are only just now healing.’
‘You see what I mean about torture? It rarely provides you with the truth. So the girl claims not to be the poisoner now. Does she have any idea who might have been? Who could have got in the kitchen to doctor the soup?’
Gurbesu pulled a face.
‘She wouldn’t say, but I thought she had an opinion. You know what these Chinee women are like. True to the Three Duties of women: obedience to your father before marriage; obedience to your husband after marriage; and obedience to your son after your husband’s death. Obedience, obedience, obedience, grrrrrr.’
Gurbesu growled, and if I hadn’t been already leaning with my back against the tree trunk, I would have backed off. She was a tiger in this sort of mood. Instead of retreating, I asked her another question.
‘Do you believe everything she told you?’
She had to pause and think about that. We watched as the gaoler closed and locked the cell door on Jianxu, leaving her as a pale face outlined by the grille. Finally, she answered me.
‘I think so.’
‘But you are not sure?’
‘Everything she said was so precise and considered. As though she had rehearsed it.’
I shrugged.
‘Not surprising. She has been taken through the story many times, and often under duress with her feet tied up and being beaten. She would have ended up telling the prefect anything he wanted to hear. He could even have prompted her. And since being incarcerated to await our arrival, she has had weeks to think about what she would say.’ I paused before asking the final question. ‘Is she innocent?’
Once again, my favourite Kungurat pondered the question. She pursed her full, red lips.
‘Mmmmm. Too early to tell. I am going to reserve judgement.’
That was one split vote, then. And I respected Gurbesu’s intuition. But anyway, she was right. It was early days, and we needed to gather a whole lot more information. I took Gurbesu’s arm, and we walked away from the prison.
‘Let’s go back to the house, and see what Lin and Tadeusz have found out.’
The girl watched from behind the door of her cell, which had once again been locked securely. She watched as the red-haired man and the strange woman walked away. She had never experienced such an odd pair. The demon looked as though he would scare anyone into submission, but the dark-skinned woman had brushed him aside as if he didn’t matter. He had then sat with her gaoler while the woman spoke to her. The girl had assumed the woman was the demon’s wife, though she didn’t behave like any Chin wife. They had spoken at first in her native tongue, but mostly they had conversed in the tongue of the Mongols who had conquered her native land many years ago. The true emperor still lived, somewhere in southern Song, but the Mongols were pressing ever southwards. It was inevitable that the barbarian hordes would win, and she had picked up as much of their tongue as she was able. It had now served her well.
The woman had probed for the facts of the death of Old Geng, and she had told her story well, she thought. She felt she had convinced the Kungurat of her innocence. When the woman, who called herself Gurbesu, had asked if she had any idea who had killed the old man, she had hesitated. Just like a good, obedient woman, she had demurred, not accusing anyone directly. But she thought she had convinced Gurbesu that she did suspect someone. So she knew the demon and his wife would be back.
‘Li Wen-Tao could tell me nothing that was not in the official records already. I could tell he was toeing the party line. He even had the nerve to refer me to Taitemir, knowing of course that even a Chin official as highly connected as I am could not contradict a Mongol. It was a waste of my time. How about the girl?’
We had met up over a meal in Lin’s rooms, which were, as usual, far better organized than any of ours. Mind you, he had a servant, and I would have expected nothing less of Lin. He always surrounded himself with serenity, whereas I thrived on chaos. We complemented each other in that way. Before I answered his question, I looked at Gurbesu. Did she want to voice her opinions directly? She gave a little shake of her head, which left me, as ever, in her debt. She knew I needed to maintain my position as the main investigator, even amongst our little group. So it was I who replied to Lin’s question.
‘She did no more than confirm what was in the documents we already have. Her story has not changed. So there is nothing new yet. But it is only the beginning. We need to talk to the son and the old lady
… what’s her name?’
‘Madam Gao.’
‘Yes, we need to speak to her. And maybe I can have a go at the prefect myself.’ I grinned wolfishly. ‘I can be a mite rougher than you, Chu-Tsai. Besides, I want to appeal to his baser instincts.’
Lin frowned a little, though his face was normally impassive and didn’t show too much about his inner workings.
‘What have you in mind, Nick?’
‘It is better that you don’t know. Then you can keep your hands clean.’
Lin settled back on his couch, looking somewhat out of sorts, and I took charge of the meeting. I looked over at Tadeusz, who had been very quiet during my exchanges with Lin.
‘What about you, Tadeusz. Did you learn anything in the marketplace?’
Tadeusz Pyka tugged at his beard, and seemed not sure where to begin. Finally he put into words what he had learned by chatting to the tradesmen he had met.
‘I wandered around a few of those big squares we came through when we arrived. I reckoned that one of them had to accommodate workshops. I found the one for doctors and astrologers first. They teach reading and writing there too, you know. I saw a local magistrate settling an argument between two doctors who, from what I could tell, were disputing the efficacy of something called dang gui.’
Lin nodded his head.
‘Yes. It’s also called female ginseng, and I believe it’s used for all sorts of women’s complaints.’
‘The argument seemed to be about whether it should be boiled or steeped in wine.’
Gurbesu laughed.
‘I would prefer the last method.’
‘The magistrate resolved the matter, but by then the client — an older woman — had walked away. So neither doctor gained from arguing. Anyway, the next square I came to was the craft square. They say there were twelve guilds represented, and each workshop employed up to forty men. It was certainly a busy and bustling square, and I could see some men had got quite wealthy from the trade. I went to the silversmiths’ quarter — you can always find it by the sound.’
I knew what he meant. The tap-tap of small hammers on silver plates is a distinctive noise, like the sound of tiny bells.
‘They were all Chinee, and reluctant to talk at first. But when I spoke about their techniques, and showed them that I was one of their guild, some of them spoke freely. Working in the trade, they knew some Turkish and we got on fine. They wanted to know about Xanadu and Tatu, and what it was like working for the Great Khan. I confess that, as I looked around at all the industry of these men, I was suddenly missing my own workshop and my tools.’
Pyka looked fondly off into the distance, no doubt thinking of a time when he was a silversmith in Breslau and had a wife and children. I had never known him so homesick — it was over twenty-five years since the Mongols had swept through his town like avenging angels. I had thought he was over the tragedy. He suddenly focused on me and looked crestfallen.
‘Sorry.’
I patted him on the shoulder encouragingly. I just prayed he wasn’t going to cry on mine. I was not good with women and emotions, but of necessity coped — with other men and emotions I was hopeless. He drew a breath, however, and carried on.
‘When I got a chance I asked them about Pianfu, and how the Mongols had affected trade. They were a mixed bunch, and some said things had picked up recently, that they were far enough away from the capital not to be bothered too much with the bureaucracy. Others quietly complained that the lord of the region wanted the finest work but didn’t want to pay for it. But they wouldn’t raise their voices in complaint too loud in case Taitemir got to hear. But one old man said bitterly that local officials collaborated too much with the Mongols. He mentioned the
