The Chinese Nail Murders

Fourteenth Chapter

When Judge Dee came back to the tribunal he found Ma Joong, Chiao Tai and Tao Gan waiting for him in his private office. One look at their drawn faces sufficed to show that they had no good news.

"Mr. Chu Ta-yuan had drawn up an excellent plan," Ma Joong reported disconsolately, "but we failed to discover any further clues. Chu Ta-yuan together with Chiao Tai went the round of all the notables, and made a list of all the pupils Master Lan ever had. Here it is, but it doesn't look very promising." He pulled a paper roll from his sleeve and presented it to Judge Dee. While the judge scanned it, Ma Joong pursued: "I myself went with Tao Gan and Sergeant Hoong to search Master Lan's house. All in vain; we found nothing that even suggested that Lan ever had trouble with anybody. Then we questioned the master's chief as­sistant, a nice young fellow called Mei Cheng. He told us some­thing that might be important."

Up to now the judge had not been listening very carefully, his mind was on the startling discoveries he had made in Pan's house. But now he sat up and asked eagerly:

"What was that?"

"He said," Ma Joong continued, "that once when he came back to the master's house unexpectedly at night, he heard him talking to a woman."

"Who was the woman?" Judge Dee asked tensely.

Ma Joong shrugged his shoulders. He said:

"Mei Cheng did not see her, he only heard through the door a few indistinct words that did not seem to make any sense. He did not recognize the woman's voice, but he did notice that she seemed angry. Mei Cheng is a straightforward, honest youngster, he wouldn't dream of eavesdropping, so he quickly left."

"But it proves at least that Master Lan did have some connec­tion with a woman," Tao Gan said eagerly.

Judge Dee did not comment. He asked instead:

"Where is Sergeant Hoong?"

"When we were through in Master Lan's house," Ma Joong replied, "the Sergeant went to the market to question the two youngsters about the appearance of that Tartar fellow. He said he would be back here for dinner. Chiao Tai had seen Chu Ta-yuan to his house earlier, and joined us later in Lan's house."

Three beats of the bronze gong resounded through the tribunal.

Judge Dee said with a frown:

"That is the evening session. I have summoned a Mrs. Loo, a widow whose husband died under suspect circumstances. I plan to let her go after a few routine questions, and I hope no other matters are brought up during the session. For I have to tell you that this afternoon I made an important discovery in Pan Feng's house. It will probably solve the sordid crime committed there."

His three lieutenants stormed him with questions, but the judge raised his hand.

"After the session when Hoong is back also," he said, "I shall explain to you my theory."

He rose and with the assistance of Tao Gan quickly donned his official robes.

Judge Dee saw that again a large number of people had assem­bled in the court hall; all were eager to hear the latest news about the murder of Lan Tao-kuei.

When the judge had opened the session, he first announced that the investigation of the poisoning of the boxing champion had made good progress. He said that the tribunal was now in the possession of some important clues.

Then he filled out a slip for the warden of the jail. A hubbub of voices arose from the audience as they saw Mrs. Kuo bringing in the widow Loo. The headman led her before the bench, and Mrs. Kuo withdrew.

Judge Dee noticed that Mrs. Loo had spent great care on her appearance. Her face was made up with a discreet application of rouge, and her eyebrows were carefully penciled. Clad in a simple, dark-brown padded robe, she made a striking figure, but the rouge could not conceal the cruel lines of her small mouth. Before kneel­ing on the stone flags she shot the judge a quick look, but she gave no indication of having recognized him.

"State your name and profession!" Judge Dee ordered.

"This insignificant person," Mrs. Loo replied in a measured voice, "is the widow Loo, nee Chen. She manages the cotton shop of her late husband, Loo Ming."

When these details had been duly recorded, the judge said:

"I intended to ask you for some elucidation of your husband's death, and therefore had you called for answering some simple questions. Since you refused to come voluntarily, I had to issue a warrant, and shall now question you here in the tribunal."

"The death of my husband," Mrs. Loo said coldly, "occurred before Your Honor had taken up office here, and it was duly reg­istered by Your Honor's predecessor. This person fails to see on what grounds Your Honor intends to reopen this case. As far as this person knows, no accusation was brought against her in this tribunal."

Judge Dee reflected that this was a clever and eloquent woman. He said curtly:

"This tribunal deems it necessary to verify some remarks per­taining to your late husband's illness, made by the coroner of this court."

Suddenly Mrs. Loo rose. Half-turning to the audience, she shouted:

"Shall a hunchback be allowed to cast aspersions on an honor­able widow? Everyone knows that a man deformed in body is also deformed in character."

Judge Dee rapped his gavel on the bench. He called out angrily:

"You shall not revile an officer of this court, woman!"

"What a court!" Mrs. Loo said with contempt. "Didn't you, the magistrate, the other night come in disguise to my house? And when I wouldn't let you in, didn't you send for me privately today, without a warrant or anything?"

The judge grew pale with anger. With an effort he took a hold on himself. He said in an even voice:

"This woman is guilty of contempt of court. She shall be given fifty lashes!"

A murmur rose from the crowd; it was evident that they did not agree. But the headman quickly stepped up to Mrs. Loo. He grabbed her by her hair, and forced her down on her knees. Two constables tore her robe and undergarment down to her waist, and two others on either side put a foot on her calves and tied her hands on her back. The headman let the light whip swish through the air.

A woman is punished for contempt of court

After the first few lashes Mrs. Loo screamed:

"The dog official! Thus he vents his anger on a decent woman who scorned him! He . . ."

Her voice changed into wild screams as the whip cut into her bare back. But when the headman stopped to mark with a tally that ten strokes had been given, she called out:

"Our Master Lan is murdered, but that dog official thinks only of seducing a woman. He ..."

The whip came down again, and she could only scream. When the headman paused for marking the twentieth stroke, she tried to speak but could not. After five more strokes she sank forward with her face on the floor.

At a sign from the judge the headman lifted her head and burned pungent incense under her nose till she regained conscious­ness. When at last she opened her eyes, she was too weak to sit up. The headman had to support her by the shoulders, while a constable held her head up by the hair.

Judge Dee said coldly:

"Mrs. Loo, you have offended this court and received half of the prescribed punishment. Tomorrow you shall be heard again. It shall depend on your own behavior whether the other half will be inflicted on you or not."

Mrs. Kuo appeared, and together with three constables they carried Mrs. Loo back to the jail.

Just when Judge Dee was about to raise his gavel for closing the session, an old peasant came forward. He started upon a long story about his having accidentally bumped into a cake vendor carrying a tray with brittle cakes, on the corner of the street out­side. The peasant spoke in the local dialect, and the judge had the greatest difficulty in following what he said. At last he under­stood what it was all about. The peasant was perfectly willing to compensate for the loss of fifty cakes, for that had been approx­imately the number that had been on the tray. But the vendor insisted that there had been a hundred, and wanted payment for that amount.

Then the vendor kneeled in front of the bench. His language was even harder to understand. He swore that there had been at least a hundred cakes, and accused the old peasant of being a crook and a liar.

The judge felt tired and nervous. With an effort he concen­trated his mind on this quarrel. He told a constable to run outside and scoop up the broken cakes, and bring them to the tribunal together with one new cake from the street stall. He told the scribe to bring a pair of scales.

While they were gone Judge Dee leaned back in his chair, thinking again about the incredible insolence of Mrs. Loo. The only explanation was, of course, that there had been really some­thing very wrong with her husband's death.

When the constable came back with the broken cakes, packed in a piece of oil paper, Judge Dee put the package on the scales. It weighed about 1,200 grams. Then he weighed the one new cake, and found it weighed about 20 grams.

"Give that lying vendor twenty strokes with the bamboo!" the judge said disgustedly to the headman.

Now there were some acclamations from the audience, they liked this quick and just decision.

When the vendor had received his punishment, Judge Dee closed the session.

In his private office the judge wiped the perspiration from his forehead. Pacing the floor he burst out:

"In my twelve years as a magistrate I have dealt with some nasty women, but never one like this! That foul insinuation about my visit!"

"Why didn't Your Honor immediately deny the charges of that evil woman?" Ma Joong asked indignantly.

"That would only have made it seem worse," Judge Dee said in a tired voice. "After all, I did go there at night, and in disguise. She is very clever, and she knows exactly how to get the sym­pathy of the crowd."

He angrily pulled his beard.

"In my opinion," Tao Gan observed, "she is not so clever. Her best policy would have been to answer quietly all questions, and refer to Dr. Kwang's certificate. She ought to have known that making all this trouble serves only to make us think that she really murdered her husband."

"She doesn't care a tinker's curse what we think!" Judge Dee said bitterly. "She is only out to prevent a second investigation of Loo Ming's death, because that will prove her guilt. And today she went a long way in reaching that object."

"We shall have to handle this affair with the greatest care," Chiao Tai remarked.

"We certainly shall!" Judge Dee said.

Suddenly the headman came rushing into the office.

"Your Honor," he said excitedly, "just now a shoemaker came to the tribunal with an urgent message from Sergeant Hoong!"