The Chinese Bell Murders

Sixth Chapter:

an old lady from canton reports a TERRIBLE WRONG; JUDGE DEE INFORMS THE SERGEANT OF DISTURBING NEWS

Tao Gan found Judge Dee in his private office consulting with the senior scribe and the head of the archives about a disputed plot of land.

When the judge saw Tao Gan enter he dismissed the others and told him to call Sergeant Hoong.

Then Tao Gan gave a detailed report about his visit to the temple, omitting no detail except his little tricks with the faked silver bar and the strings of cash. When he had finished, Judge Dee said:

'Well, this settles our problem. Since you have found no secret entrance to the pavilion, we must accept the word of the monks. The statue of the goddess Kwan Yin has indeed miraculous powers, and will grant children to those devout women who earnestly pray to her.'

Both the sergeant and Tao Gan were greatly amazed at this pronouncement of the judge.

'The entire town,' Tao Gan said, 'is seething with rumours about the disgraceful things that go on in that temple! I beseech Your Honour to let me go there again, or else send Sergeant Hoong, to institute a more thorough investigation.'

Judge Dee, however, shook his head.

'For wealth and prosperity to incite envy,' he said, 'is unfortunately a common occurrence. The investigation of the Temple of Boundless Mercy is closed!'

Sergeant Hoong was going to make another attempt to persuade the judge, but being familiar with the indications given by Judge Dee's expression, he thought better of it.

'Moreover,' the judge added, 'if Ma Joong needs help in locating the murderer of Half Moon Street, Tao Gan must be ready to join him in the search.'

Tao Gan looked disappointed and would have said something, but just then the sound of the large gong resounded through the tribunal, and Judge Dee rose to don his official robes for the afternoon session.

The large crowd of spectators had gathered again in the court hall, for everyone expected that Judge Dee would now continue the hearing of the case against Candidate Wang that he had broken off that noon.

As soon as he had called the roll, Judge Dee glared at the crowd that filled the hall and spoke:

'Since the citizens of Poo-yang take such an interest in the proceedings of this tribunal, I avail myself of this opportunity to issue a general warning. It has come to my attention that some evil people in this district are disseminating malicious rumours regarding the Temple of Boundless Mercy. I, the magistrate, remind all of you of the fact that the Penal Code contains clear provisions against the spreading of libellous rumours and unfounded incriminations! Those who offend against the law shall be prosecuted according to the law.'

Then Judge Dee had the persons concerned in the dispute over the plot of land brought before him and devoted some time to deciding that issue. He did not call anyone concerned with the case of Half Moon Street.

As the session drew to its end, there was some commotion near the entrance of the court hall.

Judge Dee looked up from the document he was studying and saw an old lady who was trying to make her way through the crowd. The judge gave a sign to the headman, and he went with two constables to bring the lady before the dais.

The senior scribe bent over to Judge Dee's ear and whispered:

'Your Honour, that is a crazy old woman, who for months on end has bothered His Excellency Feng with some imaginary complaint. I respectfully advise Your Honour to dismiss her.'

Judge Dee made no comment on this, but gave the woman a sharp look as she approached the dais. She seemed well past middle age and walked with difficulty, leaning on a long staff. Her robes were threadbare but clean and neatly patched. She had quite a distinguished face.

As she began to kneel, Judge Dee signalled to the constables.

'No aged and sick person shall kneel in my tribunal. Remain standing, Madam, and state your name and your complaint.'

The old lady bowed deeply and then spoke in an indistinct voice:

'This insignificant person is called Liang, nee Ou-yang. I am the widow of Liang I-feng, in life a merchant in the city of Canton.'

Here her voice trailed off, thick tears flowed down her cheeks and her frail body shook with sobs.

Judge Dee had noticed that she spoke in Cantonese dialect, which was not easy for him to follow. Moreover she was evidently not in a condition to state her case. He addressed her:

'Madam, I can't keep you standing here so long. I shall hear you in my private office.' Turning to Sergeant Hoong who was standing behind his chair, Judge Dee said: 'Take this lady to the small reception room and have tea served to her there.'

When the old lady had been led away Judge Dee dealt with some routine matters and then closed the session.

Sergeant Hoong was waiting for the judge in his private office.

'Your Honour,' he said, 'the lady seems mentally deranged. When she had drunk a cup of tea, her mind was clear for a few moments. She gave me to understand that she and her family have been suffering some terrible wrong. Then she again started crying and her language became incoherent. I have taken the liberty to send for an old maid of Your Honour's household to calm her down.'

'That was very wise, Sergeant,' the judge said. 'We shall wait till she is completely at ease and then see whether we can hear her. In most cases the wrongs such people speak of exist only in their deranged mind. Yet no one who appeals to this tribunal for justice shall be sent away before I have obtained a clear account of the case!'

Judge Dee rose from his chair and began pacing the floor, his hands behind him. Sergeant Hoong was just going to ask what was worrying him, when the judge stood still and said:

'Since we are alone now, I wish to make to you, my faithful friend and adviser, a final statement regarding the Temple of Boundless Mercy. Stand here, near to me, so that no one will hear.'

Speaking in a low voice, Judge Dee continued:

'You will understand that it serves no purpose to continue the investigation. In the first place, it is almost impossible to obtain definite proof. Tao Gan, in whose ability I place great confidence, failed to discover a secret entrance. And if the monks should, by some unknown means, perpetrate infamous acts, one need not hope that their victims will ever come forward to testify against them, and thus expose themselves and their husbands to ridicule and contempt and cast doubt on the legitimacy of their children. Besides, there is a still more cogent reason, which I shall tell you for your exclusive information, and in the strictest confidence.'

Speaking in a whisper, close to the sergeant's ear, Judge Dee continued:

'I have recently received disturbing news from the capital. It seems that the Buddhist Church, ever waxing in power, has now wormed its way into the Imperial Court. It started by a number of Court ladies being converted and now the black-robed crowd has even succeeded in obtaining the ear of our August Sovereign. His Imperial Majesty has granted them consideration of their fallacious doctrines.

'The Chief Abbot of the White Horse Monastery in the capital has been appointed a member of the Grand Council, and he and his clique are meddling with the internal and external affairs of our Empire. Their spies and agents are everywhere. The loyal servants of the Throne are greatly worried.'

Judge Dee frowned and added in a still lower voice:

'This being so, you will understand what might happen if I were to open a case against the Temple of Boundless Mercy. We are not confronted with ordinary criminals, we are up against a powerful, national organisation. The Buddhist clique will immediately place itself behind the abbot and give him full support. They will start a campaign at Court, influence will be brought to bear in this province, and rich presents will be distributed in the right places. Even if I should produce irrefutable proof, long before I could complete such a case, I would find myself transferred to a distant post on the border. It is even possible that I might be sent to the capital in chains on a trumped-up charge.'

'Does this mean, Your Honour,' Sergeant Hoong said indignantly, 'that we are completely powerless?'

Judge Dee sadly nodded his head. After some reflection he said with a sigh:

'If only such a case could be initiated, solved, and the criminals convicted and executed-all on one and the same day! However, you know that our laws preclude such an arbitrary procedure. Even if I obtained a complete confession, the death sentence would have to be approved by the Metropolitan Court, and it takes weeks before my report would arrive there via the prefectural and provincial authorities. That would give the Buddhist clique ample time and opportunity to have the report suppressed, the case dismissed, and myself removed from office in disgrace. Now I would gladly risk my career and even my life, if I could see the faintest chance of succeeding in removing this cancerous growth from our society. It may very well be, however, that such a chance will never come!'

'In the meantime, Sergeant, I charge you never to let one word of what has just transpired pass your lips and I forbid you ever to raise this question again. I am convinced that the abbot has his spies also among the personnel of this tribunal. Every word said about the Temple of Boundless Mercy is one word too much.

'Now go and see if the old lady can be questioned.' When Sergeant Hoong returned with the old woman, Judge Dee made her sit down in a comfortable chair opposite his desk. Then he said kindly:

'I am exceedingly vexed, Madam, to see you in such distress. Now you told me that your husband's name is Liang, but you have not yet given me more details about the manner of his death or the wrong you suffered.'

With trembling hands the old lady fumbled in her sleeve and brought out a manuscript roll wrapped up in a piece of faded brocade. She presented this respectfully to the judge with two hands. She spoke in a faltering voice:

'May it please Your Honour to peruse these documents. Nowadays my old brain is so confused that I cannot think clearly for more than a few moments. I could never give you a consecutive account of the terrible wrong that myself and my family have suffered! Your Honour will find everything in those documents.' Leaning back in her chair she started weeping again. Judge Dee ordered Sergeant Hoong to give her a cup of strong tea and then unwrapped the package. It contained a thick roll of documents, yellowed by age and long use. Unrolling the first one, he saw that it was a long accusation, evidently written by an accomplished scholar, in beautiful style and elegant calligraphy.

Glancing through it, Judge Dee noted that it was a circumstantial account of a sanguinary feud between two wealthy merchant families of Canton, called respectively Liang and Lin. It had started when Lin had seduced Liang's wife. Thereafter Lin had relentlessly persecuted the Liang family, robbing them of all their possessions. When Judge Dee came to the end of the document and saw the date, he looked up in astonishment and said:

'Madam, this document is dated over twenty years ago!' 'Ruthless crimes,' the old lady answered in a soft voice, 'are not erased by the passage of time.'

The judge glanced through the other documents and saw that they all pertained to various later phases of the same case; the most recent paper was dated two years ago. At the end of every document, however, whether old or new, there always was the legend in vermilion ink, the magistrate's verdict reading 'Case dismissed because of insufficient evidence.'

'I observe,' Judge Dee said, 'that all this happened in the city of Canton. Why did you leave the old home of your family?' 'I came to Poo-yang,' the old lady said, 'because the main criminal, Lin Fan, happened to settle in this district.'

Judge Dee could not remember having heard this name. Rolling up the documents, he said kindly:

'I shall study these records with great care, Madam. As soon as I reach a conclusion, I shall ask you to come here again, for further consultation.'

The old lady slowly rose, and bowing deeply she said: 'For many years I have been waiting for a magistrate who would find a way to redress this terrible wrong. May August Heaven grant that the day has now come!'

Sergeant Hoong led her away. When he came back Judge Dee said to him:

'At first sight I would say that this is one of those vexing cases where a clever and well-educated rascal has enriched himself by ruining scores of other people, yet always escaping his just punishment. It is clear that sorrow and frustration have unhinged the mind of this old lady. The least I can do for her is to make a careful study of this case, although I doubt very much whether I shall be able to find a flaw in the defendant's arguments. I notice that the case has passed through the hands of at least one magistrate who is famous as an eminent jurist and who now sits on the Metropolitan Court.'

Then Judge Dee had Tao Gan called. When he saw the dejected face of his lieutenant he said with a smile:

'Cheer up, Tao Gan, I have now better work for you than to hang around the Buddhist crowd! Go to the place where that old Lady Liang lives. Gather all information you can get about her and her family. Then I want you to trace a wealthy man called Lin Fan, who must live somewhere in this city. You shall also report on him. It may help you to know that both persons are from Canton, and settled down here a few years ago.'

Judge Dee dismissed Sergeant Hoong and Tao Gan and had the senior scribe bring in some documents relating to the routine of the district administration.