By the time he had the shutters fastened, Tao Gan and the prior had stepped up to him and helped him to secure the rusty bolts.
"You should have let me do that, Your Honour!" the prior said contritely.
The judge remained silent. He waited till the women and the bearers had passed by them, then asked: "What is that building over on the other side there?"
"Only the store-room, Your Honour," the prior replied. "We had better…"
"Just now I saw one of the windows there standing open," Judge Dee interrupted him curtly. "But someone closed it very quickly."
"Window?" the prior asked astonished. "Your Honour must be mistaken! There are no windows on this side of the store-room. There's only a blind wall. This way please!"
The First Lady
III
Silently Judge Dee followed him around the corner. There was a dull pain behind his eyes; evidently he had caught a head cold. Moreover, he had been looking through the grey curtain of the falling rain, and it had been only one brief glance. He felt feverish; it could have been a hallucination. He gave Tao Gan a quick look, but apparently his assistant had seen nothing. He said: "You had better go and change, Tao Gan! Come back here as soon as you are ready."
The prior took his leave with many bows. He walked back to the stairs together with Tao Gan.
In the spacious dressing room his First Lady was giving directions to the maids as to which of their boxes should be opened. His two other wives were supervising the bearers, who were busy filling the bronze brazier with glowing coals. The judge looked on for a while, then walked on to the bedroom beyond.