Kuo shook his head.
"No, Your Honor," he replied, "there wouldn't have been any blood if the blow was inflicted by, for instance, a heavy mallet wrapped up in a piece of thick cloth."
Judge Dee nodded.
"An autopsy would, of course, show the crushed skull," he remarked. "But suppose this theory is incorrect, what other proof of violence could you find on the body? It all happened five months ago already!"
"Much depends," the hunchback answered, "on the kind of coffin used and conditions existing inside the tomb. But even if decomposition were far advanced, I think I could still trace poison, for example, by studying the condition of the skin and of the marrow inside the bones."
The judge thought for a while. Then he said:
"According to the law, exhuming a corpse without valid reason is a capital offense. If the autopsy failed to produce irrefutable proof that Loo Ming was murdered, I would have to tender my resignation, and place myself at the disposal of the authorities, to be judged for desecrating a grave. If one adds thereto the charge of having falsely accused Mrs. Loo of having murdered her husband, there is not the slightest doubt that I would be executed. The entire Government is behind its officials, but only as long as they don't make mistakes. Our Imperial civil service is such a vast organization that there can be no margin of leniency toward offending officials, even if they acted in good faith."
Judge Dee rose and started pacing the floor. His three lieutenants were watching him anxiously. Suddenly he halted.
"We shall have the autopsy!" he said firmly. "I'll take the risk!"
Chiao Tai and Tao Gan looked doubtful. The latter remarked:
"That woman knew all kinds of dark secrets. What if she killed her husband by casting a spell on him? That wouldn't leave any trace on the body."
The judge shook his head impatiently.
"I do believe," he said, "that there are many things in this world which are beyond our understanding. But I refuse to believe that August Heaven would allow the forces of darkness to kill a human being by magic alone. Ma Joong, issue the necessary instructions to the headman. The autopsy on the body of Loo Ming will take place this afternoon, in the cemetery."
Twentieth Chapter
The North Quarter of the city looked as if a migration of the population were in progress. The streets were crowded with people, all moving toward the North Gate.
When the palanquin of Judge Dee was carried through the gate, the crowd made way in sullen silence. But as soon as they saw the small, closed sedan chair in which Mrs. Loo was carried along, they burst out in loud cheers.
The long file of people went through the snow hills to the northwest part of the city, toward the plateau where the main graveyard was located. They followed the path winding among the larger and smaller grave mounds, and converged on the open grave in the center, where the constables had erected an open shed of reed mats.
As he descended from his palanquin the judge saw that the temporary tribunal had been set up as well as circumstances permitted. A high wooden table served as bench, and the senior scribe sat at a side table, blowing in his hands to keep them warm. In front of the open grave mound stood a large coffin, supported on trestles. The undertaker and his assistants stood by its side. Thick reed mats had been spread out over the snow in front, and Kuo was squatting there by a portable stove, vigorously fanning the fire.
About three hundred people stood in a wide circle all around. The judge sat down in the only chair behind the bench, and Ma Joong and Chiao Tai stood themselves on either side of him. Tao Gan had walked over to the coffin and was examining it curiously.
The bearers put down Mrs. Loo's sedan chair and the headman pulled the screen curtain open. He drew back with a gasp. They saw the still body of Mrs. Loo, slumped over the crossbar.
Muttering angrily the crowd drew closer.
"Have a look at that woman!" Judge Dee ordered Kuo. To his assistants he whispered: Heaven forbid that the woman has died on our hands."
Kuo carefully lifted Mrs. Loo's head. Suddenly her eyelids fluttered. She heaved a deep sigh. Kuo removed the crossbar, and assisted her as she staggered to the shed, supporting herself on a cane. When she saw the open grave mound, she shrank back and covered her face with her sleeve.
"Nothing but play-acting," Tao Gan muttered disgustedly.
"Yes," Judge Dee said worriedly, "but the crowd loves it."
He struck the table with his gavel. It sounded curiously weak in the cold, open air.
"We shall now," he announced in a loud voice, "proceed to the autopsy on the corpse of the late Loo Ming."
Suddenly Mrs. Loo looked up. Supporting herself on her stick she said slowly:
Mrs. Loo arrives at the cemetery
"Your Honor is the father and mother of us, the common people. This morning in the tribunal I spoke rashly, because as a poor young widow I had to defend my honor, and that of our Master Lan. But I received the just punishment for my unseemly conduct. Now I beg Your Honor on my knees to let the matter rest here, and not to desecrate the coffin of my poor dead husband."
She sank to her knees and knocked her forehead on the ground three times.
A murmur of approval rose from the onlookers. Here was a reasonable proposal for a compromise, a settlement so familiar to them in their daily lives.
The judge tapped on the bench.
"I, the magistrate," he said firmly, "should never have ordered this autopsy if I didn't have ample proof that Loo Ming was murdered. This woman has a clever tongue, but she shall not prevent me from executing my duties. Open the coffin!"
As the undertaker stepped forward, Mrs. Loo again rose. Half-turning to the crowd she shouted:
"How can you oppress your people like this? Is that your conception of being a magistrate? You maintain that I murdered my husband, but what evidence did you bring forward? Let me tell you that although you are the magistrate here, you are not omnipotent! They say that the doors of the higher authorities are always open for the persecuted and the oppressed. And remember, when a magistrate has been proved to have falsely accused an innocent person, the law shall mete out to the offender the same punishment he wanted to give the falsely accused! I may be a defenseless young widow, but I shall not rest until that judge's cap has been removed from your head!"
Loud shouts of "She's right! We won't have an autopsy!" rose from the crowd.
"Silence!" the judge called out. "If the corpse fails to show clear proof of murder, I shall gladly take the punishment to be meted out to that woman!"
As Mrs. Loo again made to speak, Judge Dee pointed to the coffin and continued quickly: "Since the proof is there, what are we waiting for?" As the crowd seemed to hesitate, he barked at the undertaker: "Proceed!"
The undertaker hammered his chisel under the lid, and his two helpers set to work on the other side of the coffin. Soon they had loosened the heavy lid, and lowered it to the ground. They covered their mouth and nose with their neckcloth, and took the body out of the coffin together with the thick mat on which it had rested inside. They put it down in front of the bench. Some of the onlookers who in their eagerness to miss nothing had come very near, now drew back hastily. The corpse presented a sickening sight.
Kuo placed two vases with burning incense sticks on either side of the dead body. Having covered his face with a veil of thin gauze, he replaced his thick gloves by thin leather ones. He looked up at the judge for the sign to begin.