"If we had left the tribunal an hour or so earlier that morning when we went to visit the country estate for the first time", Tao Gan exclaimed, "we could have prevented this crime! Mrs. Lee must have left there shortly before our arrival!"

"Fate decided that just that morning Mrs. Yoo would come to see me", Judge Dee said gravely. "Later, when we inspected the entrance to the maze, I saw the footprint of Mrs. Lee or White Orchid. I did not speak about it at the time, for when I stood there looking into the maze an inexplicable terror took hold of me. The soul of that poor girl who had been brutally murdered there only half an hour or so before must have been hovering over me. I also thought I saw the ghost of the old Governor beckon me from the shadows…"

Judge Dee's voice trailed off. He shivered as he recalled those moments of stark terror.

For a while all were silent.

Then the judge took a hold on himself and said in a brisk voice:

"Well, fortunately Ma Joong was in time to prevent a second cruel murder.

"Let us now have our evening meal. Thereafter all of you had better rest a few hours. For all we know there may be a very exciting night ahead of us. It is difficult to predict what those barbarians will do!"

That afternoon Chiao Tai had with quiet efficiency organized the defence of the town. He had posted the best soldiers near the Watergate, and divided the rest over the walls of the city. On his orders the wardens had warned the population that the barbarians might attack the town that night. All able men had been busy assembling large stones and faggots of dry wood on the city wall, and making bamboo spears and iron tipped arrows. Three hours before midnight they would man the walls, every fifty men directed by one professional soldier.

Two soldiers had been posted on the Drum Tower. As soon as the Uigurs approached the river they would beat the huge drum with their thick wooden clubs. The dull roll of that drum would be the sign for lighting the torches on the walls. If the barbarians tried to scale them, they would meet a barrage of heavy stones and flaming faggots.

Judge Dee ate his evening meal in his own quarters. Then he slept for a few hours on the couch in his library.

One hour before midnight Ma Joong, clad in full armour, came to fetch him. Judge Dee put on a thin mailcoat under his robe and took down the long sword of his grandfather that hung on the wall next to his bookshelves. Having placed his official magistrate's cap on his head, he followed Ma Joong.

They rode on horseback to the Watergate.

Chiao Tai was waiting for them. He reported that Sergeant Hoong, Tao Gan and four soldiers were posted on the watchtower of the Chien mansion. They would see to it that not a spark of fire was visible there.

Judge Dee nodded and climbed the steep stone steps to the top of the Watergate. On the battlement a burly soldier, nearly as tall as Ma Joong, stood stiffly to attention. He was carrying a long pole with the Imperial standard on top.

The judge stood himself on the battlement. On his right he had the soldier carrying the Imperial standard, on his left, Ma Joong holding high the staff with the commander's insignia of Judge Dee.

The judge reflected that this was the first time that he was in charge of defending the Empire's boundary against a foreign attack. Looking up at the Imperial standard fluttering in the evening breeze he felt a deep pride glow in his breast. He folded his sword in his arms and looked out over the dark plain.

When the hour of midnight approached Judge Dee pointed to the distant horizon. Far away they saw flashes of light. The Uigurs were preparing to advance.

The lights gradually came nearer, then remained stationary. The barbarian horsemen had halted, waiting for the signal fire on the watchtower.

The three men stood there silently for over an hour.

Then suddenly lights flared up over the river. They became smaller and smaller, then disappeared altogether in the darkness.

Having waited in vain for the signal fire, the Uigurs had ridden back to their homesteads.

JUDGE DEE ON THE RAMPARTS OF LAN-FANG

Twenty fifth Chapter

The next day Judge Dee heard Mrs. Lee during the morning session of the tribunal.

She readily confessed her crimes.

Once, shortly before the Governor's death, Mrs. Lee had been drinking tea with Mrs. Yoo in the garden pavilion, waiting for the Governor. Mrs. Lee had been looking over some of his pictures and found a preliminary sketch of the landscape painting. She had seen from a few notes that the Governor had written in that this picture was a guide map to a short cut through the maze.

Mrs. Lee had felt greatly attracted to Mrs. Yoo, but as long as the Governor was alive she had not dared to reveal her feelings to her. After the Governor's burial Mrs. Lee had visited the country mansion but only found the old couple there; they did not know where Mrs. Yoo had gone after Yoo Kee had expelled her. Mrs. Lee made inquiries in the countryside, but Mrs. Yoo had instructed the peasants to tell no one on what farm she was hiding with her son.

Then, some weeks before, Mrs. Lee had revisited the old country mansion when she happened to be in that neighbourhood. When she found the dead bodies of the old couple she had explored the first two stages of the short cut. She found that the clues in the landscape picture of which she had kept careful notes were correct.

Mrs. Lee had met White Orchid in the market and persuaded the girl to accompany her to her house. Once there, she soon completely cowed the shy girl and kept her captive as a victim of her whims. She made White Orchid do all the housework, beating her with her cane at the slightest provocation.

When Mrs. Lee discovered that White Orchid had slipped out to the deserted temple and there met a strange man, she had been furious. She had dragged the frightened girl to an empty storeroom where the thick walls deafened all sound. Mrs. Lee had made the girl strip and lashed her arms to a pillar.

Then Mrs. Lee had started to interrogate her, repeating again and again the same question: had White Orchid betrayed her whereabouts to the stranger? Everytime the girl denied this. Mrs. Lee had cruelly beaten her with a thin rattan stick, hissing horrible threats at her all the time. Writhing under the vicious lashes, White Orchid had frantically cried for mercy. This further enraged Mrs. Lee. She had let the rattan descend with all her force on the bare hips of the screaming girl until her arm grew tired. By then White Orchid was nearly distracted by pain and fear, but she still persisted that she was innocent.

But Mrs. Lee feared that her secret had leaked out. The next morning she disguised White Orchid as a nun and took her to the Governor's country estate. There she locked the girl up in the room the old couple had been living in, taking away all her clothes to obviate every attempt at escaping. Mrs. Lee visited her every other day, bringing her a jug of water and a basket of dried beans and oil cakes. She had planned to bring the girl back from there as soon as White Orchid's escapade to the temple had proved harmless.

Then, however, the constables came to search for the girl in the eastern quarter. Mrs. Lee became alarmed. Very early the next morning she hastened to the country mansion. She had found her way to the hidden pavilion by the landmarks of the pine trees, compelling White Orchid to lead the way, mercilessly driving the girl on with her cane. In the pavilion she had made the girl lie down on the marble bench and then thrust her knife in her breast. A perverse instinct had moved her to cut off the head, the body she had pushed over the edge of the bench. Mrs. Lee had taken the severed head back with her in a basket. In her hurry Mrs. Lee had paid no attention to the box on the table.