The Chinese Maze Murders Read online

  Ma Joong rode up to the large building at the back, the hoofs of his horse clattering on the flagstones. The beautifully carved, red-lacquered doors indicated that this was the main hall of the mansion.

  They dismounted and threw the reins to three of the corporal's men.

  Ma Joong kicked open the central door with his iron boot and stepped inside followed by his two companions.

  Evidently they interrupted an urgent conference. Three men were sitting close together in the centre of the hall. In the middle, a tall broad-shouldered man sat in a large armchair covered with a tiger skin. He had a heavy-jowled, imperious face, with a thin moustache and a short black beard. He seemed to have just left his bed; he still wore a night robe of white silk, and over it a loose house robe of purple brocade. His head was covered with a small black cap. The two others, both elderly men, were sitting opposite him on footstools of carved ebony. They also apparently had dressed in a hurry.

  The hall had a most warlike appearance, it resembled an armoury rather than a reception hall. The walls were decorated with spears, pikes and shields, the floor was covered with the skins of wild animals.

  MA JOONG AND CHIAO TAI ARREST A CRIMINAL

  The three men looked up at the intruders in speechless amazement. Judge Dee did not say a word. He walked straight to an empty armchair and sat down. Ma Joong and Chiao Tai planted themselves right in front of Chien Mow and gave him a baleful look.

  Chien's two counsellors hastily left their footstools and retreated behind their master's armchair.

  The judge addressed Ma Joong in a casual voice:

  "Captain, the town is under martial law. So I leave it to you to deal with these rascals!"

  Ma Joong turned round.

  "Corporal Ling!", he bellowed.

  The corporal hurriedly stepped over the threshold, followed by four of his men. Ma Joong asked:

  "Which of these criminals is the traitor Chien Mow?"

  The corporal pointed to the man in the armchair.

  Ma Joong snapped:

  "Chien Mow, you are arrested on the charge of sedition!"

  Chien jumped up. He stood in front of Ma Joong and shouted in a voice that yielded nothing to Ma Joong's in harshness:

  "Who is giving orders in my own house? Guards, cut them down!"

  As he spoke Ma Joong struck him with his mailed fist full in the face. Chien fell down upsetting an elegant tea table that crashed to the floor together with a costly porcelain tea set.

  Six fierce looking ruffians came rushing from behind the large screen back in the hall. They carried long swords and their leader brandished a double axe.

  They suddenly halted when they saw Ma Joong and Chiao Tai in their full armour. Ma Joong folded his arms. He gruffly addressed the body guards:

  "Give up your arms! Our commander will decide later whether you underlings are guilty or not."

  Chien's nose had been broken, a stream of blood stained his robe. He lifted his head and called out:

  "Don't listen to that bastard, men! Have you not eaten my rice for ten years? First kill that dog-official there!"

  The leader of the body guard sprang over to the judge raising his axe.

  Judge Dee did not move. He slowly caressed his side whiskers staring contemptuously at his attacker.

  "Wait, brother Wang!", Corporal Ling shouted, "did I not tell you that the whole town is swarming with soldiers? We have not got a chance, the army has taken over!"

  The man with the axe hesitated.

  Chiao Tai stamped his foot impatiently on the floor.

  "Let us get a move on!", he cried. "We have better things to do than picking up these few rascals!"

  He turned round and made to step outside.

  Chien Mow had lost consciousness. Ma Joong, completely ignoring the body guards, stooped down and started to bind up Chien.

  Judge Dee rose from his chair. As he straightened his robes he said coldly to the man with the axe:

  "Put that dangerous instrument down, my man!"

  He turned his back on him and looked hard at the two counsellors. They had stood there silently throughout the proceedings. Evidently they did not want to commit themselves either way before the issue was decided.

  "Who might you two be?", the judge asked haughtily.

  The elder one bowed deeply.

  "Your Honour", he replied, "this person has been compelled to serve this man Chien as a counsellor. Allow me to assure Your Honour that…"

  "You will tell your tale in the tribunal!", Judge Dee interrupted him. To Ma Joong he said: "Let us hurry back to the tribunal. We shall take only this man Chien Mow and his two counsellors. We shall deal later with the rest of them." Ma Joong said promptly:

  "As you order, Magistrate!"

  He gave a sign to Corporal Ling. The four soldiers bound the two counsellors securely. Chiao Tai unwound a thin chain from his waist. He made a loop at either end and threw the nooses over the heads of the two prisoners. He dragged them outside. As he fastened the chain to his saddle bow Chiao Tai said curtly:

  "If you don't want to strangle yourselves you had better walk fast!"

  Chiao Tai mounted his horse and Judge Dee followed his example. Ma Joong slung the unconscious Chien Mow over his saddle. He called out to Corporal Ling:

  "Divide your soldiers in four groups of twelve. Each group is responsible for ten of Chien's men. Go to the city gates and lock your prisoners in the towers. At noon an officer shall inspect the four gates!"

  "I obey!", the corporal shouted.

  The three rode across the courtyard, the two counsellors trotting behind Chiao Tai's horse.

  In the second courtyard an elderly man with a grey goatee was waiting for them. He fell on his knees and knocked his head on the stoneflags.

  Judge Dee halted his horse. He said curtly:

  "Rise and state your name!"

  The other hastily scrambled up. He replied with a bow:

  "This unworthy person is the steward of this mansion."

  Judge Dee ordered:

  "You will be fully responsible for this mansion and everything in it, including the servants and the womenfolk, till officers from the tribunal come to take over!"

  Then the judge rode on.

  Ma Joong bent over in his saddle and asked the steward in a conversational tone:

  "Have you ever seen how in the army they sometimes flog a criminal slowly to death with a thin rattan? It usually takes about six hours."

  The bewildered steward respectfully replied that he had not yet had that advantage.

  "That is exactly what will happen to you if you don't execute His Excellency's orders to the letter!", Ma Joong said casually. He spurred on his horse, leaving the steward standing there trembling, his face ashen.

  As the three horsemen passed through the main gate of Chien's mansion, the four guards presented arms.

  Sixth Chapter

  FOUR GUILDMASTERS ARE RECEIVED IN THE MAIN HALL; MRS. YOO VISITS THE TRIBUNAL WITH AN OLD PICTURE

  Once returned to the tribunal, Ma Joong and Chiao Tai delivered the still unconscious Chien Mow and his two panting counsellors to Headman Fang. Then they went to Judge Dee's private office. Sergeant Hoong was assisting the judge to change into his informal dress.

  Ma Joong pushed back his iron helmet and wiped the perspiration from his brow. He looked with admiration at the judge, exclaiming:

  "If that was not the most colossal bluff I have ever seen!"

  The judge smiled bleakly.

  "It would never have done", he explained, "to fight it out with Chien. Even if we had really had some two hundred soldiers at our disposal it would have been a sanguinary battle. Chien Mow is a rascal but he is by no means a coward and the men under him would have put up a stiff fight.

  From the beginning I had planned to bluff them, impressing upon Chien and his men that all was over and done with and our victory a foregone conclusion. My original plan was to pose as a provincial governor or an Imperial censor on
a border inspection tour.

  As soon as Tao Gan informed me that there were many deserters from the regular army among Chien's men I changed my plan accordingly."

  "Was it not taking a risk to let that corporal and five men return to Chien's mansion after the attack on the tribunal?", Chiao Tai asked. "They might have started making inquiries and found out that we were bluffing."

  "That", Judge Dee replied, "was exactly what decided the issue. No one in his senses would have let six good men march back to their master unless he had overwhelmingly superior numbers behind him. It never occurred to Corporal Ling to check. Chien is a shrewd man but even he did not doubt the presence of the regular army. He decided to die in a last desperate fight but his followers thought better of it, especially when we suggested that we might let them go free."

  "Now that we have created this imaginary regiment", Sergeant Hoong asked, "how do we get rid of it again?"

  "If I am not greatly mistaken in my estimation of the course a rumour will take", Judge Dee said calmly, "this regiment will first wax in popular imagination till it has become a full-fledged army, and then evaporate again without any effort on our part.

  Now about business. First I must organize this tribunal. Then Chien Mow's affairs must be disentangled.

  Tao Gan will go out now and summon the wardens of all the quarters of this city to appear before me immediately. He will also invite the masters of the most important guilds to pay me a visit at noon.

  Sergeant Hoong, you will go to Chien's mansion with Headman Fang and ten constables. The womenfolk and the servants will remain confined to their quarters until further orders. You will check with the steward all valuables, place them in the strong room and seal the door. Headman Fang will make a search for his son and his eldest daughter, White Orchid.

  Ma Joong and Chiao Tai will make the rounds of the four city gates and verify whether Corporal Ling has duly posted his men and whether the forty henchmen of Chien who did not belong to the army have been put under lock and key in the gate towers. If everything is found in order you will inform Ling that he is re-enlisted without loss of rank.

  Take your time and find out the antecedents of the ex-soldiers. Those who did not desert in battle or flee because of some major offense can be re-enlisted. This afternoon I shall draw up a report to the Board of Military Affairs to have their position regularized. At the same time I shall apply for hundred soldiers to be sent out here." Having thus spoken the judge ordered Sergeant Hoong to bring him a large pot of hot tea.

  It did not take Tao Gan long to round up the wardens. They did not look very happy when they were shown into Judge Dee's private office.

  It was they who, being recruited locally to act as link between the tribunal and the population, were responsible for the reporting of births, deaths and marriages and many other affairs which had been completely neglected under Chien Mow's rule. As members of the district administration, the wardens should have been present in the tribunal to bid welcome to the new magistrate. They expected a severe scolding.

  That was exactly what they got, and with a vengeance. They emerged from Judge Dee's office trembling and pale and scurried away as fast as they could.

  Judge Dee then walked over to the large reception hall of the tribunal and there received the masters of the guilds of the goldsmiths, the carpenters, the rice dealers and the silk merchants. The judge politely inquired their names, and the steward served refreshments.

  The guildmasters congratulated the judge on the speedy arrest of Chien Mow and expressed their joy that now the district would return to normal. They were somewhat disturbed, however, over such a large number of soldiers occupying the city.

  Judge Dee raised his eyebrows.

  "The only soldiers here", he remarked, "are a few dozen deserters which I have re-enlisted for guard duty."

  The master of the goldsmiths' guild gave his colleagues a knowing look. He said with a smile:

  "We fully understand, Your Honour, that your lips are sealed. But the guards of the northern gate told that when Your Honour entered the city they were nearly trampled down by an escadron of cavalry. Last night a goldsmith saw a column of two hundred soldiers march through the main street with straw wrapped round their boots."

  The master of the guild of silk merchants added:

  "My own cousin saw a row of ten horsecarts pass by, loaded with army supplies. However, Your Honour can fully trust us. We realize that a military inspection tour of the border districts must be kept secret lest the barbarian hordes over the river hear about it. The news shall not spread outside the city. Would it not be better, however, if the Commander did pot display his flag over the tribunal? If the spies of the barbarian tribes see this flag, they will know that the army is here."

  "That flag", Judge Dee answered, "I put up myself. It only means that I, the magistrate, have temporarily placed this district under martial law, as I am entitled to do in a state of emergency."

  The guildmasters smiled and bowed deeply.

  "We perfectly understand Your Honour's discretion!", the eldest said gravely.

  Judge Dee did not comment further on this but broached quite a different subject. He requested the masters to send him that very afternoon three elderly men qualified and willing to serve in the tribunal respectively as senior scribe, head of the archives, and warden of the jail; and a dozen dependable youngsters to serve as clerks. The judge further requested them to lend the tribunal two thousand silver pieces to pay for elementary repairs of the court hall and for the salaries of the personnel; this sum would be paid back as soon as the case against Chien Mow had been concluded and his property confiscated.

  The guildmasters readily agreed.

  Finally Judge Dee informed them that the next morning he would open the case against Chien Mow, and asked them to make this fact known throughout the district.

  When the guildmasters had taken their leave the judge went back to his private office. There he found Headman Fang waiting for him together with a good-looking young man.

  Both knelt before the judge. The young man knocked his head on the floor three times in succession.

  "Your Honour", Fang said, "allow me to present my son. He was kidnapped by Chien's henchmen and compelled to work as a servant in his mansion."

  "He shall serve under you as a constable", Judge Dee said. "Did you find your eldest daughter?"

  "Alas", Fang replied with a sigh, "my son has never seen her and the most diligent search did not produce any trace of her. I closely questioned the steward of Chien's mansion. He remembers that at one time Chien Mow expressed the desire to acquire White Orchid for his harem but maintains that his master dropped the matter when I refused to sell my daughter. I do not know what to think."

  Judge Dee said pensively:

  "It is your assumption that Chien Mow kidnapped her, and you may yet be proved right. It is not unusual for a man like Chien to keep a secret love nest outside his mansion. On the other hand we must also reckon with the possibility that he had really nothing to do with her disappearance. I shall question Chien on this subject and institute a thorough investigation. Do not give up hope too soon!"

  As the judge was speaking, Ma Joong and Chiao Tai came in.

  They reported that Corporal Ling had executed his orders to the letter. Ten soldiers were stationed at each of the four city gates and a dozen of Chien's men were locked in each gate tower. The number of prisoners had been increased by five ex-soldiers who had deserted to escape punishment for real crimes. Corporal Ling had demoted to water carriers the loafers who had been guarding the gates before.

  Ma Joong added that Ling had all the qualities of a good military man; he had deserted because of a quarrel with a dishonest captain and was overjoyed at being once more in the regular army.

  Judge Dee nodded and said:

  "I shall propose that Ling is made a sergeant. For the time being we shall leave the forty men stationed at the gates. If their morale remains good I propose to
quarter them all together in Chien's mansion. In course of time I shall designate that as garrison headquarters. You, Chiao Tai, will remain commanding officer of those forty men and the twenty we trained here in the tribunal, till the soldiers I shall send for have arrived."

  Having thus spoken the judge dismissed his lieutenants. He took up his brush and drafted an urgent letter to the far-away prefect describing the events of the past two days. The judge added a list of the men he wanted re-enlisted and a proposal that Corporal Ling be promoted to sergeant. Finally he requested that one hundred soldiers be send to Lan-fang as permanent garrison.

  As he was sealing this letter the headman came in. He reported that a Mrs. Yoo had come to see the judge. She was waiting at the gate of the tribunal.

  Judge Dee looked pleased.

  "Bring her in!", he ordered.

  As the headman was showing the lady into Judge Dee's office he gave her an appraising look. She was about thirty years old and still a remarkably beautiful woman. She was not made up and very simply dressed.

  Kneeling before the desk she said timidly:

  "Mrs. Yoo née Mei respectfully greets Your Honour."

  "We are not in the tribunal, Madam", Judge Dee said kindly, "so there is no need for formality. Please rise and be seated!"

  Mrs. Yoo rose slowly and sat down on one of the footstools in front of the desk. She hesitated to speak.

  "I have always", Judge Dee said, "greatly admired your late husband Governor Yoo. I consider him as one of the greatest statesmen of our age."

  Mrs. Yoo bowed. She said in a low voice:

  "He was a great and a good man, Your Honour. I would not have dared to intrude upon Your Honour's valuable time were it not that it is my duty to execute my late husband's instructions."

  Judge Dee leaned forward.

  "Pray proceed, Madam!", he said intently.

  Mrs. Yoo put her hand in her sleeve and took out an oblong package. She rose and placed it on the desk.

  "On his deathbed", she began, "the Governor handed me this scroll picture which he had painted himself. He said that this was the inheritance he bequeathed to me and my son. The rest was to go to my stepson Yoo Kee.