The Emperor's Pearl

'Dr Pien readily agrees with this proposal. He'll not only get the Amber Lady into his hands, but also ten gold bars — which nicely solves his financial problems. I doubt whether Pien believed the story about the pearl. He is clever enough to have put two and two together, and to realize that Tong had invented the story of the pearl because he was planning to elope with the Amber Lady. But that does not concern him.'

'Pien puts poison in Tong's wine-cup during the enter­tainment at Marble Bridge. That rids him of a troublesome henchman and nets him a sizeable sum by betting against his own boat. Later the Amber Lady finds Sia waiting for her in the pavilion. He tries to overpower her, but she puts up resistance and suddenly draws a knife. In the ensuing scuffle Sia is wounded, and he kills her, either accidentally or on purpose. Anyway this killing will give him more power over Pien. Sia takes the gold, but my arrival prevents him from making a search for the pearl. Sia goes back to the city and reports his failure to Dr Pien. He tells the doctor that he wants more than the share agreed upon, for Pien is responsible for the death of Amber. Sia does not realize, however, that he is dealing with a ruthless maniac. Pien feigns to agree, and works on Sia's greed by remarking that it would be a pity to let the pearl go. Sia, who doesn't realize that the pearl can never be sold, lets himself be persuaded by Pien to go together with him to the deserted house this morning, in order to get the pearl. Pien lets Sia search the pavilion, then kills him. Give me another cup, Hoong, my throat is parched!'

While pouring out the tea, the sergeant asked:

'What would Dr Pien have done this morning, sir, after he had murdered Sia?'

'He would have concealed himself among the trees along the path leading to the villa, I think, waiting till Mr Kwang had passed by on his way to their appointment. The doctor would have given Kwang sufficient time for discovering the ransacked pavilion, then he would have gone there too. Before leaving his hiding-place, however, the doctor saw you and me walk along there. That was even better, now he would have two witnesses! He followed us to the pavilion.'

'Well, the rest is very much the same as I explained in my first theory. Dr Pien had the same opportunity as Kou Yuan-liang for recognizing Miss Lee in the street, for Pien also had left the session earlier. The doctor rushed to the north quarter and strangled Mrs Meng. To sum up: Dr Pien had to forgo his amusement with the Amber Lady, but he has got rid of two expensive and troublesome henchmen, and all his financial troubles are over, for he has obtained ten gold bars and, in addition, a considerable sum won at the races. Neat case, no loose ends left.'

Judge Dee paused. He listened for a while to the distant rumble of thunder that came from outside. As he was re­placing the wet towel round his neck again, Sergeant Hoong observed:

'This second theory, sir, seems to me more probable than the first, if I may say so. It is simpler, for one thing. And other points against Dr Pien are that he tried to maintain that Tong Mai had died from a natural cause, and that he told Your Honour a deliberate lie when he said that he had seen Sia go back to the city after the races.'

'Significant, but not conclusive,' the judge said. 'Tong Mai's symptoms seemed indeed to point to heart failure. And, since Sia's face is disfigured by a scar, Dr Pien may well have mistaken in good faith another man with a similar scar for Sia. If Pien is innocent, that is!'

'Who would have repaired the pavilion, Your Honour?'

'I am inclined to believe it was Tong Mai. He had lived there, and consequently knew the place thoroughly. He did not repair the pavilion in order to store the curios he traded in, however, as I wrongly assumed at first. The barred win­dow, the heavy door, the new lock — all these precautions were not meant to prevent outsiders from entering the pavilion, but to prevent someone confined there from get­ting out! The pavilion was even better suited for secret debauches with unwilling victims than the house of the old procuress behind the Taoist temple. "No one will hear the chicken cackle," as Sia told Miss Violet Liang.'