The Phantom of the Temple
- Автор: ван Гулик Роберт Ханс
- Серия: Judge Dee #13
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Другие детективы
Электронная книга - «The Phantom of the Temple». Краткое содержание книги:
On a wooded hill in the Lan-fang district, a phantom stalks in a century-old Buddhist temple and three mysteries unfold-the vanishing of a wealthy merchant's daughter, the disapperance of twenty bars of gold, and the discovery of a decapitated corpse. In the Phantom of the Temple, the clever Judge Dee pieces together these strange occurrences to reveal one complex and gruesome plot.
The path entered the wooded patch between the temple and the Hermitage. The judge halted and turned round.
'From here we have a good view of the entire temple. The hill goes down rather steeply directly behind the back wall. That's why the path leading down to the highway makes all those sharp turns. We must try to learn more about the history of the temple, Hoong. When we are back in the tribunal, I want you to investigate the old files in the chancery. Find out when exactly the authorities ordered the inmates to evacuate the temple, who the Abbot was and where he went, and whether there was ever any rumour about buried treasure.'
After a few minutes' walk through the forest they saw the neatly plastered wall of the Hermitage, a small one-storeyed temple built in purely Chinese style. The roof was decked with green-glazed tiles; the curved ridge ended in upturned points shaped like dragon-tails. They heard faintly the quacking of ducks. Except for that there was only the constant drone of the cicadas.
Sergeant Hoong rattled the knocker of polished copper on the red-lacquered gate. After he had repeated this several times, the peephole opened and a girl's face appeared behind the grating. She studied the two visitors suspiciously with her large, alert eyes, then asked sharply:
'What do you want?'
'We are from the tribunal,' the sergeant told her. 'Open up!'
The girl admitted them to a small paved yard. Evidently she was the maid, for she wore a simple dark-blue jacket and wide trousers of the same material. Judge Dee noticed that she had a common but rather pretty face; there were dimples in her round cheeks. The grey flagstones of the yard were scrupulously clean and had been sprinkled with water to keep the air cool. On the left stood a small building of red brick, on the right a larger one with a veranda. The walls of the temple hall at the back were plastered a spotless white and the pillars supporting the curved eaves were lacquered red. Beside the well in the corner stood a rack carrying a row of potted plants, and on the highest shelf a few porcelain vases with tastefully arranged flowers. The judge recognized the style of flower arrangement practised by his wives and guessed that these were the work of the Abbess. The subtle fragrance of orchids drifted in the air. The judge reflected that, after the deserted temple, these refined surroundings were a pleasant change indeed.
'Well,' the girl asked impatiently, 'what can I do for you, sir?'
'Take my visiting-card to the Abbess,' Judge Dee said, groping in his sleeve.
'The Abbess is sleeping,' she said sullenly. 'Tonight she has to go to the city, to attend a party in the magistrate's residence. If you insist, I shall ...'
'Oh no,' Judge Dee said quickly. 'I came only to inquire whether you heard or saw anything unusual last night. Some vagabonds were making trouble in the deserted temple. About midnight.'
'About midnight? ' she scoffed. Indicating the buildings with a sweeping gesture, she went on: 'All this I have to keep clean, all alone by myself, mind you! It's a very small temple, but there are a lot of knick-knacks on the altar that need to be dusted. Do you think I feel like sitting up late at night after a day's hard work?'
'Do you also do all the shopping?' the judge asked curiously. 'If you have to go up and down that staircase every day—'
'I go only once a week for the soy, salt and beancurd. We don't eat meat or fish — worse luck!’
'I hear the quacking of ducks, though.'
Her face softened.
'Those are mine. The Abbess lets me keep them, for the eggs. They are ever so cute, the small ones... .' She checked herself and asked curtly, 'Anything else I can do for you?'
'Not at this time. Come along, Hoong. Let's see how things are progressing at the temple.'
'What a pert young hussy!' the sergeant remarked when they were walking through the wood again.
The judge shrugged his shoulders.
'She's fond of ducks, and that is something, at least. Well, I am glad to have seen the Hermitage. The elegant atmosphere confirms the high opinion my ladies have of the Abbess.'
The headman and two constables were sitting on the steps of the main hall, looking hot and dishevelled. They jumped up when they saw Judge Dee enter the courtyard.
'No use, Your Honour! I'd swear that no one has been into that accursed wilderness over there for a long, long time! There isn't even a pathway. And there are no traces of any digging that we could see. The other men are still trying to get through by skirting the outer wall.'
Judge Dee sat down on a large boulder in the shadow of the wall and began to fan himself vigorously.
'You mentioned that the murderer must have had an accomplice, sir,' the sergeant said after a while. 'Couldn't they have put the body on an improvised stretcher and carried it down the hill?'
'Possible, but not very probable. They would have run the risk of meeting other vagabonds, and those are very inquisitive folk. The garden is our best bet, I think.'
One by one the constables emerged from the garden. They shook their heads.
The judge rose.
'It's getting late. We'd better go back to the tribunal. Seal the doors of the hall, headman. Leave two men here to guard the place. And see to it that they are relieved at nightfall.'
VII
Ma Joong had put on a pair of wide trousers and a patched jacket of faded blue cotton, and bound up his hair with a red rag. In that disreputable attire he would attract no undue attention in the north-west city ward, the quarter assigned to the Tartars, Indians, Uigurs and other foreign barbarians.
It was a long walk, but he made good progress, for most of the shops were closed for the afternoon siesta and there were few people about. After he had passed the Drum Tower, however, the narrow streets became more lively: having hurriedly gobbled down their noodles at noon, the poor people living there had at once to set to work again, to scrape together the few coppers for their evening meal.
Picking his way through the motley crowd of Central-Asian coolies and Chinese hawkers jostling one another in the smelly back streets, he at last reached the alley where Tulbee had established her soup kitchen. He saw her from afar, standing in front of the oven and scolding her elder boy, who was stirring the fire under the huge iron cauldron. Her other boy was clinging to her skirt. It was too early yet for customers. He sauntered up to her.
'Ma Joong!’ she cried out happily. 'How nice to see you again! But you look like nothing on earth! Has your boss kicked you out? I always told you that you are far too good a man to serve as thief-catcher. You should—'
'Hush!’ he interrupted. 'I am dressed up like this because I am on a job.'
'Let go, you small devil!’ she shouted, boxing the ears of the younger boy, who obstinately clung to her skirt. He promptly began to bawl at the top of his voice. His brother gave Ma Joong a scornful look, then spat into the fire. Ma Joong noticed the all too familiar smell of rancid butter, and he saw that her nose wasn't clean. She was getting fat too. He sent up a silent prayer of thanks to the merciful Heaven for having spared him all this! He groped in his sleeve and brought out a string of coppers. 'This—' he began. But she raised her hand and said, pouting:
'Shame on you, Ma Joong! You offering me money for it, you of all people!' But she put the coppers in her sleeve anyway, and went on: 'My husband is away for the day, so we can have a nice long chat up in my room. The boys'll mind the shop and—'
'I told you I am out on a job!’ he said quickly. "The money is for information received, as they say! Let's sit down on that bench there.'
'Come along up!’ she said, grabbing his hand with a determined expression. 'You'll get your information, garnished! It's nice to be out of the business, of course, but ... well, there's something in variety too. And you know how I feel about you, Ma Joong!’ She cast a meaningful look at the door.