The Monkey and the Tiger

'I see. What did you do next?'

I? Oh, I rented a chair, and was carried home. But the incident had upset my stomach, and when I descended in front of my gate, I suddenly became very ill. Fortunately Mr Wang and his son were just coming back from a walk, and his son carried me inside. Strong as an ox, that boy is. Well, then I went straight to bed.' He again mopped his face before he concluded: 'I fully realized that I shouldn't have laid hands on that old vagabond, Excellency. And now he has lodged a complaint, of course. Well, I am prepared to pay any indemnity, within reason, of course, and ...'

Judge Dee had risen.

'Come with me, Mr Leng,' he said evenly. 'I want to show you something.'

The judge left the office, followed by Tao Gan and the bewildered pawnbroker. In the courtyard the judge told the headman to take them to the mortuary in the gatehouse. He led them to a musty room, bare except for a deal table on trestles, covered with a reed mat. The judge lifted up the end of the mat, and asked:

'Do you know this man, Mr Leng?'

After one look at the old tramp's face, Leng shouted:

'He is dead! Holy Heaven, I killed him!'

He fell on his knees and wailed: 'Mercy, Excellency, have mercy! It was an accident, I swear it! I ...'

'You'll be given an opportunity to explain when you are standing trial,' Judge Dee told him coldly. 'Now we'll go back to my office, for I am not yet through with you, Mr Leng. Not by a long shot!'

Back in his private office the judge sat down behind his desk and motioned Tao Gan to take the stool in front. Leng was not invited to be seated so he had to remain standing there, under the watchful eye of the headman.

Judge Dee silently studied him for a while, slowly caressing his long sidewhiskers. Then he sat up, took the emerald ring from his sleeve and asked:

'Why did you tell my assistant that you had never seen this ring before?'

Leng stared at the ring with raised eyebrows. He did not seem much disturbed by Judge Dee's sudden question.

'I couldn't have known that this gentleman belonged to the tribunal, could I, sir?' he asked, annoyed. 'Otherwise I would have told him, of course. But the ring reminded me of a rather unpleasant experience, and I didn't feel like discussing that with a complete stranger.'

'All right. Now tell me who that young woman was.'

Leng shrugged his round shoulders.

I really couldn't tell you, sir! She was dressed rather poorly, and she belonged to a band of vagabonds for the tip of her little finger was missing. But a good-looking wench. Very good-looking, I must say. Well, she puts the ring on the table and asks what it's worth. It's a nice antique piece, as you can see for yourself, sir, worth about six silver pieces. Ten, perhaps, to a collector. So I tell her, "I can let you have here and now one good shining silver piece if you want to pawn it, and two if you sell it outright." Business is business, isn't it? Even if your customer happens to be a pretty piece of goods. But does she take my offer? No sir! She snatches the ring from my hands, snaps "Not for sale!" and off she goes. And that was the last I saw of her.'

'I heard a quite different story,' Judge Dee said dryly. 'Speak up, what were you two whispering about?'

Leng's face turned red.

'So my clerks, those good-for-nothings, have been spying on me again! Well, then you'll understand how awkward it was, sir. I asked her only because I thought that such a good-looking girl from up-country, all alone in this town ... well, that she might meet the wrong people, and ...'

'I AM NOT YET THROUGH WITH YOU, MR LENG!'

Judge Dee hit his fist on the table.

'Don't stand there twaddling, man! Tell me exactly what you said!'

'Well,' Leng replied with a sheepish look, 'I proposed that we should meet later in a tea-house near by, and ... and I patted her hand a bit, just to assure her I meant well, you know. The wench suddenly flew into a rage, said that if I didn't stop bothering her, she would call her brother who was waiting outside. Then ... then she rushed off.'

'Quite. Headman, put this man under lock and key. The charge is manslaughter.'

The headman grabbed the protesting pawnbroker and took him outside.

'Pour me another cup of tea, Tao Gan,' Judge Dee said. 'A curious story! And did you notice the discrepancy between Leng's account of his meeting with the girl and that given by the clerk?'

'I did, sir!' Tao Gan said eagerly. 'That wretched clerk said nothing about their having a quarrel at the counter. According to him they held a whispered conversation. I think that in fact the girl accepted Leng's proposal, sir. The quarrel Leng spoke of occurred afterwards, in the house of assignation. And that is why Leng murdered the old tramp!'

Judge Dee, who had been slowly sipping his tea, now put his cup down. Leaning back in his chair, he said:

'Develop your theory further, Tao Gan!'

'Well, this time Leng's philandering led to serious trouble! For the girl, her brother and the old tramp belonged to one and the same organized gang; the girl was their call bird. As soon as Leng had arrived in the house of assignation and began to make up to the girl, she shouted that he was assaulting her—the old, familiar trick. Her brother and the old tramp came rushing inside, and demanded money. Leng succeeded in escaping. When he was on his way to the ridge, however, the old tramp waylaid him and tried to make Leng pay up by making a scene in the street. Leng's bearers were beating up the young hoodlums, so they couldn't hear what Leng and the old man were quarrelling about. Leng silenced the tramp by knocking him down. What do you think of that as a theory, sir?'

'Plausible, and in perfect accordance with Leng's character. Continue!'

'While Leng was being carried up to the ridge he did indeed become worried. Not about the condition of the old tramp, however, but about the other members of the gang. He was afraid that when they found the old tramp, they would come after him to take revenge. When the hawker told Leng that the tramp had taken the road uphill, Leng followed him. About half-way up he struck him down from behind, with a sharp piece of rock, or perhaps the hilt of his dagger.'

Tao Gan paused. When the judge nodded encouragingly, he resumed:

'It was comparatively easy for Leng, who is a powerful fellow and perfectly familiar with that area, to carry the dead body to the deserted hut. And Leng also had a good reason for cutting off his victim's fingers, namely to hide the fact that the man was a member of a gang. But as to where and how Leng cut off the fingers, I confess that that is a complete riddle to me, sir.'

Judge Dee sat up straight. Stroking his long black beard, he said with a smile:

'You did very well indeed. You have a logical mind, and at the same time strong powers of imagination, a combination that'll go a long way to make you a good investigator! I shall certainly keep your theory in mind. However, its weak point is that it is based entirely on the assumption that the eyewitness account of the clerk regarding the meeting in the pawnshop is absolutely correct. But when I mentioned the discrepancy between the two accounts just now, my intention was to quote it as an example of how little trust can be put in eyewitness accounts. As a matter of fact, it is too early yet to formulate theories, Tao Gan. First we must verify the facts we have, and try to discover additional data.'

Noticing Tao Gan's crestfallen look, Judge Dee went on quickly: