The Chinese Maze Murders

Thirteenth Chapter

The judge went to Yoo Kee's mansion accompanied only by Sergeant Hoong and four constables.

As his palanquin was being carried over the ornamental marble bridge he looked with appreciation at the nine-storied pagoda that rose up from the lotus lake on left.

Then they turned west and followed the river till they came to the deserted southwest corner of the city.

Yoo Kee's mansion stood apart on a stretch of waste-land. The judge noted that it was surrounded by quite a formidable wall. He reflected that this property was near the Watergate; people would like to have solid houses here in case of raids on the city by the barbarians from over the river.

As soon as the sergeant had knocked on the main gate the double doors swung open. Two doorkeepers bowed deeply while Judge Dee's palanquin was carried into the main courtyard.

When the judge descended a plump man of medium height hurriedly came down the steps of the reception hall. He had a large, round face with a short, pointed moustache. His small eyes darted to and fro under thin eyebrows, matching his quick movements and his hurried speech.

Bowing respectfully he said:

"This person is the landowner Yoo Kee. Your Excellency's visit is a signal honour for my poor hovel. Please deign to enter!"

Yoo Kee led the judge up the stairs and through the high door of the reception hall. He offered his guest the seat of honour in front of the large, altar-like table against the back wall.

Judge Dee saw at a glance that the hall was furnished in a quiet, refined style. He assumed that the solid antique chairs and tables, and the fine paintings on the walls came from the collection of old Governor Yoo.

While a servant was pouring out the tea in a set of choice antique porcelain, the judge began:

"I have made it a habit always to visit the prominent citizens of the district where I am appointed magistrate. In your case this is all the more pleasant since I had been looking forward to meeting the son of so distinguished a statesman as the late Governor Yoo Shou-chien."

Yoo Kee jumped from his chair. He bowed quickly three times in succession before the judge. As he sat down again he rattled on:

"Ten thousand thanks for Your Honour's kind words! Yes, my late father was a most remarkable man, most remarkable indeed! How unfortunate that this person is so unworthy a son of so great a father! Alas, real talent is bestowed by Heaven. It can be further cultivated through assiduous study. If, however, as in my own case, Your Honour, the foundation is not there, study from morning till night will be of no avail. But I hope I can claim at least that I realize my own limitations. I am not a gifted man, Your Honour, therefore I never dared to aspire to any high office. I merely pass my days quietly, supervising my houses and my land!"

He smiled ingratiatingly, rubbing his plump hands. Judge Dee opened his mouth to speak but Yoo Kee went on:

"I am ashamed that I am so unworthy of conversing with a man of Your Honours' learning. Most vexing, for I feel immensely honoured that so famous a magistrate condescends to visit my poor house. I humbly congratulate Your Honour on the quick arrest of that scoundrel Chien Mow. What a brilliant achievement! Former magistrates here just submitted to Chien. Most regrettable! I well remember that my revered father often commented unfavourably on the low moral standard of the younger officials. Ahem, Your Honour is of course an exception. I mean to say, as is well known…"

Yoo Kee hesitated a moment. Judge Dee quickly interrupted:

"The late Governor must have left you quite some property."

"Yes indeed!", the other replied, "and what a misfortune that I am so stupid! It takes practically all my time to look after the administration of the land. And the tenants, Your Honour, the tenants! Quite honest people of course, of the best, I dare say, but always those arrears in the rent! And the local servants here, what a difference to the people in the capital! I always say…"

"I gather", Judge Dee said firmly, "that you have a beautiful country estate outside the east gate."

"Oh yes", Yoo Kee replied, "yes, that is a fine piece of land."

Then, for once, he stopped of his own account.

"Some day", Judge Dee said, "I should like to see the famous maze out there."

"An honour! An honour!", Yoo Kee exclaimed excitedly. "Unfortunately the place is in a bad state. I would have liked to rebuild the mansion but my revered father was so fond of it and even gave special instructions that nothing should be touched. Yes, Your Honour, I am a stupid man, yet not deficient in filial piety, I fondly hope. My father left an old couple in charge, faithful old retainers, but quite incapable of keeping the estate. But you know how it is with those old servants, it is more or less understood that they should not be bothered. I have never gone out there, as a matter of fact, Your Honour will understand, the old couple might think…"

"I am particularly interested in that maze", Judge Dee said patiently. "I hear that it is a most ingenious one. Have you ever been inside?"

Yoo Kee's small eyes flashed with an uneasy glint.

"No, that is to say… No, I have never ventured inside. To tell Your Honour the truth, my father was very particular about that maze. He alone knew the secret…"

"I suppose", Judge Dee remarked casually, "that the late Governor's widow knew the secret of that maze?"

"A sad thing!", Yoo Kee cried, "Your Honour must know that my mother died when I was still very young. What a misfortune that was! And after a long, painful illness too!"

"As a matter of fact", Judge Dee observed, "I rather referred to the Governor's second wife, your stepmother."

Yoo Kee again jumped from his chair with amazing agility. As he walked up and down in front of the judge he exclaimed:

"That distressing affair! How unfortunate that we must speak about that! Your Honour will realize how painful it is for a devoted son to be compelled to admit that his revered father ever made a mistake. A most human mistake, I should add, and one inspired only by his lofty, generous nature.

Alas, Your Honour, my father let himself be deceived by a^ clever, wicked woman. She succeeded in exciting his pity, and he married her. Ah, these women! Instead of being grateful, she deceived him with Heaven knows what young rascal. Adultery, Your Honour, a black, abominable crime! My father knew, but he suffered in silence. Not even to me, his own son, did he communicate his sorrow. It was only on his deathbed, in his last words, that at last he revealed this awful wrong!" Judge Dee tried to say something but Yoo Kee went on: "I know what Your Honour is going to say: I should have accused that woman in the tribunal. But I could not bear the thought that my old father's private affairs would be dragged out in the tribunal before the vulgar crowd. I could not bear it!"

Yoo Kee covered his face with his hands. "To my great regret", the judge said dryly, "this affair will have to be discussed in the tribunal. Your stepmother filed a complaint against you, contesting the oral will and claiming half of the property."

"The ingrate!", Yoo Kee cried, "the unspeakable woman! She must be an evil fox-spirit, Your Honour! No human being could sink so low!" He burst out in sobs.

Judge Dee slowly emptied his teacup. He waited till Yoo Kee had sat down and composed himself. Then he said in a conversational tone:

"I always regret that it has never been given to me to meet your late father. But a man leaves his spirit behind in his handwriting. Would it be importunate to ask you whether I might see some specimens of his calligraphy? The late Governor was famous for his original hand."

"Ah!", Yoo Kee exclaimed, "another misfortune! How embarrassing that I am unable to obey Your Honour's orders! This was another of my father's unexpected traits. No, let me put it correctly, another proof of his great modesty. When he felt his end approaching he gave me strict orders to burn all his writings. He observed that there was no specimen of his brushwork that deserved being preserved for posterity. What a sublime character!"

Judge Dee murmured a suitable comment. Then he asked:

"Since the Governor was such a famous man, I suppose that many people here in Lan-fang cultivated his friendship?"

Yoo Kee smiled disdainfully.

"This border place", he replied, "has not one single man with whom my late father cared to converse. Barring, of course, Your Honour! How my revered father would have enjoyed talking with Your Honour! He always was so interested in administrative affairs… No, my father was greatly occupied by his own literary studies and spent all his spare time supervising the work of the peasants on his land. That is why that woman was able to make up to him… Well, well, how I am chattering away!"

Yoo Kee clapped his hands and ordered more tea.

Judge Dee silently stroked his beard. He reflected that his host was an extremely astute man. He said so much that he said practically nothing.

While Yoo Kee prattled on and on about the inclement climate of Lan-fang, Judge Dee slowly sipped his tea.

Suddenly he asked:

"Where did your father paint his pictures?"

Yoo Kee gave his guest a bewildered look. He did not reply for a few moments. He scratched his chin. Then he answered:

"Wei, not being much of an artist myself…Let me see now. Yes, my father did his painting in a pavilion behind the country mansion. Lovely place, right at the back of the garden, near the entrance of the maze. I believe that the large table my father used to work on is still there. At least if the old doorkeeper has taken proper care of it. Your Honour knows, those old servants…"

Judge Dee rose.

Yoo Kee insisted that he should stay a little longer. He set out on another, confused story.

It was not without difficulty that the judge at last succeeded in taking leave of his host.

Sergeant Hoong was waiting for his master in the gatekeeper's lodge. They returned to the tribunal.

As Judge Dee sat down behind his desk he heaved a deep sigh.

"What a tiring man is that Yoo Kee!", he remarked to Sergeant Hoong.

"Did Your Honour discover new data?", the sergeant asked eagerly.

"No", the judge replied, "but Yoo Kee said one or two things that may perhaps prove to be important. I did not succeed in securing a specimen of the Governor's handwriting to compare with the testament Tao Gan found inside the scroll. Yoo Kee claims that his father ordered him to destroy all his writings after his death. I thought that perhaps the Governor's friends here in Lan-fang might possess some, but Yoo Kee avers that his father had not one single friend. What is your impression of that mansion, Sergeant?"

"While I was waiting in the gatekeeper's lodge", Sergeant Hoong replied, "I had a long talk with the two doormen. They think that their master is a bit queer in the head. He is as eccentric as his father but he lacks the Governor's brilliant mind.

Although Yoo Kee himself is far from an athlete, he has a great love of boxing, wrestling and swordfighting. Most of the servants in that mansion have been selected for their physical prowess. Yoo Kee likes nothing better than to see them practise. He has made the second courtyard into a kind of arena and he will sit there for hours, shouting encouragement to the fighters and giving prizes to the winners."

Judge Dee slowly nodded his head.

"Weak men", he observed, "will often have an exaggerated veneration for physical strength."

"The servants say", the sergeant continued, "that Yoo Kee once lured the best fencing master of Chien Mow's mansion away by offering him a huge bribe. Chien was very angry. Yoo Kee is not a brave man, he expects every day that the barbarians will come and raid the city. That is the reason why he insists that his servants must be good fighters. He has even hired two Uigur warriors from over the river to instruct his servants in Uigur fighting methods!"

"Did the servants say anything about the old Governor's attitude to Yoo Kee?", inquired Judge Dee.

"Yoo Kee must have stood in deadly fear of his father", Sergeant Hoong replied. "Even the old Governor's death did not alter this. After his burial Yoo Kee sent all the old servants away because they reminded him too much of the awful presence of the old Governor. Yoo Kee has executed all his father's last instructions to the letter, including that everything on the country estate had to be left exactly as it was. Yoo Kee has never gone there since his father's death. The servants say that he changes colour if one as much as mentions that place!"

Judge Dee stroked his beard.

"One of these days", he said pensively, "I shall visit that country mansion and have a look at the famous maze. In the meantime you will inquire where Mrs. Yoo and her son are living and invite them to come and see me. Perhaps Mrs. Yoo has kept some specimens of the old Governor's handwriting. Then I can also verify Yoo Kee's statement that his father had no friends here in Lan-fang.

As to the murder of Magistrate Pan, I have not yet given up hope entirely of obtaining a clue to that mysterious visitor of Chien Mow's. I instructed Chiao Tai to question all the former guards of Chien's mansion, and Headman Fang would interrogate Chien's second counsellor in jail. I am also considering whether to send Ma Joong to investigate the haunts where the low-class criminals of this city gather. If it was that mysterious man in the background who murdered Magistrate Pan, he must have had accomplices."

"And at the same time, Your Honour", the sergeant remarked, "Ma Joong might make inquiries there about the headman's eldest daughter, White Orchid. We talked it over with Fang this morning and he admits that very likely she was kidnapped and sold to a brothel."

The judge said with a sigh:

"Yes, I fear that that is indeed what happened to that poor girl."

After a while Judge Dee continued:

"As yet we have made very little progress with General Ding's murder. I shall order Tao Gan to go tonight to the Temple of the Three Treasures and see whether Woo or that unknown woman he is so fond of depicting shows up there."

The judge took a document from the pile that Tao Gan had brought during his absence. Sergeant Hoong, however, seemed reluctant to go. After some hesitation he said:

"Your Honour, I cannot get it off my mind that we overlooked something in General Ding's library. The more I think about it the more I am convinced that the clue to that riddle is to be found there!"

Judge Dee put the document down and looked intently at the sergeant.

He opened a small lacquer box and took out the replica of the small dagger that Tao Gan had made for him. While he let it rest on his palm he said slowly:

"Sergeant, you know that I have no secrets from you. Although I am considering various vague theories about the background of General Ding's murder, I must state frankly that I have not the faintest idea how this dagger was used, or how the murderer entered and escaped!"

Both were silent for some time.

Suddenly the judge made a decision.

"Tomorrow morning, Sergeant, we shall again go to the Ding mansion and search that library. Perhaps you are right and it is there that we must look for the solution of this crime!"