The Phantom of the Temple

XIX

Judge Dee straightened up in his chair. Folding his arms, he resumed, 'Before explaining why I suspect these seven people, severally or in pairs, I must first tell you that we have only one single case. The day before yester­day — Heavens, that seems ages ago now! — we thought we had three entirely different cases. Two dating from nearly one year back: namely, the theft of the Treas­urer's gold, and the mysterious message of a woman called Jade; and a third dating from the night before, namely, Seng-san's murder in the deserted temple. Subsequent de­velopments showed that the theft of the gold was connec­ted with the murders in the temple, and this morning the floor-plan, drawn by the maid of the Abbess, convinced me that Miss Jade's disappearance must be linked up with the crimes committed there. We have only one single case, my friends, but a case with many ramifications! It all began with the theft of the Treasurer's gold. Around those fifty stolen gold bars developed a curious, most intricate web of conflicting human passions. Pour me another cup, Hoong!’

The judge emptied the cup in a few quick gulps. Then he rummaged in his drawer and took out a sheet of paper.

'A few moments ago I remarked that dates provide important clues in this case. I have jotted down a few here. Have a look!’

The sergeant and Ma Joong drew their chairs closer to the desk and read what Judge Dee had written.

Fifteen years ago (the year of the Hare):

The authorities close down the Temple of the Purple Clouds; the Hermitage is built, and placed in charge of a priest and priestess who had forsworn the new creed.

Last year (the year of the Snake):

15-V Marriage of Mr and Mrs Woo.

2-VIII The Treasurer's gold is stolen.

20-VIII The widow Chang becomes Abbess of the Hermitage.

6-IX Ming Ao disappears.

10-IX Miss Jade disappears.

12-IX Date of Miss Jade's message.

Ma Joong looked up. 'Who's Ming Ao, sir?' 'Don't you remember what Sergeant Hoong told you about his examination of the file of missing persons, the day before yesterday? He had found there that the brother of a metal-worker called Ming Ao reported that Ming had gone out on the night of the sixth day of the ninth month and never came back. Now, Lee Mai told us that Mrs Woo had lived with a metal-worker who left her about one year ago. This afternoon I had the sergeant make discreet inquiries from Ming Ao's brother, and Hoong elicited from him that the present Mrs Woo had indeed lived with Ming Ao for some time. Ming Ao was known as an expert locksmith and a skilful metal-worker. But he was a crook — exactly as Lee Mai said when he told us about Mrs Woo's former acquaint­ances. Anyway, keep these dates and names in mind! They are of vital importance.'

He leaned forward and turned up the first card.

'This card I marked Woo Tsung-jen, the retired prefect. Woo remained an honest man all through his long official career. But in his later years, after he had become poor and married a wicked woman, his character changed. Here, this second card bears Mrs Woo's name. I lay it beside that of her husband. You'll agree that this pan-were in an excellent position for hearing the news about the gold from Tong-kang. Woo frequented Lee Mai's shop, and Mrs Woo's lover was a metal-worker. When they hear the news from Tong-kang, they realize that here is the chance of a life-time. Mrs Woo contacts her former lover Ming Ao, and he steals the gold and re­places it by lead; this last touch was probably suggested by Woo. Ming Ao conceals the gold somewhere in the de­serted temple. Then, however, a complication arises. Ming Ao refuses to reveal where exactly he has hidden the gold. Was he angry because his mistress had married? Or was it just because he wanted all the gold for himself? We can only guess at the answers to those questions. One thing is certain, however: Mr and Mrs Woo don't take Ming Ao's refusal lying down. They press him, torture him perhaps. Four days later he is killed, and his dead body is spirited away. Now the pair begin a systematic search of the temple. For many months they search, without result. Then a second complication occurs. Yang worms the secret of the gold out of Mrs Woo — there are strong indications that they were lovers — or he learns it while spying on Woo. Yang hires Seng-san to blackmail the Woos. They lure Yang and Seng-san to the temple, and there they murder them.'

'If that theory is correct,' Ma Joong exclaimed, 'then Mrs Woo is that blasted phantom! But what about Miss Jade?'

'I think that Jade discovered that her father and step­mother had murdered Ming Ao, and they decided that Jade had to go too, and at once. Her stepmother hated her, and her demise delivered her father from a guilty passion that had long tormented him. Well, the activi­ties Mr and Mrs Woo engaged in yesterday fully support this theory. My proclamation badly frightened the guilty couple. Had I found a clue to their having murdered the girl? Am I about to summon them for questioning? They decide that attack is the best defence. Woo rushes to me, Mrs Woo to my Third Lady, in a desperate effort to learn what I have discovered, and to confuse the issue.

'However, there is one flaw in my argument, and a very important one too. Woo could well have thrown the stones on you in the well, Ma Joong, and he could also have pushed the upper part of the crumbling back wall of the temple over. But I don't see how he, an elderly gentleman, could ever have strangled Yang and knifed Seng-san; how he could have moved Seng-san's body, and how he could have eluded you in the dark temple hall. Have you any comment, Sergeant?'

When Hoong shook his head, the judge continued, 'I turn up my third card. Lee Mai, the banker. The most likely person to hear the news from Tong-kang, of course. We know that Mrs Woo didn't live exactly like a nun before her marriage to Woo. She may well have carried on with Lee Mai, with or without Ming Ao's knowledge. When Woo falls in love with her, Lee Mai encourages the match: nothing more convenient than marry off your mistress to your best friend! Woo wants to give his daughter Jade in marriage to Lee. So much the better! Lee will have a nice young wife, and at the same time have even better opportunities for continuing the liaison with her stepmother. Lee Mai and Mrs Woo organize the theft of the gold by Ming Ao. Then the two snags I mentioned before occur again: Ming refuses to reveal the hiding-place of the gold, and they murder him. Jade discovers that murder, or her stepmother's adultery, and she is eliminated. Mrs Woo hates her, and Lee prefers a fortune in gold to a young wife. As to the double murder in the temple, Lee Mai is a tall strong man, fond of hunting. A worthy opponent for you in the dark hall, Ma Joong! Any objections, Sergeant?'

JUDGE DEE DISCUSSES SEVEN CARDS

Sergeant Hoong had been looking rather dubious. Now he said, 'How do we reconcile this theory with Lee Mai's attempt at blackening Mrs Woo, sir? He went out of his way to point out to us her questionable background.'

'That may have been a clever touch, meant to throw us off the scent. Lee knew very well that we hadn't got a shred of evidence against her. And he had told her exactly what she was to tell my Third Lady. Well, we have had now two men and one woman. This fourth card is a woman again. I turn it over and lay it beside that of Lee Mai.'

Sergeant Hoong leaned forward. He gasped as he read the name. 'The Abbess!’ he exclaimed.

'Yes, the Abbess. Remember that she was the widow of a gold merchant, and would know Lee Mai, her husband's colleague. What if she and Lee Mai had become secret lovers? The records say that her husband died in the first month of the year of the Snake, of a sudden heart attack. Did he discover her adultery with Lee, and did the couple help him to leave this mortal world? The circumstances of Mr Chang's demise will bear looking into, I think. Anyway, it is significant that, in the very same month that the gold was stolen, she became Abbess of the Hermitage — an ideal position for a person interested in the deserted temple who wants to search for concealed gold undisturbed! Finally, she knew beforehand that you, Ma Joong, were going to visit the temple. I told her so myself, during the birthday dinner. And she left very early, as soon as the last course had been served. Because she had a headache, she said.'

'So she could easily have been back in the temple in time to lure me to the well,' Ma Joong remarked bitterly. And last night, after she had helped to set the trap for me under the crumbling wall, she had plenty of time to get back to the Hermitage while I was trying to catch Lee in the temple hall. But what about Jade, sir?'

'Same story as before: Jade must have caught them red-handed when they were disposing of Ming Ao.'

'The Abbess might even have enjoyed killing the poor girl.' Ma Joong said nastily. 'Her maid told me that the cruel bitch positively enjoys caning her! But what exactly could have happened to Jade, sir?'

'According to Tala,' the judge replied slowly, 'Miss Jade broke her neck. And on the tenth, on the same day that she disappeared. According to the message in the ebony box, however, she died on or about the twelfth.'

'The date of her message of distress fits,' Sergeant Hoong remarked. 'She was kept captive from the tenth till the twelfth, without food or drink!’

Judge Dee took up the fifth card.

'This one I inscribed with the name of Lee Ko, the painter. Look, I put his card in between those of Mrs Woo and the Abbess. Now then. Lee Ko had as good an opportunity to learn the secret of the gold as his brother Lee Mai, because then he was still living in the banker's house. For the same reason he could have met Ming Ao and the woman who became Mrs Woo.'

The judge moved Lee Ko's card close to that of Mrs Woo, and regarded the two with a satisfied smile. 1 must confess that I like this combination! I like it very much indeed. The sensual woman married to an elderly husband, and the irresponsible painter who believes in romantic love. And both nearing middle-age, when passion burns with a more intense fire than in one's youth.'

'Lee Ko also knew that I was going to visit the temple,' Ma Joong muttered. 'I told him so when I met him on my way to the east city gate. And Lee had the ebony box in his possession! Besides, he is a mountaineer, a hardy chap! That's why he gave such a good account of himself when I tried to catch him in the temple hall!’

Judge Dee nodded. He moved Lee Ko's card closer to that of the Abbess. 'This combination,' he said, 'is de­cidedly less attractive. But we must remember that Lee Ko painted those awful Buddhist pictures most expertly. He must have made a close study of the originals that were formerly displayed in the deserted temple; and there he may have met the Abbess, who was already a fervent Buddhist when she was still Mrs Chang. Well, I take the sixth card. You see that I have put Yang's name there.'

'Yang is dead!' the sergeant exclaimed.

'We shouldn't ignore the dead, Hoong — to borrow one of Tala's pronouncements. I put Yang's card on top of Lee Ko's, and then I put Mrs Woo's card beside it. Look, now we have a combination that is even more plausible than that of Mrs Woo and Lee Ko! A frustrated, sensual woman and a much younger, gay student, living under the same roof! She'll have told Yang about the gold, and made him do the rough work. We saw Yang's dead body; he was a strong fellow who could have easily handled both Ming Ao and Miss Jade.'

'But later Yang himself was murdered, together with Seng-san!’ Sergeant Hoong protested.

'Precisely! That's why I laid Yang's card on top of that of Lee Ko. For in the course of the months that fol­lowed the theft, the pattern changed. Mrs Woo fell in love with Lee Ko. She told Yang that she was through with him, and that he could say goodbye to the gold. But Yang wouldn't stand for that. He went to Lee Ko and told him that he didn't care a tinker's curse about Mrs Woo, but that he wanted his half of the gold. In order to keep an eye on the pair, Yang forced Lee Ko to employ him, threatening to tell everything to old Mr Woo. Then, however, Yang realized that Lee Ko was not a man to be trifled with, and he decided to try to get the gold by himself, all of it. So he hired Seng-san, the profes­sional bully, who'd help him to search the deserted temple. There they were murdered by Lee Ko and Mrs Woo.'

Judge Dee picked up the six cards. Leaning back in his chair, he shuffled them and said, 'There are, of course, a few other possible combinations. But we have now sur­veyed, I think, the essential patterns we must reckon with.'

'There's still one more card on the table, sir,' the sergeant said.

The judge sat up straight. 'Ah yes, the seventh card!' He turned it over. It was black.

Holding it up, he said slowly:

'I had written a name there, tentatively. Perhaps the name of a phantom. The Phantom of the Temple. Then, however, I blacked it out. This card means death.'

He stuck the black card among the others, reshuffled them, and threw the package in his open drawer. He folded his arms and resumed, 'Ordinarily we should, now that we have arrived at this stage, initiate a laborious and time-consuming investigation. We should trace in detail the antecedents of all our suspects, find out where and with whom they were at the time the various crimes were committed, question domestic servants, shopkeepers, etc. That would take weeks, if not months, even if our friends Chiao Tai and Tao Gan were here to take part in the investigation. Fortunately, we are in a position to take a short-cut.' He pulled the floor-plan drawn by Spring Cloud towards him. Tapping it with his fore­finger, he resumed, 'Thanks to this excellent sketch, we can conduct this very night a decisive test.

'Half an hour ago, I had a clerk deliver two letters. One addressed to Mr and Mrs Woo, the other to their friend Lee Mai, the banker. I invited them to come to the deserted temple in two hours' time, because I wanted to tell them there the results of my inquiries regarding Miss Jade.'

'What about Lee Ko and the Abbess, sir?' Ma Joong asked.

'The Abbess I shall fetch personally from the Her­mitage. I want to go there anyway, to see how young Fang is getting along. As regards Lee Ko, you'll go to his house now, Ma Joong. Tell him that I ordered you to take him to the deserted temple, because I want to show him there something without anyone else knowing about it, to ask his opinion. Take him up the hill by the back road, for he should on no account see that I have other guests too. Keep him waiting behind the temple. When I need him, I shall let you know. Then you'll bring him into the hall by the small back door.' As Ma Joong rose, the judge added quickly, 'Watch him all the time, Ma Joong! He is a murder suspect!'

'I'll watch him all right!' the tall man said grimly as he went out. Judge Dee got up too. 'Come along, Hoong! I must be there before my guests arrive. I want to test my theory before I test my suspects!'