Poisoned Bride and Other Judge Dee Mysteries (16 page)

“After you filed your complaint here,” Judge Dee said, “I went to great trouble to unravel this case, and finally I have located and apprehended the real murderer. It is the merchant Shao, the man who disappeared after the murder. Now when this man came to your hostel together with the merchant Liu, you saw him face to face. Give me an exact description of his appearance.”

Koong Wan-deh said in a quavering voice:

“Your Honour, this happened several weeks ago and my memory is rather vague. But I am certain that he was of middle height, and seemed about thirty years old. He had a lean swarthy face. There is one thing, however, that I particularly remember. When he and Liu were drinking and talking at a very late hour that night, Shao called me to their room, and asked whether it was not too late to send a waiter out for another jar of wine. Saying so he laughed loudly, and as he happened to be sitting right next to the candle, I noticed that one of his front teeth was completely black”.

Judge Dee asked: “Is it true that until I told you a few moments ago, you knew nothing about this man Shao having been caught, and that you have not seen him since that night in your hostel?”

Koong Wan-deh having affirmed this, Judge Dee had this fact duly recorded by the clerks. He knew that if Shao proved to have this black tooth, then all possible doubt would be removed. He hastily filled in a slip for the warden of the jail, and told two constables to fetch Shao Lee-huai.

When Shao was kneeling in front of the bench, Judge Dee shouted at him:

“You villain, yesterday you obstinately protested your innocence. Now look up and see who this man is!”

Shao immediately recognised the hostel keeper of Six Mile Village. He knew then that there was no hope and began cursing violently. His black front tooth was there for all to see.

Shao continued cursing Djao Wan-chuan and Koong Wan-deh, and screamed in a blind rage:

“You think you have caught me, but I shall rather die than confess!

Judge Dee banged his fist on the table, and shouted in a thundering voice to the constables to apply the “great torture”.

They brought in an iron pan with glowing coals, and thereon laid several feet of thin chain. When these chains had become red-hot, they picked them up with a pair of tongs, and threw them on the floor. Then they stripped off Shao’s trousers, and holding him by his arms, made him kneel on the chains.

Shao emitted piercing shrieks of agony. The stench of burnt flesh filled the court hall. Then his screams changed to moans, and he fainted.

The constables dragged him aside. He sank in a heap on the floor. Their headman brought a bowl of vinegar and sprinkled it over the glowing coals. A penetrating smell dispelled the bad odour. Gradually Shao came to his senses again. His face was ashen and his features contorted. Two constables had to support him when he was made to kneel in front of the bench. Judge Dee said:

“If you don’t confess, I shall subject you to other tortures. It is now in your own hands.”

Shao Lee-huai’s spirit had been broken, and at last the full truth was revealed. He said in a low voice:

“I used to pass through this province every year, peddling my silk. I did fairly well until I met a woman who made me spend most of my money on her. After a year I was obliged to borrow, and this spring I found myself heavily in debt. Now this young merchant Liu was a man of the same village as I. His full name was Liu Guang-chi. We had agreed that we should travel together this year. When I saw that he was taking three hundred silver pieces with him, and a pushcart with bales of raw silk to a total value of about seven hundred silver pieces, I conceived the plan to kill him, and take his money and his wares. There would have been enough to pay off my debts, and even sufficient to set up a business in some lonely spot and live in comfort with that woman. Ever after we had set out together, I was on the look out for a suitable opportunity for executing my plan, but other merchants accompanied us. I had to wait till the two of us arrived alone at Six Mile Village. Seeing that Koong’s hostel was located in a lonely neighbourhood, I persuaded Liu to stay there over night. That night I purposely kept Liu talking and drinking till deep in the night. He was dead drunk when I put him to bed. It was only a few hours later when the last nightwatch sounded. I dragged him up and made him leave the hostel with me, supporting him on my arm. Outside in the morning air he sobered up a bit. I made him push the cart for a while. When we arrived at the market gate dawn was just breaking and there was nobody in sight. I walked up behind him and plunged my knife under his right shoulderblade. Liu fell down with a gasp and then tried to turn round to me. I kicked him down. When he opened his mouth to scream, I cut his throat. Then I bent over him, and started to loosen his girdle to take his money. But just as I found the silver, I heard the creaking sounds of a pushcart. Looking up I saw a yokel coming towards us, pushing an empty cart. When he came near, he saw the body of Liu lying there and started to say something. I sprang towards him and, gripping his right arm with my left, I stuck my knife between his ribs. He started to scream, so I jerked him round and threw him on his face and then finished him off with a knife thrust in his back. His cart was but a small affair, so I transferred part of Liu’s bales to this cart and hastily went away, pushing Liu’s cart and dragging the other cart behind me. When I arrived at a safe distance, I threw the small pushcart in a ditch. But although I had thus got rid of the only witness to the murder, I still felt far from safe. So when a couple of hours later I happened to meet Djao Wan-chuan on the road, I told him that Liu had died, and handed the cart with the bales to him. He gave me three hundred pieces of silver as an advance on the price he would get for the silk. Then I hurried on to Lai-chow and from there went to the passes where the woman was waiting for me. This is the whole truth. I crave Your Honour’s leniency since I still have my mother to support
[Note 6]
.”

Judge Dee shook his head, and said:

“Also Liu Guang-chi and the carter Wang had parents to support. I rule that in this particular case this circumstance shall not be considered”.

When the clerk had written out the confession, the senior scribe read it out in a loud voice. Shao Lee-huai confirmed that it expressed accurately what he had said, and affixed his thumbmark to the document. He was led back to the jail to wait for the confirmation of his sentence by the central authorities.

Then Judge Dee had Warden Pang brought before him, and sternly admonished him never again to try to squeeze money out of innocent people by falsely accusing them. The judge ruled that the two severe bamboo beatings he had received previously were sufficient punishment for his offense, and told him that he could go.

Warden Pang knocked his head on the floor several times to show his gratitude for this leniency, for he knew very well that Judge Dee could have meted out to him a much heavier penalty
[Note 7]
.

Finally Judge Dee had the widow Wang brought in. To her he said:

“The other day you reported to me that your husband, the carter Wang, had been done to death violently, and asked me to avenge him. I have now found the murderer. He has confessed his crime. As soon as the higher authorities have confirmed his sentence, I shall have him executed, so that your husband’s soul can rest in peace.”

He added a few kind words to comfort her and told her that, after the execution, a suitable sum of smart money would be paid out to her.

Then Judge Dee left the court hall. In his private office he changed into an informal robe. He had Ma Joong, Chiao Tai, Djao Wan-chuan and the old constable called in, and commended them for their good work on the case. He handed to Djao Wan-chuan one hundred silver pieces as a reward for his voluntary help.

Djao Wan-chuan prostrated himself, knocking his head on the floor several times as his expression of gratitude. He said he would like to return as soon as possible to Divine Village, to look after his various affairs there. Judge Dee gave him an extra sum for travel funds and Djao Wan-chuan took his leave.

When Ma Joong had come back from seeing Djao to the front gate, he asked the judge whether there were any new developments in the case of Bee Hsun. Judge Dee told him that as yet Mrs. Djou had made not one single suspicious move, but that Sergeant Hoong and Tao Gan were still keeping a very close watch on that neighbourhood. He was just going to add something more, when they suddenly heard the sounds of the gong at the main gate. With a sigh Judge Dee again donned his official robes and ascended the dais, followed by his lieutenants.

In the meantime a large crowd had gathered outside the tribunal. The news that the murderer of Six Mile Village had been caught, and had confessed his crime, had spread like wildfire through the town. All people loudly praised Judge Dee for having brought this complicated case to a conclusion, thus giving peace to the souls of the two victims.

A small group of men and women had wedged their way through the crowd, and were now standing by the door of the court hall. Some were crying, others were shouting that a heinous crime had been committed, and still others were loudly protesting that someone was being falsely accused.

Judge Dee ordered Ma Joong to tell them to stop all the noise immediately, and bring only the complainant before the bench. The others would have to wait at the door.

It appeared that there were two complainants, a middle-aged lady, and a distinguished old gentleman with grey hairs. When these two were kneeling in front of the bench, Judge Dee said:

“Let each of you state his name, and clearly formulate his complaint”. The lady spoke up first, saying:

“This insignificant person’s name is Lee. I am the widow of the late Bachelor of Arts Lee Dsai-goong, who used to teach in the School of the Classics, in the Temple of Confucius of this town. After his demise, he left me an only daughter, called Lee-goo. Last year she became eighteen. Through the intermediary of one of our local gentry, she was betrothed to Hua Wen-djun, the son of His Excellency the Senior Graduate Hua Guo-hsiang, the retired prefect. Yesterday had been fixed as the day for the wedding. The bridal procession set out from my house to the mansion of Mr. Hua. Who would have thought that my poor daughter would suddenly die during the very first night that she stayed in the bridegroom’s house? As soon as this terrible news reached me this morning, I hurried to the Hua mansion and there found the corpse of my daughter lying on the bridal couch, all covered with blue spots, while blood had been trickling from the ‘seven apertures’. These facts showing beyond doubt that someone had done her to death by administering poison to her, I hurried here to report, begging Your Honour to avenge the wrong done to this innocent girl, and to her mother, now left alone in the world, robbed of her last hope and support”.

Having thus spoken, she started to cry bitterly. Judge Dee said a few kind words to comfort her, and then thus addressed the old gentleman: “I presume that you are Mr. Hua Guo-hsiang?”

“I am indeed the Senior Graduate Hua Guo-hsiang”, the old gentleman answered.

“How is it possible”, Judge Dee said, “that such a terrible thing happened in your house? A man of your experience and learning should know how to keep his house in order. Do you rule your household with such laxity that a criminal can dwell there unmolested?”

“My household”, old Mr. Hua said with dignity, “is one where the ancient virtues are honoured. My son Wen-djun, although still young, is already preparing himself for the first literary examination. I have had him brought up in respect for the sacred rites and the rules of propriety.

“Yesterday evening, a large number of guests had gathered for the wedding ceremony in the reception hall of my humble abode. When this ceremony had been duly performed, a group of young men accompanied the pair to the bridal chamber, set on ’teasing the newly-weds
[Note 8]
. I joined in the general merriment, and an auspicious atmosphere of joy and happiness prevailed. Among the young men, however, there was one Candidate Hoo Dso-bin, a fellow-student of my son, and one of his best friends. When this Candidate Hoo saw the beauty of my son’s bride, he must have become jealous, for he behaved in a most unseemly manner. He teased my son and his bride in an offensive way, making improper remarks, and would not leave them alone for one moment. Since it had become quite late by then, I thought it was time to leave the bridal room, so I invited all the young men to come to my library, and have some rounds of wine there. The young men behaved nicely and accepted my invitation, on condition that the bridegroom empty first three cups of wine in their honour. Only Candidate Hoo obstinately refused to leave the young pair alone, saying that the fun was just beginning. I became angry and scolded him, saying that this was improper behavior. He then flew into a violent rage, he called me an old fogey, and said threateningly that before the night was over, I would be sorry for this. The others thought that this was a joke, and after some final horseplay they all went with me to my library, dragging Candidate Hoo along with them. Who could have thought that this Hoo was in dead earnest, and before leaving the bridal room, motivated by Heaven knows what old grudge, dropped poison in the teapot that was standing by the side of the bridal bed? My son fortunately did not drink that tea, but his bride had one cup before going to bed. When the third nightwatch had been sounded, she complained of a violent ache inside. We all rushed to the room, and seeing that she was in terrible pain, a doctor was called. Alas, when he arrived, this young girl, beautiful as carved jade and tender as a budding flower, had passed away. This morning, therefore, I, the Senior Graduate Hua Guo-hsiang, kneel before Your Honour’s dais, and report that my daughter-in-law has been foully murdered by the Candidate of Literature Hoo Dso-bin, begging Your Honour to see that justice is done”.