The Chinese Maze Murders Read Online Free PDF Page A

brown travelling robes, torn and muddy from the fight with the robbers. Their faces were drawn and haggard in the uncertain light of the candles.
    Then the judge spoke:
    “Well, my friends, the hour is late and we are tired and hungry. Yet I would like to have a consultation with you about this queer state of affairs we have found here.”
    Tao Gan and Chiao. Tai nodded eagerly.
    “This town,” Judge Dee continued, “baffles me completely. Although my predecessor was in residence here for three years and kept his living quarters in excellent condition, he apparently never used the court hall, and sent home the entire personnel of the tribunal. Although a courier must have duly informed him of my arrival scheduled for this afternoon, he went away without even leaving a message for me, entrusting the seals of office to that scoundrel of a warden. The other officials of the district administration simply ignored our arrival. How do you explain all this?”
    “Could it be, Your Honour,” Chiao Tai asked, “that the people here are planning to rebel against the central government?”
    Judge Dee shook his head.
    “It is true,” he replied, “that the streets are deserted and the shops closed at an unusually early hour. But I did not notice any sign of unrest and there were no barricades or other military preparations. The attitude of the people in the street was not antagonistic, they were just indifferent.”
    Tao Gan pensively pulled at the three long hairs that sprouted from a mole on his left cheek.
    “For a moment,” he remarked, “I thought that maybe the pest or some other dangerous epidemic disease had ravaged this district. That, however, does not tally withthe fact that there were no signs of panic, and the people were partaking freely from the food of the street stalls.”
    Judge Dee combed with his fingers some dry leaves from his long side whiskers. After a while he said:
    “I would rather not ask that warden for elucidation. The fellow has all the marks of a consummate rascal!”
    The steward entered followed by two of Judge Dee’s servants. One carried a platter with bowls of rice and soup and the other a large tea pot.
    The judge ordered the steward to have bowls of rice brought to the jail for the prisoners.
    They ate in silence.
    When they had finished the scratch meal and drunk a cup of hot tea, Chiao Tai sat for a while in deep thought, twisting his small moustache. Then the spoke:
    “I fully agree with Ma Joong, Your Honour, when out there in the mountains he said that the robbers who attacked us were no professional highwaymen. How about questioning our prisoners about what is going on here?”
    “An excellent idea!” the judge exclaimed. “Find out who their leader is and bring him here!”
    After a while Chiao Tai came back, leading by a chain none other than the robber who had tried to stab Judge Dee with his spear. The judge gave him a sharp look. He saw a strongly built man with a regular, open face; he seemed more like a small shopkeeper or a tradesman than a highway robber.
    As he knelt in front of the desk Judge Dee ordered curtly:
    “State your name and profession!”
    “This person,” the man said respectfully,” is called Fang. Until recently I was a blacksmith in this city of Lan-fang, where my family has been living for several generations.”
    “Why,” Judge Dee inquired, “did you, engaged inan old and honourable trade, prefer the despicable life of a street robber?”
    Fang lowered his head and said in a dull voice:
    “I am guilty of assault with murderous intent. I fully realize that the death penalty awaits me. I confess my guilt which needs no further proof. Why should Your Honour bother to make further inquiries?”
    Deep despair rang from his words. Judge Dee said quietly:
    “I never sentence a criminal until I have heard his full story. Speak up and answer my question!”
    “This person,” Fang began, “has been a blacksmith for over thirty years, having