broke down. With a cry, he gave us the truth.
‘I sold it to his son, Wenbo. He bought three times what he needed for one dose. I told him it was dangerous. It was he who must have killed his father with it.’
TWENTY-ONE
There was nothing else for it — we had to arrest Geng Wenbo. The evidence was now piling up against him. The existence of the incriminating play script in the Geng household could have been said to be circumstantial on its own. And the ‘testimony’ of Nu within it was sketchy to say the least. But put together with Sun’s evidence, it all added up to a very sound case against the boy. It was in fact a much stronger set of facts than those which the prefect had lined up against Jianxu. Of course, Li Wen-Tao would be our major stumbling block, and Lin recognized that.
‘What are we going to do about Li? He will seek to undermine our case when we present it to Taitemir, the Mongol governor.’
I gave a short, barking laugh.
‘Don’t you worry about Li. His authority is compromised totally. I have evidence he has been running an illegal scam involving burglary and payment for the return of the stolen goods.’
Lin looked shocked, his face turning pale.
‘How do you know this?’
‘Because I set up the scam, and then Li took it over. He even used two heavies to beat me up and warn me off.’
Gurbesu gave me a strange look.
‘So that’s why you came home with bruises all over your body that night. But excuse me for stating the obvious. If you set up the scam — which I can well believe — you can’t bring Li down without incriminating yourself. And that smear will stick to Master Lin too. So there’s no point in revealing it.’
I had to admit I felt smug at that point. I smiled sweetly at Gurbesu, who scowled, spoiling her pretty looks.
‘You’ll have to bear with me on this. Just trust me that Li has been neutralized as a force in this city. We can move forward unhindered. So let’s go now and take the boy.’
Lin wasn’t so sure, being as ever the cautious one in our partnership.
‘It’s getting late. Wenbo and Madam Gao may have gone to their beds for the night.’
I rubbed my hands together at the thought.
‘All the better for us. He will be so shocked to be arrested, he might break down on the spot. In fact, let’s rouse the prefect and take him with us. He may hear a confession with his own ears.’
Lin reminded me that we still had the doctor on our hands. We had locked him in a spare room at the top of the house. But the walls were flimsy, and unless we left a guard behind, he might break out and flee. Tadeusz volunteered for the duty.
‘I will redeem myself by keeping an eye on Sun whilst you have the pleasure of taking the real murderer into custody.’
I patted the silversmith on the shoulder.
‘You have no redeeming to do, Tadeusz. However, I will take you up on your offer. It would not go well with us to lose our star witness at this stage. He is such a weasel, I can imagine him sneaking away if he thought we had all gone out together. And we can’t expect Po Ku to take on such an onerous task. We will be back as soon as we can.’
Leaving Tadeusz on guard, Lin, Gurbesu and I marched across the town towards Li’s riverside residence. Flaming torches lit some of the main streets, and pretty, white-faced girls lounged provocatively outside certain establishments. The noise inside, and the girls’ presence on the street, suggested that rowdy taverns and brothels were to be found in Cathay just the same as in Venice or Genoa. In any big city in the West, in fact. I might have dallied, but Gurbesu took a firm hold of my arm, and walked me past the alluring girls. I wasn’t attracted anyway — the white make-up on most of them clearly hid a ravaged skin, and the teeth I saw when one girl smiled were blackened stumps. We hurried on, but Gurbesu had a question for me.
‘What was all that about Tadeusz redeeming himself? He has been behaving very oddly lately. Is there something you are not telling me?’
‘So many questions! But seriously, I think you should ask Tadeusz about it. It is his story to tell, and I think you will find him not unwilling to unburden himself to you. He is in love with you after all.’
Gurbesu snorted in derision at this suggestion of mine. But then she gave me a quizzical look.
‘Are you being serious?’
I nodded solemnly.
‘I will just tell you that Tadeusz was tempted for very good reasons to spy on us all. But he came to Lin and me and told us the truth, and we trust him now as strongly as before.’
I left out the part where we had backed Tadeusz into a corner before he confessed. I would leave it to him to consider the extent of his confession Gurbesu.
Li’s house was all quiet when we reached it. The night porter tried to insist his master had retired to bed and could not be disturbed. But I could see a dim light on in his reception rooms, and was not to be put off. I brushed past the porter, and my companions followed, ignoring the servant’s protests. Through the open doorway, I could see that Li sat at a low table, a look of pleasure on his face. With her back to us and facing him knelt a richly robed girl. She was pouring tea into a bowl set before the prefect. I stepped forward into the room.
‘You will have time for tea later, Master Li. But now, you have an arrest to witness.’
Li’s face fell, his mouth an open wound expressing shock. His cheeks turned bright red and I thought he might explode. The girl, also surprised by our bursting in, turned to look behind her. She had the white-painted face of a lady of pleasure, but beneath it her looks were finer than those of the street whores. I knew from stories told by Lin, that a Chinee’s preferred sexual encounter began with a song and the serving of tea. Unfortunately, Li would not now be able to consummate his drawn out dalliance. I picked up the strange-looking stringed instrument lying at the girl’s feet. It made a noise like a strangled chicken when I thrust it at the girl.
‘I hope he has paid you, miss. Because your services are no longer required.’
She looked me in the eye for a moment, then, seeing I was in earnest, stood and gathered up the hem of her long robe. She left the room quietly on dainty steps. Li, meanwhile, had boiled over. He waved at the harassed servant who had scurried in on our heels, and the man helped Li to his feet. Once he had regained his dignity, Li was all bluster.
‘How dare you enter my house unannounced and order my servants around. The girl is a perfectly respectable entertainer and will be shocked at your innuendo. I shall have to pay her more to placate her now. So leave before I call in my bodyguard.’
I grinned in what I hoped was a wolfish manner.
‘Oh, please do. If they are the two youths who gave me a few bruises the other day, I want them present to hear what I have to say.’
Li looked at me suspiciously, but sent his servant off to fetch the two bodyguards. Lin, meanwhile, intervened in an attempt to calm the situation down. He cast a quizzical glance at me and then stepped forward.
‘Forgive our abrupt entrance, Master Li, but we have urgent business with you that cannot wait. We have discovered the real murderer of Geng Biao, and perhaps of the actor P’ing-Yang Nu also.’
Li’s little piggy eyes narrowed.
‘I hope you are not going to cast doubt on my judgement, Lin. I care nothing about the death of the actor, which was probably the result of an argument over drink or money. As for the murderer of Geng, she is in jail awaiting execution. It is only the formality of your… investigation that has delayed the matter. I had expected you to confirm my decision.’ He turned his gaze on to me, while still talking to Lin. ‘If not, some unpleasant information about your man, here, may come out.’
