Judge Dee put his cup down. He asked:
"Could your wife have touched it?"
"She knew better than that, Your Honor!" Pan replied with a smile. "I have warned her often enough about lacquer poisoning, she knew how painful it is! Last month Mrs. Loo of the cotton shop came to see me. She had a nasty case of it, her hand was swollen and covered with sores. She asked me how it should be treated. I told her ..."
"How do you know that woman?" Judge Dee interrupted.
"When she was still a child," Pan said, "her parents lived next door to my former house, over in the west city. After she had married I lost sight of her. Not that I minded much, for I never cared for the women in that family. Her father was a decent merchant, but her mother was of Tartar descent and dabbled in black magic. Her daughter had the same weird interests, she was always preparing strange potions in the kitchen, and sometimes would fall into a trance, and then say gruesome things. Apparently she knew my new address, and so came to consult me about her poisoned hand. She also told me then that her husband was dead."
"That is very interesting indeed," the judge said. He gave Pan a pitying look, then added: "I now know who committed this foul crime, Pan Feng. But the criminal is a dangerous maniac, and such people have to be handled with great care. Stay at home tonight and nail boards over that window in the bedroom. And keep your front door locked. Tomorrow you'll know."
Pan Feng had been listening dumbfounded. Judge Dee did not give him time to ask questions. He thanked Pan for the tea and left.
Fourteenth Chapter
When Judge Dee came back to the tribunal he found Ma Joong, Chiao Tai and Tao Gan waiting for him in his private office. One look at their drawn faces sufficed to show that they had no good news.
"Mr. Chu Ta-yuan had drawn up an excellent plan," Ma Joong reported disconsolately, "but we failed to discover any further clues. Chu Ta-yuan together with Chiao Tai went the round of all the notables, and made a list of all the pupils Master Lan ever had. Here it is, but it doesn't look very promising." He pulled a paper roll from his sleeve and presented it to Judge Dee. While the judge scanned it, Ma Joong pursued: "I myself went with Tao Gan and Sergeant Hoong to search Master Lan's house. All in vain; we found nothing that even suggested that Lan ever had trouble with anybody. Then we questioned the master's chief assistant, a nice young fellow called Mei Cheng. He told us something that might be important."
Up to now the judge had not been listening very carefully, his mind was on the startling discoveries he had made in Pan's house. But now he sat up and asked eagerly:
"What was that?"
"He said," Ma Joong continued, "that once when he came back to the master's house unexpectedly at night, he heard him talking to a woman."
"Who was the woman?" Judge Dee asked tensely.
Ma Joong shrugged his shoulders. He said:
"Mei Cheng did not see her, he only heard through the door a few indistinct words that did not seem to make any sense. He did not recognize the woman's voice, but he did notice that she seemed angry. Mei Cheng is a straightforward, honest youngster, he wouldn't dream of eavesdropping, so he quickly left."
"But it proves at least that Master Lan did have some connection with a woman," Tao Gan said eagerly.
Judge Dee did not comment. He asked instead:
"Where is Sergeant Hoong?"
"When we were through in Master Lan's house," Ma Joong replied, "the Sergeant went to the market to question the two youngsters about the appearance of that Tartar fellow. He said he would be back here for dinner. Chiao Tai had seen Chu Ta-yuan to his house earlier, and joined us later in Lan's house."
Three beats of the bronze gong resounded through the tribunal.
Judge Dee said with a frown:
"That is the evening session. I have summoned a Mrs. Loo, a widow whose husband died under suspect circumstances. I plan to let her go after a few routine questions, and I hope no other matters are brought up during the session. For I have to tell you that this afternoon I made an important discovery in Pan Feng's house. It will probably solve the sordid crime committed there."
His three lieutenants stormed him with questions, but the judge raised his hand.
"After the session when Hoong is back also," he said, "I shall explain to you my theory."
He rose and with the assistance of Tao Gan quickly donned his official robes.
Judge Dee saw that again a large number of people had assembled in the court hall; all were eager to hear the latest news about the murder of Lan Tao-kuei.
When the judge had opened the session, he first announced that the investigation of the poisoning of the boxing champion had made good progress. He said that the tribunal was now in the possession of some important clues.
Then he filled out a slip for the warden of the jail. A hubbub of voices arose from the audience as they saw Mrs. Kuo bringing in the widow Loo. The headman led her before the bench, and Mrs. Kuo withdrew.
Judge Dee noticed that Mrs. Loo had spent great care on her appearance. Her face was made up with a discreet application of rouge, and her eyebrows were carefully penciled. Clad in a simple, dark-brown padded robe, she made a striking figure, but the rouge could not conceal the cruel lines of her small mouth. Before kneeling on the stone flags she shot the judge a quick look, but she gave no indication of having recognized him.
"State your name and profession!" Judge Dee ordered.
"This insignificant person," Mrs. Loo replied in a measured voice, "is the widow Loo, nee Chen. She manages the cotton shop of her late husband, Loo Ming."
When these details had been duly recorded, the judge said:
"I intended to ask you for some elucidation of your husband's death, and therefore had you called for answering some simple questions. Since you refused to come voluntarily, I had to issue a warrant, and shall now question you here in the tribunal."
"The death of my husband," Mrs. Loo said coldly, "occurred before Your Honor had taken up office here, and it was duly registered by Your Honor's predecessor. This person fails to see on what grounds Your Honor intends to reopen this case. As far as this person knows, no accusation was brought against her in this tribunal."
Judge Dee reflected that this was a clever and eloquent woman. He said curtly:
"This tribunal deems it necessary to verify some remarks pertaining to your late husband's illness, made by the coroner of this court."
Suddenly Mrs. Loo rose. Half-turning to the audience, she shouted:
"Shall a hunchback be allowed to cast aspersions on an honorable widow? Everyone knows that a man deformed in body is also deformed in character."
Judge Dee rapped his gavel on the bench. He called out angrily:
"You shall not revile an officer of this court, woman!"
"What a court!" Mrs. Loo said with contempt. "Didn't you, the magistrate, the other night come in disguise to my house? And when I wouldn't let you in, didn't you send for me privately today, without a warrant or anything?"
The judge grew pale with anger. With an effort he took a hold on himself. He said in an even voice:
"This woman is guilty of contempt of court. She shall be given fifty lashes!"
A murmur rose from the crowd; it was evident that they did not agree. But the headman quickly stepped up to Mrs. Loo. He grabbed her by her hair, and forced her down on her knees. Two constables tore her robe and undergarment down to her waist, and two others on either side put a foot on her calves and tied her hands on her back. The headman let the light whip swish through the air.