The Lacquer Screen

'Were there ever rumours about her being unfaithful to him?' Judge Dee asked.

'Never!' Pan replied immediately. 'She has an excellent reputation. That's why I didn't dare to suggest that she be heard as witness in the tribunal. I questioned her myself in the hall of their mansion, directly after the tragedy. In the accustomed way, of course, she sitting behind a screen, and attended upon by her maidservant.'

Judge Dee thought he would like to meet Mrs Ko. Pan's praise did not tally at all with Chiao Tai's adventure. He said:

'I would like to see the scene of the tragedy. We have the entire evening before us, so let's go and pay a visit to the Ko residence. You can say that I am an official, temporarily attached to the tribunal.'

Pan nodded. He said:

'I too would like to have a second look there, especially at the bedroom. We can do that without inconveniencing Mrs Ko, for I heard that she has had their common bedroom locked, and has moved to a boudoir in an outhouse of the left wing.'

Judge Dee paid the waiter. He then suggested that they hire a sedan chair, but Pan said he could manage to walk downhill with his limp. A leisurely stroll brought them to the Ko mansion downtown.

It had a high gatehouse, and thick pillars of granite flanked the red-lacquered door, lavishly decorated with brass bosses. The steward received them in the main hall, tastefully fur­nished with antique chairs and tables of massive ebony. After he had offered the guests tea and fruit, he went to inform his mistress of their request. He came back with several keys. Mrs Ko had raised no objection.

The steward had a lighted lampion brought. He led them through a maze of dark corridors and courts to a small walled-in bamboo garden. At the back was a low building which, the steward explained, old Mr Ko had chosen for his private quarters since it had a broad terrace overlooking the garden and the river.

He unlocked the solid door and went in first in order to light the candle on the centre table. 'If more light is needed,' he said, 'I shall light the large oil lamp.'

Judge Dee quickly surveyed the bare, sparsely furnished room. The atmosphere was stuffy. Apparently the door and the window had not been opened in the last two days. He walked over to the narrow door in the wall opposite. The steward unlocked it for him and he descended three steps into a short passageway. When he opened the door at its end, he saw a broad marble terrace and beyond that the garden, shelving away to the river-bank. The garden pavilion where Ko had his last dinner stood more to the left, its green-glazed roof-tiles glistening in the moonlight.

He remained standing on the terrace for a while, enjoying the beautiful scene. Then he went back into the house. He noticed that the terrace door was rather low, but that only a man much taller than he would hit his head against it. When he stepped up into the bedroom again, he saw a tall woman clad in white standing against the wall on the left. She was a handsome lady of about thirty, with a regular, oval face. The loose mourning-robe could not entirely conceal her well-proportioned figure. As he saw her standing there, looking very distinguished with her downcast eyes, Judge Dee said to himself that Chiao Tai had good taste, the rascal! Better than his friend and colleague Ma Joong, who had a rather unfortunate proclivity for noisy, vulgar women. He made a deep bow, and Mrs Ko responded by inclining her head.

Counsellor Pan respectfully introduced Judge Dee as Mr Shen, temporarily assigned to the tribunal on special duty. Mrs Ko raised her large, luminous eyes and gave the judge an appraising look. She turned to the steward and told him he could go. Then she motioned to the judge and Pan to sit down in the two chairs in front of the broad, low window next to the door through which they had entered. She her­self remained standing, stiffly erect. As he sat down Judge Dee now noticed in the shadows next to her, a demure young maidservant. Playing with her fan of white silk, Mrs Ko addressed Pan in a cold, formal voice:

'Since you took the trouble to come here for an investi­gation, I thought it my duty to see personally that every­thing is being done to facilitate your work.'

Pan started on an elaborate apology, but Judge Dee inter­rupted him:

'We are deeply grateful, madam,' he said politely. 'I fully realize how painful this visit to the scene of the tragedy must be for you. I would not have caused you this distress were it not for my earnest desire to have all the formalities connected with your husband's demise over and done with as soon as possible. I sincerely hope, therefore, that you will forgive this intrusion.'

Mrs Ko made no response, she confined herself to gravely inclining her head. The judge reflected that, for a former shopkeeper's wife, she had indeed quickly acquired the man­ners of a well-born lady. He continued briskly:

'Now, let me orientate myself!' He casually looked at the large bedstead with plain blue curtains, drawn closed, that stood against the wall opposite Mrs Ko. Behind her he saw the usual pile of clothes-boxes of red-lacquered leather. The whitewashed walls and the stone-flagged floor were bare. He remarked in a conversational tone:

'This room seems to contain very little furniture, madam. I suppose there was more when your husband was still alive? A dressing-table, perhaps, and a few scroll pictures on the walls . . .'

'My husband,' Mrs Ko interrupted him coldly, 'was a man of frugal taste. Despite his great wealth he was averse to all luxury, and lived in an austere manner.'