Poisoned Bride and Other Judge Dee Mysteries (9 page)

“You surely must know that there is no man in this household, but only two poor widows. Who are you, who come to disturb us this early in the morning?”

One of the constables said: “We have come here on orders, and certainly not for our own pleasure! Imagine that at this very hour we could be sleeping nicely at home! Why do you think we rush out to this dismal place? For exercise? We have a Court Order from His Excellency the Judge, instructing the sergeant here to take you and your daughter to the tribunal at Chang-ping immediately, for questioning during the noon session. So don’t stand there in our way!”

Thus speaking he pushed Mrs. Bee back and they entered the courtyard. Seeing the door of the middle room open, they went in and there seated themselves. The door of the room on right remained firmly closed.

Sergeant Hoong then produced the Court order, and said: "This is official business, which brooks no delay. Where is your daughter-in-law? Tell her to show up, and accompany us to the tribunal. Talking won’t help you.”

Mrs. Bee, hearing that they came on behalf of the district magistrate, started trembling all over, and wailed:

“We never have done anything we should not, and now you want us to go before the judge! Probably some of our creditors have filed a suit against us because we have not yet returned their money? Please gentlemen, have pity on this poor house. Since my son died, it is only with great difficulty that we scrape together just enough for our daily needs. How can we repay the debts we incurred to meet the costs of the funeral immediately? Although we are but small people, we never before suffered the disgrace of being taken by the officers of the law. Please gentlemen, show some human kindness, and first return to the tribunal without us. You can report to the judge that we shall quickly sell our furniture and clothes, and then pay off our debts. Please show some consideration, and don’t drag us off to the tribunal!”

Having thus spoken, Mrs. Bee burst out crying bitterly. Sergeant Hoong, seeing that she was an honest woman, said not unkindly:

“You need not worry, it is not your creditors who have filed a suit against you. Our judge only wishes to see your daughter-in-law, to ask her a few questions. You just produce her, then we shall leave you in peace, and only take her to the tribunal”.But even before he had quite finished, Mrs. Bee cried out: “I don’t believe you fellows are really constables! First you say both of us must go with you, then you say that only my daughter need go. You must be kidnapers who, knowing that there are no men here in this house to protect us, plan to abduct my daughter. I know your sort, you first rape her and then sell her to a brothel. But in order to get my daughter, you will have to kill me first!”

And she went for the sergeant. The patience of the constables was exhausted, and they dragged her roughly away, and planted her on a chair, saying:

“You old woman, are you so stupid that you don’t see that it is only his kindness that makes the sergeant here say that you need not go? And have you not seen this summons, written out by His Excellency himself? Would you say that this is false too? You are so stupid that one need not wonder that this daughter-in-law of yours completely fools you. If His Excellency in his wisdom had not discovered this, your own life would probably have been in danger soon!”

With all this excitement none of them had noticed that during the altercation the sidedoor had opened, and that young Mrs. Bee had been standing there for some time, hearing every word that was said.

“Mother”, she said now, “leave them alone, and let me ask them some questions. First, is it not that you have only a summons, and no warrant for arresting us? And second, is it not true that nobody has filed an accusation against us? Well then, neither my mother nor I have ever offended against the law. Have the ancients not said so well: 'Although the steel sword is sharp, it shall not cut off the head of the innocent?' Now although the judge admittedly is the magistrate of this district, he should not indulge in making unreasonable demands. When the Imperial Court hears about a widow who died remaining true to her husband, the government often erects a memorial temple in her honour and the high officials sacrifice there every spring and autumn. There is not the slightest reason to send constables to arrest us, two bereft widows. If the judge wants to ask us something, he has only to say so. We have committed no crime, and we are not afraid to appear in court and state so publicly. But we are not going to let ourselves be dragged away like this. And if you force us to go, then we shall refuse to leave the court again before this affair has been fully cleared up, and then the judge won’t be able to say that we didn’t obey his orders”.

On hearing this eloquent speech, every word of which hit the mark, the two constables were dumbfounded, and looked to Sergeant Hoong for dealing with this affair. The sergeant said smiling:

“Well, well, young lady, for a person so young you certainly know how to talk. I now understand how you could perpetrate such amazing crimes. As to what is the real charge against you, I, young lady, am not the magistrate of Chang-ping. The only thing I know is how to execute a warrant for an arrest. If you want to know anything more, you can ask your questions in court. You can never intimidate us with your clever tongue.”

Thus speaking he gave a sign to the constables, who took young Mrs. Bee by her arms, and dragged her out of the room, without letting her say another word. Old Mrs. Bee, unable to resist the constables, threw herself on the floor in despair. But without giving her as much as one look, the sergeant and the constables took her daughter away.

A crowd of villagers had assembled in the street, curious to know what was happening. The sergeant called out to them:

“We are taking this woman to the tribunal for questioning, on the orders of His Excellency, the magistrate of Chang-ping. If you people hinder us in the execution of our duty, you will certainly get involved in this case. And let me tell you that it is not a small case either!”

Thus admonished the crowd dispersed quickly, since no one wanted to become involved in a court case.

The sergeant and his party hastened on to Chang-ping, and arrived at the tribunal at noon.

When their arrival was reported to Judge Dee, he ordered them to wait in the court hall. Then he donned his official robe and cap, the curtain of the dais was drawn, and the judge appeared seated behind the bench. Looking at the scribes and the constables lined up below, Judge Dee ordered in a loud voice: “Bring in the criminal!” The constables shouted: “We obey!” and bringing forward the young Mrs. Bee, made her kneel in front of the bench.

But this impressive court ceremonial did not overawe Mrs. Bee. Before Judge Dee could address her, she spoke:

“This insignificant woman, Mrs. Bee née Djou, respectfully knocks her head down to greet Your Honour. I was brought here on a warrant issued by Your Honour, and beg to be apprised of my crime. I am a young, bereft widow and cannot remain kneeling on this stone floor for long."Judge Dee, incensed at such insolence, said angrily:

“You, woman, dare to use the words 'bereft widow'? You can fool your stupid old mother, but not me, a judge. Look up, and see who I am!” Mrs. Djou — as we shall now call her — looked up and got a bad fright. "That,” she thought, “is that doctor who came to our place the other day. Now I understand why I distrusted him that very first time, and why I kept wondering all these days what had been wrong about that doctor.” But although in her heart she was quite alarmed, she showed nothing of her consternation on her face, and said in a firm voice:

“The other day I did not know that Your Honour was that doctor and spoke some impolite words. I offended you unintentionally and you should not hold this against me. Your Honour enjoys the fame of being a just magistrate. How could such asmall thing like this anger you?” Judge Dee shouted:

“You lewd woman, you don’t know me yet! While your husband was still young, you should have lived happily with him, and so have grown old together. Why did you form an illicit relationship, and thereafter murder your own husband? But know that he, your husband, finding no rest in his grave, has accused you before me. Don’t you know that for a woman to murder her husband is one of the most heinous crimes known to the law? Now confess how you killed your husband, and who your lover is.”

Mrs. Djou, hearing that she was being accused of having killed Bee Hsun, felt as if she had received a heavy blow that penetrated into her very heart. But she mastered her emotion and answered coolly:

“Your Honour is the father and mother of us, the common people. The other day I really offended you unintentionally. How can you slander me for such a flimsy reason, and think up such a crime against me? And the crime you falsely accuse me of, Your Honour, is one punishable by death. You should not make light of such serious matters.”

Judge Dee then knew that Mrs. Djou, relying on her beauty, was manoeuvring him into an awkward position, insinuating that he had visited her with an ulterior motive, and, being rebuked, thus tried to take his revenge. He said:

“I know you are clever, but your sharp tongue shall be of no avail to you. I shall show you proof and see whether you won’t confess then. Your dead husband told me clearly that you murdered him. And also that you, fearing that your small daughter might tell somebody about your adulterous affairs, gave her a drug that made her dumb. The other day I saw her myself. How dare you still deny your crime? If you don’t confess now, I shall question you under torture.”

Mrs. Djou, however, was not to be intimidated. She replied: “How could I confess, when there is nothing to confess? You can torture me to death but you can never make me confess to a crime which I never committed!"Judge Dee shouted:

“You, woman, dare to defy me right here in this court? Now I shall risk this black cap of mine and chance getting the name of being a cruel magistrate. We shall see whether or not you will confess under torture. Give her first forty lashes with the whip!”

The constables tore her robes down and bared her back, and gave her forty lashes with the whip.

“I know you are a brazen person but your skin and flesh are not cast in iron. If necessary, I shall go on with this the whole day.” And again he ordered the constables to turn the screws tighter.

The constables, seeing that Mrs. Djou still protested her innocence under this severe torture, began to doubt whether she was really guilty. Giving each other a secret sign, they made great ado about turning the screws, all the while shouting to Mrs. Djou that she must confess, but in fact they loosened up the screws a bit. And their headman, seeing Sergeant Hoong standing by the side of the dais, gave him a sign to step back to where the judge could not see him. Then he walked over to him, and whispered:

“Sergeant, when the other day you went with His Excellency to investigate, what proof did you find exactly? The judge has just ordered us to turn the screws tighter, but what if she dies, and later is proved to have been innocent? That will cost His Excellency his name and position, and us our life. That talk about the ghost of her husband accusing her was evidently but a ruse to frighten her into confession, but it failed. It seems to me, Sergeant, that our judge, who usually is shrewd enough, is not at his best today. If he really has proof that she murdered her husband, why then does he not first have the corpse exhumed, and then, when the proof is there for everybody to see and she still won’t confess, start torturing her? I beg you to use your influence with the judge, Sergeant, and make him stop the questioning at least for to-day. We can always see to-morrow.”