The Red Pavilion

'Three days ago, the morning of the twenty-fifth,' the Shrimp went on, 'the Academician rents a boat for his five friends, and sends them off, back to the capital. He returns to the Red Pavilion, takes his luncheon there, alone. He spends the afternoon in his room, for the first time he doesn't go to the tables. He dines alone, also for the first time. Then he locks himself in his room, and a few hours later is found with his throat cut.'

'Amen,' said the Crab.

The Shrimp pensively scratched his long nose. He resumed:

'Now most of this is based on hearsay, you know. Take it or leave it. With our own eyes we observed only this: the curio-dealer Wen Yuan went to that hostel that night, some time after dinner.'

'So he visited the Academician!' Ma Joong said eagerly.

'Those fellows of the tribunal do put words in one's mouth, don't they?' the hunchback asked the Crab plaintively.

'It's their habit!' the Crab replied with a shrug.

'I said, my friend,' the Shrimp explained patiently, 'that we observed Wen going to the hostel. That's all.'

'Heavens,' Ma Joong exclaimed, 'if, besides visitors from outside, you two keep an eye also on all your prominent citizens, you must have a busy life!'

'We don't keep an eye on all our prominent citizens,' the Crab said. 'Only on Wen.' The Shrimp nodded emphatically. 'Three trades bring in the big money here,' the Crab continued, looking earnestly at Ma Joong with his protruding eyes. 'One, gambling and whoring, that's our boss Feng's business. Two, eating and drinking, that's Mr Tao's business. Three, buying and selling antiques, that is the affair of Mr Wen. Stands to reason that the three trades keep in close contact. If a fellow wins much at the tables, we pass on the good word to Tao's and Wen's men. Maybe the fellow wants to throw a big party, maybe he'll want to invest his money in a beautiful antique — expertly faked. Contrariwise, if a fellow loses heavily, we'll see whether the man hasn't perhaps a good-looking concubine or maidservant to sell, and Wen's men'll approach him about any good antique he might want to dispose of. And so on. Work out all possible combinations for yourself.'

'Sound business organization!' Ma Joong remarked.

'Perfect,' the Shrimp agreed. 'Thus we have Feng, Tao and Wen. Our boss Feng is a straight, honest man, so the government appointed him warden of the island. That gives him a finger in every pie, and makes him the wealthiest of the three. But he has to work for it, mind you! If the warden is honest, everybody here makes good profits, and the customers are content. Only fools who ask for it get cheated. If the warden is crooked, profits increase twenty times, including his own. But then this place goes to the dogs in no time at all. Thus, it's fortunate that Feng is straight. But he has no son, only a daughter. So if he dies, or gets into trouble, the job goes to someone else. Tao Pan-te is a scholar-like gentleman, doesn't like meddling. He would never want to be warden. Now, you know about Feng and Tao, two prominent citizens. I didn't mention Wen Yuan, did I now, Crab? '

'You didn't!' the Crab said gravely.

'What do you mean by telling me all this?' Ma Joong asked crossly.

'He described a situation for you,' the Crab replied.

'Right!' the Shrimp said with satisfaction. 'I described a situation, as I observed it. But, inasmuch as you seem a good fellow, Mr Ma, I'll add something I only have from hearsay. Thirty years ago Tao's father, a gentleman called Tao Kwang, committed suicide in the Red Pavilion. Window barred, door locked on the inside. And thirty years ago, on that selfsame night, the curio-dealer Wen was also seen near the hostel. Call it a coincidence.'

'Well,' Ma Joong said cheerfully, 'I'll tell my boss that he'll have to reckon with two ghosts in his bedroom. Now that we have dealt with the official business, I want your advice on a purely personal problem.'

The Crab sighed. He said wearily to the Shrimp:

'He wants a wench.' And, to Ma Joong: 'Heavens, man, walk into any house you like in the next street. You'll find all types, all special skills, all sizes. Just help yourself!'

'Precisely because you have such a varied stock here,' Ma Joong explained, 'I want something extra-special. I am a native of Foo-ling in this province, and tonight I want a girl from there.'

The Crab rolled up his round eyes.

'Hold my hand!' he told the Shrimp disgustedly. 'I am going to burst out in tears. A girl from his own village!'

'Well,' Ma Joong said, somewhat self-consciously, 'it just so happens that I haven't made love in my own dialect for quite a few years.'

'He's a sleep-talker. Bad habit,' the Crab commented to the Shrimp. He went on to Ma Joong: 'All right. Go to the Blue Tower, in the south quarter. Tell the woman in charge we want her to reserve Silver Fairy for you. She's from Foo-ling, superior quality above and below the navel, and a friendly person. She also sings well, being taught by a Miss Ling, in the olden days a famous courtesan here. But you won't be interested in music, I suppose. Go to the Blue Tower towards midnight, now it's too early, she'll be out attending a dinner somewhere. Then you do your talking tricks. Need our advice on that too?'

'Not yet! Anyway, thanks for the tip. You sound as if you don't care much for women, though.'

'We don't,' the Shrimp said. 'Does a baker eat his own pastries?'

'Well, not every day, probably,' Ma Joong admitted. 'But now and then he'll take a bite, I suppose. Just to see whether his stock hasn't gone stale on him. Without the skirts life'd be a bit boring, I'd say.'

'There's pumpkins,' the Crab observed gravely.

'Pumpkins?' Ma Joong exclaimed.

The Crab nodded ponderously. He took a toothpick from the lapel of his robe and started to work his teeth.

'We grow them,' the Shrimp explained. 'The Crab and me own a small house on the riverbank, over on the west side of the island. We have a nice patch of land; there we grow pumpkins. We come home from our work at dawn, water the pumpkins, then go to sleep. We wake up late in the afternoon, we weed the patch, water it again; then we come back here.'

'Everybody his own taste! Seems a bit monotonous to me, though.'

'You are wrong,' the Crab said earnestly. 'You should watch them grow! There are no two pumpkins alike. Never.'

'Tell him about us watering the pumpkins ten days ago,' the Shrimp said casually. "The morning we found caterpillars on the leaves.'

The Crab nodded. He studied his toothpick, then said:

'The same morning we saw the Academician's boat arriving at the landing stage, that was. Quay is right opposite our pumpkin patch, you know. Wen, the curio-dealer, had a long talk with the Academician there. Stealthy-like, behind the trees. Now the Academician's father used to buy a lot from Wen, so his son knows him. Only I don't think -they talked about antiques, by the looks of it, at least. We never leave off observing, you see. Even in our own time, and even when there are caterpillars threatening our pumpkins.'

'We are loyal servants of Mr Feng,' the Shrimp added. 'We have eaten his rice these last ten years.'

The Crab threw his toothpick away and got up.

'Now Mr Ma wants a game,' he said. 'Which brings us back to where we started. How much can you afford to spend, Mr Ma?'

V

Ma Joong played a number of rounds with three solemn rice merchants. He got fairly good cards, but didn't enjoy himself. He liked a boisterous game, with lusty shouting and hearty cursing. First he won a little, then lost it again. That seemed a good moment to leave, so he got up from the table, said goodbye to the Crab and the Shrimp, and sauntered back to the Crane Bower.

The manager informed him that warden Feng's dinner was nearing its end, two of the guests and the courtesans had left already. He invited him to sit down on the bench next to the counter and have a cup of tea.