The Lacquer Screen

He took the notebook page out of his sleeve, and placed it on the table.

Leng's face turned ashen. He stared aghast at the piece of paper. Judge Dee felt relieved. He nodded to Chiao Tai. The big fellow stood up and ponderously walked to the door, which he bolted. Then he stepped up to the window and pulled the shutters closed. The banker followed his move­ments, panic in his eyes. As Chiao Tai went to stand behind the banker's chair, Judge Dee continued:

'I have, of course, the rest of the papers too. Quite a bulky notebook.'

'How did you get it?' Leng asked tensely.

'Come now, Mr Leng!' the judge said reprovingly. 'Let's not digress, shall we? I am not an unreasonable man, you know, but, as you have seen from my visiting-card, I am a commission agent, and I expect of course my commission on your profit. I calculate that you made about one thousand gold pieces.'

'How much do you want?' the banker asked in a strained voice.

'Only seven hundred,' Judge Dee replied calmly. 'That'll leave you a nice capital to start working with again.'

'I ought to denounce you to the tribunal!' Leng muttered.

'And I ought to denounce you!' the judge said affably. 'So let's call it quits.'

Suddenly Leng buried his face in his hands. He wailed :

'It's Heaven's retribution! Ko's ghost is persecuting me!'

There was a knock on the door. Leng Chien wanted to jump up, but Chiao Tai laid his heavy hands on his shoulders and pressed him down again, whispering hoarsely into his ear:

'Don't get excited now, please! That'd ruin your health! Tell them to go away!'

'Come back later! I can't be disturbed now!' the banker called out obediently.

Judge Dee had been studying him, slowly caressing his sidewhiskers. Now he asked:

'Since Ko didn't know about your cheating him, why worry about his ghost?'

The banker gave the judge a startled look.

'What are you saying? ' he panted. 'Tell me, was the envelope open or closed?'

The judge had not the faintest idea what the agitated banker was talking about. He had taken it more or less for granted that Kun-shan had stolen the notebook when rob­bing Leng Chien's house. But apparently it was much more complicated than that. He said pensively:

'Let me see now, I did not particularly notice. . . .' He reflected that the notebook had evidently been placed in an envelope. It seemed probable that it had been sealed. He added: 'Yes, I remember now! The envelope was closed.'

'Heaven be praised!' Leng exclaimed. 'Then I didn't send him to his death!'

'Now you have said so much, you'd better tell the entire story!' Judge Dee commented dryly. 'I told you already that I am a reasonable man, I might be willing to talk over the deal.'

Leng wiped the sweat from his forehead. Evidently it was a relief to be able to tell someone now about his secret worries. He said:

'I made a stupid mistake. When Ko had invited me to dinner, he asked me to bring along for him a bundle of documents which he wanted to check. I placed them in an envelope, sealed it, and put it in my bosom. But when I arrived at Ko's place, I forgot to give him that envelope. When we were half-way through the dinner, just before Ko became ill, he asked me about it. I put my hand in my bosom and by mistake took out the sealed envelope contain­ing my notebook, which I always carried about with me and which was the same size and weight as the one with the business papers. I handed that envelope to Ko, and realized my terrible mistake only after Ko had gone back to the house to take his medicine. When I saw him throw himself into the river, I assumed of course that he had opened the envelope in his bedroom, discovered that I, his best friend, had been deceiving him, and committed suicide in despair. That terrible thought has been obsessing me all through these last two days. I couldn't sleep at night, I . . .'

He shook his head disconsolately.

'Well, you can't complain that you aren't getting your money's worth from us!' Judge Dee said. 'I suppose you were planning to sneak out of the city one of these days?'

'I was,' Leng Chien replied. 'If Ko hadn't died, I would have fled this week, leaving a letter for him in which I ex­plained everything, and begged him to forgive me. I needed nine hundred gold pieces for paying my debts, and planned to use the rest for starting anew in a far-away place. After Ko died, I hoped to get the tribunal to register his demise quickly. Then I would have had access to his safe, where I know he keeps two hundred gold pieces. But now I'll have to leave as soon as possible. My debtors will have to do without their money.'

'I won't keep you much longer,' the judge said. 'Our business is quite simple. Where did you deposit the gold?'

'With the Heavenly Rain gold shop.'

'Good!' Judge Dee said. 'Make out two drafts of three hundred and fifty gold pieces each and addressed to that shop. Sign and seal them, but leave the name of the pavee blank.'

Leng took from a drawer in his desk two large sheets, covered with the seals of his silver shop. He groped for his writing-brush and filled them out. The judge took them and saw that they were in order. Putting the sheets in his sleeve, he said: 'May I borrow that nice writing-brush for a moment, and a sheet of paper?'