The Lacquer Screen

'How far is the pavilion from the house? ' Magistrate Teng interrupted.

'The garden is quite large, Your Honour, but since it is planted only with shrubs, from the pavilion one can see clearly the marble terrace that runs along that side of the entire residence. It was on this moonlit terrace that, after a brief interval, we saw Ko reappear. His face was covered with blood, streaming from a wound on his forehead. Scream­ing and gesticulating wildly he ran down into the garden, and along the path towards the pavilion. The three of us sat there, looking at the approaching figure, speechless with consternation. Halfway down he suddenly changed his course. He left the path and ran across the grass to the marble balustrade. He stepped over it and threw himself into the river.'

The banker paused, overcome with emotion.

'What happened to the deceased while he was inside the house?' the magistrate asked.

'Precisely!' Judge Dee remarked to Chiao Tai. 'That's of course the crux of the matter!'

'Mrs Ko has stated,' Leng replied, 'that her husband came running inside their bedroom in great agitation. The bedroom is joined to the terrace by a narrow passage about ten feet long. He started upon a long tirade about the awful pain he was in, and the cruelty of his friends, who didn't show the slightest sympathy with his suffering. His wife tried to con­sole him, then went to her own room to fetch his medicine. When she came back her husband had worked himself up into a kind of frenzy. Stamping his feet on the floor he refused to take the medicine. Suddenly he turned and rushed out to the terrace. That was the last his wife saw of him. I assume that, while running through the passage that leads to the terrace, he bumped his head against the upper part of the door. The passage is rather low. It was built after the rest of the house because Mr Ko wished to have direct access from his bedroom to the terrace. In the state of mind he was in, that unexpected shock completely unnerved him, and he decided to end his life.'

Magistrate Teng, who thus far had been listening with an indifferent air, now sat up in his chair. Turning round he asked his counsellor:

'Since you were there I assume that you examined the passage?'

'I did indeed, Your Honour,' Pan replied respectfully. 'I didn't find any bloodstains there, either on the floor or on the beam over the terrace door.'

'How high is the balustrade that runs along the river bank?' Teng asked the banker.

'Only three feet, Your Honour,' Leng Chien answered. 'I often advised Mr Ko to have it made higher, because there was the danger that some day a guest who had partaken too freely of the amber liquid might fall over. On the other side of the balustrade there's a sheer drop to the river, of more than ten feet, I'd say. But the deceased said he had made it low expressly in order to be able to enjoy the view while sitting in the garden.'

'How many steps lead up to the pavilion, and what kind are they?' Teng asked again.

'Three, Your Honour, and they are made of carved marble.'

'Did you see the deceased clearly when he went over into the river?'

Leng hesitated. He replied slowly:

'There are some shrubs there, and, since he had dis­appeared before we really knew what was happening, I...'

Magistrate Teng leaned forward and interrupted:

'What made you think that Mr Ko committed sui­cide?'

'Good!' Judge Dee whispered to Chiao Tai. 'My colleague has put his finger on the sore spot!'

'The old fellow jumped into the river, didn't he?' Chiao Tai muttered. 'And evidently not to enjoy a swim!'

'Hush! Listen!' the judge hissed.

The banker seemed to be quite taken aback by Magistrate Teng's sudden question. He stammered:

'I . . . that is to say, all of us . . . since we saw it happen before our eyes . . .'

'You saw with your own eyes,' Magistrate Teng cut him short, 'that Mr Ko's face was covered with blood. That he first made straight for the pavilion, then changed direction and ran towards the balustrade. Didn't it occur to you that the blood from his head wound might have got into his eyes, and that he mistook the white balustrade for the white steps of the pavilion? And that he did not step over the balustrade, but stumbled over it?' As Leng did not reply, the magistrate continued: 'It has now become evident that the manner of Mr Ko's death has by no means been clearly established; this court provisionally opines that it was death by accident rather than suicide. Neither is this court satisfied with Mr Leng's theory about how the deceased received the head wound. Pending clarification of those issues, the death of Mr Ko Chih-yuan cannot be registered.'