The Chinese Bell Murders

Twenty-third Chapter:

When Sergeant Hoong and his two companions had arrived at the Lin mansion, they directly went to the library in the second courtyard. It was a pleasant room with large windows giving on to an elegant landscape garden.

Tao Gan went immediately to the massive desk of carved blackwood in front of the window on the right. He looked casually at the costly set of writing implements standing on its polished top. Ma Joong tried to pull out the drawer in the middle. But it would not open although no lock was visible.

'Wait a moment, brother!' Tao Gan said. 'I have been in Canton, I know the tricks of the cabinet-workers there!'

He ran his sensitive finger-tips along the carving that decorated the front part of the drawer. He soon found the hidden spring. As he pulled the drawer out they saw that it was packed with thick wads of documents.

Tao Gan piled them up on the desk.

'That's your affair, Sergeant!' he said cheerfully.

While the sergeant seated himself in the cushioned armchair in front of the desk, Tao Gan asked Ma Joong to help him push the heavy couch away from the back wall. He scrutinised the wall inch by inch. Then they removed the books from the high shelves, and started examining them.

For a long time there was no sound save the rustling of papers and the muttered curses of Ma Joong.

At last Sergeant Hoong leaned back in his chair.

'Nothing but straight business correspondence!' he announced disgustedly. 'We'll take the whole lot back to the tribunal for further study, perhaps there are some letters that contain veiled allusions to the smuggling. How are you two getting along?'

Tao Gan shook his head.

'Nothing doing!' he said sourly. 'Let's go on to the bastard's bedroom!'

They sauntered to the back courtyard and entered the room with the trapdoor.

There Tao Gan soon discovered a secret panel in the wall behind Lin Fan's bedstead. But it revealed only the closed door of an iron safe with a most complicated lock. Tao Gan worked on it for a considerable time, but finally gave up.

'We must make Lin Fan tell us how to open it,' he said with a shrug. 'Let's have another look at the corridor and the third courtyard of the temple. That's where the scoundrel stored his salt bags, perhaps some of their contents spilled there.'

Revisiting it in daylight they saw even better than the night before how carefully the place had been cleaned. The mats were swept clean, and the stone flags of the corridor had been gone over with a stiff broom, there was not a speck of dust in the grooves, let alone grains of salt.

The three friends went back to the house in low spirits. They searched the other rooms of the mansion, but without success. They were empty, the furniture had been removed when the womenfolk and the servants left for the south.

Noon was approaching, they felt tired and hungry.

'Last week,' Tao Gan said, 'when I was on guard duty here, one of the constables told me there is a small crab restaurant near the fish-market. They stuff the shells with minced crab-meat mixed with pork and onions, and then steam them. That's a local speciality and said to be delicious!'

'You make my mouth water!' Ma Joong growled. 'Let's hurry!'

The restaurant proved a small two-storied building that bore the elegant name of' Kingfisher Pavilion.' A long strip of red cloth hung from the eaves, proclaiming in large characters that choice liquor from the north and south was obtainable there.

When they pulled aside the door-screen they saw a small kitchen. The air was thick with an appetising smell of frying meat and onions. A fat man with naked torso was standing behind an enormous iron pot, armed with a long bamboo ladle. On top of the pot stood a bamboo frame, loaded with piles of stuffed crab shells that were being steamed there. At his side a youngster was busy chopping meat on a large block.

The fat man smiled broadly and shouted:

'Please go upstairs, Excellencies! We shall serve you this very moment!'

Sergeant Hoong ordered three dozen stuffed crabs and three large jugs of wine. Then they climbed the rickety stairs.

When he was half-way up Ma Joong heard a loud noise coming from above. Turning to the Sergeant who was coming up after him he said:

'It seems that there's quite a party going on upstairs!'

But they found the room empty but for one large man who was sitting at the table in front of the window, with his back to them. Bent over the table he was vigorously sucking crab shells, with a prodigious amount of noise. He wore a. black damask jacket over his broad shoulders.

Ma Joong motioned to the others to stay behind. He walked up to the table and laid his hand on the fat man's shoulder, saying gruffly:

'It's a long time since we met, brother!'

The man quickly looked up. He had a large, round face, its lower half was completely covered by a thick, greasy beard. He gave Ma Joong a baleful look. Then he turned to his food again, sadly shaking his large head. Idly picking with his forefinger among the empty shells on the table he said with a sigh:

'People like you, brother, make a man lose trust in his fellow beings. The other day I treated you like a friend. Now they say you are a runner of the tribunal. I suspect that it was you who had me and my men chased away from our comfortable quarters in that temple. Use humanity as a yardstick, my friend, and reflect on your behaviour!'

'Come on,' Ma Joong said, let there be no ill feeling! Everybody in this world has his allotted task, and mine happens to be to run around in this city for His Excellency the Judge.'

'So the rumour is true!' the fat man said mournfully. 'No, brother, I lost my affection for you. Leave an honest citizen alone while he meditates on the small portions the greedy owner of this dismal inn chooses to dish up.'

'Well,' Ma Joong said jovially, 'as to small portions, if you would favour another dozen stuffed crabs, I and my friends shall be very pleased if you would join us in our meal!'

Sheng Pa slowly wiped his fingers on his beard. After a while he said:

'Well, it shan't be said of me that I can't let bygones be bygones. It will be an honour to meet your friends.'

He rose and Ma Joong introduced him ceremoniously to Sergeant Hoong and Tao Gan. Ma Joong selected a square table and insisted that Sheng Pa take the place of honour with his back against the wall. The Sergeant and Tao Gan sat down on either side of him, and Ma Joong took the seat opposite. He shouted down the stairs for more food and wine.

When the servant had gone down again, and the first round drunk, Ma Joong said:

'I see with pleasure, brother, that you have at last found yourself a nice jacket! That must have cost you a pretty penny, people don't give away stuff of that quality! You must have become a wealthy man!'

Sheng Pa looked uncomfortable. He mumbled something about the approaching winter, then hastily buried his face in his wine cup.

Ma Joong suddenly rose and knocked the wine cup from his hand. Pushing the table against the wall he barked:

'Speak up, you rascal! Where did you get that jacket?'

Sheng Pa quickly looked left and right. He was pinned against the wall by the table edge pressing into his tremendous paunch, and with Sergeant Hoong and Tao Gan on either side of him there was no means of escape. He heaved a deep sigh and slowly started to loosen his jacket.

'I should have known,' he growled, 'that nobody can expect to eat in peace with you running dogs of the tribunal! Here, take this wretched jacket! This old man shall freeze to death in the coming winter, and little will you people care!'

Seeing Sheng Pa so amenable, Ma Joong sat down again and poured out a cup of wine. He pushed it over to the fat man and said:

'Nothing is farther from me than to inconvenience you, brother. But I must know how you got that black jacket.'

Sheng Pa looked very doubtful. He pensively scratched his hairy chest. Sergeant Hoong now joined the conversation.

'You are a man of the world,' he said affably, 'and you have a rich and varied experience. You doubtless know that it's a wise policy for people in your position to be on good terms with the tribunal. And why shouldn't you? Brother, as a counsellor of the Beggars' Guild you belong, so to speak, to the city administration! Why, I consider you as a colleague!'

Sheng Pa emptied his cup, and Tao Gan quickly refilled it for him. Then he said sadly:

'When pressed hard by both threats and flattery, there is nothing left for a defenceless old man but to tell the simple truth.'

He emptied his cup in one draught, then went on:

'Last night the warden comes and tells us to clear out of the temple yard at once. Did he give us a reason? No! But obedient citizens as we are, we leave. But an hour or so later I come back, for I buried a few strings of cash in a corner of that yard, as an emergency fund, and I feel I shouldn't leave those there.

'I know that yard as the palm of my hand, so I don't need any light. Just when I put the strings in my belt, I see a man coming out of the side gate. I think that must be a low ruffian, for what honest citizen rushes about in the middle of the night?'

Sheng Pa looked expectantly at his companions. When no one made an encouraging comment, he went on resignedly:

'I trip that man up when he comes down the stairs. Heavens, what a mean crook! He scrambles up and pulls a knife on me! In self-defence I knock him down. Do I strip him naked and steal all his possessions? No! I have my principles. So I only take his jacket, meaning to bring it to the warden this afternoon while reporting this case of assault. Then I leave that place, hoping and trusting that the proper authorities will deal with the ruffian in their own good time. That is the whole, unvarnished truth!'

Sergeant Hoong nodded. He said:

'You acted like a good citizen, brother! Now we shan't speak of the cash you found in that jacket, such small things are not mentioned among gentlemen. But what about the personal belongings you found in the sleeves?'

Sheng Pa promptly handed the jacket to the Sergeant.

'Everything you find inside is yours!' he said generously.

Sergeant Hoong went through both sleeves. They were completely empty. But when he ran his fingers along the seam, he felt a small object. He put his hand inside and brought out a small square seal of jade. He showed it to his two friends. They saw that four characters were engraved on it, reading: 'Lin Fan's true seal.'

The Sergeant put it in his sleeve and handed the jacket back to Sheng Pa.

'Keep it,' he said. 'As you said correctly, the man you took it from is a mean criminal. You'll have to go back with us to the tribunal as a witness, but I assure you that you have nothing to fear. Now let us get at those crabs before they grow cold!'

They all fell to with gusto and the piles of empty crab shells rose on the table with astounding speed.

When they had finished Sergeant Hoong paid the bill. Sheng Pa wangled from the owner a ten per cent reduction. Restaurant keepers always give special prices to officials of the Beggars' Guild, for else crowds of repulsive-looking beggars would assemble in front of their door and scare away customers.

Back at the tribunal they took Sheng Pa straight to Judge Dee's private office.

When Sheng Pa saw the judge sitting behind his desk, he raised his hands in astonishment.

'May August Heaven preserve Poo-yang!' he exclaimed horrified. 'Now a fortune-teller has been appointed magistrate over us!'

Sergeant Hoong quickly explained the truth to him. Sheng Pa hastily knelt down in front of the desk.

When the sergeant had handed Lin Fan's seal to the judge and reported what had happened, Judge Dee was exceedingly pleased. He whispered to Tao Gan:

'That's how Lin Fan got wounded! He was attacked by this fat rascal just after he had trapped us under the bell!' To Sheng Pa he said: 'You have made yourself very useful, my man! Now listen carefully. You shall be present during the afternoon session of this tribunal. A certain person shall be brought forward and I shall confront you with him. If that should be the man you fought with last night, you'll say so. Now you can go and rest awhile in the guard house.'

When Sheng Pa had taken his leave, Judge Dee said to his lieutenants:

'Now that I have this additional evidence, I think I can lay a trap for Lin Fan! Since he is a dangerous opponent, we shall place him in as disadvantageous a position as possible. He is not accustomed to being treated as an ordinary criminal, so that is exactly the way we shall treat him! If he loses his temper, I am confident that he'll fall into my trap!'

Sergeant Hoong looked doubtful.

"Wouldn't it be better first to force that safe in his bedroom, Your Honour?' he asked. 'And I also think we should first hear that captain.'

The judge shook his head.

'I know what I am doing,' he replied. 'For this session I only need half a dozen mats from the loft behind the temple. Tell the headman to go now and get them, Sergeant!'

His three assistants looked at each other in blank amazement. But Judge Dee vouchsafed no explanation. After an awkward pause Tao Gan asked:

'But what about the murder charge, Your Honour? We could confront Lin Fan with his own golden locket, found right on the spot!'

Judge Dee's face fell. Knitting his bushy eyebrows, he remained deep in thought for a while. Then he said slowly:

'To tell you the truth, I really don't know what to do about that locket. Let's wait and see what develops during the hearing of Lin Fan.'

The judge unrolled a document on his desk and started reading. Sergeant Hoong gave a sign to Ma Joong and Tao Gan. They silently left the office.