The Chinese Maze Murders

by Robert Van Gulik

  "An honour! An honour!", Yoo Kee exclaimed excitedly. "Unfortunately the place is in a bad state. I would have liked to rebuild the mansion but my revered father was so fond of it and even gave special instructions that nothing should be touched. Yes, Your Honour, I am a stupid man, yet not deficient in filial piety, I fondly hope. My father left an old couple in charge, faithful old retainers, but quite incapable of keeping the estate. But you know how it is with those old servants, it is more or less understood that they should not be bothered. I have never gone out there, as a matter of fact, Your Honour will understand, the old couple might think…"

  "I am particularly interested in that maze", Judge Dee said patiently. "I hear that it is a most ingenious one. Have you ever been inside?"

  Yoo Kee's small eyes flashed with an uneasy glint.

  "No, that is to say… No, I have never ventured inside. To tell Your Honour the truth, my father was very particular about that maze. He alone knew the secret…"

  "I suppose", Judge Dee remarked casually, "that the late Governor's widow knew the secret of that maze?"

  "A sad thing!", Yoo Kee cried, "Your Honour must know that my mother died when I was still very young. What a misfortune that was! And after a long, painful illness too!"

  "As a matter of fact", Judge Dee observed, "I rather referred to the Governor's second wife, your stepmother."

  Yoo Kee again jumped from his chair with amazing agility. As he walked up and down in front of the judge he exclaimed:

  "That distressing affair! How unfortunate that we must speak about that! Your Honour will realize how painful it is for a devoted son to be compelled to admit that his revered father ever made a mistake. A most human mistake, I should add, and one inspired only by his lofty, generous nature.

  Alas, Your Honour, my father let himself be deceived by a^ clever, wicked woman. She succeeded in exciting his pity, and he married her. Ah, these women! Instead of being grateful, she deceived him with Heaven knows what young rascal. Adultery, Your Honour, a black, abominable crime! My father knew, but he suffered in silence. Not even to me, his own son, did he communicate his sorrow. It was only on his deathbed, in his last words, that at last he revealed this awful wrong!" Judge Dee tried to say something but Yoo Kee went on: "I know what Your Honour is going to say: I should have accused that woman in the tribunal. But I could not bear the thought that my old father's private affairs would be dragged out in the tribunal before the vulgar crowd. I could not bear it!"

  Yoo Kee covered his face with his hands. "To my great regret", the judge said dryly, "this affair will have to be discussed in the tribunal. Your stepmother filed a complaint against you, contesting the oral will and claiming half of the property."

  "The ingrate!", Yoo Kee cried, "the unspeakable woman! She must be an evil fox-spirit, Your Honour! No human being could sink so low!" He burst out in sobs.

  Judge Dee slowly emptied his teacup. He waited till Yoo Kee had sat down and composed himself. Then he said in a conversational tone:

  "I always regret that it has never been given to me to meet your late father. But a man leaves his spirit behind in his handwriting. Would it be importunate to ask you whether I might see some specimens of his calligraphy? The late Governor was famous for his original hand."

  "Ah!", Yoo Kee exclaimed, "another misfortune! How embarrassing that I am unable to obey Your Honour's orders! This was another of my father's unexpected traits. No, let me put it correctly, another proof of his great modesty. When he felt his end approaching he gave me strict orders to burn all his writings. He observed that there was no specimen of his brushwork that deserved being preserved for posterity. What a sublime character!"

  Judge Dee murmured a suitable comment. Then he asked:

  "Since the Governor was such a famous man, I suppose that many people here in Lan-fang cultivated his friendship?"

  Yoo Kee smiled disdainfully.

  "This border place", he replied, "has not one single man with whom my late father cared to converse. Barring, of course, Your Honour! How my revered father would have enjoyed talking with Your Honour! He always was so interested in administrative affairs… No, my father was greatly occupied by his own literary studies and spent all his spare time supervising the work of the peasants on his land. That is why that woman was able to make up to him… Well, well, how I am chattering away!"

  Yoo Kee clapped his hands and ordered more tea.

  Judge Dee silently stroked his beard. He reflected that his host was an extremely astute man. He said so much that he said practically nothing.

  While Yoo Kee prattled on and on about the inclement climate of Lan-fang, Judge Dee slowly sipped his tea.

  Suddenly he asked:

  "Where did your father paint his pictures?"

  Yoo Kee gave his guest a bewildered look. He did not reply for a few moments. He scratched his chin. Then he answered:

  "Wei, not being much of an artist myself…Let me see now. Yes, my father did his painting in a pavilion behind the country mansion. Lovely place, right at the back of the garden, near the entrance of the maze. I believe that the large table my father used to work on is still there. At least if the old doorkeeper has taken proper care of it. Your Honour knows, those old servants…"

  Judge Dee rose.

  Yoo Kee insisted that he should stay a little longer. He set out on another, confused story.

  It was not without difficulty that the judge at last succeeded in taking leave of his host.

  Sergeant Hoong was waiting for his master in the gatekeeper's lodge. They returned to the tribunal.

  As Judge Dee sat down behind his desk he heaved a deep sigh.

  "What a tiring man is that Yoo Kee!", he remarked to Sergeant Hoong.

  "Did Your Honour discover new data?", the sergeant asked eagerly.

  "No", the judge replied, "but Yoo Kee said one or two things that may perhaps prove to be important. I did not succeed in securing a specimen of the Governor's handwriting to compare with the testament Tao Gan found inside the scroll. Yoo Kee claims that his father ordered him to destroy all his writings after his death. I thought that perhaps the Governor's friends here in Lan-fang might possess some, but Yoo Kee avers that his father had not one single friend. What is your impression of that mansion, Sergeant?"

  "While I was waiting in the gatekeeper's lodge", Sergeant Hoong replied, "I had a long talk with the two doormen. They think that their master is a bit queer in the head. He is as eccentric as his father but he lacks the Governor's brilliant mind.

  Although Yoo Kee himself is far from an athlete, he has a great love of boxing, wrestling and swordfighting. Most of the servants in that mansion have been selected for their physical prowess. Yoo Kee likes nothing better than to see them practise. He has made the second courtyard into a kind of arena and he will sit there for hours, shouting encouragement to the fighters and giving prizes to the winners."

  Judge Dee slowly nodded his head.

  "Weak men", he observed, "will often have an exaggerated veneration for physical strength."

  "The servants say", the sergeant continued, "that Yoo Kee once lured the best fencing master of Chien Mow's mansion away by offering him a huge bribe. Chien was very angry. Yoo Kee is not a brave man, he expects every day that the barbarians will come and raid the city. That is the reason why he insists that his servants must be good fighters. He has even hired two Uigur warriors from over the river to instruct his servants in Uigur fighting methods!"

  "Did the servants say anything about the old Governor's attitude to Yoo Kee?", inquired Judge Dee.

  "Yoo Kee must have stood in deadly fear of his father", Sergeant Hoong replied. "Even the old Governor's death did not alter this. After his burial Yoo Kee sent all the old servants away because they reminded him too much of the awful presence of the old Governor. Yoo Kee has executed all his father's last instructions to the letter, including that everything on the country estate had to be left exactly as it was. Yoo Kee has never gone there since hi
s father's death. The servants say that he changes colour if one as much as mentions that place!"

  Judge Dee stroked his beard.

  "One of these days", he said pensively, "I shall visit that country mansion and have a look at the famous maze. In the meantime you will inquire where Mrs. Yoo and her son are living and invite them to come and see me. Perhaps Mrs. Yoo has kept some specimens of the old Governor's handwriting. Then I can also verify Yoo Kee's statement that his father had no friends here in Lan-fang.

  As to the murder of Magistrate Pan, I have not yet given up hope entirely of obtaining a clue to that mysterious visitor of Chien Mow's. I instructed Chiao Tai to question all the former guards of Chien's mansion, and Headman Fang would interrogate Chien's second counsellor in jail. I am also considering whether to send Ma Joong to investigate the haunts where the low-class criminals of this city gather. If it was that mysterious man in the background who murdered Magistrate Pan, he must have had accomplices."

  "And at the same time, Your Honour", the sergeant remarked, "Ma Joong might make inquiries there about the headman's eldest daughter, White Orchid. We talked it over with Fang this morning and he admits that very likely she was kidnapped and sold to a brothel."

  The judge said with a sigh:

  "Yes, I fear that that is indeed what happened to that poor girl."

  After a while Judge Dee continued:

  "As yet we have made very little progress with General Ding's murder. I shall order Tao Gan to go tonight to the Temple of the Three Treasures and see whether Woo or that unknown woman he is so fond of depicting shows up there."

  The judge took a document from the pile that Tao Gan had brought during his absence. Sergeant Hoong, however, seemed reluctant to go. After some hesitation he said:

  "Your Honour, I cannot get it off my mind that we overlooked something in General Ding's library. The more I think about it the more I am convinced that the clue to that riddle is to be found there!"

  Judge Dee put the document down and looked intently at the sergeant.

  He opened a small lacquer box and took out the replica of the small dagger that Tao Gan had made for him. While he let it rest on his palm he said slowly:

  "Sergeant, you know that I have no secrets from you. Although I am considering various vague theories about the background of General Ding's murder, I must state frankly that I have not the faintest idea how this dagger was used, or how the murderer entered and escaped!"

  Both were silent for some time.

  Suddenly the judge made a decision.

  "Tomorrow morning, Sergeant, we shall again go to the Ding mansion and search that library. Perhaps you are right and it is there that we must look for the solution of this crime!"

  Fourteenth Chapter

  A STRANGE CLUE IS FOUND IN A DEAD MAN'S ROOM; JUDGE DEE SENDS HIS MEN TO ARREST A CRIMINAL

  The next morning the weather was fine. It promised to be a clear and sunny day.

  After he had had his breakfast Judge Dee informed Sergeant Hoong that he planned to go the Ding mansion on foot.

  "I shall also take Tao Gan", the judge added. "A little exercise will do him good!"

  They left the tribunal by the western gate.

  The judge had not informed Candidate Ding in advance of his intended visit. They found the mansion in the midst of preparations for the burial.

  The steward led the judge and his two companions to a side room. The main hall had been converted into a mortuary, and there the body of the General was lying in state in an enormous coffin of lacquered wood before which twelve Buddhist priests were reading sutra's aloud. Their monotonous chanting and the beating of wooden gongs resounded through the mansion, and the smell of incense hung heavily in the air.

  Judge Dee noticed in the corridor a side table loaded with piles of anniversary gifts, all wrapped in red paper with congratulary messages attached.

  The steward saw the judge's astonished look and hastened to apologize. He said that these presents which now seemed so macabre would have been cleared away long since, were it not that all the servants were wholly occupied in making the preparations for the General's burial.

  Young Ding came rushing into the room clad in a mourning robe of white hemp cloth. He started to apologize profusely for the disorder in his house.

  Judge Dee cut short his explanations.

  "Today or tomorrow", he said, "I shall hear your case in the tribunal. Since there are two or three points I wished to verify, I resolved to pay you this quite informal visit.

  I shall now proceed once more to your late father's library. You need not bother to accompany us."

  They found two constables on guard in the dark corridor that led to the library. They reported that no one had even approached that place.

  Judge Dee broke the seal and opened the door.

  He hastily stepped backward covering his face with his long sleeve.

  A nauseating smell assailed their nostrils.

  "There is something dead in there", the judge said. "Go to the main hall, Tao Gan, and ask those priests for a few sticks of Indian incense!"

  Tao Gan hurried away.

  He came back with three lighted incense sticks in each hand. They made a dense smoke with a penetrating smell.

  The judge took them and once more entered the library waving the sticks so that he was enveloped in a cloud of blue smoke.

  The sergeant and Tao Gan waited outside.

  After a while Judge Dee emerged. He was carrying a thin forked stick that is used for suspending scroll pictures on the wall. On its end rested the half decayed body of a mouse.

  He handed the stick to Tao Gan and ordered: "Have the constables put this dead animal in a sealed box!"

  Judge Dee remained standing in front of the open door. He had placed the sticks of incense in the brush holder on the desk inside. Clouds of smoke wafted out of the door.

  As they were waiting for the stench to disappear Sergeant Hoong remarked with a smile:

  "That little animal gave me quite a fright, Your Honour!"

  Judge Dee's face was impassive.

  "You will not laugh, Sergeant, after you have entered that room. It is full of the spirit of violent death!"

  When Tao Gan had come back all three of them entered the library.

  Judge Dee pointed to a small cardboard box that was lying on the floor.

  "The other day", he said, "I left that box on the desk, next to the ink slab. It is the box with the sweet plums that we found in the General's sleeve. A mouse smelled them. See, its little feet are clearly visible in the dust that gathered on the desk."

  The judge stooped and picked up the box carefully with two fingers. He laid it on the desk.

  They saw that a corner of the cover had been gnawed away.

  The judge opened the box. One plum of the nine was missing.

  "This was the murderer's second weapon", Judge Dee said gravely. "These plums are poisoned!"

  He ordered Tao Gan:

  "Search the floor for that plum. Don't touch it!"

  Tao Gan went down on his knees. He found the plum, half eaten, under one of the bookshelves.

  Judge Dee took a toothpick from the seam of his robe and stuck it in the plum. He put it back in the box and replaced the cover.

  "Wrap this box up in a sheet of oilpaper", he said to Sergeant Hoong. "We shall take it to the tribunal for further investigation."

  The judge looked around. Then he shook his head.

  "Let us return to the tribunal", he said. "Tao Gan will seal this door again, and the two constables shall remain on guard outside."

  They walked back in silence.

  As he entered his private office the judge called out to the clerks to bring a pot of hot tea.

  He sat down behind his desk. Tao Gan and the sergeant sat down on their customary footstools.

  Silently they drank a cup of tea.

  Then Judge Dee spoke:

  "Sergeant, let one of the runners go out and call that old co
roner here!"

  When the sergeant had gone the judge said to Tao Gan:

  "This murder becomes more and more complicated. Before we have even determined how the murderer struck we find that he kept a second weapon in reserve. As soon as we find out that the accused Woo has a mysterious girl friend, we learn that also the complainant Ding has a secret lover!"

  "Could not it be, Your Honour", Tao Gan said slyly, "that it is one and the same girl? If Woo and Ding are rivals in love, that would throw an entirely new light on the latter's accusation!"

  Judge Dee looked pleased.

  "That", he said, "is a very interesting suggestion!"

  After a pause Tao Gan resumed:

  "I still can't understand how the murderer succeeded in making General Ding accept that box with poisoned plums! The murderer must have handed it to him personally. We saw the pile of anniversary gifts on the table in the corridor. He would not have put it there, for how could he be sure that the General would pick up that particular box? It might have as well been taken by Candidate Ding or another member of the household."

  "And then", the sergeant remarked, "we have also this problem: why did the murderer not remove this box from the General's sleeve after he had killed him? Why leave this piece of evidence on the scene of the crime?"

  Tao Gan shook his head perplexedly. After a while he said:

  "Seldom have we been confronted with so many difficult problems at the same time. Apart from this murder we have the hidden message in that landscape painting there on the wall, and all the while Chien Mow's mysterious visitor is still roaming about freely and planning Heaven knows what new mischief. Is there no clue to his identity at all?"

  Judge Dee smiled bleakly.

  "Nothing at all", he replied. "Last night Chiao Tai told me that he had interrogated Chien's former guards and his counsellors. None of them could supply any information. The mysterious stranger always came late at night and his long cloak concealed his build. He never spoke a word. The ower (lower) part of his face was covered by his neckcloth, the upper lpart (part) concealed by the shadow of his hood. He even did not show his hands, he always kept them inside his sleeves!"