'I desire to purchase these two girls Apricot and Blue Jade. You will kindly arrange all details with the present owner, with great discretion. It shall in no way transpire that you are acting on my behalf!'

The steward nodded with a knowing smile. Judge Dee took two gold bars from his sleeve and handed them to the steward.

'This gold should be more than sufficient for concluding the purchase. The remainder is to be used for conveying the two girls to my residence in Poo-yang.'

Then the judge added one silver bar and said:

'Please accept tins small gift as your commission on this transaction.'

After repeated refusals, as prescribed by the rules of propriety, the steward accepted the silver. He assured the judge that everything would be arranged according to his orders, adding that his own wife would accompany the girls on their journey to Poo-yang. 'I shall now,' he concluded, 'give orders that these two girls be accommodated in Your Excellency's guest quarters.'

Judge Dee, however, remarked that he was tired and needed a good night's rest before he set out on his return journey next morning.

Apricot and Blue Jade took their leave, and Judge Dee was conducted to his quarters.

Tenth Chapter:

tao gan consults with the warden on past affairs; he has an uncomfortable time among the dark ruins

In the meantime Tao Gan had set out to learn more details about Mrs Liang, according to Judge Dee's orders.

She did not live far from Half Moon Street, so Tao Gan first went to pay a visit to Warden Gao. He timed his visit so that he arrived there for the noon meal.

Tao Gan greeted the warden with the utmost cordiality. Since Warden Gao thought it wise to be on good terms with the lieutenants of the new magistrate, especially after the scolding Judge Dee had just given him, he invited Tao Gan to join him at a simple luncheon. The latter promptly accepted.

After Tao Gan had eaten heartily the warden brought out his register and showed Tao Gan that Mrs Liang had arrived in Poo-yang two years before, accompanied by her grandson Liang Ko-fa.

Mrs Liang had registered her age as sixty-eight, and that of her grandson as thirty. The warden remarked that Liang Ko-fa had seemed much younger than that, he had thought he rather looked like a youngster of twenty or thereabouts. But he must, of course, have been at least thirty, because Mrs Liang had said he had passed already his second literary examination. He was a nice fellow who passed much of his time loafing about the city. He had seemed to be interested especially in the north-west quarter, and had often been seen walking along the canal, near the Watergate.

A few weeks after their arrival Mrs Liang had reported to the warden that her grandson had been missing for two days and that she feared that something untoward might have happened to him. The warden had instituted the routine investigation but not a trace of Liang Ko-fa had been found.

Thereafter Mrs Liang had gone to the tribunal and filed an accusation with Judge Feng averring that Lin Fan, a wealthy Cantonese who had settled in Poo-yang, had abducted her grandson. At the same time she presented a number of older documents. From these it became clear that a feud of long standing existed between the houses Liang and Lin. Since Mrs Liang, however, could not produce a shred of proof that Lin Fan had had anything to do with the disappearance of her grandson, Judge Feng had dismissed the case.

Mrs Liang continued to stay in her little house, alone but for one elderly maid. Her advanced age together with brooding over her reverses had made the old lady a bit queer in the head. As to Liang Ko-fa's disappearance, the warden had no opinion. For all he knew he might have fallen into the canal and drowned.

Having learned these facts, Tao Gan thanked the warden cordially for his hospitality and went to have a look at Mrs Liang's house.

Tao Gan located it in a deserted, narrow back street not far from the southern Watergate. It was one of a row of small, one-storied houses. He estimated that it could hardly contain more than about three rooms.

He knocked on the unadorned black front door. After a long wait he heard shuffling steps, and the peephole in the door opened. He saw the wrinkled face of a very old woman. She asked in a thin, querulous voice: 'What do you want?'

'Would Madame Liang be at home?' Tao Gan enquired politely. The old woman gave him a suspicious look. 'She is ill and can't see anyone!' she croaked. And the peephole was slammed shut.

Tao Gan shrugged his shoulders. Turning round he surveyed the neighbourhood. It was very quiet, there was no one about, not even a beggar or a street vendor. Tao Gan wondered whether Judge Dee had been right in accepting straight off the good faith of Mrs Liang. She and her grandson might be clever actors, using a tale of woe to conceal some nefarious scheme perhaps in collusion with that Lin Fan. Such a deserted neighbourhood would provide excellent cover for a secret plot.

He noticed that the house directly opposite that of Mrs Liang was larger than the others, it was built of solid bricks and had a second story. The weather-beaten signboard announced that once it had been a silk shop. But all the windows were shuttered, it seemed uninhabited.

'No luck here!' Tao Gan muttered. 'I had better go and see whether I can learn more about Lin Fan and his household!' He set out on the long walk to the north-west quarter. He had found Lin Fan's address in the register at the tribunal, but he met with unexpected difficulties in locating the house. The Lin mansion was situated in one of the oldest parts of the city. Many years ago the local gentry used to live there, but later they had moved to the more fashionable east quarter. A rabbit warren of narrow, winding alleys had sprung up around the once stately residences.

After many a wrong turn Tao Gan finally found the house, a large mansion with an imposing gate. It had solid double doors, lacquered red and heavily studded with copperwork. The high walls on either side were in excellent state of repair. Two large stone lions flanked the gate. The place had a grim and forbidding appearance.

Tao Gan thought of walking along the outer wall in order to locate the kitchen entrance and at the same time get an impression of the size of the Lin Compound. But he saw that that would be impossible. On the right he found his progress blocked by the wall of the adjoining mansion while on the left there was a heap of ruins.

He retraced his steps round the corner till he came to a small vegetable shop. He bought an ounce of pickles and as he was paying he casually enquired about business.

The greengrocer wiped his hands on his apron and said: 'This is not a place to make large profits. But I can't complain. I and my family are strong and healthy so that we can work from morning till night. Thus we have our daily bowl of gruel, a few vegetables from the shop and once a week a piece of pork. What more can a man desire of life?'

'Seeing that your shop is so near that large mansion round the corner,' Tao Gan remarked, 'one would have thought that you had quite a good customer there.' The greengrocer shrugged his shoulders. 'It is just my bad luck that of the two large mansions in this vicinity, one has been empty for years, while the other is inhabited by a bunch of foreigners. They came from Canton and can hardly understand their own language! Mr Lin has a plot of land in the north-western suburb, along the canal, and every week the farmer brings in a cartload of their own vegetables. They don't spend a single copper cash in my shop!' 'Well,' remarked the lieutenant, 'I have lived in Canton for some time and I know that the Cantonese are quite a sociable breed. I suppose that Mr Lin's servants occasionally drop in here for some conversation?'