A Judge Dee Detective Story - Necklace and Calabash

Approaching Rivertown, Judge Dee is looking forward to a few days' fishing and relaxation before returning to his post as Magistrate of the neighboring district of Poo-yang. His expectations are shattered, however, soon after his arrival at the Kingfisher Inn. The cashier of the Inn has been found in the river—tortured, then murdered—and one of the Judge's fellow-guests is a sinister merchant named Lang Liu. A cloud of intrigue and violence hovers over the town.

Suddenly Judge Dee receives a summons to appear at the nearby Water Palace, the summer home of the Third Princess. The famous pearl necklace given to her by her father, the Emperor, has been stolen. Is the theft linked with the death of the cashier? Can it somehow be connected with Master Gourd, the old Taoist sage whom the Judge encounters in the forest outside Rivertown? Is the former really just a harmless, crippled philosopher, wandering aimlessly on his donkey, with his crutches and calabash?