Judge Dee At Work

by Robert Van Gulik

  Hwa jumped up and was about to kneel down and beg for mercy, but Judge Dee went on quickly:

  ‘I shan’t have you up on those two charges, provided you agree to pay two fines. First, you shall this very night write a formal letter to Mrs Ho’s father, duly signed and sealed, informing him that he can pay back the money you lent him any time that suits him, and that you renounce all interest on that loan. Second, you shall commission Mr Fung to paint a picture of every single boat in your shipyard, paying him one silver piece for each drawing.’ He cut short Hwa’s protestations of gratitude by raising his hand. ‘This fine gets you only a reprieve, of course. As soon as I hear that you are again importuning decent women, you shall be indicted on the charges mentioned. Go now to the guardroom. You’ll find Mr Fung there, and you’ll place your order with him. Pay him then and there five silver pieces as an advance. Goodbye!’

  When the frightened shipowner had hurriedly taken his leave, the judge got up from his chair and went to stand in front of the open window. He enjoyed the subtle fragrance of the magnolia blossoms for a while, then he muttered to himself: ‘Disapproval of a man’s moral standards is no reason for one to allow him to die in misery!’

  He turned round abruptly and left for the chancery.

  2 The Red Tape Murder

  The coastal district of Peng-lai, where Judge Dee began his career as a magistrate, was jointly administered by the judge, in his capacity as the highest local civil servant, and by the commander of the Imperial Army unit stationed there. The extent of their respective jurisdiction was fairly clearly laid down; civilian and military affairs seldom overlapped. When Judge Dee had been serving in Peng-lai for just over a month, however, he was drawn unexpectedly into a purely military affair. My novel The Chinese Gold Murders mentions the large fort, three miles downstream from the city of Peng-lai, which was built at the mouth of the river to prevent the landings of the Korean navy. It was within the walls of this formidable stronghold that the military murder described in this story took place: a proper men’s affair, with no ladies present-but featuring yards and yards of red tape!

  Judge Dee looked up from the file he was leafing through and peevishly addressed the two men on the other side of his desk:

  ‘Can’t you two sit still? Stop fidgeting, will you?’

  As the judge turned to his file again his two hefty lieutenants, Ma Joong and Chiao Tai, made a determined effort to keep still on their stools. Soon, however, Ma Joong stealthily gave Chiao Tai an encouraging nod. The latter placed his large hands on his knees and opened his mouth to speak. But just then the judge pushed the file away and exclaimed disgustedly:

  ‘This is most annoying; document P-404 is indeed missing! For a moment I thought that Sergeant Hoong must have inserted it in the wrong folder, since he was in rather a hurry yesterday before he left for the prefecture. But P-404 simply isn’t there!’

  ‘Couldn’t it be in the second file, Magistrate?’ Ma Joong asked. That folder is also marked with the letter P.’

  ‘Nonsense!’ Judge Dee snapped. ‘Haven’t I explained to you that in the archives of the fort they have two files marked P, P for Personnel and P for Purchases? In the latter file, paper P-405 concerning a purchase of leather belts is clearly marked: “Refer back to P-404”. That proves beyond doubt that P-404 belongs to Purchases, and not to Personnel.’

  ‘This red tape business is a bit beyond me, sir! Besides, those two P files contain only information-copies sent on to us by the fort. Now as regards the fort, sir, we …’

  ‘This is not mere red tape,’ Judge Dee interrupted him sourly. ‘It concerns the close observation of an established office routine, without which the entire administrative machinery of our Empire would get clogged.’ Noticing the unhappy look on the deeply-tanned faces of his two lieutenants, the judge smiled despite himself and went on in a more friendly tone, ‘In the four weeks that you two have been working for me here in Peng-lai, you have proved yourselves able to deal efficiently with the rough work. But the task of an officer of the tribunal comprises more than the arrest of dangerous criminals. He must keep abreast of the office routine, harbour a feeling for its finer points, and realize the importance of adhering to those finer points-a practice sometimes referred to by ignorant outsiders as red-tapery. Now this missing paper P-404 may well be quite unimportant in itself. But the fact that it is missing makes it of supreme importance.’

  Folding his arms in his wide sleeves, he continued, ‘Ma Joong correctly observed that these two files marked P contain nothing but copies, namely of the correspondence of the fort with the Board of Military Affairs in the capital. Those papers deal with purely military matters that don’t concern us directly. What does concern us, however, is that every single file in this tribunal, whether important or unimportant, must be kept in good order, and must above all be complete!’ Raising his forefinger for emphasis, the judge went on; ‘Remember now, once and for all: you must be able to rely unreservedly on your files, and you can do so only when you are absolutely sure they are complete. An incomplete file has no place in a well-run office. An incomplete file is worthless!’

  ‘Let’s heave that P-file out of the window, then!’ Ma Joong exclaimed. Then he added quickly: ‘Beg your pardon, sir, but the fact is that Brother Chiao and I are rather upset. This morning we heard that our best friend here, Colonel Meng Kwo-tai, was found guilty last night of having murdered Colonel Soo, the Vice-Commander of the fort.’

  Judge Dee straightened himself. ‘So you two know Meng, eh? I heard about that murder the day before yesterday. Since I was very busy writing the report Hoong took to the capital, I didn’t make inquiries. Anyway it’s a military case that exclusively concerns the commander of the fort. How did you two come to know Colonel Meng?’

  ‘Well,’ Ma Joong replied, ‘a couple of weeks ago we ran into him in a wine-house when he was spending his evening off here in town. The fellow is a fine athlete, excellent boxer, and the fort’s champion archer. We became fast friends, and he made it a practice to spend all his free evenings with us. And now they say he shot the Vice-Commander! Of all the silly nonsense …’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Chiao Tai comforted his friend. ‘Our magistrate’ll straighten it all out!’

  ‘It was like this, sir,’ Ma Joong began eagerly. ‘Day before yesterday the Vice-Commander …’

  Judge Dee stopped him by raising his hand. ‘In the first place,’ he said dryly, ‘I can’t meddle with the affairs of the fort. Second, even if I could, I wouldn’t be interested in hearsay of the murder. However, since you know the accused, you may as well tell me something more about him, for my orientation.’

  ‘Colonel Meng is an upright, straightforward fellow!’ Ma Joong burst out. ‘We have boxed with him, got drunk with him and gone wenching with him. Let me tell you, Magistrate, that that’s the way to get to know a man inside out! Now Vice-Commander Soo was a martinet and a bully, and Meng got his share of his foul mouth. I can imagine that some day Meng might fly into a rage and strike Soo down. But Meng would give himself up at once, and face the consequences. To shoot a man in his sleep, then deny he did it … No, sir, Meng wouldn’t do that. Never!’

  ‘Do you happen to know how Commander Fang feels about it?’ the judge asked. ‘He presided at the court martial, I presume.’

  ‘He did,’ Chiao Tai replied. ‘And he confirmed the verdict of premeditated murder. Fang is a haughty, taciturn fellow. But rumour has it that he isn’t too happy about the verdict-despite the fact that all the evidence points straight to Meng. Goes to show how popular the man is, even with his commanding officer!’

  ‘When did you two last see Meng?’ Judge Dee asked.

  ‘The very night before Soo was murdered,’ Ma Joong said. ‘We had our supper together in the crab restaurant on the quay. Later that night two Korean merchants joined us, and the five of us had a real good drinking bout. It was long past midnight when Brother Chiao dropped Meng at the military barge that was to take him back to the
fort.’

  Judge Dee sat back in his chair and slowly tugged at his long sidewhiskers. Ma Joong quickly rose and poured him a cup of tea. The judge took a few sips, then he set his cup down and said briskly:

  ‘I haven’t yet returned Commander Fang’s courtesy call. It’s still early in the morning; if we leave now we’ll be at the fort well before the noon rice. Tell the headman to have my official palankeen ready in the courtyard to carry us to the quay. In the meantime I’ll change into ceremonial dress.’ He got up from his chair. Seeing the satisfied looks of his two lieutenants, he added, ‘I must warn you that I can’t force my assistance on the Commander. If he doesn’t ask for my advice, then that’s the end of it. In any case I’ll take the opportunity to ask him for an extra copy of that missing document.’

  The sturdy rowers drove the heavy military barge to the north of the river in less than an hour. On the low bank to the left rose the forbidding walls of the fortress; ahead was the muddy water of the estuary, broadening out into the wide expanse of sunlit sea beyond.

  Ma Joong and Chiao Tai jumped onto the quay under the towering front gate. When the captain of the guard discovered Judge Dee’s identity, he at once took him across the paved courtyard to the main building. Ma Joong and Chiao Tai stayed behind in the gatehouse, for the judge had instructed them to pick up any gossip about the sensational murder.

  Before stepping inside, Judge Dee cast an admiring glance at the thick, solid walls. The fort had been built only a few years before, when Korea had revolted against the T’ang Empire, and her fleet was preparing to invade China’s north-east coast. The revolt had been crushed in two difficult campaigns by a Chinese expeditionary force, but the Koreans were still smarting from their defeat, and the possibility of a surprise attack had to be reckoned with. The river-mouth, and the fort guarding it, had been declared an emergency zone, and although it was located inside Peng-lai, Judge Dee had no authority in this particular area.

  Commander Fang came to meet him at the bottom of the stairs, and took him up to his private office. He made the judge sit down by his side on the large couch against the back wall.

  Fang was just as formal and sparing of words as when he had come to call on Judge Dee in the tribunal of Peng-lai. He sat stiffly erect, encased in his heavy coat of mail with the iron breast- and shoulder-pieces. Looking morosely at the judge from under his grey, tufted eyebrows, he brought out haltingly a few words of thanks for the visit.

  Judge Dee made the usual polite inquiries. The Commander replied gruffly that he still thought his present post unsuitable for an old combat soldier. He didn’t think the Koreans would start making trouble again; it would take them years to recoup their losses. And in the meantime he, Fang, had to keep order among more than a thousand officers and men cooped up idle in the fort.

  The judge expressed his sympathy, then added, ‘I hear that a murder occurred here recently. The criminal has been found and convicted, but I am eager to hear more about the case. As you know, Peng-lai is my first post, and I would welcome an opportunity to enlarge my experience.’

  The Commander gave him a sharp look. He fingered his short grey moustache for a moment, then he got up abruptly and said curtly:

  ‘Come along, I’ll show you where and how it happened.’

  While passing the two orderlies who stood stiffly at attention by the door, he barked at them:

  ‘Get me Mao and Shih Lang!’

  The Commander led the way across the inner courtyard to a large, two-storeyed building. As they ascended the broad staircase, he muttered, ‘Case worries me, to tell you the truth!’ At the head of the stairs four soldiers were sitting on a bench. They sprang to attention. The Commander guided Judge Dee down the long, empty corridor to the left. It ended at a heavy door; over its lock was pasted a strip of paper bearing the Commander’s seal. Fang tore it off, kicked the door open and said:

  ‘This was Vice-Commander Soo’s room. He was murdered on the couch over there.’

  Before crossing the threshold, the judge quickly surveyed the spacious, bare room. On his right was an open window arch, about five foot high and seven foot broad. In the recess below it lay a quiver of lacquered leather, containing a dozen or so iron-tipped arrows with red shafts. Four more had spilled out of the quiver. The room had no other window or door. On the left stood a simple desk of scarred, unpainted wood, on which lay an iron helmet and another arrow. Against the back wall stood a large bamboo couch. The reed mat covering it was stained with ominous, brownish spots. The floor consisted of roughly hewn boards; there was, no rug or floor mat.

  After they had gone inside, the Commander said:

  ‘Soo used to come up here every afternoon about one o’clock, after drill, to take a brief nap till two, when he would go down to the officers’ mess for the noon rice. Day before yesterday Colonel Shih Lang, who assists Soo with the administrative paperwork, comes up here a little before two. Planned to go down to the mess together with Soo, and have a few words with him in private about a breach of discipline concerning a Lieutenant Kao. Shih Lang knocks. No answer, so he thinks maybe Soo has gone down already. He steps inside to make sure, and sees Soo lying on that couch over there. He has his mail jacket on, but an arrow is sticking out of his unprotected stomach, and his leather trousers are covered with blood. Soo’s hands are round the arrow’s shaft -apparently he made a vain attempt to pull it out. But the tip is barbed, you see. Soo’s as dead as a doornail.’

  The Commander cleared his throat, then went on, ‘You see what happened, don’t you? Soo comes in here, throws his quiver in that recess, his helmet on that desk, then lies down on the couch, doesn’t bother to take off his mail jacket or his boots. When he has dozed off …’

  Two men entered and saluted smartly. The Commander motioned the tall man in the brown-leather uniform to step forward and grunted:

  ‘This is Colonel Shih Lang, who discovered the body.’

  Judge Dee took in Shih Lang’s heavy, deeply lined face, his broad shoulders and long ape-like arms. He wore a short moustache and ring-beard. His lacklustre eyes stared sullenly at the judge.

  Indicating the squat man who wore the short mail jacket, pointed helmet and baggy trousers of the mounted military police, the Commander added: ‘And this is Colonel Mao, who was in charge of the investigation. Used to be my chief of military intelligence during the Korea campaign. Able fellow.’

  The judge made a perfunctory bow. He thought Mao’s thin, cynical face had a rather foxy expression.

  ‘I was just explaining the facts to the magistrate here,’ Commander Fang told the two men. “Thought we might as well have his opinion.’

  The two newcomers remained silent. Then Colonel Shih Lang broke the awkward pause. He said in a deep, rather hoarse voice, ‘I hope the magistrate’ll find another solution. In my opinion Meng is not a murderer. Let alone one who foully shoots a man in his sleep.’

  ‘Opinions don’t matter,’ the military police chief remarked dryly. ‘We only deal with facts. And on that basis we reached a unanimous verdict of guilty.’

  The Commander hitched up his sword belt. He took Judge Dee to the large window arch and pointed at the three-storeyed building opposite. ‘The ground floor and the second floor across the yard there have no windows-our storerooms are located there. But do you see that big window up on the top floor? That’s the armoury.’

  Judge Dee saw that the window indicated was of the same type and size as the one he was standing at. The Commander turned round and resumed, ‘Now then, Soo was lying with his feet pointing towards this window. Experiments with a straw dummy proved that the arrow must have been shot from the window up in the armoury there. And at that time there was no one there but Colonel Meng.’

  ‘Quite a distance,’ Judge Dee remarked. ‘About sixty feet, I’d say.’

  ‘Colonel Meng is our champion archer,’ Mao observed.

  ‘Not a job for a beginner,’ Commander Fang admitted, ‘but quite feasible for an expert with the
crossbow.’

  The judge nodded. After a few moments’ thought he asked, ‘The arrow couldn’t have been shot from within this room, I suppose?’

  ‘No,’ the Commander replied curtly. ‘Four soldiers stand guard day and night at the head of the stairs, at the other end of the corridor. They testified that after Soo had come up here and before Shih Lang’s arrival, no one passed them.’

  ‘Couldn’t the murderer have scaled the wall, entered through the window and stabbed Soo with the arrow?’ Judge Dee asked. ‘I am just trying to cover all possibilities,’ he added quickly as he saw the pitying looks of the others.

  ‘The wall is perfectly smooth, no human could ever scale it,’ Fang said. ‘Not even Shih Lang here, and he is our expert in that art. Besides, there are always soldiers about in the yard below, so nobody could perform antics on the wall unnoticed.’

  ‘I see,’ Judge Dee said. He stroked his long black beard, then asked: ‘Why should Colonel Meng want to kill the Vice-Commander?’

  ‘Soo was an able officer, but short-tempered and a bit rough in the mouth. Four days ago he cursed Meng in front of the troops, because Meng had taken sides with Lieutenant Kao.’

  ‘I was present,’ Mao said. ‘Meng kept himself under control, but his face was livid. He brooded over this insult, and …’ He paused significantly.

  ‘Meng had been bawled out by Soo before,’ Shih Lang remarked. ‘He was accustomed to it, didn’t take it seriously.’

  Judge Dee said to the Commander: ‘You mentioned this breach of discipline by Lieutenant Kao before. What did he do?’

  ‘Soo cursed Kao because his leather belt was cracked. Kao answered back and Soo was going to have him severely punished. Colonel Meng spoke up for Kao, and then Soo went for Meng.’