Poisoned Bride and Other Judge Dee Mysteries (17 page)

He then handed Judge Dee his written accusation with both hands. Judge Dee glanced it through, and said:

“Thus both of you accuse Candidate Hoo of having poisoned your daughter. Where is this man Hoo?” Mr. Hua said:

“Candidate Hoo has also come to Your Honour’s tribunal, to file a complaint that he is being falsely accused”.

Judge Dee ordered the constables to bring him in. He saw a young man of not unprepossessing mien, clad in the blue robe of a Candidate of Literature. Judge Dee asked him: “Is your name Hoo Dso-bin?” The young man said: “This student is indeed the Candidate Hoo Dso-bin”.

Judge Dee then addressed him angrily:

“Are you still bold enough to call yourself a candidate? You have received instruction in the School of the Classics. How is it that you don’t know the teachings of our venerable ancient Sages? Don’t you know that attaining manhood, marriage, mourning and sacrificing to the ancestors, these four ceremonies are the most important in a man’s life? How did you dare to misconduct yourself during a wedding ceremony? And furthermore, since the bridegroom was your fellow-student, you should have treated his bride with special respect. How is it that you, seeing her beauty, became jealous and let this jealousy move you to utter threatening words? You are disgracing that blue robe that you wear. Speak up now, and tell me exactly what happened!”

“Your Honour, this boy’s father died when he was still a child. I have devoted all my days to educating this only son, and deeply regret that I, being too indulgent, failed to repress this unfortunate habit of his always wanting to be the jester of a company. I implore Your Honour’s clemency”.

Judge Dee then allowed them to take their leave. Hoo’s mother was in tears because her son was kept under detention. Judge Dee did not think it necessary to instruct Mr. Hua not to touch anything on the scene of the crime.

Mr. Hua, through his long official career, was indeed thoroughly conversant with the requirements of the law. Before leaving for the tribunal, he had already had the bridal room sealed. Upon returning to his mansion, he gave orders to arrange the large reception room as a temporary tribunal, and had reed mats brought out into the courtyard in front of the hall, for the autopsy. He gave these instructions with tears in his eyes, bemoaning the fate that had brought this calamity to his house in his old age. He only hoped that the constables would not bother the members of his household too much and have some regard for his high official rank.He tried to comfort his son, but Wen-djun, having seen his lovely bride die before his eyes after he had held her in his arms for only a few hours, was nearly distracted with grief.

Early the next morning, the warden of that quarter of the city, and a number of constables from the tribunal, arrived at Mr. Hua’s mansion. Two constables were posted on guard in front of the bridal couch while others guarded the entrance to that courtyard. They removed the sliding doors of the reception hall, and arranged everything inside for the conduct of the case.

Mr. Hua had charged one of his relatives to place a coffin in the courtyard and lay out the shroud, so that his daughter-in-law could be encoffined directly after the autopsy.

At noon gongs were sounded outside, announcing the arrival of Judge Dee. Mr. Hua hastily donned his official robe and cap, and went with Wen-djun to the front gate to receive the judge.

Judge Dee descended from his palanquin in the front courtyard, and Mr. Hua first took him to his library, to refresh himself. When tea had been brought in, he told his son to greet the judge. Wen-djun knelt down and knocked his head on the floor.

Judge Dee gave Wen-djun a good look and decided that he also was a decent youngster, with the dignified bearing of a candidate of literature. He asked him:

“Did you actually see your wife drink tea before going to bed? And why did you not drink some tea also?”

“After the guests had left our room”, Wen-djun said, “my father ordered me personally to thank all of them one by one in the reception hall, as is customary, and personally conduct every guest who was leaving to the front gate. When I had done this, the second nightwatch had already been sounded. I was utterly exhausted. It was only with a great effort that I could perform my last duty of the day, kneeling in front of my father and wishing him a good night.

“When at last I re-entered the bridal room, my wife was sitting on the chair at the foot of the couch. Seeing that I was very tired, she ordered her maid servant to pour out two cups of strong tea. But before I left the reception hall a few moments previous, my throat had felt parched because of all the talking, and I had already had several cups of hot tea. So I told the servant to pour out only one cup from the teapot standing by the side of the couch, and my wife drank hers while I disrobed. Then we went to bed. When the third nightwatch was sounded, and I was just beginning to feel drowsy, my wife started to groan softly. I thought that this was a slight indisposition, but her pains increased and at last became so violent that she could not help crying out loud. I told the maidservant to rouse the household and to have a doctor called. But when the fourth nightwatch was sounded, she had already passed away. When I saw the dark spots that had appeared on her skin, I knew that she must have been poisoned, so I looked in the teapot; the tea had changed into a thick, black substance. Thus I knew that the poison was there”.

Judge Dee asked:

“Had Hoo Dso-bin an opportunity to tamper with that teapot during the teasing in the bridal room?”

Father and son looked at each other perplexed, and admitted that they had not noticed whether that teapot was standing there at that time or not. Old Mr. Hua became quite agitated, and said:

“What does this matter? That youngster Hoo had the opportunity to put poison in the teapot. That he had the intention of harming us is proved by his own words. If Your Honour putsthe question to him under torture, he will certainly confess”. Judge Dee shook his head, and said:

“This case cannot be decided as simply as that. This is a murder and I am not going to press Hoo Dso-bin further if there is not more evidence. After all, the other guests had the same opportunity as Hoo. The maid servant had the best opportunity of all. I want to question that maid.”

Old Mr. Hua, however, protested. He said that Judge Dee should not think that he, a Senior Graduate, who had served with distinction as a prefect in several provinces, would lightly accuse someone of a murder. Furthermore he assumed full responsibility for every single person in his mansion and guaranteed that no one in his household was capable of committing a murder.

Judge Dee felt it awkward to treat this old gentleman who was so much his senior peremptorily. Thus he said:

“The common people model their conduct after that of our leading families. Eminent persons like you are, therefore, in the centre of the public eye. Since this case will be followed closely by the population of the entire district you and I must see to it that all the rules are scrupulously observed, lest it be said that the authorities when conducting a criminal case are more lenient to the local gentry than to the common people”.

Mr. Hua could not well argue this point and reluctantly had the maid servant called in. When she had prostrated herself in front of the judge, he saw that she was well past middle age.

“Are you a maid of the Lee mansion who accompanied your mistress here, or do you belong to the Hua household?”

“Your Honour’s slave,” the old maidservant said, “is called Chen. Since my early youth I have received the undeserved favour of Madame Lee, who kept me as her chambermaid. When I had attained womanhood, Madame Lee kindly arranged my marriage with the doorkeeper in the Lee mansion. Recently my husband died, and Madame Lee decided that I would serve her daughter after her marriage to young Mr. Hua.”

Now at first Judge Dee had surmised that it might have been the maid servant who had poisoned the bride. He knew that in large mansions secret love-affairs between the young masters and attractive maids sometimes develop, and there were precedents of such a maid servant becoming violently jealous when the young master who had favoured her brought home a bride. But this maid did not belong to the Hua mansion at all. Moreover she was well past her prime. He hastily dismissed that theory. He asked her:

“Were you the sole person in charge of preparing tea for the bride, and when did you heat the water?”

“At noon”, the maid Chen answered, “I fetched a pitcher of hot water and poured it in the teapot. Several people drank that tea, and when the wedding guests arrived, it was empty. So early in the evening I again went to the kitchen, and filled my pitcher with boiling water from the large pan there. This I poured in the teapot which was in a padded basket to keep it warm and standing on the table beside the bridal couch. Nobody drank from it except the bride just before retiring.”

“That means,” Judge Dee continued, “that the teapot with the water you fetched the second time stood there all night. Did not you leave the bridal room once or twice to have a look at the gay crowd in the reception hall?”

“I only left the room once”, the maid said, “and that was to eat my evening rice, which I ate in the small kitchen adjoining the room. Immediately afterwards I began arranging things in the room for the return of the bride and groom from the ceremony in the reception hall. After that I did not leave the room once, and nobody entered. Finally the bride and groom came back with the crowd of guests, among them that wicked Mr. Hoo, who must have put the poison in the teapot during the general confusion.”

With Mr. Hua leading the way, they crossed a few courtyards, and finally arrived at the bridal room. Inside Judge Dee saw the large bridal couch against the back wall; the bed curtains were drawn close, and two constables stood on guard in front of it. By the side of the head of the couch there stood a small table of carved blackwood, and at the foot a chair of the same material. On the table Judge Dee saw a large teapot in a padded rattan basket. Mr. Hua informed him that the two tea cups were unfortunately removed during the excitement following the bride’s death. The teapot itself had not been disturbed.

Judge Dee ordered a constable to bring him a clean teacup, and told two others to go outside on the street and procure a stray dog. While they were gone, Judge Dee carefully examined the room, but he could find nothing of special significance. He lifted the lid of the teapot and saw that it was half filled with a thick, black liquid that resembled syrup rather than tea. Moreover it had a penetrating, musty smell. Judge Dee reflected that it would be exceedingly difficult to determine what kind of poison had been mixed with the tea. It might have been arsenic, but this would not have caused the blue spots on the victim’s body. He poured out a little of the liquid in the clean teacup and noticed again the musty smell. It was black as ink, but the judge could discover no particles of alien matter in it.

The two constables brought the dog, a miserable half-starved animal. Judge Dee had a few pieces of meat fetched from the kitchen, and having soaked these in the cup of tea, he threw them on the steps leading down to the small courtyard. The dog swallowed them with amazing quickness, and started sniffing about for more. After a while, however, his hairs stood on end, and he growled angrily. His growls soon changed into drawnout howling. He ran about in circles a few times, and then the poor beast dropped dead.

Judge Dee was greatly perplexed by the nature of this poison. He ordered the constables to place the dead dog in a box and seal it. It was then to be conveyed to the tribunal as an exhibit.

He entered the bridal room again and opened the curtains. The corpse of the unfortunate young bride was lying on the couch where she had died. Blood had trickled out of her mouth, and dark-blue spots covered her slender body.

Judge Dee drew the curtains and asked for Mrs. Lee. Then he addressed himself as follows to Mr. Hua and Mrs. Lee:

“You represent the families of the bride and the bridegroom. Both your houses are 'permeated by the fragrance of books,' and that this terrible thing happened to people of your standing is a great calamity. I shall not increase your grief by having an autopsy performed, and have the corpse of your poor daughter subjected to exposure and the indignities incident to every postmortem. It suffices that I have seen the clear evidence of poisoning with my own eyes. The problem of this case is not how she was killed, but who committed this foul deed. I shall, therefore, now seal the death certificate, stating that she died having drunk poison, administered by an unknown person. The corpse can be forthwith encoffined.”

Mrs. Lee tearfully thanked Judge Dee for this kind consideration of their feelings, but old Mr. Hua was very doubtful. “After all”, he said, “according to the regulations an autopsy should be performed on the corpse of a murdered person. Who knows what additional evidence of Hoo’s crime may come to light?”

His son, however, sank to his knees before his father, imploring him to spare the body of his poor wife.

Finally Mr. Hua reluctantly agreed, and ordered the servants to start the preparations for dressing the corpse. Judge Dee walked out into the courtyard and stood about for some time, looking absentmindedly at the servants running in and out busily. His official business here was finished, and he should have returned to the tribunal. However, somehow or other, he could not bring himself to leave Mr. Hua’s mansion. He had a strong feeling that the key to the mystery was right here, and not outside.

When the corpse had been dressed and brought to the front courtyard to be encoffined there, Judge Dee went back to the bridal room alone. The constables had just placed the teapot and the cup in a leather box. Judge Dee impressed his seal on the slip of paper pasted over the lid. After they had left, Judge Dee closed the door and seated himself on the chair at the foot of the bed.

Everything was quiet now. He could hear only vaguely the distant noise in the front courtyard. Judge Dee reflected that poisoners often use weird means for killing their victim, and wondered what strange mystery this room concealed. The musty smell still hung in the air. Somehow or other it seemed part of the room. Determined to find its origin, the judge looked under the couch, behind the furniture, and walked out into the small kitchen. It was very small, without a fire place, and had only a cold water basin for washing cups and dishes. It had evidently been thoroughly cleaned in preparation for the homecoming of the bride. The walls were newly plastered, and the judge did not notice the musty smell here that hung over the room itself.

Judge Dee shook his head and slowly walked back to the large reception hall. There he said to Mr. Hua:

“You accuse Hoo Dso-bin, but I find that the maid servant Chen had the same opportunity for committing the crime. I shall question Hoo again in the tribunal, but I also want to question again this maid servant. I hope you will permit me to place her under detention”.

Mr. Hua did not like this at all, but he knew he could not well refuse. He gave his permission, and when Judge Dee had left, two constables took the maid servant to the tribunal. Mr. Hua, however, vented his rage on his son, saying:

“That Mrs. Lee allowed the body to be encoffined without an autopsy is only to be expected. Women never understand these things. But you, as the son of a high official, should have known better. Don’t you see that that smug judge is only out to make matters easy for himself? Let me tell you that officials are always trying to avoid difficulties; much do they care if somebody has been murdered, if only it does not interfere with their easy lives! I have been an official myself and I know what I am talking about!”

When no news came from the tribunal by the evening of the next day, old Mr. Hua’s resentment against Judge Dee increased. He stampeded through the halls and courtyards of his mansion with swinging sleeves, scolding the servants and making himself generally disagreeable. When night had fallen, he swore that the next day he would go to the tribunal himself and urge the judge to question Hoo Dso-bin under torture.

In the mean time Judge Dee had ordered Ma Joong to consult a famous old coroner living retired in the city, and some elder managers of medicine stores. But none of them knew of a poison that produced the symptoms shown on the corpse. Thereafter Judge Dee had sent Ma Joong and Chiao Tai to make discreet inquiries among the people living in the neighbourhood of the mansions of Mr. Hua and Mrs. Lee, and had them check the list of the wedding guests. But neither in Mr. Hua’s nor in Mrs. Lee’s mansion did there seem to have been any irregularities. The guests who had attended the wedding were all well-known members of the local gentry, none of whom was known to harbor any grudge against either Mr. Hua or Mrs. Lee.

On the third day after his investigation in the Hua mansion, Judge Dee was sitting in his private office, discussing the features of the case with Ma Joong.

“This murder in the Hua mansion”, Judge Dee observed, “looks as if it will prove as hard to solve as Bee Hsun’s case. One wave has not yet subsided, and another is already rising!”

Just then a clerk entered and handed to Judge Dee a visiting card.Judge Dee read Mr. Hua’s name, and said with a sigh:

“Here is Mr. Hua. Doubtless he has come to urge me to question Hoo Dso-bin again. Bring him to the reception hall.”

When Judge Dee had seated himself in the reception hall, he soon saw Mr. Hua ascending the steps, clad in full ceremonial dress, looking very sour. After the exchange of the usual amenities, Mr. Hua asked: “To-day is the third day after my daughter-in-law met her death. Would the Father-official deign to inform this ignorant person as to the progress made with this case?”

“You have come at a most opportune time”, Judge Dee answered, “I was just going to question the accused Hoo Dso-bin again, and the maid servant of your honourable mansion. If you will please be seated in my private office, you will be able to follow the proceedings from there.”

The judge took Mr. Hua to his private office, and had a chair placed for him just behind the screen separating this room from the court hall. Then Judge Dee himself ascended the dais and had Candidate Hoo brought before the bench.