‘What’s that?’
‘They say he dabbled in alchemy too. It has not been proven, but two old men died quite soon after consulting him in their search for greater longevity.’
‘Cinnabar.’
It was Lin who offered a theory about this latest matter.
‘ Zhusha — as we call cinnabar — can be roasted to turn it into quicksilver — mercury. It is thought that through ingesting this substance that immortality can be attained. But it is a deadly substance, and if Doctor Sun is as careless with mercury as he is with the herbs he prescribes, then I am not surprised if many have died at his hands. Tadeusz, my friend, you must find him, and bring him to us. He can no doubt tell us to whom he sold the poison. Or if he himself administered it.’
Pyka nodded his agreement to his task, asking just one question.
‘Are you then inclined to think that the girl is innocent, after all?’
Lin looked at me inquiringly. He was sticking to his role as recorder of information, leaving me to draw the conclusions from them. I looked back at him, not able to detect in his stare what he might think himself. I was on the spot, and even Gurbesu looked down at the ground when I included her in my stare. I was unsure, but Tadeusz deserved an answer. He had given us a lot of useful information.
‘There is a lot more to prove yet. But, if we had begun this investigation from scratch and Jianxu had not already been in prison, then yes, I would be inclined to think her innocent at this stage.’
The girl sat in her cell watching the sun descend over the hills. For a moment, the path to her cell door was imbued with a red glow. It was as though she was witnessing a trail of red blood flowing to her door. She smiled in triumph. The interview with the tall, dark-skinned woman had been very successful. She knew she had convinced the woman of her tragic life to date, and therefore of her probable innocence. Now the path that she once deemed unlucky had become one of lucky red blood — life’s blood — that was flowing her way. Her yun cycle was in the ascendant, and she knew she would soon be free to do as she wished. Then along the blood path came a dark figure.
She knew it was Wenbo, because he came every day to see her. He was rather late this time, and she was anxious because she had much to say to him. But when she saw his eager, pinched face at the grille of her cell door, she knew everything would work out. Swiftly she told him what had happened that day, and told him what she would like done. He looked afraid, but determined, when he left soon afterwards. As the sun sank, and the path once again turned to grey, she breathed a great sigh of relief. For the first time, she fell asleep without feeling the sharp blade of the executioner’s sword on her neck.
FOURTEEN
I rose early the next morning because I had much to do. I told Lin that I would follow up the matter of the writer of the words in the play we had seen. Lin was still sure they had hinted at knowledge of the real murderer of Old Geng.
‘I keep recalling other lines from the play, but I don’t know whether they were in the original or not.’
I was getting more uncertain about this by the day.
‘Such as?’
‘Well, one character said something like “get your monkshood, and your mountain fennel.” Monkshood is aconite by another name — the poison we are looking for. But I’m damned if I can remember if the original play referred to it or another way of killing. You see, just before that line the same character said, “who could have guessed behind the smile a dagger lay?” Why say that if the victim in the play was poisoned?’
‘I will go and find this P’ing-Yang Nu and settle your doubts for you. And I will do it right away.’
Lin clutched his chest in a way that suggested staying his beating heart.
‘Thank you, my demon. Remember, you are looking for a man with tattooed arms and legs.’
I left him once again seated at his low desk writing notes of all our actions to date. It had always been my intention to go into town this morning, but not to see someone from the players’ troupe. I had arranged to meet the prefect, Li Wen-Tao, at the Temple of the Earth-Goddess. It was time for the first return on my investment. As I approached the temple, I noted with satisfaction two well-muscled young men emerging from the crowd and falling in step with me a few paces back. I had no worries about a physical encounter with the prefect, but who knows? If he chose to bring along a couple of heavies in order to foreclose on our deal, I would still be at a disadvantage. If he hadn’t thought of it, well, my having arranged for two big bodyguards at my back would keep him in line. Hopefully, I was secure.
I could see that a steady stream of people were entering and leaving through the main doorway of the temple. Ducking through the archway myself, I peered into the gloom of the interior. Incense hung in dense sweet- smelling clouds, and I felt queasy from the cloying odour. Many visitors were going to the main altar, but there was also a long line of people at the altar to the god of lost and stolen items. A stoop-shouldered old woman was very busy, and I watched as she dealt with those at the head of the queue. She first listened to a wealthy looking merchant, who whispered in her ear and pressed an offering into her claw-like hand. She hobbled to the twin statues in the shrine and mumbled her prayers. The merchant was astounded to hear a voice come from the altar, no doubt telling him where to find his lost item. He was so impressed that he took another coin out of his sleeve and pressed it into the priestess’s palm. As one happy client left in a hurry to find what was lost, an elderly couple approached the priestess. A similar scenario followed, with the old pair passing money over. The priestess prayed, but there was no voice from the god this time. Returning to her clients, she shook her head. Apparently no response had been forthcoming from the gods, but no doubt she would be advising them to return the next day. Perhaps by then she would have better news — if Li was playing his part. The next supplicant, a woman with a white-painted face, stepped forward. She and the old priestess whispered to each other.
I was aware of a movement behind me, and out of the corner of my eye saw the prefect’s large form looming into sight. He saw who the priestess was talking to, and grinned.
‘She has good news for the courtesan. Her missing bolts of silk have revealed themselves to the gods. She is telling her where they are.’
As he told me this, I could see the courtesan handing over a big bundle of paper money. Then she hurried away. Li licked his lips.
‘There she goes to dig the bolts up from the embankment by the river, where Ho buried them. Let the old woman deal with the others in her queue first, and then I will take our share of the money.’ He grinned broadly. ‘What a service we provide.’
We watched from the shadows as the line of supplicants dwindled. Several of them handed over paper money or gold coins as an offering to the gods. Clearly business was brisk, and I asked Li what he thought of the scheme.
‘Is it going that well already?’
He laughed at my expression of surprise, his vast belly wobbling under his finely embroidered robe.
‘It was a little quiet to begin with. So I decided I couldn’t wait for Ho to rob someone, and then come tell me. I gave him a list of wealthy men and women and their property, and told him to get busy. There seems to be quite a crime wave developing in Pianfu now.’ He grinned, his dark raisins of eyes disappearing in his fat cheeks. ‘But no one is complaining, for they get their goods back, and reward the gods accordingly.’
I told Li that I was full of admiration for his astonishing enterprise.
‘Why did I not think of that?’
He sneered and shrugged his shoulders, acknowledging his superiority over the barbarian. The queue had dispersed so we went over and Li extracted his commission from the priestess. She hissed her disapproval and gave me a piercing look. But in return for the money, Li gave her a paper with some more information on it. No doubt the couple who had been told to come back tomorrow would find the gods had answered their prayers. Li turned to me, for the first time aware of the two well-built young men hovering in the background. He gave me a fearful look,
