Robert Gulik - The Chinese Maze Murders

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!"