precarious, especially as he thought you were incompetent.’
‘Who told you that? That old bitch? Yes, she had designs on my father. But that didn’t matter, because I was going to marry Jianxu. Did she tell you that as well?’
TWELVE
‘ They’re just accusing each other. This is getting us nowhere.’
Lin nodded in agreement at my observations on our morning’s work.
‘We can’t just concentrate on the moment of the murder. We have to delve into the past and find out more about the reason why Geng was murdered.’ He sighed. ‘We need to go back to the beginning.’
‘But where is the beginning?’
I was getting more and more depressed about finishing this before Guan presented his play to the public showing Jianxu in all her innocence.
‘Is it when Jianxu was left as a child with the Gao family? How are we going to dig that far back?’
‘Jianxu herself can tell you.’
It was Gurbesu who spoke up. She had been sitting in the corner of the room listening to our debate. Tadeusz had not yet put in an appearance, and was presumably still ferreting around finding out what he could about where the aconite might have come from. I challenged Gurbesu’s opinion that the girl was the best source to go to for information about the past.
‘She was a child when she was left with Gao. Her knowledge of what happened will be clouded by the view of a child. And if she is guilty of murder her testimony will not be the most reliable.’
‘It will be a start, and we could check her story with neighbours. As for her fabricating facts to cover up her guilt, you yourself have said often enough that a murderer can be uncovered as much by their lies as by the truth.’
Lin laughed out loud.
‘You are caught out by your own words, Nick. Admit it; Gurbesu is right. We should speak to Jianxu again. If only to test Wenbo’s statement about him being about to marry her.’
Gurbesu corrected Lin sharply.
‘I was saying that I should speak to her, not either of you. It worked the first time, and will work best again if I speak to her alone.’
It was best not to contradict Gurbesu when she had the bit between her teeth. And she was right anyway. Jianxu would talk to her, and Gurbesu would know the truth. If she spun a yarn, Gurbesu would know that too. She was clever that way. We agreed that she would approach Jianxu alone, which suited me as I had business with the prefect that I didn’t want her to know about. Lin would have to be kept in the dark too, because it was not exactly above board. Once I had tempted Li Wen-Tao with a bagful of paper money, I had spotted where the business opportunity lay, and couldn’t resist taking it. But before I could get away, Tadeusz came rushing in. He had a big smile on his lopsided face that suggested he had made a discovery.
‘You won’t guess what I found out from one of the silversmiths. He had had some business dealings with Old Geng, and told me that a few months ago the old man had paid off some of his debts. When he asked Geng if he had at last got Taitemir to pay him, Geng pulled a face and said he had not, that he had had to borrow money at an extortionate rate to keep himself going.’
I didn’t know why Pyka was so pleased to have been told that. It did not get us any further on. But the little smith had news that did change things.
‘This time I had a hint as to who the moneylender was. The silversmith I spoke to was sure it was Madam Gao.’
‘The old lady loaned Geng money? Well I suppose she might if they were to be wed.’
Tadeusz sat down at the table and picked up a succulent peach from the porcelain bowl in its centre. He bit deeply, and wiped the juice from his mouth using his sleeve.
‘No, you have it wrong. The loan was well before Madam Gao moved into Geng’s house. And it wasn’t a loan from one friend to another. Don’t forget Geng complained the moneylender’s rates were painfully high. It was a purely business transaction at the time. You see, Madam Gao must be a moneylender by trade. She is well known in the town as a hard-headed businesswoman, tougher than her husband was. And the business, which traded in silk material, had many clients. She took over the business when her husband died, and ran it much more successfully than he did. It seems she used her wealth to lend money, extorting punitive rates of return. Everyone was surprised when she moved into Geng’s house.’
I looked at everyone around the table.
‘This changes matters. Both Gengs had reasons to want Gao dead — one owed her a lot of money, the other didn’t want to lose the family business. Do you think the murder of the old man was an attack on Madam Gao that went badly wrong?’
‘An attempt by the boy to kill the moneylender who had his father in a stranglehold?’
Tadeusz’s question was answered with more from Lin.
‘Is the boy so ham-fisted that his poisoning attempt went so drastically wrong? Would he not be totally distraught to have been the cause of his own father’s death?’
‘Not if he saw the benefits of what happened. He’s not that dim.’ I got up and straightened my breeches, which were tight around my nether regions. ‘Now, I have things to do, and so do you, Gurbesu. Talk to Jianxu today, and try and get to the bottom of this matter. We need to know everything, especially if the boy was going to wed Jianxu. That would change the perspective on him being a suspect. Why kill to keep the Geng business, if he would inherit it anyway? Tadeusz — see if you can discover the names of any of the other people Madam Gao has loaned money to. Without her knowing you want to know.’
‘You think someone else might have been trying to kill her?’
‘It’s a possibility. Though I still think this has more to do with the family than an outsider, but we must not exclude other possibilities.’
Having made sure all the others would be busy that afternoon, I turned to Lin. I was in no position to order him to do anything, but I did want to ensure he was occupied somehow. He saw my questioning look, and raised his hands, palms outward.
‘Don’t ask me to do anything. I have much to write up here. If we are to come out of this without falling into Ko’s trap, we need accurate records.’
I was relieved. Lin would be busy too.
‘I agree. Every step must be meticulously recorded, and every fact substantiated.’
Lin sighed.
‘And even then it may do us no good. Ko is a slippery eel of an enemy.’
‘I’m afraid he is. By the way, do you know if the actors’ troupe are rehearsing Guan’s play today?’
Lin shrugged his shoulders.
‘I don’t know for sure, but I fear they will be. That is another sword dangling over our heads.’
Lin waved for his servant, Po Ku, to bring paper and ink, and I left him to his work and his worries.
At that same moment, Ko Su-Tsung was ensconced in his private room. At the heart of his quarters, the room was deep in shadows, just as he preferred it. Much of his deeds were conceived and controlled from the darkness of this room. Now, he held the second communication from his spy at Pianfu. He smiled his cadaver smile. The letter contained a report on Lin Chu-Tsai’s meeting with the prefect, and the fact that Lin found nothing amiss in his behaviour. Ko was satisfied so far with the progress of events, but it was too soon to imagine that his enemy was trapped inexorably. He knew Lin was cleverer than that. And so was that foreign barbarian, Zuliani. Though he felt sure that Zuliani would make some sort of mess by getting involved in a shady deal or some such. It was in the man’s nature. In fact, he could make matters worse for Lin by drawing Zuliani into a bad deal that would compromise both men. He lifted his writing implement and began to draft a message to be sent by the great
