they are handled! Perhaps the nephew manipulated the books in order to conceal his own malversations!'
'That possibility had already occurred to us,' the judge remarked. 'It's an annoying situation!'
'While riding back to the city this morning,' Tao Gan resumed, 'Ma Joong told me about the case Liu versus Djang. Is it quite certain that besides the old caretaker no other monk is living in the Buddhist Temple?'
Judge Dee looked questioningly at Ma Joong, who answered at once:
'Absolutely! I searched the entire temple, including the garden.'
'That's queer!' Tao Gan said. 'When I was in town the other day I happened to pass there. I saw a monk standing behind a pillar at the gate, craning his neck to peer inside. Since I am of an inquisitive disposition I walked up to him to assist him in peering. Then he gave me a startled look and quickly went away.'
'Did that monk have a pale, haggard face?' Judge Dee asked eagerly.
'No, Your Honor,' Tao Gan replied, 'it was a hefty fellow with a bloated look. In fact he didn't look like a real monk to me.'
'Then it can't have been the fellow whom I saw outside the bridal room,' said the judge. 'I have now a job for you, Tao Gan. We know that when the carpenter Mao Yuan left Dr. Djang's house he had just been paid, and we also know that he liked drinking and gambling. It is possible that he was murdered for his money, for we didn't find one copper on the corpse. You know that I suspect Dr. Djang of being concerned in his murder, but we must explore all possibilities. Go now and make the rounds of the gambling dens of this city, and inquire about Mao Yuan. I assume that you know how to find those places! Ma Joong, go back once more to the Inn of the Red Carp, and ask the head of the beggars to what place in Chiang-pei Mao Loo went. In the noodle restaurant he mentioned it, but I have forgotten what the place is called. What matters must be dealt with during the noon session, Hoong?'
While the sergeant and Chiao Tai started laying out several dossiers on the desk, Ma Joong and Tao Gan left the office together.
In the courtyard Tao Gan said to Ma Joong:
'I am glad I can do that job about the carpenter right now.
News travels fast in the underworld; it'll be known soon that I am now working for the tribunal. By the way, where is that Inn of the Red Carp? I thought I knew this town fairly well already, but I never saw the place.'
'You didn't miss anything!' Ma Joong replied. 'It's a dirty joint, somewhere behind the fish market. Good luck!'
Tao Gan went downtown, and entered the west quarter. He went through a rabbit warren of narrow alleys, and halted in front of a small vegetable shop. Picking his way carefully among the vats of pickled cabbage, he grunted a greeting at the shopkeeper and made for the staircase at the back.
On the second floor it was pitch dark. Tao Gan felt along the cobweb-covered plaster wall till he found the door. He pushed it open and remained standing there surveying the dimly lighted, low-ceilinged room. Two men were sitting at a round table with a depression in the center for throwing dice. One was a fat man with a heavy jowled, expressionless face and a closely shaved head. He was the manager of the gambling den. The other was a thin fellow with a pronounced squint. Men with this defect are in great demand as supervisors of gambling games because persons who cheat never know whether they are being watched or not.
'It's brother Tao,' the fat man said without much enthusiasm. 'Don't stand hanging about there. Come inside! It's too early for a game, but there'll be people in soon.'
'No,' Tao Gan said. 'I am rather in a hurry. I only looked in to see whether the carpenter Mao Yuan is here. I want to collect some money he owes me.'
The two men laughted heartily.
'In that case,' the fat manager sniggered, 'you'll have to go a long way, brother! All the way to the King of the Nether World! Don't you know that old Mao is dead?'
Tao Gan swore volubly. He sat down in a rickety bamboo chair.
'That would be my cursed luck!' he said angrily. 'Just when I need the money! What happened to the bastard?'
'It's all over the town,' the man with the squint remarked. 'He was found in the Buddhist Temple with a hole in his head you could put your fist in!'
'Who did it?' asked Tao Gan. 'I might approach that fellow and blackmail him into paying me the money, with a bit extra for good luck!'
The fat man nudged his neighbor. Both started laughing again.
'What's the joke now?' Tao Gan asked sourly.
'The joke is, my friend,' the manager explained, 'that Mao Loo is probably mixed up in that murder. Now you travel to Three Oaks Island, brother Tao, and blackmail the fellow!'
The man with the squint bellowed with laughter.
'You have him again, boss!' he exclaimed, guffawing.
'What nonsense!' Tao Gan exclaimed. 'Mao Loo is the carpenter's own cousin!'
The fat man spat on the floor.
'Listen, brother Tao,' he said, 'listen carefully; then perhaps even you will understand! Three days ago Mao Yuan comes in here late in the afternoon. He has just finished a job and there's money in his sleeve. He finds a good crowd here; the fellow has luck, he wins a nice bit of money. Then who should come in but his cousin. Now Mao Yuan hasn't been too keen on that cousin of his lately, but what with the wine in his belly and the money in his sleeve he greets him like a long-lost brother. They drink four jars of the best together; then Mao Loo invites his cousin to have a meal with him somewhere outside. And that is the last we see of them. Mind you now, I don't say anything against Mao Loo. I just state the facts!'
Tao Gan nodded comprehendingly.
'That's bad luck!' he said ruefully. 'Well, I'd better be on my way.'
Just as he was rising the door opened and a powerfully built man clad in a ragged monk's robe came in. Tao Gan hurriedly sat down again.
'Ha, there's the monk!' the manager exclaimed.
The man thus addressed sat down with a grunt. The manager pushed a teacup toward him. The monk spat on the floor.
'Have you nothing better to serve than that filthy stuff?' he asked gruffly.
The fat man lifted his right hand, making a circle with the thumb and forefinger.
The monk shook his head.
'Nothing doing!' he said disgustedly. 'Wait till I have beaten that mealy youth to pulp; then I'll show you some real money!'
The manager shrugged his shoulders. He said indifferently:
'Then it'll have to be tea, monk!'
'I think I have met you once,' Tao Gan said, joining the conversation. 'Didn't I see you in front of the Buddhist Temple?'
The newcomer shot him a suspicious look.
'Who's the scarecrow?' he asked the manager.
'Oh, that's Brother Tao,' the manager replied. 'A good fellow, but not too bright. What did you do in the temple? Do you really think of joining the clergy now, monk?'
The man with the squint laughed loudly. The monk barked at him: 'Stop your stupid sniggering!' As the manager gave him a sour look he went on in a calmer voice: 'Well, I am in a foul temper and I don't care who knows it. The day before yesterday I see that fellow Mao Loo behind… where was it now? Yes, it was somewhere near the fish market. You could see the coppers weighing in his sleeves! 'Where's the Treasure Tree, brother?' I ask, friendly like. 'There's plenty more where that came from!' says he. 'You just go and have a look at the Buddhist Temple!' Well, I went there.'
The monk gulped the tea down. Making a face, he continued:
'And what do you think I find there? An old dodderer who has even less than me, and a coffin!'
The fat manager burst out laughing. The monk's eyes glittered with rage, but he didn't dare to curse him.
'Well, well,' the manager said, 'you better go then with Brother Tao here to Three Oaks Island! He also wants to talk with Mao Loo!'
