The Chinese Bell Murders

by Robert Van Gulik

  The Secretary slowly shook his head.

  'That magistrate,' he said, 'is probably barely forty years old, a long official career lies before him. In the ensuing years he'll have ample opportunity to prove his zeal and ability. If promotion comes too late, it embitters; if too soon, it gives rise to exorbitant expectations. In the interest of our civil service both extremes should be avoided.'

  'I quite agree,' the President said. 'On the other hand that magistrate might well be granted some token of official approval, just as an encouragement. Perhaps the Master of Ceremonies will favour us with suggesting a suitable gesture.'

  The Master of Ceremonies pensively stroked his beard. Then he said:

  'Since His Imperial Majesty has graciously consented to take a personal interest in the case of that Buddhist Temple, I shall be glad to petition the Throne tomorrow to grant that magistrate Dee an Imperial Inscription. Not, of course, the August Handwriting itself, but a copy of some suitable text, engraved on an ornamental board.'

  'That,' the Secretary exclaimed with approval, 'exactly meets the requirements of the case! How delicate is your judgement in these matters!'

  The Master of Ceremonies permitted himself one of his rare smiles.

  'Rites and Ceremonies,' he observed, 'keep our complicated government machinery in the correct balance. For many years I have been engaged in weighing against each other praise and blame, censure and recognition, as carefully as a goldsmith weighs his gold. One grain of difference would be sufficient for tipping the beam.'

  They rose and left the table.

  Led by the Grand Secretary of State they descended the broad stairs for a stroll around the lotus lake.

  Twenty-fifth Chapter:

  TWO CRIMINA'S ARE EXECUTED OUTSIDE THE SOUTHERN GATE; JUDGE DEE KNEELS DOWN BEFORE AN IMPERIAL INSCRIPTION

  When the final verdict on the three cases arrived from the capital, Judge Dee's four assistants had a dull and frustrating fortnight behind them.

  Ever since the sensational session when Lin Fan was convicted, the judge had been in a morose mood, silently brooding over a problem the four men could only guess at. Instead of leisurely reviewing the case with them as was his wont after he had obtained a criminal's confession, Judge Dee had only expressed his appreciation of their loyal service, then immediately buried himself in the routine affairs of the district administration.

  The special messenger from the capital arrived in the afternoon. Tao Gan, who was auditing the accounts of the tribunal in the chancery, signed the receipt for the bulky envelope, and took it to Judge Dee's private office.

  Sergeant Hoong sat waiting there for the judge with some documents to be signed, and Ma Joong and Chiao Tai were keeping him company.

  Tao Gan showed them the large seal of the Metropolitan Court on the envelope, then he threw it on the desk saying happily:

  'This'll be the final verdict on our three cases, brothers! Now the judge'll cheer up a bit!'

  'I don't think,' the sergeant said, 'that our judge is worrying about the higher authorities approving his conduct of the cases. He never said a word to me about what is weighing on his mind, but I believe it's something very personal, something he is trying in vain to puzzle out for himself.'

  'Well,' Ma Joong put in, 'I know one person who'll suddenly recover as soon as the judge has pronounced his final verdict! And that's the old lady, Mrs Liang! Of course our dear Board of Finance will help itself to a generous chunk of Lin Fan's property, but what'll be assigned to Mrs Liang should still make her one of the richest women in the land!'

  'She deserves it!' Chiao Tai remarked. 'It was sad to see her collapse the other day, the very hour of her triumph! Evidently the excitement was too much for her, it seems she has not been able to leave her bed these last two weeks.'

  At that moment Judge Dee came in and all rose quickly. He curtly greeted his lieutenants, then opened the sealed envelope Sergeant Hoong handed to him.

  Glancing through its contents he said:

  'The higher authorities have approved my verdicts in the three capital cases we dealt with. A terrible fate awaits Lin Fan. In my opinion simple decapitation would have met the case. But we must abide by the official decision.'

  Then the judge read the enclosure, which bore the seal of the Board of Rites and Ceremonies. Having passed the documents to Sergeant Hoong, Judge Dee bowed respectfully in the direction of the capital.

  'A signal honour has been bestowed upon this tribunal,' he said. 'His Imperial Majesty has deigned to grant an ornamental board, bearing the engraved copy of an inscription originally written by the Vermilion Brush. As soon as this Imperial favour arrives, Sergeant, you'll see to it that it is immediately suspended in the place of honour, over the dais in the court-hall!'

  Brushing aside the congratulations of his men, the judge continued:

  'I shall pronounce the sentences tomorrow morning in a special session two hours before dawn, as usual. Give the necessary instructions to the personnel, Sergeant, and inform the garrison commander that I want a military escort here at the appointed time for conveying the criminals to the execution ground.'

  Judge Dee thought for a while, tugging at his beard. Then he sighed and opened the dossier on the district finances that Sergeant Hoong had placed on his desk for his signature.

  Tao Gan pulled at Sergeant Hoong's sleeve. Ma Joong and Chiao Tai nodded encouragingly. The sergeant cleared his throat, then he addressed the judge:

  'All of us, Your Honour, have been wondering about Lin Fan's murder of Liang Ko-fa. Would Your Honour, now that the case will be officially closed tomorrow morning, favour us with an explanation?'

  Judge Dee looked up.

  'Tomorrow, directly after the execution of the criminals,' he replied curtly. Then he turned again to his reading.

  The next morning, long before the appointed hour, the citizens of Poo-yang had been streaming to the tribunal through the dark streets. Now a dense crowd was waiting patiently in front of the main gate.

  At last the constables threw the large double doors open and the throng entered the court-hall, lighted by dozens of large candles placed along the walls. A murmur of subdued conversation rose from the crowd. Many cast apprehensive eyes on the giant who stood motionless behind the headman of the constables. He carried a long, two-handed sword on his broad shoulders.

  Most of the spectators had come because they were eager to hear the final verdict on the three cases that had occurred in their midst. Some of the elder people, however, had come with a heavy heart. They knew how serious a view the Government took of sedition, and the massacre of the monks could easily be interpreted as such. They feared that the central authorities would have decided on punitive measures against their district.

  Three deep sounds of the large bronze gong boomed through the tribunal…

  The screen behind the dais was pulled aside and Judge Dee appeared, followed by his four assistants. A scarlet pelerine hung over his shoulders, signifying that he would deliver capital sentences.

  Judge Dee seated himself and called the roll. Then Hwang San was led before the bench.

  During the period of waiting in jail his wounds had healed. He had been given the last meal of roast, and he seemed resigned to his fate.

  As he knelt in front of the bench, Judge Dee unrolled a document and read aloud:

  'The criminal Hwang San shall be decapitated on the execution ground. His body shall be cut into pieces and thrown to the dogs. His head shall be exposed on the city gate three days, as a warning example.'

  Hwang San's arms were bound behind his back. The constables attached a long white signboard to his shoulders, on which his name, his crime and his punishment were written in large characters. Then he was led away.

  The senior scribe handed Judge Dee another document. Unrolling it he ordered the headman:

  'Bring before me His Reverence Complete Enlightenment, and the two Yang sisters!'

  The headman led the old abbot forward. He wore t
he purple robe with the yellow seams indicating his ecclesiastical rank. Laying the crooked staff of red lacquer on which he supported himself on the floor, he slowly knelt.

  Apricot and Blue Jade were led in by Judge Dee's steward. They wore green robes with long trailing sleeves, and their hair was bound up with a band of embroidered silk, the coiffure of unmarried girls. The crowd stared with admiration at these two beautiful girls.

  Judge Dee spoke:

  'I shall now read the verdict in the case of the Temple of Boundless Mercy.

  'The Government have decided that the entire property of the said temple shall be confiscated. Except for the main hall and one side hall, the entire temple compound shall be razed to the ground within a period of seven days from the date of the present.

  'His Reverence Complete Enlightenment is allowed to continue serving the goddess, assisted by not more than four monks.

  'Since the judicial investigation has proved that two of the six pavilions in the said temple compound were not provided with a secret entrance, it is herewith stated that the fact that a woman conceived during her stay in the temple is to be taken as due only to the infinite grace of the Goddess Kwan Yin and shall never be construed as casting doubt on the legitimacy of the child subsequently born.

  'Four bars of gold shall be taken from the treasury of the temple and conferred as a reward on the girl Yang, called Apricot, and her sister. The magistrate of their native district has been ordered to add in the district register a remark to the entry regarding the Yang family reading "Well deserved of the State." As a consequence of this official recommendation the said Yang family shall be exempt from all taxes for a period of fifty years.'

  Here Judge Dee paused a moment. Stroking his beard he surveyed the audience. Then he went on slowly, stressing each word:

  'The Imperial Government note with profound displeasure that the citizens of Poo-yang have dared to infringe on the prerogative of the State and have wantonly attacked and foully murdered twenty monks, thus preventing the law from taking its normal course. The entire city is held responsible for this outrage. The Government originally contemplated severe punitive measures. Having taken cognisance, however, of the special circumstances of the case, and of the recommendation for leniency proffered by the magistrate of Poo-yang, the Government have decided that, in this particular case and as an exception, mercy shall prevail over justice. The Government confine themselves to a severe warning.'

  A murmur of gratitude rose from the crowd. Some started to cheer the judge.

  'Silence!' Judge Dee called out in a thunderous voice.

  As the judge slowly rolled up the document the old abbot and the two girls knocked their foreheads on the floor several times in succession to express their gratitude. Then they were led away.

  Judge Dee gave a sign to the headman. Lin Fan was led before the bench by two constables.

  He had aged considerably during the period of waiting in jail. His small eyes were sunk deeply in his emaciated face. When he saw the scarlet pelerine on Judge Dee's shoulders and the forbidding shape of the executioner, he started to tremble so violently that the constables had to assist him in kneeling before the dais.

  Folding his arms in his sleeves Judge Dee straightened himself in his arm-chair and then read slowly:

  'The criminal Lin Fan has been found guilty of a crime against the State, for which the law prescribes the extreme penalty in one of its more severe forms. Accordingly the said criminal Lin shall be executed by the process of being quartered alive.'

  Lin Fan uttered a hoarse cry. He collapsed on the floor. While the headman started to revive him by burning vinegar under his nose, the judge continued:

  'All movable and immovable property of the said criminal Lin, and all his liquid and vested assets are confiscated by the State. When the transfer has been completed, one-half of the said property shall be given to Mrs Liang nee Ou-yang, as a compensation for the manifold wrongs that her house suffered at the hands of the criminal Lin Fan.'

  Judge Dee paused and surveyed the hall. Mrs Liang did not seem to be among the audience.

  'This,' he concluded, 'is the official verdict on the case of the State versus Lin Fan. Since the criminal shall die and blood money be paid to the house of Liang, this also closes the case Liang versus Lin.'

  He rapped his gavel and closed the session.

  As Judge Dee left the dais to return to his private office, the spectators burst out in loud cheers. Then everyone tried to get outside and into the street as quickly as possible, in order to accompany the cart of the condemned to the execution ground.

  The open cart stood ready in front of the main gate, surrounded by lance knights from the garrison headquarters. Eight constables brought Lin Fan and Hwang San outside, and made them stand side by side in the-cart.

  'Make way, make way!' shouted the guards.

  Judge Dee's palankeen was carried out, preceded by a group of constables marching in rows of four. A similar group brought up the rear. They were followed by the cart of the condemned, surrounded by the soldiers. The procession set into movement, headed for the southern city gate.

  Arrived on the execution ground the judge descended from his palankeen and the garrison commander, resplendent in his shiny armour, led him to the temporary dais which had been erected during the night. Judge Dee seated himself behind the bench, and his four lieutenants took up their places by his side.

  The executioner's two assistants made Lin Fan and Hwang San descend from the cart. The soldiers dismounted and drew a cordon round them, their halberds glittered in the red glow of dawn.

  A large crowd thronged around the cordon. They looked with awe at four heavy plough buffaloes that were standing there, quietly eating the cut grass that a peasant was feeding them.

  On a sign of the judge the two assistants made Hwang San kneel. They removed the placard from his back and loosened his collar. The executioner lifted his heavy sword and looked up at the judge. As Judge Dee nodded the sword swung down on Hwang San's neck.

  He fell on his face through the force of the blow, but his head was only partly severed from his body. Either his bones were exceptionally thick, or the executioner had failed to take accurate aim.

  A murmur rose from the crowd. Ma Joong whispered to Sergeant Hoong:

  'The fellow was right! Till his very last moment the poor bastard has bad luck!'

  The two assistants jerked Hwang San up and now the executioner struck such a ferocious blow that the head flew through the air and crazily rolled several feet from the bleeding body.

  The executioner lifted the head up in front of the bench, and Judge Dee marked its forehead with his vermilion brush. Then it was thrown into a basket, later to be nailed by its hair to the city gate.

  Lin Fan was led to the centre of the execution ground. The assistants cut the ropes that held his hands. When he saw the four buffaloes he uttered a piercing scream and started to grapple with the men. But the executioner gripped his neck and threw him on the ground. His assistants attached thick ropes to his wrists and ankles.

  The executioner beckoned to the old peasant. He led the four buffaloes to the centre. Judge Dee bent over to the commander and whispered something to him. The commander barked an order, and the soldiers formed a closed square round the group in the centre so that the crowd could not see the gruesome scene that would be enacted there. They looked at the judge, sitting up on the raised platform.

  Deep silence reigned on the execution ground. One could faintly hear a cock crow on a distant farm.

  Judge Dee nodded.

  Suddenly they heard Lin Fan scream wildly. Then his screams turned into deep groans.

  There was the soft whistling peasants use to coax buffaloes on. This sound, reminding one of a peaceful scene on the rice-fields, now made the crowd shudder with intense horror.

  Lin Fan's screams again rent the air, now mixed with a madman's laughter. There was a dry sound, as if a tree was splitting apart.

  T
he soldiers resumed their original position. The spectators saw the executioner cut off Lin Fan's head from his mangled body. He presented it to the judge who marked its forehead with his brush. Later it would be exposed on the city gate, together with the head of Hwang San.

  The executioner handed the old peasant a silver piece, as is customary. But he spat and refused that unlucky money, although it is not often that silver passes over the palm of a peasant's hand.

  Gongs were sounded, the soldiers presented their arms and Judge Dee left the dais. His lieutenants noticed that his face was ashen, sweat pearled on his brow despite the cold morning air.

  Judge Dee ascended his palankeen and was carried to the temple of the tutelary deity of Poo-yang, where he burned incense and prayed. Then he went back to the tribunal.

  Upon entering his private office he found his four assistants waiting for him. The judge silently motioned to Sergeant

  Hoong, who quickly poured out a cup of hot tea for him. As he sipped it slowly, suddenly the door opened and the headman came in.

  'Your Honour!' he said excitedly. 'Mrs Liang has committed suicide by swallowing poison!'

  There were loud exclamations from Judge Dee's lieutenants, but the judge didn't seem surprised. He ordered the headman to go there with the coroner, and have the latter draw up a death certificate, stating that Mrs Liang committed suicide while of unsound mind. Then the judge leaned back in his chair and said in a toneless voice:

  'Thus at long last the case Liang versus Lin has now been concluded. The last living member of the house of Lin died on the execution ground, the only surviving member of the Liang clan committed suicide. For nearly thirty years the feud dragged on, a dreadful chain of murder, rape, arson and base deceit. And this is the end. All are dead.'

  The judge stared straight ahead of him. His four assistants looked at him with wide eyes. No one dared to speak.

  Suddenly the judge roused himself. He folded his arms in his sleeves and began in a matter-of-fact voice: