The Story Of Necklaces

By Author: Kinhomchan
Total Articles: 66
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Peng Yongsi, who was very good at cracking difficult cases, was the Magistrate of the District of Chuxiong ... A certain official was in charge of transporting a large amount of money to the provincial capital for paying the salaries of soldiers and civil servants. When he arrived at the capital he opened a wooden chest containing the money and found a stone. Two hundred taels of silver were gone. Peng happened to come to the capital at this time. The soldier who drove the mule was arrested and delivered to him. On examining the stone Peng found an insects' nest inside. He concluded that it was not a stone found along the roadside and there was no need to ask the mule driver where it came from. " He weighed the stone in his hand and said, "The stone is lighter than the silver. The load of silver on the mule's back should weigh the same on both sides. Did the load ever tip?" The soldier answered with dawning realization, "It did tip, just after we left a certain inn one day." "I will look into this on my way home," said Peng. On his return journey, Peng took the stone with him into his sedan chair. Whenever he saw a similar stone ...
... on the roadside he would immediately pick it up. Soon he accumulated a dozen or so stones but they did not bear a close resemblance to the one he had. When they arrived at a certain inn he found one behind the house exactly like the stone in question. He secretly hid it in his sleeve. The mule driver was told to go home but the innkeeper and a number of the men under the official in charge of the silver were ordered to appear before him. "Today," said Peng, "you will be witnesses as stones are put on trial."A dozen or so stones were produced and the men were told to compare them to the stone found in the money chest. "They do not look like the stone in question," was the opinion of all.. Peng slowly took a stone out of his sleeve and showed it to them. "Does this look like the stone found in the chest?" "Yes, it does." "But this stone was found behind your house!" asked Peng with a smile. They then bowed their heads and confessed their guilt. It turned out that the innkeeper and some of the official's men had been in the plot to steal the silver.