A Deadly Injustice by Ian Morson

over Gurbesu’s shoulder that Jianxu still stood in the doorway of her cell. She had not moved a muscle as Gurbesu and I had been speaking, and I had the feeling she was a person very much in control of her emotions. In fact, she made me feel uneasy for a moment. Taking Gurbesu’s arm, I led her a little way away from the prison. When I no longer felt we were being observed, I looked Gurbesu in the eye.
    â€˜If she claims to be innocent, did she say why she signed a confession?’
    Gurbesu nodded, her thick, dark hair swirling round her face.
    â€˜Yes. She did it to spare Madam Gao being tortured as she, Jianxu, had been by the prefect. Her feet and legs are only just now healing.’
    â€˜You see what I mean about torture? It rarely provides you with the truth. So the girl claims not to be the poisoner now. Does she have any idea who might have been? Who could have got in the kitchen to doctor the soup?’
    Gurbesu pulled a face.
    â€˜She wouldn’t say, but I thought she had an opinion. You know what these Chinee women are like. True to the Three Duties of women: obedience to your father before marriage; obedience to your husband after marriage; and obedience to your son after your husband’s death. Obedience, obedience, obedience, grrrrrr.’
    Gurbesu growled, and if I hadn’t been already leaning with my back against the tree trunk, I would have backed off. She was a tiger in this sort of mood. Instead of retreating, I asked her another question.
    â€˜Do you believe everything she told you?’
    She had to pause and think about that. We watched as the gaoler closed and locked the cell door on Jianxu, leaving her as a pale face outlined by the grille. Finally, she answered me.
    â€˜I think so.’
    â€˜But you are not sure?’
    â€˜Everything she said was so precise and considered. As though she had rehearsed it.’
    I shrugged.
    â€˜Not surprising. She has been taken through the story many times, and often under duress with her feet tied up and being beaten. She would have ended up telling the prefect anything he wanted to hear. He could even have prompted her. And since being incarcerated to await our arrival, she has had weeks to think about what she would say.’ I paused before asking the final question. ‘Is she innocent?’
    Once again, my favourite Kungurat pondered the question. She pursed her full, red lips.
    â€˜Mmmmm. Too early to tell. I am going to reserve judgement.’
    That was one split vote, then. And I respected Gurbesu’s intuition. But anyway, she was right. It was early days, and we needed to gather a whole lot more information. I took Gurbesu’s arm, and we walked away from the prison.
    â€˜Let’s go back to the house, and see what Lin and Tadeusz have found out.’
    The girl watched from behind the door of her cell, which had once again been locked securely. She watched as the red-haired man and the strange woman walked away. She had never experienced such an odd pair. The demon looked as though he would scare anyone into submission, but the dark-skinned woman had brushed him aside as if he didn’t matter. He had then sat with her gaoler while the woman spoke to her. The girl had assumed the woman was the demon’s wife, though she didn’t behave like any Chin wife. They had spoken at first in her native tongue, but mostly they had conversed in the tongue of the Mongols who had conquered her native land many years ago. The true emperor still lived, somewhere in southern Song, but the Mongols were pressing ever southwards. It was inevitable that the barbarian hordes would win, and she had picked up as much of their tongue as she was able. It had now served her well.
    The woman had probed for the facts of the death of Old Geng, and she had told her story well, she thought. She felt she had convinced the Kungurat of her innocence. When the woman, who called herself Gurbesu, had asked if she had any idea