Necklace and Calabash

He took the abacus from the drawer in front of him, and held it up.

As his two guests gave the counting-frame an incredulous look, Judge Dee snapped the wooden frame of the abacus and let the dark brown beads glide from their parallel wire rods into the porcelain bowl. Then he began to shake the bowl, making the beads roll about in the lukewarm lye. While doing so he went on:

'Prior to replacing the original wooden beads by the pearls, he had covered each pearl with a layer of brown gum, the sort cashiers use to stick bills together. The gum hardened, and even a night in the river did not dissolve it. This warm lye, however, should prove more effective.'

The judge picked two beads out of the bowl. He rubbed them dry carefully on the piece of silk, then showed them to the others in the palm of his open hand: two perfectly rounded pearls, shimmering with a pure white gleam. He resumed gravely:

'Here in this bowl repose the pearls of the Imperial necklace, gentlemen. Presently I shall verify in your presence whether all the eighty-four are there. Captain, fetch a silk thread and a needle!’

The Superintendent stared at the bowl, his thin lips compressed. Colonel Kang looked steadily at Judge Dee's impassive face, his mailed fists clenching the sword across his knees.

Captain Siew came back in a surprisingly short time. Standing at the bench, he cleaned the pearls, then threaded them with his thick but very nimble fingers. After the judge had counted them and found that all were there, he put the necklace in his sleeve and said:

'The gangsters who searched Tai Min's body went as far as slitting his belly open, but they never gave the abacus so much as a second glance. For one expects a cashier to carry an abacus. It was the most obvious hiding-place, and therefore the best.'

'If the abacus was found on the cashier's dead body,' the Super­intendent said in his measured voice, 'how did it get back to the counter of the inn?'

Judge Dee gave him a sour look.

'I put it back there myself,' he replied curtly, 'without realizing what it really was. It is true that at that time I did not yet know that a pearl necklace was missing, but I should have remembered it afterwards. I discovered it late — but just in time.' He rose, turned round, and made a bow in front of the wall-table. Lifting the yellow roll in both hands, he told the captain, 'You will go back to the inn now, and wind up affairs there.' And to the two others: 'We proceed to the Water Palace.'

As soon as the cortиge had crossed the broad marble bridge across the moat, the monumental palace gate was thrown open and the palankeens were carried inside.

In the first courtyard the two rows of guardsmen lined up there presented arms. Judge Dee leaned out of the window and beckoned the officer in command.

'When I was leaving here the night before last in my guise of Doctor Liang, my sword was taken from the black palankeen assigned to me. You'll see to it that it is located at once. It can be recognized by two characters inlaid in gold in the blade, reading "Rain Dragon".' As the officer saluted smartly, the judge told the Superintendent: 'Now we'll go directly to your office.'

They descended from the palankeen in front of the lofty hall. The judge beckoned Colonel Kang, then strode inside. By the Superintendent's desk his councillor was talking in a subdued voice to three courtiers. They knelt down at once.

Judge Dee pushed the yellow roll into his robe and spoke:

'Rise and report about the condition of the Lady Hydrangea!’

The councillor scrambled to his feet and made a low bow, his hands respectfully folded in his sleeves.

'The attending physician reported, Excellency, that the Lady Hydrangea was suffering from a sudden attack of brain fever, not uncommon in this hot and moist climate. She was visited by terrible hallucinations. After sedatives had been administered, however, she fell into a deep sleep. This morning she had so much improved that she could be conveyed back from the dispensary to the apartments of Her Imperial Highness.'

The judge nodded. 'Where is the safe?'

The councillor hesitated but Judge Dee caught his quick glance at the flower painting on the wall. He went there and pulled the picture aside. Pointing at the square door of solid iron embedded in the wall, he ordered the Superintendent: 'Open up!'

Seated at the high desk, Judge Dee went through the bundles of papers he had taken from the safe, slowly tugging at his mous­tache. He found that the documents comprised confidential personnel reports and other important papers relating to the administration of the Water Palace. Nothing about the private affairs of the Third Princess, nor about the scheme of the necklace. He got up and put the papers back, motioning the Superintendent to lock the safe.

'Lead me to your office, Kang. The Superintendent shall accom­pany us.'

The colonel's office was simply furnished but scrupulously clean. Its broad window afforded a view of an extensive, walled-in yard where a few guardsmen were practising archery. Colonel Kang unlocked the iron strongbox on the floor and the judge inspected its contents. But again he could find nothing that looked suspect. Putting his hands behind his back, he told the coloneclass="underline"