‘I was going to put in a word for Kao too,’ Shih Lang said. ‘That’s why I came up here, directly after the morning drill. I thought that if I talked to Soo privately, I could make him drop the case. And to think that fate ordained Kao as the main witness against Colonel Meng, his protector!’
‘How was that?’ the judge asked.
Commander Fang sighed. ‘Everybody knew that Soo always used to come up here for a nap after the morning drill. And Colonel Meng was in the habit of going up to the armoury to exercise with the heavy spear before going down to the mess hall. Fellow is as strong as an ox, doesn’t know the word fatigue. But day before yesterday Meng tells his colleagues that he has a hangover, he’s not going up to the armoury after drill. Yet Meng did go! Look, do you see that smaller window up there, about twenty feet to the left of the armoury window? Well, that belongs to a room where leather goods are stored. Only the quartermaster goes up there, and only once in a fortnight or so. But Kao gets it into his head to look for a new leather belt there, because Soo had reprimanded him so severely about his old one. The fastidious beggar takes quite a time selecting a belt he likes. When he turns to the door connecting the room with the armoury, he happens to look out of the window. He sees Shih Lang enter Soo’s room here. Shih Lang suddenly halts in his tracks right in front of the window arch, stoops, then starts waving his hands and rushes out of the room, shouting. Kao opens the door of the armoury to run down and find out what’s wrong in the building opposite, and nearly collides with Colonel Meng, who is standing there fiddling with a crossbow. Both men rush down together and come up here directly behind the soldiers of the guard, who have been alarmed by Shih Lang. Then Shih Lang fetches me and Colonel Mao. When we arrive here, we know at once where that arrow came from, and I place Meng under arrest as the most likely suspect.’
‘What about Lieutenant Kao?’ Judge Dee asked.
Mao silently took him to the window and pointed outside. Judge Dee looked up and realized that though from the window of the storeroom one could cover the door of Soo’s room and the space in front of the window arch, the part of the room beyond, where the couch stood, was out of range.
‘How did Meng explain his presence in the armoury?’ Dee asked the Commander. ‘He said clearly that he wouldn’t go up there that day, didn’t he?’
Fang nodded unhappily. The idiot said that after he had gone up to his room to lie down, he found there a note from Soo, ordering him to meet him in the armoury at two. When asked to produce the note, he said he had thrown it away! We considered that story as strong proof of Meng’s guilt.’
‘It does indeed look bad for him,’ Judge Dee agreed. ‘Meng didn’t know that Kao would go up to the leather room. If Kao hadn’t surprised him, he would have sneaked back to his own room after the deed, and no one would have suspected him.’ He stepped up to the desk and picked up the arrow lying next to the iron helmet. It was about four foot long, and much heavier than he expected. Its long, needle-sharp iron point, provided at the base with two wicked barbs, showed some brownish spots. ‘I suppose this was the arrow that killed Soo?’
The Commander nodded. ‘We had a messy job getting it out,’ he remarked, ‘because of the barbs.’
Judge Dee examined the arrow carefully. The shaft was lacquered red, with black feathers attached to the end. Just below the iron point, the shaft had been reinforced by red tape tightly wound around it.
‘Nothing special about the arrow,’ Mao said impatiently. ‘Regular army issue.’
‘I see that the red tape is torn,’ Judge Dee remarked. ‘There is a jagged tear, parallel with the shaft.’
The others made no comment. The judge’s remarks didn’t seem to strike them as very brilliant. He didn’t think much of them himself, either. With a sigh he put the arrow back on the desk and said:
‘I must admit there’s a strong case against Colonel Meng. He had the motive, the opportunity, and the particular skill required to utilize the opportunity. I’ll have to think this over. Before leaving the fort, though, I’d like to see Colonel Meng. Perhaps Lieutenant Kao could take me to him, then I’ll have seen all persons concerned in this vexing affair.’
The Commander gave the judge a searching look. He seemed to hesitate, then he barked an order at Colonel Mao.
While Lieutenant Kao was conducting him to the prison at the rear of the fort, Judge Dee unobtrusively studied his companion. Kao was a good-looking youngster, very trim in his close-fitting mail coat and round helmet. The judge tried to make him talk about the murder, but got only very curt answers. The young man was either overawed or extremely nervous.
A giant of a man was pacing the cell, his hands behind his back. As he saw the two men arrive in front of the heavy iron bars, his face ht up and he said in a deep voice: ‘Good to see you, Kao! Any news?’
‘The magistrate is here, sir,’ Kao said rather diffidently. ‘He wants to ask you a few questions.’
Judge Dee told Kao that he could leave. Then he addressed the prisoner:
‘Commander Fang told me that the court martial pronounced you guilty of premeditated murder. If there is anything you might adduce for a plea for clemency, I should be glad to help you formulate that plea. My two lieutenants Ma and Chiao spoke highly of you.’
‘I didn’t murder Soo, sir,’ the giant said gruffly. ‘But they found me guilty, so let them chop my head off. That’s the army statute, and a man has to die sooner or later anyway. There’s no occasion for any plea.’
‘If you are innocent,’ the judge resumed, ‘it means that the murderer must have had a compelling reason for wanting both Soo and you out of the way. For it was he who sent you the faked note, to make you the scapegoat. So that narrows down the number of suspects. Can you think of anybody who had reason to hate both you and Vice-Commander Soo?’
‘There were too many who hated Soo. He was a good administrator but a real martinet; he had the men flogged at the slightest provocation. As for me, well, I always thought I had only friends here. If I offended someone, I did it unwittingly. So that doesn’t help very much.’
Judge Dee silently agreed. He thought for a while, then resumed, ‘Tell me exactly what you did after you came back to the fort, the night before the murder.’
‘The morning, rather!’ Meng said with a wry smile. ‘It was long after midnight, you know! The boat trip back had sobered me up a bit, but I was still in a happy mood. The captain of the guard, a good fellow, helped me to get up to my room. I made a bit of a nuisance of myself, and wouldn’t let him go, insisting on telling him in considerable detail about the good time we’d had, what nice fellows those two Koreans were, and about their splendid hospitality. Pak and Yee their names were-funny pronunciation those people have!’ He scratched his unruly head, then went on, ‘Yes, I remember that I let the captain go only after he had solemnly promised me that he would come along too, next week. I had told him that Pak and Yee had said they’d have even more money to spend then, and were determined to throw a real party for me and all my friends. I laid myself down on my bed fully dressed, feeling perfectly happy. But the next morning I didn’t feel happy any more! I had the father and mother of all headaches. Somehow or other I managed to get through the morning drill, but I was glad when it was over and I could go up to my room for a nap. Then, just as I was going to throw myself on my bed, I saw that note. I …’
‘Couldn’t you see it was faked?’ the judge interrupted.
‘Heavens no, I am no student of calligraphy! Besides, it was just a few scrawled words. But Soo’s seal was on it and that was genuine-I have seen it a hundred times on all sorts of papers. If the seal hadn’t been on it, I would have thought it a prank by a colleague and would have checked with Soo. But that seal made it genuine all right, and I went up to the armoury at once. Soo didn’t relish people questioning his orders! And that’s how my trouble started!’
‘You didn’t look out of the window while you were in the armoury?’
‘Why should I? I expe
cted Soo to come up at any moment. I examined a couple of crossbows, that’s all.’
‘YOU ARE SHIELDING SOMEONE, MENG!’ JUDGE DEE SAID ANGRILY
Judge Dee studied Meng’s broad honest face. Suddenly he stepped up to the bars and shouted angrily:
‘You are shielding someone, Meng!’
Meng grew red in the face. Gripping the bars with his large powerful hands, he growled, ‘You are talking nonsense! You are a civilian. You’d better not meddle in military affairs!’ He turned round and resumed his pacing.
‘Have it your own way!’ Judge Dee said coldly. He walked down the corridor. The turnkey opened the heavy iron door, and Lieutenant Kao took him to the Commander’s office.
‘Well, what do you think of Meng?’ Fang asked.
‘I admit he doesn’t seem the type that murders a man in his sleep,’ Judge Dee replied cautiously. ‘But one never knows, of course. By the way, I have mislaid one of the copies of the official correspondence you always let me have so kindly. Could I have an extra copy, just to complete my file? The number of the document is P-404.’
The Commander looked astonished at this unexpected request, but he ordered his aide to get the paper from the archives.
The officer was back in a remarkably short time. He handed the Commander two sheets. Fang glanced them through, then gave them to the judge, saying, ‘Here you are! Routine matter.’
Judge Dee saw that the first page contained a proposal that Kao and three other lieutenants be promoted to the rank of captain, together with a list of their names, ages and terms of service. It was stamped with the impression of Soo’s seal. The second sheet contained only a few lines, wherein the Commander expressed the hope that the Board of Military Affairs would speedily approve his proposal. It bore the Commander’s large seal, the date and the number P-404.
The Judge shook his head. ‘There must be a mistake somewhere. The missing paper must have dealt with the purchase of material, for the next number, P-405, a request for the supply of leather belts, refers back to P-404. Therefore P in P-404 must stand for Purchases, and not for Personnel.’
‘Holy heaven!’ the Commander exclaimed, ‘clerks do make mistakes sometimes, don’t they? Well, thanks very much for your visit, Magistrate. Let me know when you have formulated your opinion on Soo’s murder.’
While the judge was stepping outside he vaguely heard the Commander muttering something to his aide about ‘silly red tape’.
The fiery midday sun had transformed the quay in front of the gate into a brick oven, but as soon as the barge was well out into the river, there was an agreeably cool breeze. The sergeant in charge of the barge had seen to it that the judge and his two lieutenants had comfortable seats on the platform at the stern, under an awning of green cloth.
As soon as the orderly, who had brought a large teapot, had disappeared into the hold, Ma Joong and Chiao Tai stormed the judge with questions.
‘I really don’t know what to think,’ Judge Dee said slowly. ‘All appearances are against Meng, but I have a vague suspicion that the fool is shielding someone. Did you two learn anything?’
Ma Joong and Chiao Tai shook their heads. The latter said:
‘We had a long talk with the captain of the guard who was on duty when Meng came back to the fort after his spree with us. He likes Meng, the same as everybody else in the fort. He didn’t mind practically carrying Meng up to his room, though that was by no means an easy job! And Meng kept on singing bawdy songs at the top of his voice. He must have wakened up all his colleagues, I fear! The captain said also that Meng was no special friend of Soo’s, but that Meng respected him as an able officer, and didn’t take Soo’s frequent fits of anger too seriously.’
Judge Dee made no comment. He remained silent for a long time. Sipping his tea, he looked at the peaceful scenery floating by. Both banks were lined with green rice fields, dotted here and there with the yellow straw hats of the farmers working there. Suddenly he said, ‘Colonel Shih Lang also thinks that Meng is innocent. But Colonel Mao, the chief of the military police, believes he’s guilty.’
‘Meng often told us about Shih Lang,’ Ma Joong said. ‘Meng is the champion archer, but Shih Lang is the champion at scaling walls 1 The fellow is one bunch of muscle! He is in charge of drilling the soldiers in this art. They strip down to their underclothes, and with bare feet they have to tackle an old wall. They learn to use their toes as if they were fingers. When they have found a hold, they work their toes into a crack below, then reach up to find a higher hold, repeating this till they get to the top of the wall. I’d like to try it myself some day! As for that Colonel Mao, he is a nasty suspicious specimen; everybody is agreed on that!’
Judge Dee nodded. ‘According to Meng, the two Koreans footed the bill for your party.’
‘Oh,’ Chiao Tai said a little self-consciously, ‘that was because of a rather silly prank we played on them! We were in a gay mood, and when Pak asked us about our professions, we said all three of us were highwaymen. The two fellows believed us; they said they might have work for us some day! When we wanted to pay our share, it turned out that they had settled the whole bill already.’
‘But we are going to meet them again next week when they are back from the capital,’ Ma Joong said. ‘Then we’ll tell them the truth and the evening’ll be on us. We hate sponging.’
‘It may disappoint them,’ Chiao Tai added, ‘for Pak and Yee are expecting payment for three junks, and they are all set on having a big celebration then. Did you get the joke about those three boats by the way, Brother Ma? After Pak and Yee had told us about that business deal, both of them got such a fit of laughter that they nearly rolled under the table!’
‘That’s where I nearly landed too!’ Ma Joong said ruefully. The judge had not heard the last remark, he was deep in thought, slowly stroking his black beard. Suddenly he said to Ma Joong, ‘Tell me more about that night! Especially how Meng acted, and what he said.’
‘Well,’ Ma Joong replied, ‘Brother Chiao and I go to the crab restaurant on the quay, it’s nice and cool there. About dinner time we see the military barge come alongside, and Meng and another fellow get out. They say good-bye, then Meng comes strolling over to us on the terrace. He says he has had rather a heavy day at the fort, so we should have a really good meal. And that’s what we did. Then …’
‘Did Meng say anything about the Vice-Commander, or about Lieutenant Kao?’ the judge interrupted him.
‘Not a word!’
‘Did he seem to have anything on his mind?’
‘Nothing beyond a base desire for a nice girl!’ Ma Joong replied with a grin. ‘Accordingly we go to the flowerboats, and there Meng gets that particular problem off his mind. While we are having a few rounds on deck, those two fellows Pak and Yee arrive in a boat, drunk as can be. The madame can’t get them interested in business, although she trots out the best she has. The only thing Pak and Yee want is more wine, and lots of it, and some congenial conversation. So the five of us start on a protracted drinking bout. I am not clear about the rest-Brother Chiao had better take up the story from there!’
‘You disappeared from sight, let’s leave it at that,’ Chiao Tai said dryly. ‘As for me, a couple of hours after midnight I helped Meng lower the two Koreans into a rowboat, to be taken back to the Korean quarter on the other side of the canal. Then Meng and I whistled for another boat, and had ourselves rowed to the quay. When I had put Meng on the military barge waiting there, I felt rather tired, and since the crab restaurant was so near, I asked them to put me up for the night. That’s all.’
‘I see,’ said Judge Dee.
He drank a few more cups of tea, then he suddenly set his cup down and asked, ‘Where are we here?’
Ma Joong looked at the river bank, then answered, ‘About halfway to Peng-lai, I’d say.’
‘Tell the sergeant to turn the barge round and take us back to the fort,’ the judge ordered.
Ma Joong and Chiao Tai tried to elicit from the judg
e the reason for his sudden decision, but he only said he wanted to verify two or three points he had overlooked.
Back at the fort an aide-de-camp informed them that the Commander was in a secret staff conference, discussing important intelligence reports that had just come in.
‘Don’t disturb him!’ Judge Dee told him. ‘Get me Colonel Mao!’
He explained to the astonished chief of the military police that he wanted to have another look at the scene of the murder, and that he wished him to be present, as a witness.
Looking more cynical than ever, Colonel Mao led the three men upstairs. He broke the paper strip that had again been pasted over the lock on the door of Soo’s room, and bade the judge enter.
Before stepping inside, Judge Dee told Ma Joong and Chiao Tai, ‘I am looking for something small and sharp, say a splinter, or the head of a nail, and roughly within this area.’ He indicated a square space of the floor, beginning at the door and ending halfway across the room in front of the window arch. Then he squatted down and began to examine the floorboards inch by inch. His two lieutenants joined him.
‘If you are looking for a secret trap-door or any such hocus-pocus,’ Colonel Mao said with heavy irony, ‘I must disappoint you. This fort was built only a few years ago, you know!’
‘Here-I have something!’ Ma Joong exclaimed. He pointed at a spot in front of the window where the sharp edge of the head of a nail protruded from the floorboard.
‘Excellent!’ the judge exclaimed. He knelt down and scrutinized the nail-head. Then he got up and asked Mao, ‘Would you mind prying loose that tiny fragment of red material sticking to the head of the nail? And at the same time have a good look at those small brownish spots on the wood there!’
Mao straightened himself, looking doubtfully at the small piece of red tape on his thumbnail.
‘In due time,’ Judge Dee said gravely, ‘I shall ask you to testify that the fragment of red tape was indeed found stuck to the head of the nail. Also, that the brown spots found near it are most probably traces of human blood.’ Ignoring the Colonel’s excited questions, Judge Dee took the arrow from the desk and drove it into the floorboard next to the nail-head. ‘This’ll mark the exact spot!’ He thought for a while, then asked, ‘What happened to the dead man’s personal effects, and to the contents of that desk drawer?’
Judge Dee At Work Page 4