much too soon, when I was still a child.'

Feng rose quickly and said, with what sounded to the judge like artificial gaiety:

'It's time for something better than tea, gentlemen! Let's sit down to dinner!'

He led the judge ceremoniously to the seat of honour, facing the entrance. He himself took the seat opposite, with Tao Pan-te on his left and the curio-dealer, Wen Yuan, on his right. He motioned the young poet to sit down on Judge Dee's right side, then proposed a toast to bid the judge welcome to the island.

Judge Dee took a few sips from the strong wine. Then he asked, pointing at the empty chair on his left:

'Is there still another guest coming?'

'Indeed, Your Honour, and a very special guest too!' Feng replied. Again the judge was struck by his forced joviality. 'Later in the evening a beautiful courtesan, the famous Autumn Moon, will join us here.'

The judge raised his eyebrows. Courtesans were supposed either to remain standing, or to sit on tabourets somewhat apart. They should certainly not be seated at the table, as if they were guests. Tao Pan-te had apparently noticed Judge Dee's dubious look, for now he said hurriedly:

'Famous courtesans are an important asset for us, Your Honour, and accordingly receive a somewhat unusual treatment. Next to our gaming tables, it is the courtesans who attract the steady stream of visitors here; they bring in about half of the profits of Paradise Island.'

'Forty per cent of which goes to the government,' the curio-dealer remarked dryly.

Judge Dee silently picked up a piece of salted fish with his chopsticks. He knew that the taxes paid by this great amusement resort provided indeed a not inconsiderable part of the provincial revenue. He said to Feng:

'I suppose that, with all the money that changes hands here, it won't be easy to keep the peace on the island.'

'On the island itself that is not too difficult, sir. I have about sixty men, recruited from the local people, who, after the magistrate has approved them, are appointed special constables. They wear no uniform and therefore can mix freely with the guests in the gambling halls, restaurants and brothels. In an unobtrusive way they keep an eye on everything that goes on. The surrounding area, however, presents quite a problem, we often have highway robbers there, attracted by the possibility of plundering coming or departing visitors. A fortnight ago we had a rather bad case. Five robbers tried to hold up one of my messengers, due here with a box of gold bars. Fortunately two of my men who accompanied him beat off the attack and killed three robbers. The two others made their escape.' He emptied his beaker, then asked: 'I trust that you found comfortable quarters, sir?'

'Yes, in the Hostel of Eternal Bliss. Very nice apartments, they go by the name of the Red Pavilion.'

All four men suddenly stared at the judge. Feng Dai put down his chopsticks and said contritely:

'The manager shouldn't have offered you those rooms, sir. It was there that, three days ago, the Academician killed himself. I shall at once issue orders that suitable quarters are . . .'