The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee

The judge decides that it is premature to arrest Candidate Hoo, as there is no actual proof that he is the murderer. Furthermore, since it is clear that the bride was poisoned, Judge Dee believes it is unnecessary to perform an autopsy and desecrate the young woman’s body. The mother and husband are grateful, but Mr. Hua believes that the judge is shirking his responsibilities and is deeply displeased.

Judge Dee consults with a retired coroner and several apothecaries, but no one can tell him what kind of poison was used in the murder. After three days have passed, Mr. Hua comes to the tribunal to demand why the investigation has been delayed. Judge Dee tells him that he is about to question Candidate Hoo and the maidservant, and that Mr. Hua can listen in from the judge’s office, which adjoins the main hall.

The questioning does not reveal any clues to the murder. Candidate Hoo had stayed with the guests throughout the ceremony, as two of his friends could attest. The maid continues to claim that she left the room only to eat dinner. She had not seen Candidate Hoo adding anything to the teapot.

Having come to an impasse, Judge Dee takes a pause to drink tea. He notices some small white particles floating in the cup and scolds the servant. The servant apologizes and claims that some plaster from the ceiling must have fallen into the cauldron in the kitchen. This gives Judge Dee an idea, and he dismiss the tribunal. He goes back to his office and informs Mr. Hua that he will visit him the following day and explain everything. Mr. Hua does not believe that the judge has actually solved the crime and leaves angry.

After the hearing, Tao Gan and Sergeant Hoong return and give their update on the Bee Hsun case. They had not seen anything suspicious from the outside, so eventually they decided to spend the night on the Bee house rooftop. They heard Mrs. Djou scolding her mother-in-law and her daughter making sounds over hearing rats in the floor. After everyone went to sleep, the constables also heard quiet voices from the bedroom; they believe that one belonged to the widow and the other to a man.

Attempting to discover how someone could enter unnoticed, they investigated the neighbors. The house had once belonged to the bigger compound next door, where retired scholar Doctor Tang lives with his disciples. However, due to Doctor Tang’s high social status, the constables had not dared investigate without first consulting with Judge Dee.

After hearing the constables’ report, Judge Dee asks them to go back, give one of his visiting cards to Doctor Tang, and ask him to come to the tribunal.

The magistrate then dresses informally and goes to the Hua mansion “as a friend” (164). There he asks to question the kitchen maid, who tells him that she was not present when the bride’s servant came to refill the teapot a second time. The maid had left the kitchen to help with the feast, and the other kitchen servants had left the fire to die, so when the bride’s servant came down she had to take a portable oven outside and boil a small pot of water. The judge goes out into the courtyard and looks around, noticing that the roof is very old and rotting. He then calls the bride’s maidservant and scolds her for forgetting to tell him how she had to boil water outside. The servant apologizes, and Judge Dee tells her to reenact her actions of the wedding night exactly.

Mr. Hua is enraged by all this but is forced to humor the judge. The two of them sit on chairs in the courtyard while watching the maidservant boil water under the roof. After some time, when Mr. Hua is about to begin an argument, the judge points up to the roof. The warm air from the boiling water has attracted an adder that apparently lives in the rotting roof wood. The creature opens its mouth and some of its poison falls into the water. The judge explains that this is what poisoned the bride.