The Haunted Monastery

XVI

When the three men entered the temple hall, they found the almoner, talking in a hushed voice to a small group of monks. Seeing Judge Dee he quickly came forward and led him silently to the side hall.

The abbot's corpse had been laid on a high bier, and covered with a piece of red brocade, embroidered in gold thread with Taoist symbols. The judge lifted one end. He looked for a while at the dead man's still face. As he let it drop again, the almoner whispered: "Four monks will be here all night reading prayers, Your Honour. The prior plans to announce the abbot's demise in a few hours, during matins."

Judge Dee expressed his condolence, then went back to the front hall where Tao Gan and Tsung Lee stood waiting for him. The poet asked diffidently: "May I invite Your Honour to have a cup of tea up in my room?"

"I refuse to climb any more steps!" Judge Dee replied firmly. "Tell one of those monks to bring a large pot of bitter tea to that room over there!"

He went to the small cabinet over on the other side of the front hall. It was apparently used as a reception room. Judge Dee sat down at the tea table, a beautiful antique piece of carved sandalwood. He motioned Tao Gan to take the chair opposite him. Silently the judge studied the painted portraits of Taoist Immortals, yellowed by age, that were suspended in gorgeous frames on the walls. Through the open-work carving in the wall above them he could vaguely see the heads of the large gilded statues on the altar in the dim temple hall.

Tsung Lee came in carrying a large teapot. He poured out three cups. The judge told him to be seated also.

While sipping their tea they listened to the monotonous chant that came drifting over to them from the side hall opposite. The monks by the abbot's bier had started intoning the prayers for the dead.

Judge Dee sat motionless, slumped back in his chair. He felt completely exhausted. His legs and his back were throbbing with a dull ache, and he had a queer, empty feeling in his head. He tried to review the circumstances that had led up to the old abbot's murder and True Wisdom's suicide. He had a vague feeling that some features still needed a further explanation; there were some isolated facts which would complete his mental picture of Mo Mo-te — if only he could find the correct interpretation. But his brain was numb; he couldn't think clearly. Mo Mo-te's helmet kept appearing before him. He had the distinct feeling that there was something wrong with that helmet. His thoughts became confused; he realized that the monotonous chant of the monks was lulling him to sleep.

He suppressed a yawn and sat up with an effort. Placing his elbows on the table he looked at his two companions. Tao Gan's thin face was as impassive as ever. Tsung Lee looked utterly tired; his face was sagging. The judge reflected that now that the poet's fatigue had made him drop his habitual insolent airs, he wasn't an unprepossessing youngster. Judge Dee emptied his teacup, then addressed him: "Now that you have executed your late father's command, Tsung Lee, you'd better settle down to a serious study of the Confucianist Classics, so as to prepare yourself for the literary examinations. You may yet prove yourself a worthy son of your distinguished father!" He gave the youngster a sour look, then he pushed his cap back from his forehead, and continued in a brisk voice: "We must now have a consultation about how we can catch Mo Mo-te, and save his most recent victim. He must tell us where he concealed that one-armed woman, and who she is."

"A one-armed woman?" Tsung Lee asked astonished.

"Yes," Judge Dee said giving him a sharp look. "Ever seen such a mutilated woman about here?"

Tsung Lee shook his head.

"No sir, I have been here now more than two weeks, but I never even heard about a one-armed woman. Unless," he added with a smile, "Your Honour would be referring to that statue in the Gallery of Horrors!"

"A statue?" Judge Dee asked. It was now his turn to be astonished.

"Yes, the one with all those chains, sir. Its left arm had become worm-eaten, and it fell off. They repaired it very quickly though, I must say." As Judge Dee looked fixedly at him he added: "You know, that naked woman being speared by a blue devil. I heard you remark to Tao Gan that you…"

Judge Dee hit his fist on the table.

"You utter fool!" he burst out. "Why didn't you tell me that earlier?"

"I thought … I told you about a statue being repaired, when we entered the gallery, sir. And…"

The judge had jumped up and grabbed the lantern.

"Come along quick, you two!" he barked and ran out into the temple hall.

He seemed to have forgotten his fatigue completely. He rushed up the stairs two at a time to the landing above the temple. Tao Gan and Tsung Lee had difficulty in keeping up with him.

Panting, the judge took them through the west passage to the tower, then ran down the steps that led to the entrance of the Gallery of Horrors. He kicked the door open and went inside. He halted in front of the blue devil and the naked woman spread-eagled against the boulder.

"Look, she is bleeding!" he muttered.

Tao Gan and Tsung Lee stared aghast at the thin stream of blood that trickled along the cracked plaster on the woman's breast, from the spot where the spearpoint had entered.

Judge Dee bent and carefully brushed aside the hair that covered the face.

"White Rose!" Tsung Lee gasped. "They've killed her!"

"No," Judge Dee said. "See, her fingers are twitching."

The body had been covered with a coat of white plaster, but the hands and feet had been painted black. A casual observer would not see them against the dark background.

The girl's eyelids fluttered. She gave them one glance from eyes half-crazed with pain and fear, then the bluish lids came down again. A strap of leather ran over the lower half of her face. While gagging her effectively, at the same time it kept her head fixed tightly to the wall.

Tsung Lee stretched out his hands to remove the gag, but the judge pushed him back roughly.

"Keep your hands off!" he ordered. "You might hurt her worse than she already is! Leave this to us!"

Tao Gan had taken off the chains that were wound round her waist, arms and legs. He said: "This ironware serves only to conceal the clamps that fix her limbs, sir!" He pointed to iron hooks round her ankles, thighs and upper and lower arms. Then he quickly took from his sleeve his folder with instruments.

"Wait!" Judge Dee ordered.

He closely examined the spearpoint. Then he carefully pressed down the flesh surrounding it till the point came free. Blood welled up and stained the coat of white plaster that covered the girl's body. It didn't seem more than a flesh wound. With his strong hands the judge bent the spear so that it pointed away from the girl's body, then broke the shaft with a quick twist. The hand of the wooden devil cracked and fell to the floor.

"Now you go ahead with the legs!" he snapped at Tao Gan. "Give me a pair of pincers!"

While Tao Gan began to loosen the iron clamps that secured the girl's legs, the judge set to work on the gag. When he had pulled out the nails that fixed the ends of the leather strap to the wall, he removed the wad of cotton wool from the girl's mouth, then started with infinite care on the clamps that had cut deep into the flesh of her arms.

"Expert workmanship!" Tao Gan muttered with grudging admiration. He was loosening the clamp that held her right thigh.

Tsung Lee had buried his face in his hands. He was sobbing convulsively. The judge barked at him: "Hey there! Support her head and shoulders!"

As Tsung Lee put his arm round her shoulders and held her limp body upright, Judge Dee helped Tao Gan to remove the last clamp that held her right arm. The three men lifted her from the boulder and laid her on the floor mats. The judge took off his neck cloth and wrapped it around her waist. Tsung Lee squatted at her side, stroking her cheeks and whispering endearing words. But the girl was in a dead faint.

Judge Dee and Tao Gan wrenched two long spears from the hands of a pair of green devils further on. They laid the spears side by side on the floor. Tao Gan took off his upper robe and fastened it to the shafts so as to make a primitive stretcher. When they had laid the girl on it, Tao Gan and Tsung Lee took hold of the ends of the shafts.

"Take her to Miss Ting's room!" Judge Dee ordered.