The Celebrated Cases Of Judge Dee

by Robert Van Gulik

  In the mean time the old servant had entered the library, and they heard somebody inside saying:

  “You know that yesterday evening I explained the Classics to my disciples till a very late hour. Why do you come as early as this to disturb me?”

  After the old servant had said something about Judge Dee and the tribunal, the voice continued:

  “Here, take this visiting card of mine and ask the messenger to inform His Excellency respectfully that I am living in complete retirement, devoting myself entirely to my literary studies. I don’t wish to have anything to do with social work. If there is something to be organised, there are many among the local gentry in Chang-ping who will be glad to help, and who are much better qualified for such work than I”.

  The old servant came out again, closing the door carefully behind him and repeated to the warden what Doctor Tang had said.

  Sergeant Hoong had heard all this, standing behind the corner of the library. He now came forward, and said to the warden:

  “Well, let us return quickly to the tribunal, to report to His Excellency Doctor Tang’s answer. Perhaps the judge will visit Doctor Tang personally and explain matters to him.”

  The young man entered his room again. The old servant conducted the visitors to the front gate.

  As soon as they were outside in the street, Warden Ho Kai said to the sergeant:

  “Did you notice that young man there? As soon as I mentioned the name of His Excellency, I saw him change colour. Furthermore his room is right next to the Bee house. Why don’t you rush back to report to the judge, while I stay here and try to find out that young man’s name?”

  The sergeant thought that this was a good idea and hastened back to the city.

  Judge Dee was most content with what he heard. He thought that affairs in the compound of that learned doctor were highly suspicious. He resolved to go there himself at once, before somebody there became alarmed.

  He ascended his palanquin, and hastened to Huang-hua Village, together with his four trusted lieutenants. They arrived as night was falling. Judge Dee took rooms in the same hostel where they had stayed before.

  Having refreshed himself, Judge Dee called Ma Joong to his room and gave him the following instructions:

  “You accompany the sergeant to Doctor Tang’s house and secretly climb on the roof. Try to see what is going on in the library and especially in the room of that young man, whose room adjoins Mrs. Djou’s bedroom. After you have gone Chiao Tai and Tao Gan shall go there too and watch the front gates of both houses. Sergeant Hoong shall tell you more on the way”.

  Ma Joong set out with the sergeant on the dark street. As they walked through the narrow alleys of the village, Sergeant Hoong said:

  “Now listen to His Excellency’s secret instructions. In the first place, I am to stress to you that this night our judge expects to solve the key problem of this case. The role he wants you to play is not a very pleasant one, but our judge said that it was absolutely necessary for the success of his plan, and”

  “Stop beating about the bush”, Ma Joong interrupted him, “You and I are loyal servants of His Excellency. He has but to say the word and we obey. Have we not been eating his rice for more than six years?”

  “Our judge’s idea”, the sergeant said, “is that somehow or other we must find the connection between that young man’s room, and the adjoining house of Mrs. Bee. Together with Tao Gan, I have been watching both houses from the outside for a number of days. That has proved completely useless. Now the only way to find out whether or not a secret passage exists, is for you to burgle that young man’s room. It does not matter if you are discovered afterwards. The judge has taken measures to cope with such event. Probably you shall have to play the role of a captured thief for a while. The judge thought that you would perhaps object to this.”

  Ma Joong, however, far from being reluctant to do this job. was full of enthusiasm and wanted to go there at once.

  But the sergeant pointed out that it was too early. There were still many people walking on the street. So they first went to the house of Warden Ho Kai and talked for a while. When the second nightwatch had sounded, they set out for Doctor Tang’s house. Upon arrival, Ma Joong asked the sergeant to watch on the corner, while he took off his jacket and his long robe. Clad only in his under garments, he jumped and just clutched the top of the outer wall. Hoisting himself up, he crawled like a snake on its belly along the wall to the place where it connected with the roof of the doctor’s library. Ma Joong crept slowly down to the edge of the roof, and, gripping the protruding eaves, he bent his head over the edge, until he could see through the window. He saw a large room, well lighted by a number of candles. Three of the walls were lined with bookshelves. Behind a high writing desk an old gentleman was reading aloud from a book. Five young men were sitting in a semicircle listening intently; these were evidently the doctor’s disciples. It all looked very dignified and eminently respectable to Ma Joong.

  He left the roof and crawled further along the wall till he reached the buildings at the back of the courtyard. He soon found himself on the wall that separated the young man’s room from that of Mrs. Djou. Looking around he was greatly startled at the sight of a dark shape huddled on the roof of Mrs. Bee’s house. Suddenly, however, he heard a low whistle. He then knew that that shape was nobody but the sergeant, who had climbed up there in the mean time.

  Ma Joong gave him a sign which meant that he should stay where he was. Then he climbed on the roof of the young man’s room. Creeping down the sloping roof, he again edged forward, and by craning his head, he could just look inside through a narrow window. He saw a clean room, simply furnished, but in elegant taste, lighted by one candle. Against the west wall there was a large couch. In front of the window was a square table of carved blackwood and two chairs. A young man was sitting at the table, next to the candle. As far as Ma Joong could see, his features answered Sergeant Hoong’s description of the young man who had appeared when he and the warden paid their first visit to the doctor’s house. He had an open book in front of him, but he was not reading. He just sat there looking straight in front of him, apparently deep in thought. After a while he rose, and, opening the door of his room, looked intently at the lighted windows of the library across the courtyard. Then he closed the door, sat down again, and turned to the couch against the east wall. He looked at that couch for a considerable time, as though he had never seen it before, and then started mumbling something by himself.

  Ma Joong saw the door of the library open. A young man came out, went straight to the room which Ma Joong was observing. The student knocked on the door, and called out: “Mr. Hsu, the master wants to see you”.

  As soon as he had heard that the young man was called Hsu, Ma Joong said to himself: “So this is indeed our man!” In high spirits he left his precarious position, and crawled back to the wall. Crouching there he saw Hsu come out of his room and cross the courtyard to the library with the other student.

  When they had gone in there, Ma Joong jumped from the wall, using the wrestler’s trick called “a butterfly alighting on a flower”. He landed on the ground noiselessly, and swiftly went to the window of the room in the middle. Looking in, he saw the old servant sitting at a table, sleeping with his head on his folded arms. Ma Joong slowly opened the door and, tiptoeing inside, blew out the candle that was standing on the table.

  He opened the door that connected this room with that of the young man Hsu and went inside, quickly closing the door behind him. With one glance he imprinted the location of the pieces of furniture in his mind. Then he blew out the candle. He walked over to the east wall in the pitch darkness and tapped its surface around the couch. But nowhere was there a hollow sound. Then he tried the floor in front, but with the same negative result. He lifted the bed curtains and crept underneath the couch. Tapping the stone floor, he suddenly noticed that one spot produced a different sound. He slowly felt the stone flags and found that four of them seemed sl
ightly raised in comparison to the others. Upon further investigation they definitely produced a hollow sound.

  “This”, Ma Joong thought, “must be the trapdoor of a secret underground passage. But how does it open?”

  He again felt the raised edge very carefully with his finger tips, but could find no groove or hinge. Stretching out both hands, he groped in the dark. Suddenly his right hand touched a piece of rope which dangled behind the couch. Thinking that this rope might be connected with a lever to open the trapdoor, he gave it a pull. Suddenly two stakes of the bedstead came down with a loud crash.

  Ma Joong hastily crawled out from under the bed. As he crouched behind the door, he heard people running from the library, shouting at the top of their voices, “Catch the thief. Catch the thief!”

  Four students ran across the courtyard to the backrooms but when they saw that the candle in the middle room and in the room on left had been put out, they did not dare to proceed further, fearing that the robbers were lying in ambush in these darkened rooms.

  Young Hsu, although apparently more agitated than the others, seemed more angry than afraid. He rushed into the middle room and shook the old servant awake. Then he lighted the candle and quickly went into his own room.

  In the mean time Ma Joong had utilised the general confusion for softly opening the door behind which he had been crouching. It opened on the court yard. He swung himself up on the low roof of the gallery and climbed on the roof of Mrs. Bee’s house. The people in the courtyard saw his shape outlined against the sky but nobody dared to follow him. Ma Joong slowly crawled over the ridge of Mrs. Bee’s house, so that everybody could see him. But as soon as he was covered by the high ridge, he crept back to the dividing wall on his belly, and from there onto the roof of young Hsu’s room. The people below thought that he had made his getaway via Mrs. Bee’s roof and no one suspected that he was lying on the roof right above them. He remained there, pressing his body flat on the tiles, listening to the conversation.

  Chapter 25

  A GREAT ADO IS MADE ABOUT ARRESTING A BURGLAR; THE RUSE SUCCEEDS, AND MA JOONG CATCHES HIS MAN

  MA JOONG HEARD young Hsu shout at the old servant:

  “Are you deaf and dumb, that you don’t sound alarm when a burglar enters my room?”

  He did not wait for an answer. He set the candle on the table in his room and quickly looked around. The other students had followed him inside and started to look for traces of the robber. Young Hsu turned to them, and impatiently said:

  “Well, you see that the burglar only pulled part of my bed down. I see there is nothing missing. What are you waiting for?” One of the students said:

  “You should be glad that the burglar betrayed himself before he could steal anything. There is no reason to be so cross”.

  Ma Joong crawled back to the roof of Mrs. Bee’s house, where Sergeant Hoong waited. They crept along the outer wall again and jumped down in the street. After Ma Joong had put on his outer garments, they went to the house of the warden together. Ma Joong cleaned up a bit and the three of them walked to the hostel. When they had reported to Judge Dee, he said: “Excellent work! Now listen to my further instructions”.

  In a few words he outlined his plan to them and the three went back to the doctor’s mansion.

  There Ma Joong took off his outer garments and smeared his face with dust. The warden tied Ma’s hands behind his back with a strong rope, and Sergeant Hoong took the ends of the rope in his hand. Then the warden gave a thunderous knock on the front door, shouting at the top of his voice: “Open the door quickly. The thief has been caught!”

  The students, who had just been telling the old doctor about the attempted burglary, were overjoyed at hearing this. They rushed across the front courtyard. As soon as they had opened the gate, Warden Ho Kai quickly walked in, followed, by the sergeant, dragging Ma Joong.

  Ho Kai immediately started cursing the students in a loud voice.

  “Why”, he shouted, “didn’t you people immediately report that a burglar had been here in this compound? Don’t you know that you live in my district? And tomorrow His Excellency himself is coming here to pay a visit to Doctor Tang. Do you know what he will do to me when he hears that there was a burglary which I failed to report?”

  The students were frightened by his harsh language, and the threatening attitude of the warden and the sergeant. They ran back to the library and asked Doctor Tang to speak to the authorities. When Warden Ho Kai saw the doctor, he said:

  “Luckily we caught this thief as he was trying to run away, Sir. Now I shall have to make a detailed report about what is missing. This ruffian here says he did not steal anything but that is what they always say. When His Excellency comes to see you tomorrow, Sir, I hope that you will kindly tell him that I am diligent about my duties”.

  Doctor Tang had lanterns brought out in the courtyard and gave Ma Joong a good look. Then he said:

  “You insolent ruffian, you look strong and healthy enough. Can you not find some useful work to do, instead of sneaking about in the night, engaging in this disgraceful occupation? At least you did not steal anything here, so I shall not report you to the tribunal. Let this be a lesson to you. Go and reform!”

  This was not at all what the warden wanted, so he hurriedly interposed: “You are very kind-hearted, Sir. But if we let this ruffian go, he will soon try to continue his nefarious trade. We shall keep him under detention till tomorrow and then report to His Excellency the magistrate. Now Sir, please show me exactly where he entered, and how he made his escape, so that I can enter these details into my report”. And turning to the sergeant he said: “Drag that fellow along, so that he can confess on the spot”. As soon as he had said this, a young man came rushing out into the front courtyard. Ma Joong immediately recognised young Mr. Hsu.

  “You obstinate yokel”, young Hsu said to the warden, “have you not heard that the Doctor told you to let this man go? I know your sort. You only want to curry favour with the magistrate. Don’t you know that as long as the Doctor does not file a complaint, the judge can never blame you for not reporting this burglary? Since nothing was stolen, Doctor Tang does not want all this trouble. Here are two silver pieces. Now let this ruffian go and take that constable to the inn to have a nice jar of wine!”

  “Now who might you be, young Sir?”, the warden asked, “Do you also live here? Are you a pupil of the doctor?”

  Before the young man could say anything, one of the other students exclaimed:

  “Don’t you know that this is Mr. Hsu, the owner of this compound?”

  “No indeed”, Warden Ho Kai said, “and this is very strange. For this compound is entered in my register as belonging to Doctor Tang. It was never reported that a Mr. Hsu lived here”.

  “You should look up the records of your predecessor, Warden”, old Doctor Tang said. “This compound was the property of the Hsu family for many years. But later old Mr. Hsu went back to his native town in the south. He granted me the use of this compound for my studies on condition that I let his eldest son stay in the back courtyard and instruct him further in the Classics, in preparation for his second literary examination. Thus your predecessor removed the Hsu family from the register, and entered my name instead”.Warden Ho Kai shook his head, and said:

  “It should have been reported, Sir, that one member of the Hsu family had stayed behind here. It is through such negligence that we wardens get into trouble. You know how strict our magistrate is. There is a case pending in the tribunal in which a Mr. Hsu is involved. I shall have to take this young gentleman to the tribunal, Sir, for His Excellency will want to put a few questions to him”.

  The old doctor became greatly excited, and exclaimed angrily: “You insolent lout, I order you to leave this house immediately!”

  Then Sergeant Hoong who had listened silently to all this, suddenly spoke up:

  “You may be a Doctor of Literature but you have been hiding a suspected murderer. His Excellency’s orders are to
bring both you and this Hsu before him”.

  He took the rope off Ma Joong and grabbed the doctor by the arm. Ma Joong took young Hsu by the shoulders and marched him off to the front door. Doctor Tang was completely dumbfounded by these unexpected developments and let himself be taken away as if he was walking in a dream. Young Hsu wanted to protest but Ma Joong barked at him to shut up, and off they went to the hostel.

  The students hastily locked the front door, and huddled together in the library, agitatedly discussing what steps to take in this emergency.

  Judge Dee was in the front courtyard of the hostel, surrounded by the constables carrying lighted paper lanterns inscribed with large characters “The Tribunal of Chang-ping”.

  As soon as the judge saw them enter with the two prisoners, he ordered Sergeant Hoong to hurry back to Mrs. Bee’s house to arrest Mrs. Bee and Mrs. Djou.

  When Warden Ho Kai had reported what had happened to the judge he said to Ma Joong and Chiao Tai:

  “This young fellow is a criminal. Keep him under close guard in the warden’s house. I shall question him in the tribunal tomorrow”.

  Since Judge Dee was not too sure that Doctor Tang was directly involved in this affair, and because he held such a high literary degree, he did not like to place him under arrest also, without more evidence. So he instructed Tao Gan to take the doctor to a room in the hostel, and see to it that tea was served to him there. But Tao Gan was not to let him out of his eyes.

  Then Judge Dee walked to Dr. Tang’s house, the constables with the lanterns leading the way. The constables kicked open the front door and everyone entered. The students, who were still talking in the doctor’s library, suddenly saw that the whole compound was full of constables, who shouted: “His Excellency the Magistrate has arrived!”

  The students saw a tall man in a simple blue robe, a small black cap on his head, presenting altogether a very scholarly appearance. This gentleman quietly entered the library and sat down at the doctor’s writing desk. He immediately addressed one of the students, saying peremptorily: