Poisoned Bride and Other Judge Dee Mysteries (4 page)

R.H.v.G.

THE CASE OF THE DOUBLE MURDER AT DAWN

HOONG Liang, sergeant over the constables of the tribunal of Chang-ping, and Judge Dee’s trusted adviser. Referred to as “Sergeant Hoong,” or “the sergeant.”

MA Joong, first lieutenant of Judge Dee.

TAO Gan & CHIAO Tai, second and third lieutenants of Judge Dee.

KOONG Wan-deh, owner of the hostel in Six Mile Village, where the two victims stayed.

LIU Guang-chi
SHAO Lee-huai
DIAO Wan-chuan traveling silk merchants from Kiangsu Province.

WANG, a carter.

MRS. WANG, his widow.

DJANG, owner of a hostel in Divine Village.

DJIANG Djung, warden of Divine Village.

LOO Chang-po, manager of a silk shop in Divine Village. Referred to as “Manager Loo.”

BEE Hsun, a shopkeeper in Huang-hua Village, the victim.

MRS. BEE, his old mother.

MRS. BEE, née DJOU, his widow. Referred to as “Mrs. Djou.”

TANG Deh-djung, a Doctor of Literature. Referred to as “Dr. Tang.”

DOO & HSU Deh-tai, students of Dr. Tang.

HUA Wen-djun, a Candidate of Literature, Mr. Hua’s son, and groom of the unfortunate bride. Referred to as “Wen-djun.”

MRS. LEE, mother of the bride.

MISS LEE, the bride.

HOO Dso-bin, a Candidate of Literature, class-mate of Wen-djun. Referred to as “Candidate Hoo.”

MRS. HOO, his mother.

CHEN, an old maid servant in the Hua mansion.

In the end, as a general rule, no criminal escapes the laws of the land. But it is up to the judge to decide who is guilty and who is innocent. If, therefore, a judge is honest, then the people in his district will be at peace; and if the people are at peace, their manners and morals will be good. All vagabonds and idlers, all spreaders of false rumours and all trouble makers will disappear, and all of the common people will cheerfully go about their own affairs. And if some wicked people from outside should happen to settle down in such a district, they will better their lives and reform of their own accord; for they see with their own eyes, and hear with their own ears, how strictly the laws are enforced, and how sternly justice is meted out. Therefore it can be said that the amelioration of the common people depends on the honesty of the magistrate; never yet has a dishonest official improved the people under him.

The honesty of a magistrate does not only consist of negative qualities like not accepting bribes and not doing harm to the people; it also implies positive qualities such as, in serving the State, doing what others cannot or dare not do, and, in ruling the people, rectifying wrongs that others cannot or dare not rectify. The subtle clues to be found among the populace, and the complicated intrigues in the official world, all such things a judge should investigate impartially. His motto should be: “To demonstrate clearly the just retribution meted out by Heaven, never failing in its hair-fine accuracy.” Judges answering these high qualifications, have been duly honoured by our August Rulers, since the days of remote antiquity.

There are, however, also magistrates who let their conduct of a case be influenced by bribes, or who, fearing lest they lose their position if they do not dispose quickly of a great number of cases, pronounce hasty verdicts on the basis of confessions obtained by torture, or from some shreds of evidence. Such officials have failed to cultivate themselves, and therefore should never be appointed as rulers over others. For how could such men make their subordinates honest, and bring peace to the common people!

In moments of leisure, leafing through books old and new, and searching through all kinds of minor historical records, I have come across many a weird story concerning criminal cases solved by famous judges of former times. Few of these, however, can match what is placed on record here.

The present book describes complicated criminal investigations, baffling crimes, astounding feats of detection, and marvelous solutions of difficult cases. It tells about people who commit murder to be able to live to the end of their days in an odour of sanctity; who commit crimes in order to amass riches; people who become involved in crimes through adulterous relationships; people who meet sudden death by drinking poison not destined for them; people who through words spoken in jest lay themselves open to grave suspicion, and who, although innocent, barely escape heavy punishment. All these things could never have been set aright if there had not been an able and diligent magistrate who, on occasion altering his voice and dress, went about in disguise to make secret investigations himself, or who sometimes even assumed the role of a ghost from the Nether World, just to find the solution of a case, to redress a wrong, and to apprehend a criminal, thus successfully bringing to an end the most strange and most amazing trials.

Now, while the vernal breeze encourages idleness, and I find myself with time hanging heavily on my hands, I am putting this story on record, to be offered to the reading public. While I would not make bold to assert that the narrative of these strange happenings will caution the people and thus improve their morals, I yet venture to hope that its perusal will serve to beguile some idle hours.

A poem says:

This magistrate was a native of the town Tai-yuan, the capital of Shansi Province. His family name was Dee, his personal name Jen-djieh, while he had adopted the literary appellation of Hwai-ying. Being a man of exemplary honesty and penetrating wisdom, he was in due time appointed to a high position at the Imperial Court, and by his frank and courageous memorials to the Throne helped tide over many a crisis in state affairs. In recognition of his loyal service, he was later appointed a governor, and finally ennobled as duke Liang. His illustrious deeds are duly entered in the official “History of the Tang Dynasty”, and this material is thus easily accessible to all interested persons.

A number of facts, however, relating to the early career of Dee Jen-djieh, who at that time was famous as “Judge Dee”, have either been omitted or only treated cursorily in the official records. One must search for them in minor historical writings, in the local records of the towns where he served as magistrate, and suchlike sources. Yet these lesser-known facts are of no mean interest. They serve to heighten our respect for Judge Dee. These facts show that, next to being a loyal servant of the Throne, Dee Jen-djieh was also a wise magistrate, a great gentleman who combined remarkable acumen with a benevolent and justice-loving disposition and who, as a district magistrate, succeeded in solving an amazing number of strange and puzzling criminal cases.

The present story, therefore, is concerned only with the early phase of Judge Dee’s career, going back to the time when he was appointed district magistrate of Chang-ping.

Having assumed his office there, Judge Dee immediately devoted all his energy to the weeding out of unruly elements, the protection of the law-abiding citizens, and to the disposition of pending litigations.

Judge Dee was ably assisted by four trusted followers in accomplishing these burdensome tasks.

His chief assistant was a man called Hoong Liang, an old servant in the Dee paternal mansion, who had seen Judge Dee grow up from a small boy. Although well advanced in age, Hoong Liang was nevertheless a courageous person, who promptly executed any dangerous or delicate job that Judge Dee assigned him, showing considerable tact and a natural gift for detection. Judge Dee appointed him sergeant over the constables of his tribunal, and treated him as his confidential adviser.Two others, Ma Joong and Chiao Tai, Judge Dee used for all especially dangerous jobs connected with the apprehension of criminals. Originally these two had been “brothers of the green woods”, or, in plain language, highway robbers. Once, when Judge Dee was traveling to the capital on some official business, these two men attacked him and his party on the road intending to rob them. Judge Dee at once saw that Ma Joong and Chiao Tai, far from being common thieves, were men of a heroic disposition, while the passes they made at him showed him convincingly that they were well versed in the arts of fencing and boxing. It seemed to Judge Dee that he might well try to reform these men, and engage their service later to assist him in executing the King’s business; in such a way their talents might be used to good purpose. Thus Judge Dee, not deigning to draw his sword, just ordered them sternly to desist. Thereupon he gave them a good talking to which greatly moved Ma Joong and Chiao Tai. The former said respectfully:

“The two of us have resorted to this despicable occupation only because we found the Empire in turmoil, and wicked ministers in charge at Court. We, having nothing in this world but our able bodies and our knowledge of the martial arts, and finding no one who would employ us, thus had no other course open to us than to become highwaymen. But since Your Honour has now so kindly spoken to us, our only desire is to be allowed henceforward to follow your whip and hold your stirrup, in order thus to show our gratitude for Your Honour’s favour”.So Judge Dee accepted these two braves as his lieutenants. His fourth lieutenant was a reformed itinerant swindler, named Tao Gan. This man had long before mended his ways, and he had become a runner for a certain magistrate’s tribunal. But since there were many people who harbored grudges against him, he was continually harassed and bothered by these old enemies, and finally sought refuge with Judge Dee. He was a man of many parts and great cunning, so Judge Dee retained him as his assistant. This Tao Gan became a close friend of Sergeant Hoong, Ma Joong and Chiao Tai.

Since his assumption of office in Chang-ping, these four men proved very useful to Judge Dee. They were kept busy on secret investigations for the Judge, and the information they gathered helped him to solve not a few difficult criminal cases.

* * *

One day Judge Dee was sitting in his private office at the back of the court hall, attending to some routine business, when he suddenly heard the sound of the gong at the entrance of the tribunal. Thus apprised that a case was being brought in, he hurriedly donned his official robe and cap, and having entered the court hall, seated himself behind his high bench. Below, in front of the bench, the clerks, constables and other minions of the law had already lined up themselves in two rows, to the left and right. Looking towards the entrance of the hall, Judge Dee there saw a man of the common people, of about forty years old. He seemed in a state of great agitation, his face was all covered with perspiration. He stood there incessantly crying that a great wrong was being done him.

“Who are you, and what grievous wrong did you suffer, that you beat the gong before the hour on which this tribunal convenes?”

“This insignificant person”, the man said respectfully, “is called Koong Wan-deh. I live in the Six Mile Village, outside the southern gate of this city. Since my house is fairly large, and I have only a small family, I use the greater part of it as a hostel. For more than ten years I have been peacefully engaged in this business. Yesterday, towards twilight, there arrived two traveling silk merchants. They said they had come from Kiangsu Province, and were only passing through, doing business along the road. As it was getting dark, they wanted to stay overnight at my hostel. I, seeing that they were much-travelled men, accordingly gave them a room. They had their dinner, drank wine, laughed and talked, as can be attested by several witnesses. This morning, just before daybreak, these two merchants departed.

“Then, unexpectedly this morning the village warden Pang Deh at nine o’clock, came to see me, saying that two dead men had been found lying by the roadside, before the gate of the marketplace nearby. ’these two men', he said, ’stayed as guests in your hostel, and you murdered them to rob them of their money. Then you dragged their dead bodies to the market gate'. Having thus addressed me, before I could say one word in my defense, he had the two corpses dragged to my hostel, and threw them down right in front of my door. Thereupon he started to shout, and threaten me, demanding five hundred pieces of silver for hushing up this crime. ‘these two men came from your hostel’, he roared, ‘it is therefore evident that you murdered them there, and then dragged their bodies to the market, to cover up the traces of your crime’. I immediately rushed here in great anguish, praying Your Honour to redress this wrong.”

Having heard this statement, Judge Dee looked at the man kneeling in front of the bench, and thought that he certainly did not look like a dangerous criminal. On the other hand this was apparently an important murder case, and of course he could not decide its merits on the statement of this man alone. Hence he said:

“You claim to be a law-abiding citizen of this locality. Why then did Warden Pang immediately pounce on you as the criminal? I find it hard to believe that you are really the innocent citizen you profess to be. I will have to hear Warden Pang, in order to check your statement.”

Thereupon he ordered a constable to fetch the warden, and soon a man of about thirty years was brought in. His face was covered with wrinkles, and he wore a blue robe. Kneeling down before the bench, he said:

“I, Pang Deh, warden of Six Mile Village, respectfully greet Your Honour. This murder falls under my jurisdiction. This morning I saw the bodies of two men lying by the roadside, in front of the market gate. At first I did not know where these two men had come from, but on questioning the people living in the neighbourhood, I found that they all said that these men had stayed as guests in the hostel of this man Koong last night. Therefore I questioned Koong, pointing out that it was evidently he who had dragged these two corpses to the market, having murdered them in his hostel for the purpose of robbing them. For according to Koong these two men left his hostel before daybreak. Now at that time there were already a number of people on that road, and none of them reported having seen any suspicious characters about. Furthermore, on questioning the people living near the market, it appeared that none of them had heard any cries for help. These facts prove to my satisfaction that the victims were killed during the night in Koong’s hostel, and that afterwards Koong dragged their bodies to the market gate, in order thus to divert suspicion from him. Since the culprit is already here, I beg Your Honour to proceed against him.”

Judge Dee thought to himself that Warden Pang’s argument seemed not without reason. On the other hand, giving Koong another good look, he still felt that that man could hardly be a brutal criminal, murdering people in cold blood in order to rob them. After some reflection, he said:

“You two have made conflicting statements. Without having held an inquest, I cannot proceed with this case. The investigation shall be continued after inspection of the scene of the crime”.

He had Koong Wan-deh and Warden Pang led away by the constables, and ordered the necessary preparations for proceeding to the scene of the crime with the tribunal.