the judge had Ma Joong and Tao Gan called in to present their reports.
'Well, my brave,' Judge Dee said to Ma Joong, 'I hear that you found our man. Tell me the entire story!'
Ma Joong related his adventures of the two preceding nights and concluded:
'That man Hwang San corresponds in every detail to the description Your Honour gave me. Furthermore, these two hairpins are exactly identical with the sketch in the files here.'
Judge Dee nodded contentedly.
'If I am not greatly mistaken we shall be able to close this case tomorrow. You will see to it, Sergeant, that all persons connected with the rape-murder of Half Moon Street are present at the morning session of the tribunal.
'Now, Tao Gan, let us hear what you have discovered about Mrs Liang and Mr Lin Fan.'
Tao Gan gave a detailed account of his investigation, including the attempt on his life and Ma Joong's well- timed intervention.
Judge Dee expressed approval of Tao Gan's decision not to continue the investigation of the Lin mansion pending his return.
'Tomorrow,' Judge Dee announced, 'all of us shall have a conference here regarding the case of Liang
Then the judge dismissed his lieutenants and had the senior scribe bring in the official correspondence that had accumulated during his absence.
The news of the capture of the criminal of Half Moon Street had spread like wildfire through Poo-yang. Early the next morning a large crowd assembled in the tribunal long before the appointed hour.
When Judge Dee was seated behind the bench, he took up his vermilion brush and filled out a slip for the warden of the jail. Two constables dragged in Hwang San and pushed him to his knees in front of the dais. He groaned with pain as he bent his knee, but the headman shouted: 'Shut up and listen to His Excellency!' 'What is your name,' Judge Dee enquired, 'and for what crime are you brought before this tribunal?'
'My name ---' Hwang San began. The headman of the constables hit him on the head with his club and barked: 'You dog, speak reverently in front of your magistrate!' 'This insignificant person,' Hwang San said in a surly voice, 'is called Hwang, personal name San. I am an honest mendicant monk who has resigned from all worldly affairs. Last night I was suddenly assaulted by one of the runners of this tribunal and dragged to jail for some unknown reason.'
'You dogshead!' Judge Dee shouted, 'what about your murdering Pure Jade?'
'I don't know whether the wench was called Pure Jade or Impure Jade,' Hwang San said in a surly tone. 'But let me tell you that you won't pin the death of that harlot in Mother Pao's place on me! She hanged herself and I was not there at the time. That can be proved by several witnesses.'
'Spare me your sordid stories,' Judge Dee said sourly. 'I, the magistrate, tell you that on the night of the sixteenth you foully murdered Pure Jade, the only daughter of Butcher Hsiao Foo-han!'
'Your Honour,' Hwang San replied, 'I don't keep a calendar and I have not the faintest idea of what I did or did not do on that particular date. And the names you mention mean nothing to me.'
Judge Dee sat back in his chair. He pensively stroked his beard. Hwang San answered his conception of the rape-murderer in every detail and the hairpins had been found in his possession. Yet Hwang San's denial had the unmistakable ring of truth. Suddenly a thought struck the judge. He leaned forward in his chair and said:
'Look up at your magistrate and listen carefully while I refresh your memory. In the south-west corner of this city, over the river, there is a street of small shopkeepers. It is named Half Moon Street. On the corner of that street and a narrow alley is a butcher's shop. The butcher's daughter lived in a garret over the godown at the back of the shop. Now did not you effect entry into the girl's room by means of a strip of cloth that was hanging outside the window? And did not you rape and strangle her, making off with her golden hairpins?'
Judge Dee saw a flash of understanding in the one shifty eye that Hwang San was still able to open. The judge knew that this was after all his man.
'Confess your crime!' Judge Dee shouted at him, 'or shall I put the question to you under torture?'
Hwang San muttered something and then said in a loud, clear voice:
'You can accuse me of any crime you like, you dog-official. But you will wait long before I confess to a crime I did not commit!'
'Give that wretch fifty lashes with the heavy whip!' Judge Dee ordered.
The constables tore off Hwang San's robe, baring his muscular torso. The heavy thong swished through the air and slashed across the accused's back. Soon Hwang San's back was a mass of torn flesh and his blood stained the flagstones. However, he did not scream, emitting only deep groans. After the fiftieth blow he fell unconscious and his face struck the stone floor.
The headman revived him by burning vinegar under his nose and then offered him a cup of strong tea which Hwang San disdainfully refused.
'This,' Judge Dee remarked, 'is but the beginning. If you don't confess, I shall subject you to real torture. Your body is strong and we have the whole day before us.'
'If I confess,' Hwang San said hoarsely, 'you will chop my head off. If I don't confess I shall die under torture. I prefer the latter! I am willing to stand a little pain for the pleasure of getting you, dog-official, into trouble!'
At that the headman smashed Hwang San on the mouth with the butt of the whip. He was going to strike him again when the judge raised his hand. Hwang San spat some of his teeth on to the floor and uttered a horrible curse.
'Let me have a close look at this insolent dog,' Judge Dee said.
The constables jerked Hwang San to his feet and Judge Dee looked into his one, cruel eye. The other eye was a mass of swollen flesh as a result of the blow he had received in the fight with Ma Joong.
Judge Dee thought to himself that this was the type of degenerate, habitual criminal that would probably stand by his word and die under torture rather than confess. In his mind he rapidly reviewed what Ma Joong had told him about last night's encounter and his conversation with Hwang San.
'Let the criminal kneel down again!' the judge commanded. Then he took up the golden hairpins that lay on his desk. He threw them over the edge. They clattered to the floor, in front of Hwang San. He looked sullenly at the shining gold.
Judge Dee ordered the headman to bring Butcher Hsiao before him.
As the butcher knelt at Hwang San's side, Judge Dee said:
'I know that an evil destiny is connected with these hair needles. I have not, however, heard your full account of them.'
'Your Honour,' Butcher Hsiao began, 'in the old days, when my family still was fairly well off, my grandmother bought these pins in a pawnshop. By that unfortunate act she drew a fearful curse on our house. For a terrible destiny is connected with these things, caused by who knows what gruesome crime in the past. A few days after she got them two robbers broke into her room, killed my grandmother and stole the hairpins. They were caught while trying to sell the pins and they were beheaded on the execution ground. Had but my father then destroyed these harbingers of evil! He, however, was a virtuous man, blessed be his memory, and he let his feelings of filial piety prevail over his judgement.
'The next year my mother fell ill, complaining of a mysterious headache, and after a long illness she died. My father lost the little money he had and died shortly afterwards. I wanted to sell the hairpins, but my wife, the stupid person, insisted that they should be kept in reserve for a day of great need. And instead of keeping the evil things locked safely away, she let our only daughter wear them. And see what terrible fate befell the poor girl!'
Hwang San had listened intently to the tale which was told in simple language familiar to him.
'Accursed be Heaven and Hell!' he burst out, 'it would have to be me to steal those hairpins!'
A murmur arose from the crowd of spectators.
'Silence!' shouted Judge Dee.
He dismissed the butcher and addressed Hwang San in a conversational tone.
'No one can ever escape the decree of destiny. It does not matter whether you confess or not, Hwang San. The hand of Heaven is against you and you will never escape-here or in the Nether World!'
'What do I care after all, let us get this over and done with,' Hwang San replied. Then, addressing the
