Necklace and Calabash

The judge pulled at his moustache. As a visiting magistrate he would have to make official calls, all dressed up in his ceremonial robe and winged cap — and they were still in Kuan-ti-miao with his heavy luggage. He could borrow a set, of course, and rent an official palankeen, but this was exactly the sort of thing he wanted to get away from for a few days... . Captain Siew noticed his hesitation, and resumed quickly:

'I'll fix everything for you, sir! You are fully entitled to a few days of rest. Heard all about that case of the Buddhist temple you solved in Poo-yang. Fine piece of detecting, sir! * (* See the novel The Chinese Bell Murders.) Let me see, now. Yes, I know a retired doctor in the capital, Liang Mou his name is. Tall fellow, long beard. Specialist in lungs and liver.' He pulled a sheet of paper towards him, moistened his writing-brush and jotted down a few lines. 'You have studied a bit of medicine, of course, sir? Fine! May I have your identity docu­ment?'

Judge Dee pulled the paper from his riding-boot and put it on the desk. 'I don't think ...' he began. But the captain was absorbed in his study of the document. Looking up, he exclaimed:

'Couldn't be better, sir! Birth-date fits, more or less!' He rapped his knuckles on the desk and shouted, 'Liu!’

The lieutenant came in at once, apparently he had been waiting just outside the door. The captain gave him his note together with Judge Dee's identity document. 'Make out a new one, in this name, Liu. Not too new, though, eh!’

The lieutenant saluted and went out. Captain Siew put his elbows on the desk.

'Fact is, I am faced with a little problem, sir,' he said earnestly. 'Your being here incognito would help me to solve it. Wouldn't take much of your time, and you'd be doing me a tremendous favour, sir! You rank much higher than me, of course, but our work being similar, so to speak... . Would help me no end, sir! I always say that in order to get a fresh look at things... .'

'You'd better explain what your problem is,' Judge Dee inter­rupted dryly.

The captain got up and went to the large map on the wall. From where he sat the judge could see that it showed the area south of the river, with a detailed plan of the town. To the east there was a blank square, marked in large letters 'Water Palace'. With a sweep of his arm Captain Siew said:

'The entire Special Area is under the direct administration of the Palace. You know of course, sir, that for four years now the Water Palace has been the summer residence of the Third Princess.'

'No, I didn't.' But Judge Dee knew about the Third Princess. She was the Emperor's favourite daughter, said to be exceedingly beautiful. The Emperor granted her every wish, but apparently she was not the spoilt palace-doll one might expect, but a very intelligent, level-headed young woman who took a deep interest in the arts and sciences. Various prominent young courtiers had been mentioned as future imperial sons-in-law, but the Emperor had always postponed a decision. The Princess must now be about twenty-five, the judge thought. Captain Siew continued:

'The highest authorities here are three officials, two civil and one military. The Chief Eunuch is responsible for the Third Prin­cess, her court-ladies and all their womenfolk. Then we have the Palace Superintendent who is responsible for the rest of the per­sonnel, a thousand persons in all. My chief, Colonel Kang, is the Commander of the Guard. He is in charge of the security of the palace, and the rest of the Special Area. He has his offices in the palace and is fully occupied with his work there. So he has assigned two hundred guardsmen to me, and put me in charge of the administration of the town and the countryside. It's a quiet, orderly little town, for in order to prevent epidemics from spread­ing to the palace no brothels are allowed here, no streetwalkers, no theatres, and no beggars. Crimes are rare, because any offence committed here could be construed as lese-majesty, and be punished with the "lingering death". And not even the most hardened criminal wants to risk being sliced to pieces slowly! Ordinary executioners take only two or three hours over the process, but those in the palace can keep their man alive for a couple of days, I am told.' The captain rubbed his nose reflectively, then added, 'They are the best that can be had, of course. Anyway, the result is that all robbers, thieves and vagrant ruffians shun this area like the plague!'

'Then your job is simple, Siew. Just the administrative routine.'

The captain sat down.

'No, sir,' he said gloomily, 'there you are wrong. Its very security from smaller criminals makes this area a proper paradise for the big ones! Suppose you were a wealthy crook with many personal enemies. Where better than here could you pass a quiet holiday? Here no assassin would ever dare to attack you. Or sup­pose you were the boss of an influential smuggling-ring, or of a secret criminal league? In your own territory you'd have to be on your guard day and night against killers sent by rival organiza­tions. But here you could walk about freely without any fear of being molested. Do you see my problem now, sir?'

'Not quite. Since all arrivals must register, why not send those questionable characters back where they came from?'

The captain shook his head.