time I choose, so you'd better be careful and tell the complete truth. Who was the woman brought to your place by Mao Loo?'
The woman fell on her knees.
'I knew the rascal would land me into trouble!' she wailed. 'But what can a weak woman do, Your Excellency! He would have cut my throat, Excellency! Forgive me, Excellency!'
Crying loudly, she knocked her forehead on the floor. 'Stop all that noise!' Judge Dee commanded angrily. 'Speak up; who was that woman!'
'How could I know the wench!' the woman cried out. 'Mao Loo brings her to my house in the middle o? the night; I swear I had never seen her before! She wears a queer, single robe, and looks rather frightened. Brother Mao says: 'The chicken doesn't know what's good for her. Can you imagine her refusing a fine husband like me? But I'll teach her a lesson!' I see the poor girl is really ill, so I tell Mao Loo to leave her alone for the night. That's how I am, Excellency. I always believe in treating them kindly. I put her in a nice room; I give her some good rice gruel and a pot of tea. I remember exactly what I said to her, Excellency. 'Go to sleep, my chicken,' I say, 'and don't worry! Tomorrow you'll see that everything is all right!'' The woman heaved a deep sigh.
'Oh, you don't know those girls, Excellency! One would have thought that the next morning she'd at least say thank you to me. But no! She woke up the whole house, kicking against the door and shouting at the top of her voice. And when I went up to her she cursed me and Brother Mao and said all kinds of foolish things about her being kidnaped and belonging to a good family-the kind of story they'll always tell. Well, there's one way to make them see reason, and that is to give them a taste of a piece of rope. That shut her up, and when Brother Mao came she went quietly away with him. I swear that's all, Excellency!'
Judge Dee looked at her with contempt. He thought a moment of arresting her for having maltreated a girl, then reflected that she had only acted according to her lights. Those low-class brothels were a necessary evil; the authorities could control them so as to prevent excesses, but they could never eliminate entirely cruelty to the unfortunate inmates. He said sternly:
'You know very well that you are not allowed to give lodging to stray girls. For the time being, however, I'll let you go. But I'll check your story, and if you didn't tell the truth you are done for!' The woman again began knocking her head on the floor, protesting her gratitude. On a sign of the judge, Tao Gan led her away. Judge Dee said gravely:
'Yes, our theory is correct. Candidate Djang's wife is alive, but perhaps it would have been better for her to die than to fall into Mao Loo's hands! We must arrest Mao Loo as quickly as possible and deliver her from that ruffian. They are in a place called Three Oaks Island, in the district Chiang-pei. Does anybody know where that is?'
Tao Gan said:
'I have never been there, Your Honor, but I have heard plenty about it! It's a cluster of islands, or rather a swamp, in the middle of the Great River. The swamp is covered by close-growing bush, half-submerged the greater part of the year. The higher places consist of a dense forest of old trees. Only the outlaws who have gathered there know the creeks and waterways that lead to and through the swamp. They levy a toll on all passing ships and often make raids on the villages along the riverbank. They say that robber band counts more than four hundred men.'
'Why hasn't the government cleaned up that robber's nest?' the judge asked, astonished.
Pursing his lips, Tao Gan replied:
'That's not an easy undertaking, Your Honor! It would necessitate a naval operation that would cost many lives. The swamp would have to be approached in small craft, for war junks could not be used in those shallow waters. And the soldiers in those boats would be an easy target for the arrows of the outlaws. I have heard that the army has stationed a chain of military posts along the riverbank, and soldiers patrol the entire region. The idea is to blockade the swamp and thus force the outlaws to surrender. But they have been there for so many years now that they have many secret contacts among the population which are very difficult to trace. Up to now there are no signs that the robbers are short of food or anything else they need.'
'That sounds bad indeed!' Judge Dee said. Looking at Ma Joong and Chiao Tai, he asked: 'Do you think you could get Mao Loo and the woman out of there?'
'Brother Chiao and me will manage somehow, Your Honor!' Ma Joong answered cheerfully. 'It's exactly the kind of job for us! We'd better go out there right now, to take stock of the situation!'
'Good!' said Judge Dee. 'I'll write a letter introducing you to my colleague the magistrate of Chiang-pei, and asking him to give you all assistance.'
He took up his writing brush and quickly jotted down a few lines on a sheet of official paper. He impressed the large square seal of the tribunal on it, then gave it to Ma Joong saying:
'Good luck!'
Fifteenth Chapter
After Ma Joong and Chiao Tai had left, Judge Dee continued to Sergeant Hoong and Tao Gan:
'While our two braves are in Chiang-pei we shan't be idle either. When I was eating my noon rice I was thinking all the time about Liu Fei-po and Han Yung-han, our two main suspects of the murder of the courtesan. Let me tell you that I am not going to sit here quietly, waiting for the next move of those two gentlemen! I have decided to arrest Liu Fei-po today.'
'We couldn't possibly do that, Your Honor!' Hoong exclaimed, aghast. 'We have only some vague suspicions; how could we-'
'I certainly can arrest Liu, and I shall,' the judge interrupted him. 'Liu has proffered in this court a serious accusation against Dr. Djang, and that accusation has now proved to be false. I admit that nobody would blame me if I let the matter rest, especially because Liu was evidently beside himself with grief when he made the accusation, and because the professor hasn't brought forward a plaint against him for slander. Yet the law says that he who falsely accuses another of a capital crime shall be punished as if he himself had committed that crime. The law allows a broad margin of discretion in the application of this article, but in this case I choose to interpret it according to the letter.'
Sergeant Hoong looked worried, but Judge Dee took his brush and wrote out an order for the arrest of Liu Fei-po. Then he selected a second form, and said while he was filling it out:
'At the same time I'll have Wan I-fan arrested, for giving false testimony in court regarding his daughter and Dr. Djang. Both of you go now with four constables to Liu's house and arrest him. On your way out, Hoong, tell the headman to take two men and arrest Wan I-fan. Let the two prisoners be conveyed here in closed palanquins, and have them locked up in cells that are far apart; they mustn't know that they share the hospitality of our jail! I shall hear both of them during the evening session. I think that then we'll learn a thing or two!'
The sergeant still looked doubtful, but Tao Gan remarked with a grin:
'It's the same as with gambling: if you rattle the dice well, you'll often throw a nice combination!'
When Hoong and Tao Gan had left, Judge Dee pulled out a drawer and took from it the sheet with the chess problem. He was by no means as sure of himself as he had made his two assistants believe. But he felt he had to start the attack, to take the initiative. And the two arrests were the only way he could think of to achieve that aim. He turned round in his chair and took a chessboard from the cupboard behind him. He placed the black and white men in the position indicated in the problem. He was convinced that it was this chess problem that contained the key to the plot discovered by the dead dancer. It had been made more than seventy years before, and the best chess experts had tried in vain to solve it. Almond Blossom, herself not a chess player, must have chosen it not as a chess problem, but because it could be given a double meaning which had nothing to do with chess. Was it perhaps a kind of rebus? Knitting his eyebrows, he began to rearrange the men, trying to read their hidden message.
In the meantime Sergeant Hoong had given the headman instructions regarding the arrest of Wan I-fan and
