The Chinese Maze Murders (6 page)

Judge Dee assented. They went to the tea house on the corner of the alley and sat down at a table somewhat apart from the other guests.

When the waiter had brought the tea young Ding said in a whisper:

“A ruthless man called Chien Mow has all the power in his hands. There is nobody here who dares to oppose him. Chien keeps about one hundred ruffians in his mansion. They have nothing to do but loaf about this town and intimidate the people.”

“How are they armed?” Ma Joong asked.

“Out in the street these rascals have only clubs and swords with them, but I would not be astonished if in Chien’s mansion they kept quite an arsenal.”

Judge Dee asked:

“Do you often see barbarians from over the border in this town?”

Candidate Ding shook his head emphatically.

“I have never seen a single Uigur here,” he replied.

“Those attacks Chien reported about to the government,” Judge Dee observed to Ma Joong, “arc evidently but an invention of his, to convince the authorities that he and his men are indispensable here.”

Ma Joong asked:

“Have you ever been inside Chien’s mansion?”

“Heaven forbid!” the young man exclaimed, “I always avoid that entire neighbourhood. Chien has surrounded his mansion with a double wall, with watchtowers on the four corners.”

“How did he seize power here?” Judge Dec inquired.

“He inherited great wealth from his father,” young Ding
replied, “but none of his eminent qualities. His father was a native of this town, an honest and diligent man who became rich as a tea merchant. Until a few years ago the main route to Khotan and the other tributary kingdoms of the west ran through Lan-fang and this town was quite an important emporium. Then three oases along the desert route dried up and it shifted a hundred miles to the north. Chien then collected a band of ruffians around him and one day proclaimed himself master of this city.

“He is a clever and determined man who could easily have been successful in an official military career. But he will obey no one, he prefers to govern this district as the undisputed ruler, responsible to no one in the Empire.”

“A most unfortunate situation,” Judge Dee commented. He emptied his tea cup and rose to go.

Candidate Ding hurriedly leaned forward and begged the judge to stay a little longer.

The judge hesitated but the young man looked so unhappy that at last he sat down again. Candidate Ding busied himself with refilling the tea cups. He seemed at a loss how to begin.

“If there is anything on your mind, young man,” Judge Dee said, “don’t hesitate to speak!”

“To tell Your Honour the truth,” young Ding finally said, “there is a matter that weighs heavily on my mind. It has nothing to do with the tyrant Chien. It concerns my own family.”

Here he paused. Ma Joong shifted impatiently on his chair.

Candidate Ding made an effort and continued:

“Your Honour, my old father is going to be murdered!”

Judge Dee raised his eyebrows.

“If you know that in advance,” he observed, “it should not be difficult to prevent this crime!”

The young man shook his head.

“Allow me to tell the whole story. Your Honour may have heard that my poor old father was slandered by one of his subordinates, the wicked Commander Woo. He was jealous of my father’s great victory in the north and although he could never prove his false accusation the Board of Military Affairs ordered my father to resign.”

“Yes, I remember that affair,” Judge Dee said. “Is your father also living here?”

“My father,” young Ding replied, “came to this distant place partly because my late mother was a native of Lan-fang, and partly because he wished to avoid the larger cities where he might be embarrassed by meeting former colleagues. We thought that here we would be able to live in peace.

“One month ago, however, I began to notice that suspicious looking men often loitered in our neighbourhood. Last week I secretly followed one of them. He went to a small wine shop in the northwest corner of the city, called ‘Eternal Spring’. Who can describe my astonishment when I learned from another shop in that street that Woo Feng, the eldest son of Commander Woo, is living over that wine shop!”

Judge Dee looked doubtful.

“Why,” he asked, “should Commander Woo send his son here to annoy your father? The commander has ruined your father’s career. Any further mischief would only land him into trouble.”

“I know what his plans are!” Candidate Ding exclaimed excitedly. “Woo knows that my father’s friends in the capital have discovered evidence that the commander’s accusation is pure slander. He sent his son here to kill my father and thus save his own wretched life! Your Honour does not know that man Woo Feng. He is a confirmed
drunkard, a most dissolute person who likes nothing better than indulging in acts of violence. He has hired ruffians to spy on us and ha will strike as soon as he sees his chance.”

“Even so,” Judge Dee remarked, “I don’t see how I could intervene. I can only advise you to keep an eye on Woo’s movements and at the same time to take a few simple precautions in your own mansion. Is there any indication that Woo is in contact with Chien Mow?”

“No,” the young man answered, “Woo apparently has made no attempt at enlisting the support of Chien. As regards precautions, my poor father has been receiving threatening letters ever since he resigned from the service. He rarely goes out and the gates of our mansion are locked and barred day and night. Moreover my father has had walled up all doors and windows of his library save one. That door has only one key which my father keeps always with him. When he is inside, he pushes a bar across the door. It is in that library that my father spends most of his time, compiling a history of the border wars.”

Judge Dee told Ma Joong to note down the address of the Ding mansion. It was located not far from there, beyond the Drum Tower.

As he rose to go the judge said:

“Don’t fail to report to the tribunal if there are any new developments. I have to go now, you will realize that my own position in this town is not too comfortable. As soon as I have settled with Chien I shall make a further study of your problem.”

Candidate Ding thanked the judge and conducted his guests to the door of the tea shop. There he took his leave with a deep bow.

Judge Dee and Ma Joong walked back to the main street.

“That young fellow,” Ma Joong observed, “reminds me of the man who insisted on wearing an iron helmet day and
night because he was in constant fear that the vault of Heaven would crash down on his head!”

The judge shook his head.

“It is a very queer affair,” he said pensively. “I don’t like it at all.”

Fourth Chapter

TAO GAN REPORTS ON A MYSTERIOUS OLD MANSION; AN INGENIOUS TRAP IS SET IN THE DARK TRIBUNAL

M
A
J
OONG
looked astonished but Judge Dee vouchsafed no further comment. Silently they strolled back to the tribunal. Chiao Tai opened the gate for them and informed the judge that Tao Gan was waiting for him in his private office.

Judge Dee had Sergeant Hoong called in. As his four lieutenants seated themselves in front of his desk the judge gave a brief account of his encounter with Candidate Ding. Then he ordered Tao Gan to report.

Tao Gan’s face was even longer than usual as he began:

“Matters don’t look too good for us, Your Honour. That man Chien has established himself in a powerful position. He has drained the district of its wealth but he has been careful to leave alone members of influential families who came here from the capital, in order to prevent them from sending unfavourable reports about him to the central authorities. This applies to General Ding whose son Your Honour just met, and to Yoo Kee, the son of Governor Yoo Shou-chien.

“Chien Mow has been clever enough not to turn on the screws too tightly. He takes a generous percentage of all business conducted in this district, but leaves the merchants a reasonable margin of profit. After a fashion he also maintains the public peace; if a man is caught stealing or brawling he is beaten half to death on the spot by Chien’s henchmen. It is true that these men eat and drink in restaurants
and inns without paying a copper. On the other hand Chien spends freely and many of the large shops have a good customer in him and his men. It are the small shopkeepers and tradesmen that suffer most from his tyranny. On the whole, however, the people of Lan-fang are resigned to their fate and reason that it could easily be worse.”

“Are Chien’s men loyal to him?” the judge interrupted.

“Why should they not be?” Tao Gan asked. “Those ruffians, about one hundred in all, spend their time drinking and gambling. Chien recruited them from the scum of the city and picked up quite a number of deserters from the regular army. Chien’s mansion, by the way, looks like a fortress. It stands near the western city gate. The high outer wall has iron spikes all along its top and the main entrance is guarded day and night by four men who are armed to the teeth.”

Judge Dee remained silent for some time, slowly caressing his side whiskers. Then he asked:

“Now what did you learn about Yoo Kee?”

“Yoo Kee,” Tao Gan replied, “lives near the Watergate. He seems to be a man of retiring habits who lives very quietly. But people tell many stories about his father, the late Governor Yoo Shou-chien. He was an eccentric old man who spent most of his time on his large country estate at the foot of the mountain slope, outside the eastern city gate. That country mansion is an old, dark house surrounded by a dense forest. People say that it was built more than two centuries ago. At the back the governor constructed a maze that covers nearly one acre. The path is bordered by thick undergrowth and large boulders which form an impenetrable wall. They say that this maze abounds in poisonous reptiles; others aver that the Governor laid many a weird man-trap along the path. Anyway this maze is so perfect that no one except the old Governor himself has
ever ventured to enter it. He, however, used to go there nearly every day and stayed inside for hours on end.”

Judge Dee had followed Tao Gan’s words with great interest.

“What a curious tale!” he exclaimed. “Does Yoo Kee often visit that country mansion?”

Tao Gan shook his head.

“No,” he replied, “Yoo Kee left there as soon as the old Governor had been buried. He has never gone back there since. The mansion is empty but for an aged gate keeper and his wife. People say that the place is haunted and that the ghost of the old Governor walks about there at night. All give the estate a wide berth, even in broad daylight.

“The Governor’s town mansion was located just inside the eastern city gate. But Yoo Kee sold it soon after his father’s death and bought his present house, right at the other end of the city. It stands on an empty plot of ground in the southwest corner, near the river. I had no time to go there myself, but people say that it is quite an imposing mansion, surrounded by a high wall.”

Judge Dee rose and started pacing the floor.

After a while he said impatiently:

“The overthrow of Chien Mow resolves itself into a purely military problem and I for one find but small interest in such problems. They resemble too much a game of chess, the opponent and all his resources are known right from the beginning, there are no unknown factors. I am greatly intrigued, on the other hand, by two most interesting problems, namely the ambiguous last will of old Governor Yoo, and the murder of General Ding that is announced in advance. I would like to concentrate on these two matters which I find of absorbing interest. Instead I must first dispose of this miserable local tyrant! What an annoying situation!”

The judge tugged angrily at his beard. Then he rose and said:

“Well, I suppose that it can’t be helped. I shall now have my noon meal. Thereafter I shall open the first session of this tribunal.”

Judge Dee left his office. His four lieutenants walked over to the empty guard house, where the steward of the judge had prepared a simple meal for them.

As they were entering Chiao Tai gave a sign to Ma Joong. The two remained standing together for a moment in the corridor outside.

Chiao Tai whispered to Ma Joong:

“I fear that His Excellency underrates the problem we are up against. You and I have military experience, we know that we have not got a chance. Chien Mow has one hundred well-trained men, the only fighters we have are, except for our judge himself, just you and me. The nearest military post is three days on horseback from here. Should not we warn our judge not to act too rashly?”

Ma Joong twisted his short moustache.

“Our judge,” he replied in a low voice, “has all the data we have. I take it that he has evolved a scheme to deal with the situation.”

“The most clever scheme,” Chiao Tai observed, “is of no avail against such superior strength. It does not matter for us, but what about our judge’s wives and his children? Chien will have no mercy on them. I think it is our duty to propose to the judge that we first pretend to submit to Chien and thereafter work out some plan for attacking him. We could have a regiment of our army here in two weeks.”

Ma Joong shook his head.

“Unbidden advice is never welcome,” he said. “Let us wait awhile and see what happens. I for one know of no better death than to fall in a really good fight.”

“All right,” Chiao Tai said, “if it comes to an open conflict I shall take care of at least four of those ruffians. Let us now join the others. Don’t say a word about this, it is no use alarming the sergeant and Tao Gan.”

Ma Joong nodded.

They entered the guard house and fell to their meal with gusto.

When they had eaten their rice Tao Gan wiped his chin and said:

“I have served more than six years under our judge and I thought I had come to understand him fairly well. But now it baffles me how he can be so preoccupied with an old lawsuit and a murder that will probably never take place, at a time when we are confronted with so difficult and urgent a problem as the overthrow of Chien Mow. You, Sergeant, have known His Excellency all your life. What do you say?”