The Chinese Maze Murders

Twenty first Chapter

The next day, when Judge Dee opened the morning session of the tribunal hundreds of people were crowding the courtroom. The news of Yoo Kee's arrest had spread all over the town and the wildest rumours were circulating with regard to the arrest of the Uigur chieftain.

Judge Dee slowly surveyed the crowd, and pondered for a while as to how he should start the questioning. He reflected that Yoo Kee excelled in dissimulation and secret planning; he was wont to direct affairs from behind a carefully constructed screen. Often such persons break down completely once they have been forced to come out into the open.

The judge wrote Yoo Kee's name on a slip and handed it to Headman Fang.

As Yoo Kee was brought in Judge Dee saw that his surmise had been correct. Yoo Kee had changed overnight into a different person. The cloak of easy joviality that he had so carefully worn had fallen off. There was left nothing but a listless, broken man.

Judge Dee said quietly:

"At yesterday's session we went through the formalities. You can now begin immediately with your confession!"

"Your Honour", Yoo Kee spoke in a toneless voice, "when a man has been left no hope either in this world or the next there is no reason why he should not tell the whole truth."

Yoo Kee paused for a moment. Then he suddenly said bitterly:

"I know that my father hated me. Well, I hated him too although I admit that I feared him! While he was still alive I had already made the firm resolution that I would become a greater man than he. He had been a governor, I was to be a sovereign ruler!

For years I made a careful study of the border situation. I realized that if the barbarian tribes could be united and given some guidance they could easily overrun the entire border region. With Lan-fang as capital I could found a kingdom astride the border. While keeping off the Chinese authorities by promises of submission and lengthy negotiations about vassalage, I would steadily enlarge the kingdom to the west by attracting more and more barbarian chieftains; thus while my power would be growing in the west, my attitude to the Chinese authorities in the east would gradually stiffen until I would be so strong that no one would dare to attack me."

Yoo Kee heaved a sigh, then went on:

"I was confident that I had sufficient diplomatic skill and knowledge of Chinese internal politics to execute this scheme. But I lacked military experience. In Chien Mow I found a useful tool. He was a determined and ruthless man, but he knew he was not qualified to act as a political leader. I encouraged him to establish himself as the local ruler here and showed him how he could consolidate his position against the central authorities. He acknowledged my leadership. After our plans had materialized, I would have appointed Chien Mow as my Generalissimo. At the same time I used Chien's activities to test the reaction of the central authorities. Everything succeeded, the central government seemed to acquiesce in the irregular situation here. So I resolved to take the next step and establish contact with the Uigur tribes.

Then that interfering fool, Magistrate Pan arrived. Through an unfortunate accident a letter I had written to an Uigur chieftain fell into his hands. I had to act quickly. I ordered Orolakchee, a cousin of the Khan and my confidential agent, to lure Pan to the river and kill him. Chien Mow was angry, he feared that the government would retaliate. But I instructed him how he could cover up this crime, and nothing untoward happened."

Judge Dee was going to interrupt Yoo Kee but on second thoughts he decided that it was better to let him tell his story in his own way. Yoo Kee went on in the same toneless voice:

"I would have come out into the open then were it not that the Khan received information of big Chinese victories over the barbarians in the north. He started to waver and finally withdrew his support. Then I engaged in complicated negotiations with minor chieftains, and finally succeeded in uniting three powerful tribes. They would attack the city if I guaranteed that the Watergate would be open and that the main points inside the town would be occupied by my men.

When the date had been fixed, Your Honour arrived with a regiment of the regular army for inspecting the border, Chien Mow was arrested and his men dispersed. I feared that my plans had leaked out and that in the near future a strong garrison would be sent to Lan-fang. I decided to take immediate action.

Tonight three Uigur tribes will gather in the plain. When at midnight they see the signal fire on the watchtower, they will ford the river and enter the city by the Watergate.

That is all!"

The crowd started to talk excitedly. They realized that they had narrowly escaped being overrun by cruel barbarian horsemen.

"Silence!", shouted Judge Dee.

Then he ordered Yoo Kee:

"State how many men these three tribes can put under arms!

Yoo Kee thought for a while, then he replied:

"About two thousand trained mounted archers, and a few hundred footmen."

"What part were the three Chinese shopkeepers to play in this scheme?" asked the judge.

"I never met them", Yoo Kee answered, "it was my fixed policy to remain in the background as much as possible. I ordered Orolakchee to enlist the help of about one dozen Chinese to guide the Uigur warriors to the tribunal and the gates. He located those men and guaranteed their support."

Judge Dee gave a sign to the senior scribe. He read out his record of Yoo Kee's statement, and Yoo Kee affixed his thumbmark to it.

Then the judge spoke in a solemn voice:

"Yoo Kee, I pronounce you guilty of the crime of high treason. It is possible that the higher authorities will mitigate to some degree the severity of the extreme penalty in deference to the meritorious services of your late father, and because you confessed without pressure. But it is my duty to warn you that the Code prescribes for high treason the punishment of execution by the process called 'lingering death', that is, being cut to pieces alive.

Lead the criminal away!"

Then Judge Dee addressed the court:

"I have arrested all the leaders of this nefarious scheme. The barbarians will not dare to attack tonight when they do not see the signal fire. I have issued orders, however, to make the necessary preparations for any eventuality. In the course of today you will receive instructions from your wardens what to do. The barbarians have never been able to take a walled city so there is nothing to fear!"

The spectators broke out in cheers.

Judge Dee hit his gavel on the bench. Then he announced:

"I shall now hear the case Ding versus Woo."

He filled out a slip with his vermilion brush. Soon Woo Feng was led before the dais by two constables.

As soon as Woo was kneeling the judge took from his sleeve a cardboard box and pushed it over the edge of the bench. It fell down with a thud in front of Woo.

He looked at it curiously. It was the box discovered in the sleeve of the murdered General. The corner the mouse had gnawed off had been neatly repaired.

The judge asked: "Are you familiar with that box?"

Woo looked up.

"This", he replied, "is the kind of box they sell sweet plums in. I have seen hundreds of them on sale on the market of the Drum Tower. Occasionally I have bought one myself. Thus, although I am indeed familiar with such boxes in general, I have never seen this particular one. The congratulatory inscription on top evidently means that it was offered to someone as a present."

"You are quite right", Judge Dee said, "it is an anniversary present. Do you mind tasting the plums inside?"

Woo gave the judge a bewildered look. Then he shrugged his shoulders and replied:

"Not in the least, Your Honour!"

He opened the box. Nine plums were neatly arranged on a layer of white tissue paper. Woo poked them with his forefinger. When he had found a soft one he put it in his mouth. He ate it and spat the stone on the floor.

"Does Your Honour wish me to eat more?", Woo asked politely.

"This is quite sufficient!", Judge Dee said coldly. "You may stand back!"

Woo rose and looked around at the constables. They made no move to grab him and lead him back to the jail. So he retreated a few paces and remained standing there. He looked curiously at the judge.

"Let Candidate Ding come forward!", Judge Dee ordered.

As Ding knelt in front of the bench Judge Dee spoke:

"Candidate Ding, I have now discovered who killed your father. This case proved to be a singularly complicated one, I don't pretend to have disentangled all its ramifications. Your father's life was threatened from more than one side, and more than one attempt was made to kill him. This court, however, is concerned only with the one attempt that succeeded. The accused Woo has nothing to do with that. Hence the case against Woo Feng is herewith dismissed!"

A murmur of astonishment rose from the crowd. Candidate Ding remained silent, he did not repeat his accusation of Woo.

Woo cried out:

"Your Honour, has White Orchid been found?"

When the judge shook his head Woo turned round without another word and unceremoniously elbowed his way through the spectators to the door of the court hall.

Judge Dee took a red-lacquered writing brush from the bench.

"Rise, Candidate Ding", he ordered, "and tell me what you know about this brush!"

As he spoke the judge held out the writing brush to Ding, the open end of the shaft pointing straight at the young man's face.

Candidate Ding looked dumbfounded. He took the brush from Judge Dee's hands and turned it round in his fingers. When he had read the engraved inscription he nodded his head.

"Now I see the inscription I remember, Your Honour! Some years ago when my father was showing me some rare old jade pieces he also took out this writing brush. He told me that it was an advance gift for his sixtieth birthday from a very exalted personage. My father did not reveal his name but he said that that person had told him that since he feared his end was near he wished to present that brush in advance; my father was not to use it until he had actually celebrated his sixtieth birthday.

My father valued this writing brush highly. After he had shown it to me he put it back into the locked box where he kept his jade collection."

"That writing brush", Judge Dee said gravely, "is the instrument that killed your father!"

Candidate Ding looked bewildered at the brush in his hands. He scrutinized it carefully and peered inside the hollow shaft. Then he shook his head doubtfully.

Judge Dee had followed intently his every move. Then he said curtly:

"Give that brush back to me. I shall demonstrate how the deed was done!"

When Candidate Ding had handed back the brush, Judge Dee kept it in his left hand. With his right he took a small wooden cylinder from his sleeve and held it up so that every one could see it.

"This", he said, "is an exact replica in wood of the hilt of the small knife that was found in General Ding's throat; it is just as long as the entire dagger including the blade. I shall now insert it into the hollow shaft of this brush."

The stick fitted exactly into the shaft. But when it had gone in for half an inch, it stuck.

Judge Dee handed the brush to Ma Joong.

"Press this stick further down!", he ordered.

Ma Joong placed his large thumb over the protruding end of the stick. With evident difficulty he pressed it down till it had disappeared into the shaft.

He looked expectantly at the judge.

"Stretch out your arm and release your thumb as quickly as you can!" ordered, the judge.

The wooden stick shot up in the air for about five feet, then clattered down on the stoneflags.

Judge Dee leaned back in his chair. Stroking his beard he said slowly:

"This writing brush is an ingenious instrument of death. Its hollow shaft contains a number of thin coils of what I presume to be southern rattan. After he had inserted these coils the person who made this instrument pressed them down as far as they would go with a hollow tube. He poured melted resin of the lacquer tree down that tube and held the coils down till the resin had completely dried. Then he removed the tube and replaced it by this."

Judge Dee opened a small box and with great care took from it the knife that had been found in the dead General's throat.

"You will see", he continued, "that its tubular hilt fits exactly into the shaft of this brush, while its hollow blade fits its curved inside. Even if one peered into the shaft, the knife would be invisible.

Some years ago a certain person presented this writing brush to the General and therewith pronounced his death sentence. He knew that when the General would use this brush, he would sooner or later burn its tip in a candle to discard the superfluous hairs, as we all do when we start writing with a new brush. The heat of the flame would soften the resin, the coils would be released and the poisoned knife would shoot out of the shaft. It was a ten to one chance that it would hit the victim in the face or throat. Afterwards the coils would be invisible because they would have stretched out along the inside to the hollow shaft."

While Judge Dee was speaking Candidate Ding had first shown an expression of utter bewilderment. Slowly this expression had changed to one of incredulous horror. Now he cried out:

"Who, Your Honour, contrived this diabolical device?"

"He signed his name to the deed", Judge Dee said quietly. "But for that fact I would never have solved this riddle. Let me read out to you the inscription:

'With respectful congratulations on the completion of six cycles. The Abode of Tranquillity.' "

"Who is that? I have never heard that studio name!", Candidate Ding cried out.

Judge Dee nodded.

"It was known only to a few intimate friends", he replied. Yesterday I found out that it is the pen name of the late Governor Yoo Shou-chien!"

Loud exclamations rose from the audience.

When the excitement had subsided Judge Dee spoke:

"It so happens that on the same day both the father and the son appear in this tribunal, the son alive and the father in spirit.

You, Candidate Ding, will probably know better than I what deed of your father motivated old Governor Yoo to condemn him to death and to execute the sentence himself in this singular way. However this may be, I cannot proceed against the dead. I, the magistrate, herewith declare the case closed!"

Judge Dee let his gavel descend on the bench. He rose and disappeared through the screen behind the dais.

While the spectators filed out of the court hall they talked excitedly about the unexpected solution of the General's murder. They were full of praise for Judge Dee for having found out this ingenious device. A few elderly men with experience in court matters, however, were doubtful. They could not understand the significance of the incident of the box with plums and remarked to each other that evidently there was more to this case than met the eye.

When Headman Fang entered the quarters of the guards he found Woo waiting for him.

Woo bowed deeply for the headman and said hastily:

"Please allow me to take part in the search for your daughter!"

Headman Fang looked at him thoughtfully. Then he answered:

"Since you, Mr. Woo, were prepared to suffer severe torture for my daughter's sake, I shall welcome your assistance. I have an order to carry out just now. Wait here for a few moments, when I am back I shall tell you everything about our first unsuccessful search."

Cutting short Woo's protests, the headman walked to the gate and surveyed the crowd that was streaming out. He saw Candidate Ding who was just stepping out into the street. Headman Fang overtook him and said:

"Mr. Ding, His Excellency would like to see you for a moment in his private office."

Judge Dee was sitting behind his desk with his four lieutenants gathered round him. The judge had ordered Tao Gan to saw the shaft of the writing brush in two. They had seen the clot of resin at the bottom of the shaft, and the thin rattan staves stretched out along its inside.

When Headman Fang had shown Candidate Ding in, Judge Dee turned to his lieutenants and said:

Your presence is no longer required!"

They rose and left for the corridor. Chiao Tai, however, remained standing in front of Judge Dee's desk.

"Your Honour", he said stiffly, "I beg to be allowed to stay!"

Judge Dee raised his eyebrows and shot a curious look at Chiao Tai's impassive face. Then he nodded and motioned to a footstool by the side of his desk.

Chiao Tai sat down and Candidate Ding made a move to follow his example. But as the judge did not ask him to be seated, after some hesitation the young man remained standing where he was. Then Judge Dee spoke:

"Candidate Ding, I refrained from denouncing your late father in public. Were it not for some special reason which I shall specify presently, I would not denounce him before you who are his only son.

I know exactly why your father was compelled to resign. The confidential documents relating to that case happened to pass through the Office of Records and Compilation in the capital when I was working there. There were no details, for not a single eye-witness to your father's black deed survived the disaster. Commander Woo, however, collected sufficient secondary evidence to show beyond doubt that your father was responsible for the massacre of one entire regiment of our Imperial army.

When political considerations prevented the authorities from indicting your father, Governor Yoo decided that he himself would execute him as he deserved. The old Governor was a fearless man, he would have killed your father openly were it not that that would have involved the Governor's own family. Therefore he decided that the deed would be done after he had placed himself beyond the pale of human justice.

I would not make bold to pass judgement on the Governor's actions, a man like he can never be measured by ordinary standards. I only wish to make it perfectly clear to you that I know all the facts."

Candidate Ding did not answer. It was evident that he knew of his father's crime. He had bent his head and stood there looking silently at the floor.

Chiao Tai was sitting quite still. He looked straight in front of him with unseeing eyes.

Judge Dee silently stroked his long beard for a few moments. Then he said:

"Having thus disposed of your father's case, Candidate Ding, I now come to you yourself!"

Chiao Tai rose.

"I beg to be excused, Your Honour!"

Judge Dee nodded. Chiao Tai left the room.

The judge did not speak for a while.

At last Candidate Ding looked up fearfully. He shrank back as he saw the burning eyes of the judge bore into his.

Gripping the arms of his chair the judge leaned forward and said contemptuously:

"Look at your magistrate, you miserable wretch!"

The young man looked at him with deadly fear in his eyes.

"You despicable fool!", Judge Dee spat in a voice trembling with wrath, "you thought you could deceive me, your magistrate, with your foul plot!"

With an effort the judge mastered himself. When he spoke again his voice was steady. But it had a merciless metal ring that made Candidate Ding cringe with fear.

"It was not Woo Feng who planned to kill your father with poison. It was you, his only son!

Woo's arrival in Lan-fang supplied you with the idea for covering the crime you were contemplating. You started rumours about Woo, you spied on him. It was you who, sneaking into Woo's studio when he was out or in the midst of one of his drinking bouts, abstracted a piece of paper bearing an impression of his seal!"

Candidate Ding opened his mouth.

Judge Dee crashed his fist on the desk.

"Be silent and listen!", he barked.

"On the night of your father's anniversary you had the box with poisoned plums ready in your sleeve. When your father left the hall you, his dutiful son, escorted him to his library. The steward walked behind you.

Your father unlocked the door. You knelt down and wished him good night. The steward stepped inside and lighted the two candles on the desk. Then you took the box from your sleeve and silently presented it to your father. Probably you bowed. The inscription on top of the box made any explanation superfluous. Your father thanked you and put the box in his left sleeve.

At that very moment the steward stepped out again. He thought he saw your father put the key back into his sleeve, and he thought that the words of thanks he heard your father say referred to your wishing him good night. But there is an unexplained interval of two minutes or so, the time during which the steward lighted the two candles. Why should your father have been standing there with the key in his hand? Of course he had put it back in his sleeve as soon as he had unlocked the door. It was the box with the poisoned plums that the steward saw him putting in his sleeve. The instrument with which a depraved son planned to kill his own father!"

Judge Dee's eyes bored like daggers into Ding's. The young man had started to tremble all over, but the could not avert his eyes from Judge Dee's compelling gaze.

"You did not murder your father", the judge continued in a low voice. "Before he had even opened the box, the hand of the dead Governor struck."

JUDGE DEE CONFRONTS A CRIMINAL WITH THE EVIDENCE

Candidate Ding swallowed several times. Then he cried out in an unnatural voice:

"Why, why should I want to kill my own father?"

The judge rose. He took up the roll with his notes on the Ding case. Standing in front of Candidate Ding he said in a terrible voice:

"You utter fool! You dare to ask this question? You dare to ask why, while in your sordid scribblings you not only clearly mentioned the depraved woman who was the cause of your hatred for your father, but also betrayed your sinful

relations?"

Throwing the roll into Ding's face the judge continued: "Re-read what you wrote in your miserable poem about 'breasts white as snow', and 'the moon that is not marred by its spots'. It so happened that a maid servant reported to me that the fourth wife of your father has an unsightly mole on her left breast. You are guilty of the descipable crime of adultery with one of your father's wives!" A deep silence reigned in the room. When the judge spoke again his voice was tired. "I could accuse in the tribunal you and your paramour of this shameful adultery. But the main purpose of the law is to restore the damage caused by a criminal act. In this case there is nothing to restore. What we can and shall do, however, is to prevent the rot from spreading further.

You know what gardeners do when a branch of a tree is rotten to the core. They cut that branch off so that the tree itself may live. Your father is dead, you are his only son, and you have no children yourself. You will realize that this line of the Ding clan must be cut off. That is all, Candidate Ding!"

Candidate Ding turned round. He left the office walking as a man in a dream.

A knock sounded on the door.

Judge. Dee 's face lit up as he saw Chiao Tai come in.

"Sit down, Chiao Tai!" he said with a tired smile.

Chiao Tai seated himself on a footstool, his face pale and drawn. He began without any preliminary, speaking in a toneless voice, as if reading aloud an official report.

"Ten years ago, in the autumn, General Ding Hoo-gwo with seven thousand men met with a slightly superior force of barbarians across the northern border. If he had offered battle he would have had an even chance to win.

But he did not want to risk his life. He opened secret negotations and bribed the barbarian general to withdraw. Then the barbarian insisted that his warriors could not return to their tents without several hundred enemy heads to show their prowess in battle.

General Ding ordered the sixth battalion of the left wing to detach themselves from the main army and take up an advanced position in a valley. It counted eight hundred men led by Commander Liang, one of the most gallant officers of the Imperial army, and eight captains.

As soon as the battalion had entered the valley two thousand barbarians swooped down on them from the mountains. Our men fought bravely but their valour was of no avail against such superior numbers. The entire battalion was massacred. The barbarians cut off as many heads as they could, stuck them on their spears and rode away.

Seven captains had been hacked to pieces. The eighth had been stunned by a spear blow on his helmet and left for dead under his horse. He came to when the barbarians had left and found himself the only survivor."

Chiao Tai's voice had become strained. Perspiration streamed down his haggard face. He continued:

"That captain found his way back to the capital and there accused General Ding before the Board of Military Affairs. He was told that the affair was closed and that he should forget all about it.

Then that captain threw away his army uniform. He swore that he would not rest till he had found General Ding and cut off his head. He changed his name, joined a band of chivalrous highwaymen, and for some years roamed all over the Empire searching for General Ding. Then, one day, he met a magistrate travelling to his post. That man taught him the meaning of justice, and…"

Chiao Tai's voice faltered. A strangled sob rose from his throat.

Judge Dee looked at him affectionately. He said gravely:

"Fate decided, Chiao Tai, that your good sword would not be soiled by a traitor's blood. Another man decided that General Ding should die and executed his sentence.

What you have just told me shall remain strictly between ourselves. But I shall not keep you here against your will. I have known all along that your heart is in the army. How would it be if under some pretext or other I sent you to the capital? I shall give you a confidential letter of recommendation to the head of the Board of Military Affairs. You will certainly be appointed a commander over a thousand!"

A bleak smile crossed Chiao Tai's face.

"I much prefer", he said quietly, "to wait until in due time Your Honour has been appointed to high office in the capital. I beg to be allowed to continue serving Your Honour until my services are no longer required."

"So be it!", the judge said with a happy smile. "I am grateful to you for your decision, Chiao Tai. I would have missed you greatly!"