The Haunted Monastery

XV

Judge Dee stepped hastily onto the landing, holding the lantern high. Sun Ming grabbed his arm, his round face was of a deadly pallor. He said hoarsely: "The poor fellow grabbed for the balustrade that wasn't there!" He let Judge Dee's arm go and wiped the perspiration from his face.

"Run down and have a look!" Judge Dee ordered Tao Gan. And to Sun Ming: "He won't have survived that fall. Let's go inside, sir."

The two men entered the library. Tsung Lee had followed Tao Gan downstairs.

"The poor wretch!" Sun said as he sat down behind his desk. "What was it all about, Dee?"

Judge Dee took the chair opposite; his legs were trembling from fatigue. He took the rolled-up picture from his bosom and placed it on the desk. Then he spoke: "I paid a visit to the crypt, sir, and there looked at a few pictures the old abbot Jade Mirror made of his cat. It struck me that he used to do those in great detail. On one painting the cat's pupils were just slits; it must have been done at noon. Then I remembered that on his last picture which you showed me in the temple, the pupils of the cat were wide open. That proved to me that the picture was painted in the morning, and not at noon, as True Wisdom had always said." He unrolled the scroll and pointed to the cat's eyes.

"I can't understand what you are getting at, Dee!" Sun said annoyed. "What has all this to do with Jade Mirror's death? I was there myself, I tell you, the man died peacefully and…"

"Allow me to explain, sir," Judge Dee interrupted respectfully. He then told Sun about the reference to nightshades in the old abbot's letter to Dr. Tsung, and how the symptoms of nightshade poisoning accorded well with the old abbot's behaviour during his last hours. He added diffidently: "If I may say so, sir, it has often struck me that Taoist texts are always couched in a highly obscure and ambiguous language. One could imagine that the old abbot's last sermon was in fact a confused mixture of various religious passages he remembered. It needed the commentary of the Chief Abbot to make sense. I presume he chose some mystic terms from the abbot's sermon, and made those the theme for a lucid discussion, or he …" He broke off, giving Master Sun an anxious look.

But Sun was perplexed. He made no attempt to speak up in favour of Taoist texts. He just sat there, slowly shaking his large head. The judge went on: "True Wisdom put a large dose of the poison in Jade Mirror's tea when, after the noon meal, they were having a cup together in the library. The picture was nearly finished then. The abbot had spent the entire morning on it, first doing the cat itself, then painting in background and details. He had only to do the bamboo leaves when he interrupted his work for the noon meal. After he had drunk the poisoned tea, True Wisdom left and told the two monks who were waiting outside that the abbot should not be disturbed, because he was starting on a picture. The poison soon brought him into a state of mental excitement. He started to hum Taoist hymns, then began to talk to himself. There can be no doubt that he thought he was becoming inspired. It didn't enter his mind that he had been poisoned. You'll remember, sir, that he did not say one word about that being his last sermon, nor about wanting to depart from this world after he had finished. There was no reason to. He only wanted to pass on to his followers the revelation that Heaven had granted him. After that he leaned back in his chair, wanting to rest awhile after his lengthy speech. But then he passed away — a happy man."

"Almighty Heaven!" Sun now exclaimed. "You must be right, Dee! But why did the fool murder Jade Mirror? And why did he insist on making his confession in front of me?"

"I think," Judge Dee replied, "that True Wisdom had committed a sordid crime, and that he feared that the old abbot had discovered it and was planning to expose him. Jade Mirror wrote in his last letter to Dr. Tsung that he suspected that immoral acts were being committed with the girls who came here to be initiated and to be ordained as nuns. If this had come out, True Wisdom would, of course, have been finished."

Sun passed his hand over his eyes in a weary gesture.

"Immoral acts!" he muttered. "The fool must have been dabbling in black magic, involving rites with woman partners. August Heaven, I am responsible also, Dee! I shouldn't have kept myself shut up in my library all the time. I should have kept an eye on what was going on. And Jade Mirror is guilty too, in a way. Why didn't he at once tell me about his suspicions? I hadn't the faintest idea that…"

His voice trailed off. Judge Dee resumed: "I think that True Wisdom, together with a villain who now calls himself Mo Mo-te, was responsible for the fate of the three girls who died here last year. They must have been forced to take part in the unspeakable secret rites, just like those others who came here before the old abbot died. Mo Mo-te has now re-visited this monastery, in the guise of a member of Kuan's troupe. Mo probably threatened the abbot and tried to blackmail him. I noticed that the abbot was afraid of Mo. That, together with broad hints at the old abbot's having been murdered with deadly nightshade, made in public by Tsung Lee, must have made True Wisdom desperate. When at the end of the banquet he saw Tsung Lee talking with me, and when directly afterwards I told True Wisdom that I wanted to visit the crypt, he thought I was planning to institute an investigation. He became frantic, and tried to kill me. He dealt me a blow on my head from behind, but before I lost consciousness, I perceived the smell of a peculiar incense he burns in the bedroom. Ordinarily one doesn't smell it when one is near him, but I got a waft of it from the folds of his robe when he lifted his arm to hit me. Later he spied on me when I was talking with my assistant, and when he fled, I again noticed that particular smell. The man must have lost his head completely."

Sun Ming nodded forlornly. After a while he asked: "But why did the fellow insist on delivering a statement in front of me? If he had thought I would speak up in his favour, he must have been an even greater fool than I always thought he was!"

"Before I answer that question, sir," Judge Dee said, "I would like to ask you first whether True Wisdom was aware of the fact that the balustrade of the landing was broken?"

"Of course he was!" Sun replied. "I told him myself that I wanted to have it repaired. He was diligent enough, I must grant him that!"

"In that case," Judge Dee said gravely, "he committed suicide."

"Nonsense! I myself saw him grabbing for that balustrade, Dee!"

"He fooled both you and me," the judge said. "Remember that he couldn't have known that we would meet you at the bottom of the staircase leading up here. He thought that you would be in your library. He never intended to meet you, sir, let alone make a statement. He only wanted to come up here because he knew he was lost, and because the landing was the best place he could think of for committing suicide before I could arrest him. He pretended it was an accident in order to safeguard his reputation and the interests of his family. For now we shall never be able to say with absolute certainty what part he took in all that happened here. Your unexpected appearance did not materially change his scheme."

Tao Gan and Tsung Lee came in.

"He broke his neck, Your Honour," the former announced soberly. "He must have died instantly. I fetched the prior. They are now bringing the corpse to the side hall of the temple, to lie in state there pending the official burial. I explained that it had been an accident." Turning to Sun he added: "The prior wishes to speak to you, sir."

Judge Dee rose. He said to Sun: "For the time being we'd better keep to that theory of an accident. Perhaps Your Excellency will be so kind as to discuss with the prior the necessary measures to be taken. I suppose the Chief Abbot in the capital must be informed as soon as possible!"

"We'll send a messenger first thing tomorrow morning," Sun said. "We'll also have to ascertain the wishes of His Holiness regarding the succession. Pending his answer, the prior can take care of the routine administration here."

"I hope that tomorrow morning you'll kindly help me to draw up the official report about this, sir," the judge said. "I'll leave the picture of the cat here; it's an important piece of evidence."

Sun Ming nodded. He gave the judge an appraising look, then said: "You had better go and get a few hours sleep, Dee! You look a bit off colour!"

"I still have to arrest Mo, sir!" the judge replied dejectedly. "I am convinced that Mo is the real criminal, more guilty than the abbot. It must depend on Mo's testimony whether we report the abbot's death just now as suicide, or as death by misadventure. And now that the abbot is dead, Mo is the only one who can tell us what really happened to the three girls who died here."

"What does the fellow look like?" Sun asked. "You say he is an actor? I watched the entire mystery play, except for the last scene."

"Mo was on the stage all the time. He acted the part of the Spirit of Death. But you couldn't see his face, sir, because he wore one of those large wooden masks. I saw him in the last scene where he performed a sword dance, but then his face was painted. I suspect that now he is posing as one of the monks here. He is a tall, broad-shouldered fellow, and usually looks rather morose."

"Most of the monks do," Sun muttered. "Wrong diet, I suppose. How do you expect to find him, Dee?"

"That is what I must try to work out now, sir!" Judge Dee replied with a rueful smile. "I can't settle this case without Mo's full confession."

He took his leave with a deep bow. As he went to the door, with Tao Gan and Tsung Lee, the small prior came in, looking more nervous than ever.