The Corpse Reader Read Online Free Page A

unsuccessfully, to shut it—“there is rigidity in the jaw.”
    “Aren’t you going to undress it?” Cí asked, surprised.
    “That won’t be necessary,” Feng said, pointing to the neck cut and waiting for Cí to answer.
    “Double cut?” suggested Cí.
    “Double cut, the same as with pigs when they’re bled out…”
    Cí leaned forward to look at the wound. At the front, where the Adam’s apple would have been, there was a clean, horizontal notch. Then the cut grew wider and showed teeth marks like thoseof a slaughterhouse handsaw. He was about to say something when Feng asked him to relate the circumstances in which he had found the body. Cí did so with as much detail as he could remember. When he finished, the judge gave him a severe look.
    “And the cloth?”
    “The cloth?”
    How could I have forgotten?
    “You disappoint me, Cí, something you never used to do.” The judge was quiet for a moment. “As you
should
already know, the open mouth is not that of someone crying out for help or in pain; if it had been either, the mouth would have shut with the loosening of the muscles that follows death. An object must have been introduced into the mouth before or immediately following the death and must have remained there until the muscles seized up. With respect to the type of object, I presume—noticing the bloody threads still between the teeth—we are talking about some kind of linen cloth.”
    The reproach hurt Cí. A year earlier he would never have made that sort of mistake, but he was out of practice. He rummaged in his jacket pocket.
    “I meant to give it to you,” he apologized, handing over the carefully folded piece of material.
    Now it was Feng’s turn to examine it carefully; the material was gray, stained with dried blood, and about the size of a head scarf. The judge tagged it as evidence.
    “Conclude the notes and put my stamp on it. Then make a copy for the magistrate when he comes.”
    Feng bid farewell to the others and left the annex. It was raining again. Cí hurried after him and caught up just as they reached the Bao-Pao residence.
    “The documents…” stammered Cí.
    “Leave them over there on the night table.”
    “Judge Feng, I—”
    “Don’t worry yourself, Cí. When I was your age I couldn’t tell the difference between a murder by crossbow and one by hanging.”
    Cí felt sure the judge was only saying this to make him feel better.
    He watched the judge as he organized his certificates. Cí wanted to have even half Feng’s wisdom, decency, and knowledge. He wanted Feng as his teacher again, but there was no chance of that as long as he was trapped in this village. He had no idea how to get out. When Feng put the last piece of paper away, Cí asked about his father’s taking his old job back, but the judge shook his head resignedly.
    “That’s between your father and me.”
    Cí moved hesitantly among Feng’s possessions. “We talked about it last night and he told me…The thing is, I thought we’d be coming back to Lin’an, but…”
    Cí was on the edge of tears. The older man took a deep breath and placed a hand on Cí’s shoulder. “Cí, I don’t know if I should tell you this—”
    “Please.”
    “All right, but you must promise to keep it to yourself.” Cí nodded, and Feng collapsed into a chair. “I only made this trip on account of your family. Your father wrote to me a few months ago communicating his intention to take up his post again, but now that I’ve made the trip to see him, he won’t hear of it. I tried to insist; I offered him a comfortable job with a good wage; I even offered him a house in the capital. But he refused, and I have no idea why.”
    “Why can’t you take me, though? If it’s about forgetting the cloth, I promise I’ll work hard. I’ll work myself to the bone if I have to; I won’t shame you again! I—”
    “Truly, Cí, the problem is not you. You know how highly I think of you. You’re loyal, and I’d be