The man stood very still; he fixed the judge with a queer, vacant stare. His rather regular face was disfigured by a birthmark on his left cheek, as large as a copper coin. The judge saw to his amazement that he wore na cap; his graying hair was done up in a topknot. He saw vaguely that the man was clad in a gray house robe with a black sash.
As Judge Dee opened his mouth to ask who he was, the man suddenly stepped noiselessly back into the dark passage. The judge quickly raised the candle, but the sudden movement extinguished the flame. It was pitch dark.
'Hey there, come here!' Judge Dee shouted. Only the echo answered him. He waited a moment. There was only the deep silence of the empty house.
'The impudent rascal!' Judge Dee muttered angrily. Feeling along the wall, he found his way back to the garden, and quickly went back to the office.
Tang was showing Sergeant Hoong a bulky dossier.
'I want to have it understood once and for all,' Judge Dee peevishly addressed Tang, 'that none of the personnel shall walk about in this tribunal in undress, not even at night and when off duty. Just now I came upon a fellow wearing only a house robe, and not even a cap on his head! And the insolent yokel didn't even bother to answer me when I challenged him. Go and get him. I'll give him a good talking to!'
Tang had started to tremble all over; he looked fixedly at the judge in abject fright. Judge Dee suddenly felt sorry for him; after all, the man had been doing his best. He went on in a calmer voice. 'Well, such slips will happen now and then. Who is the fellow anyway? The night watchman, I suppose?'
Tang shot a frightened look at the open door behind the judge. He stuttered, 'Did… did he wear a gray robe?'
'He did,' Judge Dee replied.
'And did he have a birthmark on his left cheek?'
'He had,' the judge said curtly. 'But stop fidgeting, man! Speak up, who is he?'
Tang bent his head. He replied in a toneless voice, 'It was the dead magistrate, your honor.'
Somewhere in the compound a door slammed shut with a resounding crash.
FOURTH CHAPTER
'WHAT door is that?' Judge Dee barked.
'I think maybe it's the front door of the private residence, your honor,' Tang replied in a faltering voice. 'It doesn't shut properly.'
'Have it mended tomorrow!' the judge ordered brusquely. He remained standing there, in grim silence. Slowly caressing his side whiskers, he remembered the queer vacant stare of the apparition, and how quickly and noiselessly it had disappeared.
Then he walked round his desk and sat down in his armchair. Sergeant Hoong looked at him silently, his eyes wide with horror. With an effort judge Dee composed himself. He studied Tang's gray face for a moment, then asked, 'Have you seen that apparition too?'
Tang nodded.
'Three days ago, your honor,' he replied, 'and in this very office. Late at night I came here to fetch a document I needed, and he was standing there, by the side of his desk, his back turned to me.'
'What happened then?' the judge asked tensely.
'I uttered a cry, your honor, and let the candle drop. I ran outside and called the guards. When we came back, the room was empty.' Tang passed his hand over his eyes, then added, 'He looked exactly as we found him, your honor, that morning in his library. Then he was wearing his gray house robe with the black sash. His cap had dropped from his head when he fell on the floor… dead.'
As Judge Dee and Sergeant Hoong remained silent, he went on. 'I am convinced that the investigator must have seen him too, your honor! That is why he looked so ill that last morning, and why he left so abruptly.'
The judge tugged at his mustache. After a while he said gravely, 'It would be foolish to deny the existence of supernatural phenomena. We must never forget that our Master Confucius himself was very noncommittal when his disciples questioned him on those things. On the other hand, I am inclined to begin by seeking for a rational explanation.'
Hoong slowly shook his head.
'There's none, your honor,' he remarked. 'The only explanation is that the dead magistrate can't find rest because his murder is not yet avenged. His body is lying in the Buddhist temple, and they say that it is easy for a dead man to manifest himself to the living in the proximity of his corpse, and when decomposition has not yet advanced too far.'
Judge Dee rose abruptly.
'I shall give this problem serious thought,' he said. 'Now I'll go back to the house and examine the library.'
'You can't risk meeting the ghost again, sir!' Sergeant Hoong exclaimed, aghast.
'Why not?' Judge Dee asked. 'The dead man's purpose is to have his murder avenged. He must know that I have the same desire. Why then should he want to harm me? When you are through here, sergeant, come and join me in the library. You can take two guards with lampions along if you want.'
Ignoring their protests, judge Dee left the office. This time he first walked over to the chancery and fetched there a large lantern of oiled paper.
When he was again in the deserted house he entered the side passage where the apparition had disappeared. On either side was a door. Opening the one on his right he saw a spacious room, the floor covered with larger and smaller bundles and boxes, piled up in confusion. Placing the lantern on the floor, judge Dee felt the bundles and looked among the piled-up boxes. A grotesque shadow in the corner startled him. Then he realized it was his own. There was nothing there but the belongings of the dead man.
Shaking his head, the judge entered the room opposite. It was empty but for a few large pieces of furniture, packed up in straw mats.
The passage ended in a massive door, securely locked and bolted. Deep in thought the judge walked back to the corridor.
The door at its end was elaborately carved with motifs of clouds and dragons, but its beauty was marred by a few boards nailed over the upper part. There the constables had smashed the panel in order to open the door.
Judge Dee tore off the strip of paper with the seal of the tribunal, and opened the door. Holding his lantern high he surveyed the small, square room, simply but elegantly furnished. On the left was a high, narrow window; directly in front of it stood a heavy ebony cupboard, bearing a large copper tea stove. On the stove stood a round pewter pan for boiling the tea water. Next to the stove he saw a small teapot of exquisite blue and white porcelain. The rest of the wall was taken up entirely by bookshelves, as was the wall opposite. The back wall had a low, broad window; its paper panes were scrupulously clean. In front of the window stood an antique desk of rosewood, with three drawers on either end, and a comfortable armchair, also of rosewood, covered with a red satin cushion. The desk was empty but for two copper candlesticks.
