Poisoned Bride and Other Judge Dee Mysteries (12 page)

The sergeant quickly interposed: “Your Honour, it seems to me that there is little doubt about the meaning. The verse in the book pointed out that we should search for Mrs. Djou’s lover. Now there exists a direct link between that verse, and the first line of this: it is clearly meant to convey to us that this lover bears the surname Hsu. Now could Your Honour instruct me further as to Yao Foo, mentioned in the second line?”

“The second half,” Judge Dee answered, “is fairly clear. Yao Foo also refers to an historical person, it was the sobriquet of Shao Yoong, the great authority on divination. So this is in perfect accord with our surmise that the murderer of Six Mile Village is that missing merchant Shao, and that either now he is being hidden by natives of Szuchuan, or that he has fled to that province. In any case it will be useful if you and your men be on your guard, as soon as you meet some one during your investigations who speaks the Szuchuan dialect.”

“This”, Sergeant Hoong said, “is certainly the right explanation. Now we have only the woman acrobat balancing the jar, and the field with the corpses remaining. These things can be explained in so many different ways, that I am at a loss where to begin. Perhaps we shall understand their meaning during a later phase of our investigation”.

While Judge Dee and the sergeant were engrossed in these speculations, the red glow of dawn was already beginning to show on the paper windows, and, soon after, daylight filled the hall. Judge Dee did not feel like sleeping any more, so he rose from the couch and ordered his robes.

When the superior, who had already been waiting for some time outside in the corridor, heard that the judge had risen, he hastily entered the hall, and wished the judge a good morning. Having prayed before the altar, he told a young priest to heat the water for Judge Dee’s morning toilet, and bring a cup of hot tea. When the young priest returned, Judge Dee washed his face, rinsed his mouth, and combed his hair. In the meantime Sergeant Hoong had packed their luggage, and given the bundle to the superior, to be kept in the temple until the judge could send someone to fetch it. Furthermore he gave the superior strict orders that not one word about their stay in the temple should be allowed to leak out. Then he left the temple together with Judge Dee.

Upon his return to the tribunal, Judge Dee found Tao Gan waiting in his private office. Tao Gan eagerly asked Sergeant Hoong whether the stay in the temple had produced any results, and the sergeant gave him a brief account of what had happened. Then he told Tao Gan to go to the kitchen, and order Judge Dee’s breakfast.

Since it was a fine morning, Judge Dee had his breakfast outside, in tile small courtyard in front of his private office, the sergeant and Tao Gan waiting on him.

After breakfast Judge Dee ordered Sergeant Hoong to go with the runner on day duty to Huang-hua Village, and bring Warden Ho Kai. Then he had the scribes bring in the business of that day.

In the afternoon the sergeant came back with Warden Ho Kai. Judge Dee this time preferred not to see him officially in the court hall, but had him brought in his private office.

The warden respectfully greeted the judge, and then remained standing in front of his desk.

“If”, Judge Dee opened the interview, “we cannot discover how Bee Hsun was killed, this affair will end in disgrace, not only for me, but also for you, the local warden. I assume, therefore, that you have been very busy these last days trying to discover some new clues. Speak up, what have you been doing and why did I have to send for you? Why did you not come here on your own accord to report to me?”

Warden Ho Kai, thus reprimanded, hastily knelt down and knocked his head on the floor several times, saying:

“This worthless person has been busy investigating day and night, without allowing myself one moment of rest. But up till now I have not found one single new clue, and I still do not see how this case could be solved”.

“For the time being,” the judge said, “we shall not discuss the solution of this case, and I shall not go any further into your slackness. But I do want to know more about the situation in your village. How many families are living there, and how many of those bear the surname Hsu?”

“In my village there are about three hundred families, and among them there are about ten by the surname of Hsu. About which family Hsu does Your Honour want more information? I shall immediately go back, and make the necessary inquiries.”

“You blockhead”, said Judge Dee, “if I knew that, I would have had that man here for questioning a long time ago. The fact is that I know only that a man of the surname Hsu is involved in this case, and probably even was an accessory to Mrs. Djou’s crime. If we can locate that man, the case is solved. Therefore I now ask you whether any of those people called Hsu in your village had any connection with Bee Hsun or his household”. The warden thought hard for sometime, and then said:

“I must confess that I don’t know much about the friends and acquaintances of Bee Hsun. But fortunately there are not many people by the surname of Hsu in my village. If Your Honour will allow me to go back, I shall make careful inquiries.”

“Now,” Judge Dee said, “you think that that is an excellent idea. But let me tell you that your plan is the best method to ensure that our suspicions leak out, and to drive our man into hiding. So don’t you go running about, making inquiries openly. You first ask, in a roundabout way, those people living in Bee Hsun’s neighbourhood. And as soon as you get the slightest clue, you hurry back here to report. Then I shall look after the rest.”

Then he dismissed the warden and when he had gone, he ordered Sergeant Hoong and Tao Gan to leave that same evening for Huang-hua Village, after dark. He told them to follow the warden secretly, and to see how he would go about making the inquiries. Thereafter they were to find a hiding place in the neighbourhood of Mrs. Bee’s house and keep watch the whole night.

Judge Dee had a low opinion of Warden Ho Kai’s mental powers and he was none too happy to be obliged to use him for discreet inquiries. But since the inquest the villagers of Huang-hua Village had become familiar with Sergeant Hoong’s and Tao Gan’s faces. He feared that the suspect, on learning that Judge Dee’s assistants were making inquiries about a man called Hsu, would take to his heels. Moreover, to make inquiries of this kind was part of the routine business of a warden, so even if Warden Ho Kai went about it in a clumsy way, there still was little chance that the suspect would connect such questions with the investigation of the crime. But Judge Dee still thought it necessary that the sergeant and Tao Gan kept an eye on the warden’s activities, to step in in case of emergency. Further he wanted to verify at the same time whether Ho Kai was indeed neglecting his duties, or was just stupid.

When he had dealt with the routine matters of that day, night was already falling. Judge Dee had candles brought in, and, alone in his private office, started to dispose of some matters that had accumulated during the last few days. Thereafter he had his dinner brought in and was just dozing off into an after-dinner nap, when he was startled by sounds outside the window. Before he had quite opened his eyes, Ma Joong and Chiao Tai were standing in the room.After they had greeted the judge, Ma Joong said:

“We have found a clue, but as yet it is hard to assess its real value. As verifying this clue would be liable to get us into trouble, we decided to come back first in order to report to you, and to receive further instructions.”

“Tell me what you have found, my braves”, Judge Dee said, “so that we can consider the problem together”.

“After having received your instructions,” Ma Joong said, “I roamed over the countryside in the eastern part of the district, making discreet inquiries everywhere. A few days ago, when night was falling, I arrived at a small bridge, and decided to stay overnight in one of the small hostels that cluster about there. Engaging in a desultory conversation with the other guests, one said a few words about the murder of Six Mile Village, and his two friends smiled and nodded knowingly. I immediately started to sound them out further, but they shut up like clams. Now I knew from the waiter that these men were leather-merchants, so I offered them a round of wine, and said that I myself was a leather merchant. I added that I was naturally curious about the murder, since another member of our guild had been staying in that hostel in Six Mile Village. Then they loosened up, and said that since I was a brother in trade, they need not fear that their story would go further. Then, over a few cups of wine, they told the following.

“The day after the murder they were travelling along the highroad with a big cart, on their way to Six Mile Village. They met a tall fellow about thirty years old, pushing a smaller cart loaded with bales, going in the opposite direction. That fellow seemed in a great hurry, and he wanted to pass them without a few words such as are exchanged as courtesy on the road. But while passing their cart struck his, his left wheel got detached from the axle, and the bales fell into the mud. They expected some fisticuffs, or at least a stream of invectives. But no, the fellow did not say a word, but hastily adjusted the wheel and started to gather up his two bales. One had got loose and we noticed that it was packed with raw silk. He hastily stuffed it back in the bale, and mumbled a few words of excuse, whereby we noticed that he spoke the Kiangsu dialect. Then he hurried along. Now, when we heard about the double murder of Six Mile Village later, we were sure that this fellow was the criminal.

“I asked them why they had not reported this occurrence to the proper authorities; they might have rewarded them for this information with a few good silver pieces. But the merchants laughed and asked me whether I thought they were fools. The murderer by then would have fled to some distant place already, and did I think they were going to get themselves mixed up in a criminal case? They were busy merchants and gladly left the apprehension of criminals to those who were paid to do so.

“Having sought out Chiao Tai, we stayed together one more day at the inn, without, however, learning more than we already knew. So we set out together along the road taken by that tall fellow, taking many short cuts over mountain paths, where a man with a cart could not pass.

“When we had crossed the boundary into the neighbouring district, we found the highway blocked by a number of local farmers, who were crowded around a cart that had gone off the road, and were shouting and cursing at the top of their voices. We joined a group of spectators standing a little apart and saw the following. On the cart stood a tall young fellow, who was not at all afraid of the threatening crowd, but lustily reviled them for a bunch of clayhoppers. He shouted that he had traversed the Empire from north to south, had had any number of adventures and feared nobody under heaven. 'If I have done damage to your field,' he wound up, 'at best this miserable land is not worth more than a few coppers. But if you had let me pass, and talked over the matter nicely with me, I would have given you some raw silk, to make up for the damage. But since you are out for a fight, allright, you shall have it!' Then he sprang from the cart right among them, and with his bare fists started a real onslaught. Then a group of farmers, armed with hoes and sickles, came to help their friends. But the tall fellow rushed to meet them, wrenched a hoe out of the hands of one of the attackers, and let them have it.

“When he had dispersed them, with one powerful push he brought his cart on the road again and went on. We followed him at some distance, till he had reached a fairly large trade centre, called Divine Village. There he rented a room in one of the local hostels. We found out from the waiter that he planned to stay there at least for one week, to dispose of his wares. Since we were outside our district, we thought that if we tried to arrest him there, we might get into trouble with the local authorities, especially since we were lacking direct proof that that fellow was indeed the criminal we were looking for. As he was going to stay there for at least a week, we hurried back here to report to Your Honour, and receive further instructions”.

Ma Joong, however, was not so sure that they had at last located the murderer. He observed that after all most silk merchants were from Kiangsu, and that a number of them were continually travelling along the highroads of the district. It might well be a coincidence, and the fellow might turn out to be a honourable merchant, though a bit short tempered.But Judge Dee shook his head, and said:

“I have proof that this is no mere coincidence”. Then he told Ma Joong and Chiao Tai about his dream in the temple. He quoted the verse he had seen in the tea pavilion of his dream, and pointed out to them that the name “Divine Village”, next to the obvious meaning of “Godly Village”, could also be connected with “divination”. “This” he said, “clearly implies that we shall find our criminal in Divine Village.”

Ma Joong and Chiao Tai were overjoyed on hearing this, and asked the judge how they should proceed further."The problem is”, Judge Dee said, “how to arrest this man outside my own district. I can, of course, apply to my colleague of the neighbouring district for help, but I greatly fear that before all formalities are concluded, either that fellow will have left the village on his own accord, or that the affair will have leaked out and made him flee to some outlying district where we shall never find him again.”

Knitting his eyebrows, Judge Dee remained for some time in deep thought. Then he said:

“The only solution I can see is the following. Tomorrow morning we shall set out together for Divine Village. There we will rent a room in the largest hostel and find out who is the most important silk merchant in that locality. You then go to visit him and tell him that I am the representative of a wealthy silk firm in Peking who is on his way to Kiangsu Province to buy a large quantity of raw silk, to be used by my firm for producing Peking brocade. You tell him that unfortunately I fell ill underway and had to break my journey for a couple of weeks. You add that now I am in great fear that I will not be able to reach Kiangsu in time before the silk season is over, and that I would prefer to call off the journey out there, provided that I can here purchase the silk at a reasonable price. That will be an attractive proposition for him and he will certainly start to collect all the raw silk he can lay hands on locally. The rest you leave to me”.

After he had thus outlined his plan, Judge Dee returned to his official work. Since he knew that he would probably be absent for a number of days, he disposed of all pending business and moreover drew up a detailed report to the higher authorities. Then he summoned, the warden of the jail and placed the seals of his office in his hands, charging him to deal on his behalf with all routine matters during his absence, and apprising him in a few words of the planned journey to Divine Village. He added that he expected to be back in two weeks at most, and finally enjoined him not to breathe a word to anybody. With all this it had become very late, so Judge Dee went to sleep on the couch in his private office.

Next morning he rose before daybreak and put on ordinary clothes. He sat down at his desk and drew up a document addressed to the magistrate of the neighbouring district. This he concealed on his body together with a sum of silver. When he left the tribunal with Ma Joong and Chiao Tai it was still dark and nobody saw them.

There is no need to describe their journey which was uneventful. After three days they reached Divine Village in hired sedan chairs and halted at the outskirts of the village.

During his previous visit to this village, Ma Joong had learned that the largest hostel there belonged to a certain Mr. Djang. Thus Judge Dee first sent Ma Joong and Chiao Tai ahead to see whether they could rent a room there.

When he arrived at the gate of Djang’s hostel, Ma Joong called out:

“Is there anybody inside? We are travellers from Peking, where my master is a great silk merchant. Have you room for us?”

The waiter, hearing that important guests had arrived, hastened to open the gate and bade them enter. He assured them that they themselves could choose the room they liked. When he asked about their luggage, Ma Joong told him that their sedan-chairs and their luggage were waiting outside the village. He told Chiao Tai to go out there with the waiter and conduct Judge Dee to the hostel, while he himself went inside. The manager of the hostel came out into the courtyard to greet Ma Joong and personally showed him the guestrooms. Ma Joong selected two clean rooms and supervised the waiters in putting everything in order. Then he went out again to the front gate where Judge Dee had just arrived in his sedan chair. While Chiao Tai and the waiter unloaded the luggage, Ma Joong paid the chair bearers off, and then conducted Judge Dee to his room. He ordered hot tea for the judge. When they had refreshed themselves, the manager came in to pay a courtesy call. He said politely:

“I come to inquire the honourable guest’s name. I hear that the gentleman is from Peking and intends to do some business here. I act as a broker for all kinds of business and am always honoured with the patronage of the merchants who pass through here. Moreover the kitchen here can supply any kind of food or wine you might desire!”

“My surname”, Judge Dee answered, “is Liang and my personal name Dee-goong. I am the representative of a large silk firm in Peking. We left there about one month ago, intending to proceed via this place to Kiangsu Province where we were to purchase a large quantity of raw silk for our firm. But unfortunately I fell ill en route and we arrived here only today. Now I fear that I won’t be able to reach Kiangsu before the silk season is over. Since the great silk routes from North and South meet here, I hoped to be able to purchase the silk here. How is the market for raw silk at present?”

“This place”, the manager said, “is quite some distance from Kiangsu but still we are kept informed regularly about market conditions there. People say that the spring was unusually mild, so that there is an abundance of raw silk. One hundred catties sell there for only 35 silver pieces. The local market price is about 39 silver pieces for a hundred catties. When you consider that it takes several weeks to travel here from Kiangsu and you reckon the transportation costs, then, as I see it, the local price of 39 silver pieces is really cheaper than in Kiangsu”.

Judge Dee pretended to hesitate and began asking all kinds of questions about the quality of the raw silk sold locally. When Manager Djang had answered these, Judge Dee added that this was the first time that he was acting as a travelling representative for his firm. “The old representative”, he said, “died recently, and the boss chose me to succeed him. It is very awkward that I fell ill. I am still eager to do some good business for my firm. Since the silk price here seems not to be excessive I might as well ask you to introduce me to some one who is willing to sell, and then see whether we can do business. If I can purchase all I need here, it will save me the journey to Kiangsu”.

Manager Djang was overjoyed on hearing this, for not only could he make a good commission by acting as broker in this transaction, but he would also have this wealthy merchant and his servants as guests for a couple of days, thus making a tidy bit of profit on the rooms and the food. He gladly promised to do all he could to bring “Mr. Liang” into contact with a dependable silk dealer. He took his leave after ordering the waiter to bring some refreshments and to tell the cooks to prepare a good repast.

When they had finished their meal, Judge Dee told Chiao Tai to stay in the room to guard their luggage. He went with Ma Joong to the manager’s office and asked him whether it would be convenient for him to go out with them.

Manager Djang came hastily out from behind his counter, saying that he would be glad to act as guide. He took them through some winding streets to a busy shopping centre. Large shops occupied both sides of the street. The place had a very prosperous look.

While he stood still in front of an impressive establishment the clerk came out to greet him, saying:

“Mr. Djang, please enter with your friends. My master is out just now but he will be back soon”.

Judge Dee thought that it was fortunate that the superior was out, for now he could try to get some information out of the clerk. Thus he said to Manager Djang:

“We have no other pressing business, so let us sit down here a while and wait for the manager’s return”.

Upon entering, Judge Dee saw a spacious room, without a counter or the other usual appointments of a shop. At one side all kinds of merchandise were piled up high against the wall. On the other side there was a beautiful tea table of carved wood and a set of chairs. The white-washed wall bore the name of the firm in large red characters, while the additional information imparted that transit business was done here in all goods from north and south.

They sat down. The clerk served them tea. During the exchange of the usual amenities, it transpired that the name of the manager was Loo Chang-po, and that his family had lived there for generations. The clerk asked more closely about Judge Dee’s business and what firm in Peking he represented. Fortunately Judge Dee remembered that when he was in Peking in his student days, he used to pass through the Yao-djia Street, where there was a large silk firm called Wayflee or something like that. Thus he told the clerk that his firm was called Wayflee. The clerk immediately smiled broadly and said:

“That is a famous firm! Excuse me. I should have treated you with more respect! When our former manager was still alive he did much business with your firm. Thereafter, when business in Peking flourished more and more, your firm sent its representatives directly to Kiangsu and did not come here any more. Why is it that you are now coming here again to buy raw silk?”

Judge Dee recited the same tale he had foisted on Manager Djang. He was still at it when a man about forty entered the room. Manager Djang hastily rose from his chair, saying: “Manager Loo has returned.”

After the introductions were over and Manager Loo had heard about Judge Dee’s plan, he said:

“You have timed your visit here nicely. Only a few days ago a silk merchant by the name of Djao arrived from Kiangsu. He is an old client of my firm and gave me his bales of raw silk to sell for him. If you like you can have a look at them”.

He took Judge Dee to the other side of the room, and showed him a large pile of bales of raw silk.

Judge Dee looked them over. He saw that most bore the name of a well known Kiangsu firm stamped in large letters. But there were two that were so covered with dry mud that the name of the firm could not be deciphered. Seeing these two bales was enough. He called out to Ma Joong:

“You have long experience in appraising raw silk. Come over here and have a look. It seems to me that the gloss is not all it should be”.

Ma Joong knew that the judge had discovered something. He walked over to the bales, but he first opened a few others and then turned to the two muddy ones.

“The silk”, he said, “is all right. But it has been exposed to moisture on the road. That is why the gloss has gone. Now the contents of these two bales, although they are a bit dirty, still have the right kind of gloss. If the owner is still here, we might try to make a deal with him”.

Judge Dee expressed his approval, and added that if the price was reasonable he might buy the entire lot. Then he inquired whether the merchant Djao was still in town. Manager Loo, eager to do business, said to the clerk:

“Mr. Djao is gambling in the warden’s house now. You go over there and tell him to come here immediately, since there is a party who wants to buy the entire lot of raw silk”.

The clerk went out, and Manager Djang took his leave shortly after, remarking that night was falling and that his presence was required at the hostel to receive new guests.

They all had some more tea. Then the clerk came back with a tall fellow. Ma Joong immediately recognised him as the ruffian he had followed the other day.