Judge Dee, the Sherlock Holmes of seventh century China, faces three dark and perplexing claims...The headless corpse of a woman is found lying on her bed, covered with blood, and brother accuses her husband of committing the crime...A distinguish boxer is poisoned in the bath-house, leaving a strange sign of a paper cat as a possible clue to his murderer...A Cotton merchant appears to have died in far more sinister circumstances than the doctors certificate suggests...As district magistrate in the busy trade centre of Pei-Chow, Judge Dee must tread torturrous path to solve these baffling mysteries. A path that leads tthrough a maze of foul plots, sordid intrigue and powerful human emotions....