Judge Dee at Work

'I do. I was there myself, sneaked in with the others. Wet all over with fright, I tell you, for if they catch a whore in a mili­tary establishment she gets scourged. Well, the colonel said that Woo was guilty of adultery with the wife of a fellow-officer, and sentenced him to have his head chopped off. He said he wouldn't say too much about murder, for his men had found out that Pan himself had sent his servants away after dinner that night, and as soon as he had gone on duty at the armoury, he had told the military police that he had been warned about thieves in his neighbourhood, and asked them to keep an eye on his house. The colonel said that it was possible Pan had discovered that his wife was carrying on with Woo, and that he had therefore strangled her. That was his right; according to the law, he could have killed Woo too, if he had caught them in the act, as they call it. But maybe Pan had been afraid to tackle Woo, and had chosen this roundabout way of getting at him. Anyway that was neither here nor there, the colonel said. The fact was that Woo had played games with the wife of a fellow-officer, and that was bad for the morale of the army. Therefore he had to be beheaded.'

She fell silent. Judge Dee caressed his sidewhiskers. After a while he said, 'On the face of it I would say that the colonel was perfectly right. His verdict agrees with the brief character sketch you gave me of the two men concerned. Why are you so sure that Woo didn't have an affair with Pan's wife?'

'Because Woo loved me, and wouldn't even look at another woman,' she replied promptly.

Judge Dee thought that this was a typical woman's argument. To change the subject, he asked: 'Who flogged you, and why?

'It's all such a stupid story!’ she said in a forlorn voice. 'After the session I was furious with Woo. I had discovered that I was pregnant, and the mean skunk had been carrying on with the Pan woman all the time, behind my back! So I rushed to the jail and got inside by telling the guards I was Woo's sister. When I saw him I spat in his face, called him a treacherous lecher, and ran off again. But when I was so far gone I couldn't work any more, I got to thinking things over, and I knew I had been a silly fool, and that Woo loved me. So eight weeks ago, after our child had been born and I was a little better, I again went to the military prison to tell Woo I was sorry. But Woo must have told the guards how I fooled them the time before — and he was right, too, the way I had shouted at him! As soon as I was inside they lashed me to the rack and gave me a flogging. I was in luck, I knew the soldier who handled the scourge; he didn't hit too hard, else the army would have had to supply a coffin then and there. As it was, my back and shoulders were cut to ribbons and I was bleeding like a pig, but I am no weakling and I made it. As strong as a farmhand, father used to say of me before he had to sell me to pay the rent for our field. Then there came rumours about the Tartars planning an attack. The garrison commander was called to the capital, and the war started. What with one thing and another Woo's case dragged on. This morning the decision came, and at dawn they'll chop his head off.'

Suddenly she buried her face in her hands and started to sob. The judge slowly stroked his long black beard, waiting till she had calmed down. Then he asked:

'Was the Pans' marriage a happy one?'

'How do I know? Think I slept under their bed?'

'Did they have children?'

'No.'

'How long had they been married?'

'Let me see. About a year and a half — I know that. When I first met the two captains, Woo told me that Pan had just been called home by his father to marry the woman his parents had got for him.'

'Do you happen to know his father's name?'

'No. Pan only used to brag that his father was a big noise in Soochow.'

'That must be Pan Wei-liang, the Prefect,' Judge Dee said at once. 'He is a famous man, a great student of ancient history. I have never met him, but I have read many of his books. Quite good. Is his son still here?'

'Yes, attached to headquarters. If you admire those Pans so much, you'd better go there and make friends with the mean bastard!’ she added contemptuously.

Judge Dee rose. 'I'll do that,' he said, half to himself.

She mouthed an obscene word. 'You are all the same, all of you!' she snapped. 'Am I glad I am just an honest whore! The gentleman is choosy, doesn't want to sleep with a woman with half a breast gone, eh? Want your money back?'

'Keep it!’ Judge Dee said calmly.

'Go to hell!' she said. She spat on the floor and turned her back on him.

Judge Dee silently put on his fur coat and left.

While he was walking through the main street, still crowded with soldiers, he reflected that things didn't look too good. Even if he found Captain Pan, and even if he succeeded in extracting from him the fact he needed for the testing of his theory, he would then have to try to obtain an audience with the Marshal, for only he could, at this stage, order a stay of execution. And the Marshal was fully occupied by weighty issues, the fate of the Empire was in the balance. Moreover, that fierce soldier was not notorious for his gentle manner. Judge Dee set his teeth. If the Empire had come to such a pass that a judge couldn't prevent an innocent man from being beheaded ...