'The second document,' the head of the archives continued, 'is dated two years ago. It is an official communication signed by Lin Fan, addressed to this tribunal He reports that he has found out that the monks do not keep their vows and lead a dissolute life, engaging in drinking and gambling; that he has therefore ordered them to vacate the temple and that he requests that the compound be sealed by the authorities."
'That,' Judge Dee observed, 'must have been when Lin Fan discovered that Mrs Liang was on his track! I assume that when he told the monks to leave he gave them a good reward. It is impossible to trace such vagrant monks, so we shall never know what part they took in Lin Fan's secret activities, or whether they knew about the murder under the bell.' Addressing the archivist he added: 'I shall keep these documents here for reference. You'll now find me an old map of this city that shows the situation about one hundred years ago.'
When the head of the archives had gone, a clerk came in with a sealed letter. He respectfully handed it to the judge adding that it had been delivered by a captain from the garrison headquarters.
Judge Dee broke the seal and glanced through the contents. He handed it to Sergeant Hoong saying:
'This is the official notification that our garrison has returned to the city this morning and has resumed its duties.'
He settled back in his arm-chair and ordered a fresh pot of hot tea. 'Let Tao Gan come here also,' he added. 'I want to discuss with all of you how to initiate the case against Lin Fan.'
After Tao Gan had come in, all sipped a cup of hot tea. Just when Judge Dee put his cup down the headman came in and announced that Mrs Liang had arrived.
The judge shot a quick look at his lieutenants.
'This will be a difficult interview!' he muttered.
Mrs Liang seemed much better than the last time Judge Dee had seen her. Her hair was neatly done up and there was an alert look in her eyes.
When Sergeant Hoong had made her sit down in a comfortable arm-chair in front of the desk, Judge Dee said gravely:
'Madam, I have at last found sufficient evidence for arresting Lin Fan. At the same time I discovered another murder committed by him, here in Poo-yang.'
'Did you find Liang Ko-fa's body?' the old lady exclaimed.
'Whether it was your grandson, Madam, I can't say yet,' Judge Dee replied. 'Only a skeleton was left, and there was nothing to identify it.'
'It must be his!' Mrs Liang cried out. 'Lin Fan planned to kill him as soon as he learned that we had traced him to Poo-yang! Let me tell you that when we escaped from the burning redoubt, a falling roof-beam struck Liang Ko-fa's left arm. I had the broken bone set as soon as we were safe, but it never healed properly.'
The judge looked at her thoughtfully, slowly caressing his side-whiskers. Then he said:
'I regret to inform you, Madam, that the skeleton did indeed show a badly-healed fracture of the bone of the left upper arm.'
'I knew that Lin Fan murdered my grandson!' Mrs Liang wailed. She started trembling all over, tears came flowing down her hollow cheeks. Sergeant Hoong quickly gave her a cup of hot tea.
Judge Dee waited till she had composed herself. Then he spoke:
'You may rest assured, Madam, that this murder shall now be avenged. I hate to cause you more distress, but I must ask you a few more questions. The records you gave me state that when you and Liang Ko-fa had escaped from the burning redoubt, you found shelter with a distant relative. Could you give me a more detailed account of how you managed to elude the attacking ruffians, and how you made your way to that relative?'
Mrs Liang looked at the judge with a vacant stare. Suddenly she started to sob convulsively.
'It… it was so horrible!' she brought out with difficulty. 'I don't… I don't want to think of it… I____________________' Her voice trailed off.
Judge Dee gave a sign to the sergeant. He put his arm round Mrs Liang's shoulders and led her away.
'It's no use!' the judge said resignedly.
Tao Gan pulled at the three long hairs on his left cheek. Then he asked curiously:
'Why are those details of Mrs Liang's flight from the burning redoubt important, Your Honour?'
'There are a few points,' Judge Dee answered, 'that puzzle me. But we can discuss that later. Let's now see first what action we can take against Lin Fan. He is an extremely astute scoundrel, we'll have to formulate our charge with the utmost care.'
'It seems to me, Your Honour,' Sergeant Hoong said, 'that the murder of Liang Ko-fa provides the best approach. That's the most serious charge, if we can convict him on that we needn't bother about his attack on us or about his smuggling!'
The three others nodded their approval, but the judge made no comment. He seemed deep in thought. At last he said:
'Lin Fan had ample time to obliterate the traces of his salt smuggling. I don't think we could assemble sufficient evidence for getting him on that charge. Besides, even if I could make him confess to the smuggling, he'll slip through our fingers. For cases of infringing on the State monopoly are beyond my jurisdiction, they can be dealt with only by the Provincial Court. And that gives Lin Fan time and opportunity to mobilise his friends and relatives on his behalf, and have them distribute bribes wherever they can.
'Further, his attempt at trapping us under the bell is, of course, assault with murderous intent. And on an Imperial official to boot! I must look up the Code, if memory serves such an assault is even termed a crime against the State. Perhaps there's a good opening there.'
He pensively tugged at Ms moustache.
'But doesn't the murder of Liang Ko-fa provide a much better way of attack?' Tao Gan asked.
Judge Dee slowly shook his head.
'Not with the evidence we have at our disposal now,' he answered. "We don't know when and how that murder was committed. The records state that Lin Fan closed the temple because of the dissolute behaviour of the monks. He may give a very plausible explanation of the murder, saying, for instance, that Liang Ko-fa while spying on him struck up an acquaintance with the monks. And that it was presumably they who killed him after a gambling quarrel and concealed his body under the bell.'
Ma Joong looked unhappy.
'Since we know,' he said impatiently, 'that Lin Fan is guilty of Heaven knows how many crimes, why bother about legal technicalities? Let's put him in the screws and see whether he won't confess!'
'You forget,' Judge Dee said, 'that Lin Fan is an elderly man. If we subject him to severe torture, he may well die on our hands, and then we would be in serious trouble. No, our only hope is to get more direct proof. During the afternoon session of the tribunal I shall first hear Lin Fan's steward, and the captain of his boat. They are sturdy fellows, if necessary we shall question them with legal severities.
'Now you, Ma Joong, will go with Sergeant Hoong and Tao Gan to the Lin mansion, and institute a thorough search for incriminating documents or other clues. Also____________________'
Suddenly the door burst open and the warden of the jail came rushing in. He seemed very upset.
He knelt in front of Judge Dee's desk and knocked his forehead on the floor several times in succession.
'Speak up, man!' the judge shouted angrily. 'What has happened?'
'This unworthy person deserves to die!' the warden wailed. 'Early this morning Lin Fan's steward engaged one of my stupid guards in conversation, and the blockhead told him that Lin Fan had been arrested and would be tried for murder. Just now when I inspected the jail I found the steward dead.'