Nor was it a matter of his being too modest for the possible ‘breakthrough.’ On the contrary, it would not do him any good to get caught in the cobweb of all the dirty, high-stake politics behind the murder case.

He wondered whether Mayor Pei might have already reported to Minister Wu about his visit to Xuanji in prison, but he did not really care.

‘Give this to Mayor Pei, Huang. Send for a doctor to check on her. And a tailor, too. Here is a small piece of silver. All the expense on me.’

‘Whatever you order, Your Excellency,’ the prison guard responded with another bow.

‘And send in the tray of snacks to her first.’

The air outside was unexpectedly refreshing, but Judge Dee found himself submerged in depression, devoid of any excitement at the likely conclusion of the case.

‘Any breakthrough?’ Yang raised the question to his master the moment Huang hurried out of sight, heading back to the cell.

‘I don’t know, but I think she may start talking. By the way, your discovery of the black fox spirit costume helped tremendously. Wei wore that for his nocturnal visits to her in the nunnery.’

‘That’s unbelievable, but finally we may be able to put the story of the black fox spirit to rest.’

‘Well, I don’t know about that, either.’

What she had said about Wei inside the prison cell was only partially true. As an accomplice in the murder, there would be no end of speculation about the reason for his wearing the black fox costume to scare away the neighbors in the depth of the dark night.

All in all, Judge Dee was not too sure whether Xuanji’s revised statement would prove to be that acceptable to Mayor Pei, Minister Wu, and the ‘people above,’ but a ‘speedy conclusion’ would appear to be in the interests of the Great Tang Empire. They all knew that.

It started to drizzle again in an enveloping mist.

That night, back in his room at the temple, Judge Dee began writing a letter to Minister Wu.