Judge Dee had to hold himself responsible – at least partially – for the flower girl’s death, though no one could have foretold that her delivering the poem to the temple would have brought her young life to such a tragic end. In the final analysis, however, had he not paid the visit to her on the pretext of the poetry collection, she would not have come over to the temple at night – to her untimely end.

But in an increasingly probable scenario, like the murder of Wei, the murder of the flower girl appeared, more likely than not, to have been related to Xuanji’s murder case.

If so, she had been forever silenced for the same reason as in Wei’s case. For that matter, anyone close to Xuanji had to be eliminated lest they speak out about her relationship with the man in the yellow underrobe.

The one who had given the order for the killing of Wei, and then of the flower girl, must have been resourceful – maneuvering, planning, and waiting in the dark. Her visit to the temple at night had finally provided the opportunity they had been waiting for.

Instead of attacking her on the way to the temple, the attacker must have waited to find out first where she was going, but on her way back home, he struck out.

In that scenario, it would probably not take long for the people crouching in the dark to find out that Judge Dee was staying in the temple that night, the receiver of whatever information the flower girl had to deliver. The connection made, Judge Dee could be next on the killer’s list …

He could not rule out the possibility, but it was more likely he had been panic-stricken like an arrow-wounded bird flustering at the furtive sound of a twang in the night woods.

With an abrupt sparkle, the large candle sputtered out, and he came to find himself lost in an overwhelming darkness.

FOUR

It took longer than expected for Judge Dee to reach Mayor Pei’s official residence, but it was still early in the morning. He got down from the carriage, taking in a deep breath of the fresh air. Here and there, birds were heard twittering amid the fallen petals after a night of rain.

Mayor Pei came out in a hurry to meet them at the vermillion-painted gate.

‘Sorry for the unannounced visit this morning, Mayor Pei,’ Judge Dee said with a bow.

‘It’s such an honor for you to make the visit to my humble abode, Your Honor. Welcome. Please come in.’

Mayor Pei must have scrambled out for the surprise visit, wearing a sapphire-blue gown not yet properly buttoned up, and a black silk cap decorated with a green jade. He was a tall man with a neatly trimmed beard, which somehow added a touch of bookishness to his square face.