The Phantom of the Temple

'The Abbess cleaned Fang's head wound expertly, sir. She's a remarkable woman, remained as cool as a cucum­ber all through. When we had put ointment on the wound and forced a drug down his throat, he regained consciousness. He said he had noticed that some digging had been done in the clearing recently. Just when he had discovered Yang's severed head, he was struck down from behind. The Abbess has given him a sedative, and when we left he was sleeping peacefully. The Abbess says that, if he doesn't develop a fever overnight, he'll pull through all right.' He emptied his seventh cup, and added, 'I haven't yet told the headman about the murder of the other constable, sir. How shall we break this bad news to the men?'

'Order the headman to assemble them in the guard­house, Ma Joong. Then tell them on my behalf that I give them my word that the murderer shall get his deserts. Add that it is in their own interest that they keep this murder strictly secret. Then order the headman to go to the temple with a stretcher and fetch the dead body, and Yang's head.'

Ma Joong nodded and went out. Judge Dee silently stroked his beard for a while. Then he said to Sergeant Hoong:

'We lost a good man, and another was severely wounded. We have obtained two important clues, but the cost was high, Sergeant.'

He put his elbows on the table and stared with un­seeing eyes at the financial documents before him, deep in thought. Suddenly he looked up and asked, 'Why is the murderer in such a terrible hurry all at once? For months on end he contented himself with patiently searching the temple. And now, in the brief space of two days, he first commits a double murder, then tries to kill Ma Joong twice, murders one constable and attacks another! Why this sudden urgency?'

The sergeant shook his head, a worried expression on his thin face.

'For some reason or other the man has become des­perate, sir. Attacking an Imperial officer is no small matter. Everybody knows that the authorities will never give up finding the perpetrator, and that he will be executed in the severest manner allowed by the law. That's why constables can go about their duties armed only with a club. If it's bruited about that someone had the audacity to attack a constable on duty, it might affect the safety of our entire personnel, sir.'

'Yes, I have thought of that aspect, Hoong. That's why I told Ma Joong to enjoin the constables' complete silence.'

The judge lapsed into sombre thought.

When Ma Joong came back, Judge Dee took hold of himself. Sitting up straight, he said briskly, 'The gold must be hidden in a high place, otherwise the murderer wouldn't have brought a rope ladder. Second, we know now that at least three parties are after the gold. Namely, the murderer who organized the theft, Yang and Seng-san who barged in, and the King of the Beggars who had been promised part of Seng-san's share. As I have just ex­plained to the sergeant, there is one point that is exercis­ing me considerably. I mean the sudden urgency on the part of the murderer. I wonder whether that could be explained by an entirely new personality having entered upon the scene, a man who has nothing to do with the theft of the gold. That idea, however, is based only on an intuitive feeling. Finally, the problem of the phantom. Until tonight I had dismissed the ghost as just a figment of the imagination of superstitious persons. Ma Joong himself wasn't certain he had actually seen her yesterday. But tonight he has seen her clearly, and he saw her taking an active part in the murderous attack on him. So from now on we shall have to take full account of that mysterious apparition. What is your opinion, Ma Joong?'

Ma Joong gloomily shook his head.

'No matter what or who that spook is, sir, she is in league with the murderer. The other day she didn't point out the hidden path to the well in order to help me, as I foolishly thought. She did it just to lure me to that far corner of the garden, where the murderer was waiting for me behind the gap in the outer wall. When they saw me going down into the well, they thought that killing me there would save them the trouble of disposing of my dead body. Tonight that damned spook was encouraging me to walk on, drawing all my attention to herself, so that I wouldn't notice that the murderer was working loose the upper portion of the crumbling wall. But she made a bad mistake when she suddenly raised her arms as a sign for the murderer that I was in exactly the right spot. The gesture frightened me. I halted, and that saved my life — with not a fraction of an inch to spare!’

Judge Dee nodded. He consulted his notes, then he asked, 'Couldn't you give me a better description of the phantom?'

'Well, sir, both times I got only a glimpse of her and both times it was from quite a distance, and in the un­certain moonlight. She wore a robe of thin gauze, I think, and she had a piece of the same material wound round her head, covering her face. She was tall, of that I am certain.'

'Are you quite sure it was a woman, Ma Joong?'

Ma Joong pulled at his small moustache. He said, hesi­tating, 'Everybody spoke about a white woman ... And that long robe ... but that doesn't count, of course, for a man can put on a long woman's robe too... . Well, there's the figure, of course. Broad in the hips and narrow in the shoulders. Did I see her bosom, now? Yes ... or ...?' He shook his head disconsolately. 'I am sorry, sir. I really don't know!'