Necklace and Calabash

Outside the headquarters of the Guard a dozen or so mounted guardsmen had assembled. They were carrying storm-lanterns smeared with soot. Judge Dee handed his horse to a sentry and told him he wanted to see Lieutenant Liu. A soldier took him up the main staircase to Captain Siew's office. The captain sat behind his desk, talking to his burly lieutenant. He jumped up when he saw the judge and called out jovially:

'Glad you dropped in, sir! We had a busy night here. Roof of the City Granary caught fire, no one knows how. But my men had it under control soon. Take a seat, sir! You may go, Liu.'

Judge Dee sat down heavily.

'I want information on one of my fellow-guests in the King­fisher,' he said curtly. 'Fellow called Lang Liu.'

'So you set to work at once! I am most grateful, sir! Yes, Mr Lang is exactly the type of scoundrel I expected trouble from. He is the boss of all the brothel-keepers and gambling-houses in the southern part of this province, you see. Has organized them into a kind of secret guild, the Blue League it's called. Lang also owns a large silk firm down south, but that's just to give him a respect­able front. As a rule he keeps within the limits of the law, and he's a very punctual tax-payer. Until very recently he had a lot of trouble with a rival, the so-called Red League, which manages the gambling and brothels in the neighbouring province.' He scratched his nose. 'I have heard it said that Mr Lang met repre­sentatives of the Red League here in Rivertown about ten days ago, and they agreed upon a kind of truce. Mr Lang must have decided to stay on here a little longer, just to observe how the truce would work out, from a safe distance! Remarkable how quickly you got on to him, sir!’

'He got on to me, rather.' The judge told Siew of his meeting with Lang in the bath, then he described the attack in the forest, saying that he had gone there for a walk and met Master Gourd. 'It was a well-planned attack,' he concluded. 'The fire in the Granary you mentioned was doubtless meant to keep your patrols busy at the other end of the town.'

'Holy heaven! The scoundrels! I am most awfully sorry this happened, sir. And right in my area! I don't like this at all!'

'I didn't like it either,' Judge Dee remarked dryly. 'At first we seemed to be at their mercy, but Master Gourd saved the situation. A most remarkable man. You know anything about his antece­dents?'

'Not much, sir. He belongs to Rivertown, so to speak. Every­body knows him, but nobody knows where he came from. It's generally assumed that in his younger days he was a "brother of the green woods", one of those chivalrous highwaymen who rob the rich to help the poor. They say that once he met a Taoist recluse in the mountains somewhere and wanted to become his disciple. When the old fellow refused, Master Gourd sat down cross-legged under a tree in front of his hermitage for many days so that his legs withered away. Then the old hermit initiated him into all the secrets of life and death.' He paused, pensively rub­bing his chin. 'Yes, the four fellows that attacked you must have been Lang's henchmen from the south. Local men would never attack Master Gourd. In the first place because they have a great respect for his wisdom, and second because they believe he possesses magic powers, and can draw out someone's soul and bottle it up in his calabash. But how could they have known that you were going to take that walk, sir?'

'Before answering that, Siew, I want to ask you a straight ques­tion. When we were talking here this afternoon, I clearly per­ceived that besides your concern over Lang and other unwelcome visitors, there were more important issues in the back of your mind. Since, through you, I am getting deeply involved in a situa­tion I know next to nothing about, I demand a full explanation, here and now.'

The captain jumped up and began to pace the floor, sputtering nervously:

'Very sorry, sir! You're absolutely right, of course. Should've told you the whole story, at once. Bad mistake, keeping things back. I ...'

'Out with it, man! It's getting late, and I am tired!’

'Yes, sir. Well, Colonel Kang is a personal friend of mine, you see. My best friend, in fact. We are natives of the same town, always remained in close touch. It was the colonel who got me transferred here from the capital, wanted a fellow near him he could trust. He's a splendid fellow, old military family. Fine warriors, but no money, of course. And no connections at court. Added to that he's a bit stand-offish, and keeps himself to himself, so you can imagine that when he was made commander in the Water Palace here the people there didn't like it very much. They prefer the toadying kind, the give-and-take fellows, you know. So he has had all kinds of difficulties, but he has always got over them all right. Lately, however, he has been very downcast. I urged him to tell me what was worrying him, but the stubborn fellow would only say it was about something in the palace. Then, on top of that, he had to conduct some investigation or other yesterday — a hell of a ticklish job, he told me; he didn't know how to go about it. Wasn't allowed to tell me a thing, he said, but it was neck or nothing! You can imagine ...'

'All very interesting, but come to the point!’

'Certainly, sir. Well, when I recognized you, sir, I thought your arrival was a godsend. You know my admiration for you, sir ... I thought that besides helping me to get a grip on all the high-class crooks here, if I could arrange a meeting between you and my colonel, he might be willing to tell you more about this investigation, and that you, with your magnificent record, sir, might ...'