The Phantom of the Temple

Ma Joong looked up. 'Who's Ming Ao, sir?' 'Don't you remember what Sergeant Hoong told you about his examination of the file of missing persons, the day before yesterday? He had found there that the brother of a metal-worker called Ming Ao reported that Ming had gone out on the night of the sixth day of the ninth month and never came back. Now, Lee Mai told us that Mrs Woo had lived with a metal-worker who left her about one year ago. This afternoon I had the sergeant make discreet inquiries from Ming Ao's brother, and Hoong elicited from him that the present Mrs Woo had indeed lived with Ming Ao for some time. Ming Ao was known as an expert locksmith and a skilful metal-worker. But he was a crook — exactly as Lee Mai said when he told us about Mrs Woo's former acquaint­ances. Anyway, keep these dates and names in mind! They are of vital importance.'

He leaned forward and turned up the first card.

'This card I marked Woo Tsung-jen, the retired prefect. Woo remained an honest man all through his long official career. But in his later years, after he had become poor and married a wicked woman, his character changed. Here, this second card bears Mrs Woo's name. I lay it beside that of her husband. You'll agree that this pan-were in an excellent position for hearing the news about the gold from Tong-kang. Woo frequented Lee Mai's shop, and Mrs Woo's lover was a metal-worker. When they hear the news from Tong-kang, they realize that here is the chance of a life-time. Mrs Woo contacts her former lover Ming Ao, and he steals the gold and re­places it by lead; this last touch was probably suggested by Woo. Ming Ao conceals the gold somewhere in the de­serted temple. Then, however, a complication arises. Ming Ao refuses to reveal where exactly he has hidden the gold. Was he angry because his mistress had married? Or was it just because he wanted all the gold for himself? We can only guess at the answers to those questions. One thing is certain, however: Mr and Mrs Woo don't take Ming Ao's refusal lying down. They press him, torture him perhaps. Four days later he is killed, and his dead body is spirited away. Now the pair begin a systematic search of the temple. For many months they search, without result. Then a second complication occurs. Yang worms the secret of the gold out of Mrs Woo — there are strong indications that they were lovers — or he learns it while spying on Woo. Yang hires Seng-san to blackmail the Woos. They lure Yang and Seng-san to the temple, and there they murder them.'

'If that theory is correct,' Ma Joong exclaimed, 'then Mrs Woo is that blasted phantom! But what about Miss Jade?'

'I think that Jade discovered that her father and step­mother had murdered Ming Ao, and they decided that Jade had to go too, and at once. Her stepmother hated her, and her demise delivered her father from a guilty passion that had long tormented him. Well, the activi­ties Mr and Mrs Woo engaged in yesterday fully support this theory. My proclamation badly frightened the guilty couple. Had I found a clue to their having murdered the girl? Am I about to summon them for questioning? They decide that attack is the best defence. Woo rushes to me, Mrs Woo to my Third Lady, in a desperate effort to learn what I have discovered, and to confuse the issue.

'However, there is one flaw in my argument, and a very important one too. Woo could well have thrown the stones on you in the well, Ma Joong, and he could also have pushed the upper part of the crumbling back wall of the temple over. But I don't see how he, an elderly gentleman, could ever have strangled Yang and knifed Seng-san; how he could have moved Seng-san's body, and how he could have eluded you in the dark temple hall. Have you any comment, Sergeant?'

When Hoong shook his head, the judge continued, 'I turn up my third card. Lee Mai, the banker. The most likely person to hear the news from Tong-kang, of course. We know that Mrs Woo didn't live exactly like a nun before her marriage to Woo. She may well have carried on with Lee Mai, with or without Ming Ao's knowledge. When Woo falls in love with her, Lee Mai encourages the match: nothing more convenient than marry off your mistress to your best friend! Woo wants to give his daughter Jade in marriage to Lee. So much the better! Lee will have a nice young wife, and at the same time have even better opportunities for continuing the liaison with her stepmother. Lee Mai and Mrs Woo organize the theft of the gold by Ming Ao. Then the two snags I mentioned before occur again: Ming refuses to reveal the hiding-place of the gold, and they murder him. Jade discovers that murder, or her stepmother's adultery, and she is eliminated. Mrs Woo hates her, and Lee prefers a fortune in gold to a young wife. As to the double murder in the temple, Lee Mai is a tall strong man, fond of hunting. A worthy opponent for you in the dark hall, Ma Joong! Any objections, Sergeant?'