The Willow Pattern

Chiao Tai ascended the many marble stairs that led up to the terrace on the fourth storey. Slowly, for he had been on his feet since early in the morning. Doctor Lew followed him.

Judge Dee was sitting at the table, bent over a large map. Tao Gan was standing by his side, a sheaf of papers in his hand. While Chiao Tai saluted, the doctor knelt down on the upper step of the stairs.

'It was a street singer who screamed just now, sir,' Chiao Tai reported. 'This man claims she was accosting him. He is the Doctor Lew you wanted to see.'

The judge bestowed a cursory look on the kneeling man.

'Where is that woman?'

'She fled, sir.'

'I see.' Leaning back in his chair he told the doctor: 'You may rise!’

Lew quickly came to his feet and stepped on to the terrace. He made a low bow in front of Judge Dee's table, his hands folded respectfully in his long brocade sleeves. The judge observed him for a while in silence, slowly caressing his sidewhiskers. Then he asked:

'What happened down there in the street just now, doctor?'

'I was on my way to see a patient, my lord, carrying my box with powders and prescriptions.' Lew took out the flat red box and showed it to the judge. 'When I came round the corner, I saw a woman being bothered by two black men, scavengers employed for the disposal of the dead. After I had chased those wretches away, the woman accosted me. She turned out to be a streetwalker. And instead of saying thank you, she bothered me, my lord! When I told her to leave me alone, she grabbed my sleeve, and wouldn't let me go. So I had to give her a push, and she began to scream. Wanted to make a scene in order to extort money, of course. Fortunately just then the colonel here arrived, and she ran away.'

Chiao Tai opened his mouth to speak, but Judge Dee shook his head. He addressed Lew affably:

'I wanted to see you, doctor, to hear more about the demise of Merchant Mei, last night. I am informed that you were present.'

Lew shook his head, sadly.

'No, my lord, I did not actually witness the unfortunate accident. A terrible loss, not only for——'

'The coroner said you were there!’ Judge Dee interrupted him sharply.

'I was indeed in the Mei mansion, my lord. In the west wing, to be precise. The accident happened on the other side of the compound, in the east wing.'

'Well, tell the entire story!'

'Certainly, my lord. Mr Mei had summoned me early in the evening, just after seven, in fact. He wanted me to have a look at his housemaster. The old man had been going about his duties as usual, but half an hour before he had suddenly felt unwell, and Mr Mei had ordered him to go to bed at once. In a time like this, one has of course a ten­dency to think ... the worst. I examined the patient, but found it was just a bout of fever, not uncommon this time of the year. Then Mr Mei kindly invited me to have dinner with him. With the housemaster ill, and all the other ser­vants gone up to the mountain villa, Madame Mei attended upon us in person. A most embarrassing situation, I must say, being served by the lady of the house herself... . Well, we rose about nine, and Mr Mei announced that he would go up to his library, on the second floor of the east wing. He said he would read a bit, then pass the night on the couch there. "You have had a heavy day," he told his wife, "you had better have a good night's sleep, in the main bedroom." Mr Mei was a very considerate man, my lord. Always.'

Lew heaved a sigh, and went on: 'When I had taken leave of Mr Mei, on my way out I looked into the house­master's room, just inside the main gate, and found to my dismay that the fever was mounting. I administered a sooth­ing medicine to him at once, then sat down by his bed, to wait till the drug would take effect. It was dead quiet in that large mansion, normally a veritable beehive of activity. Almost an eerie atmosphere, I thought. All of a sudden I heard a woman scream, over in the east wing. I hurried outside, and in the central courtyard I met Madame Mei, in a terrible state. She——'

'What time was that?'

'It was getting on for ten o'clock, my lord. She told me sobbing that she had just found her husband lying at the bottom of the marble staircase in the hall, dead. While taking me there she told me that she had been planning to go up to his library, to see whether he needed something before she retired. Upon entering the hall, however, she saw him lying there. She screamed and ran to the main gate, hoping that the housemaster would have sufficiently recovered to——'

'We'll take that for granted. Did you examine the body?’

'Only cursorily, my lord. His head had struck the pointed top of the left newel, at the bottom of the stairs. I saw at once that the frontal bone had been crushed and that he must have died outright. He must have had a stroke when about to descend the steep staircase, for I saw an extin­guished candle lying at the top of the stairs, and one of his slippers halfway down. I have to tell you frankly, my lord, that this was not entirely unexpected. Mr Mei had been complaining to me about severe headaches lately, and I had warned him to take a rest, for he was nearly seventy, after all. But he did not heed my warnings. He insisted upon supervising the food distribution personally, every day, from morning till night. And patiently listened to the laments of all those noisy people too! He was so considerate! A great philanthropist. A terrible loss, my lord!’