The Chinese Gold Murder

"Gold Dee case case (English Edition)" is mainly written in Tang Dynasty name after Dee was demoted to a magistrate, because of force after being active, Yan Liben and Wu and others struggle to finally make recommendation Luling King reset story. The content of every hue, including life, adultery, liability, fraud, robbery and so on brightly coloured story, not only fascinating plot, and the case is also the means of all sorts of strange things.

During the Emperor Yonghui's Rule in the Tang Dynasty, Judge Dee was appointed as a local governor in Penglai Township and the first thing he did after the appointment was that he successfully uncovered the truth behind the mysterious death of this predecessor. Soon after Judge Dee and his family members arrived in Penglai, they were notified that the ghost of predecessor was still inside the residence. His loyal and trusted assistant revealed quite a number of questionable points during the investigation process and new fatalities occurred soon after the appointment. Is this series of entirely irrelevant cases a pure coincidence or a continuation from the previous case? Check out how Judge Dee resorts to his extraordinary power of observation and logic to solve the riddle.

Contents

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 6

When Ma Joong and Chiao Tai came back to the tribunal they saw a light in Judge Dee’s private office. They found him closeted there with Sergeant Hoong. His desk was piled with dossiers and document rolls.

The judge motioned them to sit down on the stools in front of the desk, then said, “Tonight I examined together with Hoong the magistrate’s library, but we couldn’t discover how the tea had been poisoned. Since the tea stove stands in front of a window, Hoong thought that perhaps the murderer had pushed a thin blowpipe through the paper window pane from outside, and had thus blown the poison powder into the pan with tea water. But when we went back to the library to verify this theory, we found that outside the window there are heavy shutters, which haven’t been opened for months. That window gives onto a dark corner of the garden; therefore the dead magistrate used only the other window, in front of his writing desk. Now tell me what clues have you two found tonight?”

First Ma Joong reported about the murderous attack they thought they had witnessed on the bank of the canal.

Judge Dee looked worried. Pursing his lips, he said, “Let’s hope the mist played you a trick. I wouldn’t like to have a second murder on my hands just now.

Go back there tomorrow morning and see whether you can’t find out more from the people living in that neighborhood. Perhaps there is a quite normal explanation for what you saw. And we’ll see whether someone is reported missing."

Then Chiao Tai reported on their meeting with Yee Pen’s manager, Po Kai, and gave a chastened version of their visit to the floating brothels. He said they had drunk a cup of wine there, and talked a bit with the girls.

Chiao Tai hit his fist on his knee. “The package!” he exclaimed. “What a fool I am! I had forgotten all about it! That Korean girl Yu-soo gave me a package that Magistrate Wang had entrusted to her.”

The Judge sat up in his chair.

“That may prove our first clue!” he said eagerly. "But why did the magistrate give it to a common prostitute?”

“Well,” Chiao Tai replied, “she says Magistrate Wang met her once when she had been hired to liven up a party in a restaurant, and the old scoundrel took a liking to her. He could not of course visit her on the boat, but he often had her spend the night with him here in his own house. One day, about one month ago, when she was about to leave in the morning, he gave her a package, saying that the most unlikely place was always the best for hiding something. He told her to keep it for him, and not to tell anybody about it; he would ask for it back when he needed it. She asked what was in it, but he just laughed and said it didn’t matter. Then he grew serious again, and told her that in case something should happen to him, she was to hand it over to his successor.”

He took the flat package from his sleeve and gave it to the judge.

Judge Dee turned it around in his hands, and then said excitedly, “Let’s see what is inside!”

He broke the seal and quickly tore off the wrapping paper. They saw a flat box of black lacquer. The lid was decorated with a design of two bamboo stems and a cluster of leaves beautifully molded in raised gold, lacquer, and surrounded by an ornamental frame, inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

“This box is a valuable antique,” Judge Dee said as he lifted the lid. Then he uttered a cry of dismay. The box was empty.

“Somebody tampered with it!” he exclaimed angrily.

He quickly took up the torn paper. “I have indeed much to learn,” he added peevishly. “Of course I should have examined the seal carefully before I tore off the paper! Now it’s too late.”