The Emperor's Pearl

'Did Sia say who was his boss?' the judge interrupted.

The man gave him a bewildered look.

'Boss? He hadn't got no boss. It was Sia who paid us, wasn't it? We wanted to get the wench that night, but her place is full of customers and she is working, so we can't make it. Last night same story. This morning we go to the wine-house to ask Sia for more money, because it's such a hard job. But Sia isn't there. So we say we'll have another try at the woman at noon. We got her all right, but in the street we run into this . . . this . . .'

'Lady!' hissed Miss Liang, bending over close to the man's head.

'Keep that monster away from me!' Feng shrieked in a panic. 'Know what she did to me, after she had stuck the knife through my ear? She . . . she . . .' He broke down completely and burst out in sobs.

Judge Dee rapped his gavel hard on the bench.

'Answer my questions!' he ordered. 'Do you confess to the crime you stand accused of?'

Holding his bleeding ears the man gasped:

'I confess!'

His neighbour Wang pleaded guilty in a trembling voice. The third could only nod once, then he pitched forward on his face. Judge Dee said to the senior constable who had taken the place of the headman:

'Convey these three criminals to jail and have the coroner attend to their injuries. They shall be heard again after they have sufficiently recovered.' While the constables were dragging the three men off, the judge addressed the girclass="underline" 'I shall now hear your statement, Miss Lee.'

The plump girl wiped her bruised face with her sleeve. She replied in a soft voice:

'We were just sitting down to our noon rice, me and the three other girls belonging to the house. Then those three men come inside and knock our doorman down. Our owner asks what they want. One man hits him with his fist in his face. He says they want to borrow me for the day, they'll bring me back later tonight. They grab me, wind a piece of cloth round my head and face and drag me outside, kicking me all the time. In the street I go along quietly with them for a while, then I get one of my hands free. I pull the cloth down and shout for help. Then Miss Liang comes ...'

'Had there been previous attempts at abducting you?'

'Never, sir.'

'Who of your customers could have a hand in this affair?'

She gave the judge a perplexed look. After having thought for a while, she shook her head and answered:

'I really don't know! I have been working there only one year, sir. I am the daughter of boatman Lee from up-river. My father got into debt and had to sell either the boat or me. My customers were shopkeepers and their assistants, from the neighbourhood. All nice fellows, I know them well. Why should they want to have me kidnapped, seeing that they could get all they want in the regular manner?'

'Quite,' Judge Dee said. 'Did you, besides receiving customers in the brothel, also go out to attend parties in restaurants or wine-houses?'

'Oh no, sir! I can't sing or dance, so I was never hired out for parties. But my owner sent me there sometimes just to give a hand serving the food, or to help our Number One changing her dresses.'

'Mention the parties you attended in that capacity dur­ing the last two months or so.'

When she had started on a long list, Judge Dee realized that this did not lead anywhere. The parties had been large, Kou Yuan-liang, Dr Pien and other notables had been present at more than one, also Yang the curio-dealer. And she remembered that Kwang Min had attended as a guest a small dinner given by a local drug-dealer. He asked:

'Did any of the guests pay special attention to you?'

'Never, sir. I was only a maid, wasn't I? The gentlemen spoke only with the courtesans from high-class establish­ments. They did give me tips, though. Quite large ones too, sometimes.'

'Are the names Tong Mai and Sia Kwang familiar to you?'

She shook her head. Judge Dee ordered the senior scribe to read out his notes of the proceedings. Miss Liang and Miss Lee agreed that they were correct and impressed their thumb-marks on the documents.