"I can't identify a single letter!", Sergeant Hoong exclaimed.
Judge Dee did not seem to have heard him. He stood there gazing enraptured at the inscription.
"That is the most magnificent calligraphy I have ever seen!", he sighed. "Unfortunately the signature is so covered with moss that I can hardly read it. Yes, that is it. 'The Hermit clad in Crane Feathers'. What a curious name!"
The judge thought for a moment. Then he continued:
"I cannot remember ever having heard of a person of that name. But whoever he be, that man is a superb calligrapher! Seeing such writing, my friends, one understands why the ancients praised great calligraphy by comparing it to 'the tension of a crouching panther, and the wild force of dragons sporting among rain and thunder'."
Judge Dee passed through the archway, still shaking his head in admiration.
"Give me handwriting that a man can read!", Ma Joong whispered to the sergeant.
In front rose a row of age-cold cedar trees. The space between their heavy trunks was filled with large boulders and thorny shrubs. The tree tops met on high, screening out the sunlight.
The air was foul with the smell of decaying leaves.
On the right, two gnarled pine trees on either side of the path formed a natural gateway. At the foot of one stood a stone tablet with the inscription "Entrance". Beyond it a dim, damp tunnel went straight on for a while, then disappeared in a curve.
As he was looking into this green tunnel Judge Dee suddenly felt an uncanny fear.
Slowly he turned. On the left he saw the opening of another tunnel. A number of large boulders were piled up among the cedar trees. One stone was marked "Exit".
Ma Joong and Sergeant Hoong stood behind the judge. They did not say a word. They too felt the weird, threatening atmosphere of this place.
Judge Dee again looked into the entrance. The tunnel seemed to exhale a cold current of air. The judge felt chilled to his very bones. Yet the air was completely still. Not a leaf moved.
Judge Dee wanted to avert his gaze but the dim tunnel held him hypnotized. He felt a compelling desire to enter. He thought that he could see the tall figure of the old Governor standing in the green dimness beyond the curve, beckoning him.
With a great effort the judge mastered himself. In order to free himself from this evil atmosphere he forced his gaze to the ground, covered with a thick layer of decaying leaves.
Suddenly his heart stood still. In the middle of a muddy stretch, right in front of his feet, he saw the imprint of a small foot, pointing towards the tunnel. This eerie signpost seemed to order him to enter.
Judge Dee heaved a deep sigh, then turned round abruptly. He said casually:
"Well, we had better not venture into this maze without adequate preparations!"
So speaking he passed under the archway, crossed the paved yard and walked back into the garden. Never had the warm sunlight been so welcome to him.
Judge Dee looked up at a huge cedar tree that rose high over the pines. He said to Ma Joong:
"I would like to have at least a general idea of the size and shape of this maze. We need not go inside for that. If you climb this tree you should be able to obtain a view of the entire area."
"That is easily done!" Ma Joong exclaimed.
He loosened his girdle and took off his outer robe. Then he jumped and just caught the lowest branch. He pulled himself up. Soon he had disappeared among the thick foliage.
Judge Dee and Sergeant Hoong sat down on a fallen tree. Neither of them spoke.
They heard a crashing sound above them. Ma Joong jumped down. He looked ruefully at a tear in his under garment.
"I climbed up right to the top, Your Honour", he said. "From there I could overlook the maze. It is circular in form and extends well, over an acre, right up to where the mountain slope begins. But I could discover nothing of its design. The tree tops meet nearly everywhere, I could see only short stretches of the path. Here and there a light haze hangs over it. I would not wonder if inside there were a number of stagnant pools."
"Did you see nothing like the roof of a pavilion or a small house?", inquired Judge Dee.
"No", Ma Joong replied, "I saw only a sea of green tree tops!"
"That is curious", Judge Dee mused. "Since the Governor spent so much of his time in that maze, one would expect him to have had some small library or studio inside."
The judge rose and straightened his robes.
"Let us now have a closer look at the mansion itself," he said.
They passed once more the garden pavilion and the two still figures under the magnolia tree. Then they ascended the terrace.
They inspected a number of larger and smaller empty rooms. Most of the woodwork had rotted away, the bricks showed through the plaster.
As the judge was entering a dim corridor, Ma Joong who had been walking ahead of him called out:
"Here is a closed door, Your Honour!"
Judge Dee and Sergeant Hoong walked up to him. Ma Joong pointed to a large wooden door that was in excellent state of repair.
"This is the first door we find in this place that closes properly!", the sergeant observed.
Ma Joong put his shoulders against it and nearly fell inside. The door swung open smoothly on well-oiled hinges.
Judge Dee stepped inside.
The room had only one window, barred with a solid iron grating. It was empty but for a rustic bamboo couch in a corner. The floor was swept clean.
Sergeant Hoong entered the room too and walked over to the grated window.
Ma Joong hurriedly stepped out.
"Since our adventure under the bronze bell" [2], he called to Judge Dee from outside, "I have become very chary of closed spaces! While Your Honour and the sergeant are inside, I shall stand guard here in the corridor and see that no well-wisher slams that door shut on you!"
Judge Dee smiled bleakly.
With a glance at the barred window and the high ceiling he remarked:
"You are quite right, Ma Joong! Once that door is locked we would not easily escape from this room!"
Feeling the smooth bamboo of the couch that did not show one speck of dust, he added:
"Someone has been living here until quite recently!"
"Not a bad hiding place", the sergeant commented. "This may have served as the lair of a criminal!"
"A criminal or a prisoner", Judge Dee said pensively.
He then ordered Sergeant Hoong to seal the door.
They inspected the other rooms but did not discover anything. As noon was approaching, Judge Dee decided to go back to the tribunal.
Eighteenth Chapter
Once they were back in the tribunal Judge Dee immediately had Headman Fang called in. He ordered him to proceed with ten constables and two stretchers to the country mansion to fetch the remains of the old gatekeeper and his wife.
Then the judge had his luncheon served in his private office.
While he was eating he called for the Head of the Archives. This was a man over sixty who had been recommended to the judge by the master of the Guild of Silk Merchants. He was a retired silk dealer who had lived all his life in Lan-fang.
As Judge Dee was emptying his bowl of soup, he asked:
"Have you ever heard of an old scholar in this district who uses the pen name of' Hermit clad in Crane-feathers'?"
The archivist asked:
"I suppose that Your Honour means Master Crane Robe?"
"That might well be the same man", Judge Dee said. "He must live somewhere outside the city."
"Yes", the other replied, "that is Master Crane Robe, as he is generally called. He is a hermit who has been living in the mountains outside the south gate as long as I can remember. No one knows how old he is."