The Phantom of the Temple

XIII

The sergeant and Ma Joong had listened in astonished silence to Judge Dee's account of what Mrs Woo had said. The judge rearranged his notes and concluded: 'Mrs Woo is a vulgar woman, with a shrewd, intuitive insight into the carnal relations between the sexes, but who is wholly incapable of understanding the mentality of a man like her husband. Mr Woo wants to know what happened to his daughter, but at the same time he wants to protect his wife, regardless of what misdeeds she may have committed. That's why at the end of our interview he insisted on my promising I would acquaint him of the evidence at my disposal before taking legal action. For, should I discover that his wife was indeed concerned in his daughter's disappearance, Woo plans to persuade me to drop the case.'

'Do you think, sir, that there might be some substance to Mr Woo's suspicions?' Sergeant Hoong asked.

Judge Dee pensively stroked his moustache.

'I confess that I haven't the slightest idea,' he said at last. 'What I do know is that Mrs Woo's theory about Jade's eloping with a secret paramour is arrant nonsense. If Jade really had a lover, you may be sure that Mrs Woo would have ferreted out who he was! As to Mrs Woo's guilt... . She told my wife about her husband's suspicions with perfect candour, but that proves nothing, of course; she was firmly convinced that he had gone to me to accuse her. Mrs Woo is an extremely sensual woman, and protracted frustration often leads such women to excesses.'

'I can't understand,' Ma Joong spoke up, 'why the painter Lee Ko engaged Yang as his assistant after old Woo had kicked him out. And Yang was apparently gallivanting with Mrs Woo. We ought to know a lot more about Mr Yang. After all, he was the second vic­tim of the murder in the temple!’

The judge had been glancing through his notes. Now he looked up and said slowly, 'It's a curious coincidence that Yang figures both in Jade's disappearance last year and in our present murder case. I don't like this affair. Not a bit! The fact that the sorceress Tala knew Jade suggests that there's a Tartar angle too.'

' AT might consult Tulbee again and ask her to make inquiries among her people about a kidnapped Chinese girl,' Ma Joong said. He reflected that, compared with women like Tala and Mrs Woo, Tulbee wasn't so bad, after all.

'Yes, do that, Ma Joong. Perhaps Jade has been kept prisoner in some low den there in the Northern Row. First, however, you must get more data on Seng-san. If Miss Jade has really been kidnapped, we'll sooner or later get those scoundrels. But it is our urgent duty to find the temple murderer before he commits another outrage like the brazen attempt on your life last night.'

There was a knock on the door and a clerk came in.

'Mr Lee Mai the banker has come back here, Your Honour. He would be most grateful if Your Honour could see him for a moment.'

'Show him in!' To his two lieutenants the judge said, 'I noticed that Lee had something on his mind, but the prefect didn't let him speak.'

The banker seemed taken aback when he saw that the judge was not alone.

'Sit down, Mr Lee!' the judge told him impatiently. 'These two are my confidential advisers.'

Lee Mai took the chair Sergeant Hoong offered him. He carefully straightened his grey robe. Then, looking at the judge levelly with his hooded eyes, he said, 'I am most grateful that Your Honour grants me this interview. I couldn't speak freely in the presence of Mr Woo.' He cleared his throat. 'In the first place, I want to repeat that I consider Miss Jade still my fiancee, and that I shall marry her as soon as she has been traced, regardless of what happened to her during the past half year.' He resolutely closed his thin lips. Then he resumed: 'Second, I felt that Your Honour hesitated to tell Mr Woo the new evidence obtained by this tribunal because Your Honour didn't want to hurt him. Regarding me Your Honour doesn't need to have any such scruples. I am fully prepared to hear the truth, sir, no matter how dis­tressing it might be.' He looked expectantly at the judge.

Judge Dee leaned back in his chair. 'I can only repeat, Mr Lee, what I said to Mr Woo earlier this morning.' As the other bowed resignedly, the judge went on: 'How­ever, you would materially assist me in my investigation if you would tell me what measures you and Mr Woo took last year for tracing your fiancee.'

'With pleasure, sir. I went personally to the Chinese licensed quarter known as the Southern Row, and made discreet inquiries. When I obtained no result, I ordered my eldest clerk, who is a local man with a wide circle of acquaintances, to make inquiries in the underworld. He also drew a complete blank.' He cast a quick glance at the judge and resumed: 'I am convinced, sir, that Miss Jade was kidnapped not by local people but by a band of travelling touts, who took her away with them at once.' He rubbed his hand over his moist face. 'I have written to the masters of the Guilds of Gold and Silver Merchants in the five districts of this part of our Empire, enclosing traced copies of a portrait of my fiancee. But with no result.' He sighed. Tour Honour was perfectly right in scolding me for not having urged Mr Woo to report to the tribunal at once. But it still isn't too late, sir! If you would issue a circular letter to the magistrates of—'

'I was planning to do that, Mr Lee. Could you let me have a dozen or so traced copies of Miss Jade's portrait?'

This question seemed to disturb the banker.

'Not ... not right away, Your Honour. But I shall do my best to ...'

'Good. Add a detailed description too. By the way, you might have those portraits copied by your brother. He, being a professional painter ...'

The banker had grown pale. 'I have severed relations with him completely, Your Honour,' he said. 'I regret that I have to inform you that he is a man of loose morals. For many years he lived in my house, sponging on me. Didn't do a stroke of work. Just daubed at his paintings, or read strange books on alchemy or by heterodox philo­sophers. The nights he spent in gambling houses, taverns, or worse. He belonged to the same circle as Mrs Woo and ...' He broke off and bit his lips.

'Mrs Woo?' the judge asked, astonished.

'I shouldn't have mentioned her, sir!’ Lee said con­tritely. 'Now that I have done so, however, I may as well tell you, in the strictest confidence, of course, that I knew Mrs Woo and the man she lived with before her marriage to Mr Woo. The man was an able metal-worker who occasionally did odd jobs for me. But he was a crook and associated with crooks. When he left her, she came to me, asking whether I could help her to a job, perhaps in a shop. Woo happened to drop in, and he took a fancy to her at once. I wanted to warn him about the milieu she came from, but she swore to me that she had never taken part in any crooked business, and solemnly assured me that she would make Woo a good wife. I had to admit that she was a most energetic and capable woman, so I held my peace and Woo married her. On the fifteenth day of the fifth month last year, it was. I must say that she indeed managed his affairs very well. Un­fortunately, she didn't get along with Miss Jade.' 'Yes, I heard rumours to that effect. Why?' 'Well, sir, Miss Jade was a sweet girl, with much book-learning but wholly ignorant of the ways of the world. Prone to look at things from a purely theoretical angle, you see. She made no allowances for the fact that her stepmother came from a quite different milieu but took an instant dislike to her. The dislike was mutual, I believe. Mr Woo understood and kept Jade's upbringing in his own hands. Quite an unusual situation, sir: a young woman having no elder woman to turn to for advice. Therefore I was overjoyed when Mr Woo pro­posed that I marry her. I am a bit older than she, of course, but Mr Woo said that Jade needed a husband who would have the patience to explain things to her and tell her what was going on in the world. In other words, a husband who could take the place by her side Woo himself had occupied since her mother's death.'

The banker smoothed his jet-black moustache with the tip of his forefinger before he resumed: 'I am deeply in love with Miss Jade, sir, and I think I may say that I am young for my years. My only hobby is hunting, and that keeps me fit.'

'Quite. By the way, do you agree with Mr Woo that his secretary Yang made eyes at Jade?'

'No, sir. I can't say I particularly liked Yang; he fre­quented the same establishments as my dissolute brother. But in the house his behaviour was always correct. He is a man of letters, after all.' He thought for a while, then went on, 'Perhaps Mr Woo was inclined to be a bit over-suspicious regarding the intentions of other men concern­ing his daughter. Miss Jade didn't have what you would call a happy home, sir, and that was one reason more why I wanted to have the wedding as soon as possible.'

'Thank you for your valuable information, Mr Lee. If there's nothing else you want to discuss, we'll now terminate our interview. I have several urgent matters to attend to before the session opens. I shall keep you in­formed about the progress of my inquiries.'

When the banker had made his bow and left, Ma Joong remarked, 'A decent fellow. We must try to ...'

The judge wasn't listening to him. He said pensively, 'I wonder why Mr Lee came back here. Going over in my mind the gist of our conversation, I can only remember one question he asked. Namely, what new evidence I had found. He also made two specific statements: he reiter­ated his firm intention to marry Miss Jade, and he stressed the importance of looking for her in other dis­tricts. Hardly worth paying me a visit for! I find this very curious.'

'I think, sir,' Sergeant Hoong put in, 'that he also wanted to blacken Mrs Woo. His mentioning her name was no slip of the tongue. He brought up her past intentionally.'

'Yes, I had the same impression, Hoong. Well, let's turn now to the double murder, my friends. I had planned to go to the deserted temple for a thorough search directly after breakfast, but all these visitors have left no time for that. We shall go there after the session. I shall close it as soon as possible — just make a few non-committal remarks about the murder in the temple and say that the investigation is still in progress and Ah-liu kept in con­finement pending the results. You needn't be present in court, Ma Joong. I want you to look up that so-called King of the Beggars. Even though he doesn't wield much influence any more, he knows, of course, a lot about what is going on in town. Ask him whether he knew Seng-san. Then you might also try to find the man who tattooed Seng-san. There can't be many of them about, for the taste for that peculiar form of personal adornment is dying out. It's hard to believe, but touts and other low-class bullies are as fastidious about the dictates of fashion as famous courtesans! If you locate the fellow, ask him what comment Seng-san made when he had the profile of the temple tattooed on his back. I hope that ...'

The headman came in, carrying two heavy dossiers. He deposited them on the desk and said, with an impor­tant air, 'Additional evidence has been forthcoming in the case Kao vs Lo, Your Honour. Kao is confident that, on the basis of this data, Your Honour will be able to settle the case during the morning session. I have brought the dossiers from the chancery, sir, for your inspection.' He dusted the covers of the dossiers with loving care. They contained all the documents relating to a most involved dispute about an inheritance that had been pending for several months, and which concerned large sums of money. Since it was customary that the winning party gave a generous bonus to the headman and his under­lings, they took a deep interest in such cases.

'All right, headman. See to it that the courtroom is prepared for the session!'

As soon as the headman had closed the door behind him, Judge Dee exclaimed, annoyed, 'Of all the bad luck! I had entrusted the case Kao vs Lo entirely to our senior scribe. He has made a special study of it and has all the details at his fingertips! And now he is in Tong-kang! We shall have to go through those two files quickly, Hoong! The session opens in an hour! Take your time over those errands I told you about, Ma Joong. I greatly fear that the session will last till late in the afternoon!'