The Chinese Bell Murders

Seventeenth Chapter:

As the fourth nightwatch was sounded, Judge Dee rose and rinsed his mouth with the cold tea. Then he straightened his robes and left the hostel of the Eight Immortals.

A brisk walk through the deserted streets took him to the main gate of the tribunal, where a sleepy guard admitted him, looking in astonishment at Judge Dee's strange attire.

"Without saying a word the judge went straight to the main courtyard, where he could vaguely make out the dark forms of a large number of people, standing silently around his official palankeen.

Sergeant Hoong lighted a single paper lantern and assisted the judge in ascending the palankeen. Inside Judge Dee took off his brown gown, and changed into his official robes. Having placed the black judge's cap on his head, he lifted up the curtain and beckoned Ma Joong and Chiao Tai.

His two lieutenants presented an imposing sight. They had put on the heavy iron mail coat of cavalry captains. Their heads were covered by a pointed iron helmet. Each carried two long swords and a large bow and their quivers were full of arrows.

Judge Dee said to them in alow voice:

'We shall first proceed to the mansion of the retired general, then to that of the judge and finally to the houses of the two guildmasters. You two will lead the way on horseback.'

Ma Joong bowed.

'We have wrapped the hooves of our horses in straw,' he replied. 'There won't be any sound!'

Judge Dee nodded contentedly and at a signal the procession left the tribunal. Silently it moved westwards, rounded the outer wall of the tribunal compound and then went north, till they arrived at the general's mansion.

Sergeant Hoong knocked. Immediately the double doors swung open.

The sergeant saw the general's military palankeen standing ready in the courtyard, surrounded by about thirty of the general's retainers.

Judge Dee's palankeen was carried in. He descended and met the general at the foot of the steps that led to the reception hall.

The general had put on his parade dress for this occasion and although he was over seventy years of age, he was a most imposing figure. He wore a gold-embroidered robe of purple silk and a golden mail-coat. A huge jewel-studded sword hung from Ins girdle and the coloured pennants of the five divisions winch he once commanded in victorious campaigns in Central Asia, spread fanwise from the high point of his golden helmet.

After they had bowed to each other, Judge Dee spoke:

'I deeply regret that I have to inconvenience Your Excellency at such an unusual hour. Your Excellency's presence is urgently needed for the exposure of a foul crime. I pray you to follow carefully the proceedings, so as to be able to deliver testimony in court later.'

The general seemed pleased to join this nightly expedition. He replied in his clipped soldier's voice:

'You are the magistrate here, I follow your orders. Let us be on our way!'

Judge Dee repeated the same formula with the retired judge, and later with the two guildmasters.

When the procession, which now consisted of five palankeens and over a hundred men neared the northern gate, the judge called Ma Joong to the side of his palankeen. He said curtly:

'As soon as we have passed through the city gate, you and Chiao Tai will pass the word that nobody is allowed to detach himself from this procession, on penalty of death. You and Chiao Tai will ride up and down along our flanks. Arrows will be on the bowstring. The first man who tries to leave the ranks is shot on the spot. Now ride ahead and order the military guards to open the gate!'

Soon two soldiers were opening the heavy, iron-studded doors of the northern gate and the procession passed through.

They turned east, to the Temple of Boundless Mercy.

When they arrived at the front gate, Sergeant Hoong knocked on the door. The head of a. sleepy monk appeared behind the grated peephole.

Sergeant Hoong barked:

'We are constables of the tribunal, to catch a burglar that has entered your compound. Open the door!'

They heard the crossbar being pushed back and the doors were drawn to a crack. Ma Joong and Chiao Tai, who had tethered their horses outside the gate, now quickly pushed the double gate wide open. They locked two frightened monks in the gatekeeper's lodge, promising that their heads would be chopped off if they made a single sound. Then the entire procession moved into the courtyard. Judge Dee descended from his palankeen and the four witnesses followed suit.

Judge Dee asked them in a low voice to accompany him to the main courtyard; everybody else was to stay where they were. With Tao Gan leading the way and Ma Joong and Chiao Tai bringing up the rear they strode on silently till they had arrived in front of the main hall.

The spacious courtyard was sparsely lighted by the shine of the bronze lanterns which burned all night in front of the sacred statue of the goddess Kwan Yin.

The judge raised his hand. All stood still. After a few moments a slight figure entirely covered by the hooded cloak of a Buddhist nun detached itself from the shadows, and having bowed deeply before the judge, whispered something in his ear.

Judge Dee turned to Tao Gan and said:

'Lead us to the abbot's room!'

Tao Gan ran up the stairs of the terrace and entered the corridor on the right of the hall. He pointed to the closed door at the end.

Judge Dee nodded to Ma Joong. With one thrust of his shoulder the latter pushed the door in, and then stood aside to let the others pass.

They saw a luxurious room, lighted by two large candles. The air was heavy with incense and perfume. The abbot lay snoring on a carved ebony couch, under a quilt of richly-embroidered silk.

'Put that man in chains!' the judge ordered. 'Secure his arms behind his back.'

Ma Joong and Chiao Tai dragged the abbot from his couch, threw him on the floor, and had his arms bound behind his back with a thin chain before he was really awake.

Ma Joong jerked him to his feet and growled:

'Bow before your magistrate!'

The abbot's face was ashen. He seemed to think that he had suddenly been transferred to the Inferno and that the two iron-clad men were the henchmen of the Black Judge of the Nether World.

Judge Dee addressed the witnesses:

'Please observe this man carefully, paying special attention to the crown of his shaven head!'

Then he turned to Sergeant Hoong.

'Run as fast as you can to the constables in the front courtyard,' he commanded. 'Order them to put every monk they can put their hands on in chains. They may light their lanterns now. Tao Gan- will show them where the quarters of the monks are located,.'

In the twinkle of an eye the courtyard was full of lighted lanterns, bearing in large letters the inscription 'The Tribunal of Poo-yang.' Orders were barked, doors were kicked in. Chains clanked. Screams of terror resounded through the air as the constables let swing their clubs and hit those who resisted with the handles of their heavy whips. Finally a crowd of about sixty frightened monks' had been herded together in the centre of the main courtyard.

Judge Dee, who had been surveying this scene from the top of the stairs, now called out:

'Make them kneel in rows of six, facing this terrace!'

When this order had been executed, the judge said:

'Let all those who came here together with us range themselves in orderly fashion along the three sides of this courtyard.'

Then he called Tao Gan and ordered him to lead them to the secluded garden. Turning to the girl in the nun's cloak who had been waiting in front of the main hall, the judge said:

'You will point Apricot's pavilion out to us, Blue Jade!'

Tao Gan opened the garden gate and they walked along the winding footpath. In the flickering light of the lanterns carried by Tao Gan and the girl, the elegant garden seemed like a dream of the Western Paradise.

Blue Jade stopped before a small pavilion in the midst of a miniature bamboo grove.

Judge Dee beckoned the witnesses to come nearer and showed them the unbroken seal on the locked door.

He nodded to Blue Jade. She tore off the seal and opened the lock with her key.

Judge Dee knocked on the door and called out:

'I, the magistrate, am here!'

Then he stepped back.

The red-lacquered door opened and they saw Apricot standing there clad in a thin silk nightrobe, holding a candlestick.

Seeing the group with the general and Judge Wan in front, she hastily turned back and wrapped herself in a hooded cloak. Then all entered the small pavilion and observed the magnificent painting of the goddess hanging on the wall, the large couch with the brocade coverlets and the other luxurious appointments of the room.

The judge bowed respectfully before Apricot and the others followed suit automatically, the pennants of the general's helmet waving in the air.

Then Judge Dee said:

'Now show us the secret entrance!'

Apricot went to the door and turned round one of the many copper knobs that studded its lacquered surface. A narrow panel in the middle of the door swung open.

Tao Gan clapped his hand to his forehead.

' Imagine that even I was fooled by this trick!' he exclaimed incredulously. 'I looked everywhere, except in the most obvious place!'

Turning to Apricot, Judge Dee enquired:

'Are all of the other five pavilions occupied?'

When Apricot nodded, Judge Dee continued:

'Please go with Blue Jade to the guest quarters in the first courtyard and tell the husbands of the ladies concerned to come and unlock the doors of the pavilions and fetch their wives. The husbands shall then go to the main courtyard alone, I wish them to be present when I conduct the preliminary hearing of this case.'

Apricot and Blue Jade left the pavilion. Judge Dee carefully surveyed the room. Pointing to a small table that stood by the side of the couch, he said to the four witnesses:

'Gentlemen, I wish to draw your attention to that small

DISTINGUISHED PERSONS VISIT A TEMPLE PAVILION

ivory box with lip salve there on that table; please remember its position! The general will now seal this box. It will be brought forward in due time as an exhibit.'

While they were waiting for Apricot to return, Tao Gan studied the secret panel in the door. He found that it could be noiselessly operated from both sides by turning round one of the ornamental copper knobs.

Then Apricot returned to report that the occupants of the other five pavilions had been brought to the first courtyard. Their husbands were waiting in front of the main hall.

Judge Dee led his companions to each pavilion in succession. In every one of them Tao Gan located the secret panel without difficulty.

Judge Dee turned to the witnesses.

'Gentlemen,' he said quietly, 'I ask your concurrence in the falsification of one fact, as an act of mercy. I propose to state at the hearing that we found that two of these pavilions, the location of which shall not be specified, had not been provided with a secret entrance. Do you gentlemen agree?'

'The point is very well taken, Magistrate,' the retired judge remarked, 'and shows your consideration for the welfare of the people. I agree, on condition that the true facts shall be recorded in a separate enclosure, for the exclusive use of the juridical authorities.'

After Judge Dee and the others had expressed their approval, Judge Dee said:

'Gentlemen, let us now proceed to the terrace in front of the main hall. I shall there open the preliminary hearing of this case.'

As they stood on the terrace, dawn began to break and its reddish glow spread over the bald heads of the sixty monks kneeling in the courtyard below.

The judge ordered the headman of the constables to have a large table and chairs brought from the refectory of the temple. When the temporary tribunal had been set up, Ma Joong dragged the abbot in front of the bench.

When the abbot, shivering from the cold morning air, had seen the judge, he hissed at him:

'You dog-official, you accepted my bribe!'

'You are mistaken,' the judge said coldly, 'I only borrowed it! Every copper cash of the funds you sent me was used to bring about your own downfall.'

Judge Dee bade the general and the judge to sit down on his right, behind the bench, and the two guildmasters on his left. Apricot and Blue Jade sat down on tabourets which Sergeant Hoong had placed by the side of the bench while he himself remained standing behind the two girls.

The senior scribe and his assistants took up their positions behind a smaller side table. Ma Joong and Chiao Tai stood at attention on the right and left corners of the terrace.

When everyone was in his appointed place Judge Dee surveyed the weird scene for a moment. Not a sound came from the crowd.

Then Judge Dee's stern voice was heard.

'I, the magistrate, open the preliminary hearing of the case against the abbot and an unspecified number of monks of the Temple of Boundless Mercy. The quadruple charge is adultery with married women, rape of married women, defiling of a recognised place of worship, and extortion.'

The judge glanced at the headman and ordered:

'Bring the plaintiff before me!'

Apricot was led in front of the bench where she knelt.

Judge Dee said:

'This is an extraordinary session of this tribunal. I rule that the plaintiff be excused from kneeling!'

Apricot rose and threw back the hood that covered her head.

Judge Dee's stern face softened when he looked at the slight figure, wrapped in her long cloak, standing before him with downcast eyes. He said kindly:

'Let the plaintiff state her name and file her accusation!'

Apricot replied in a faltering voice:

'This insignificant person's family name is Yang and her personal name Apricot, a native of Hunan Province.'

The senior scribe took it down.

The judge leaned back in his chair.

'Proceed!' he ordered.