The Willow Pattern
- Автор: ван Гулик Роберт Ханс
- Серия: Judge Dee #11
- Год: 101
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Другие детективы
Электронная книга - «The Willow Pattern». Краткое содержание книги:
As Judge Dee copes with the administration of the plague-ridden Imperial Capital, he must also bring his skills to bear on the mystery of two seemingly unconnected murders that could mean the extinction of the city's oldest, most aristocratic families.
Judge Dee began with the floor of the portico. Suddenly he stooped. A crumpled piece of white cloth was lying against the socle of the third pillar. Squatting down, he called out: 'Bring the candle, Tao Gan!’
Together they examined his find. It was a square piece of thin white cloth, a large handkerchief or scarf. In the centre was a red stain.
'That's where the murderer wiped his weapon, sir!' Tao Gan said eagerly. 'Or his hands, perhaps.' He took a piece of oil-paper from his sleeve. 'Here, let me take it up, sir.'
He carried it to the table, and they scrutinized it closely.
'Not a mark, nothing!' Tao Gan said, disappointed.
Judge Dee felt the four corners with his forefinger.
'That's odd,' he said slowly. 'The bloodstain in the middle has nearly dried, but the comers of the cloth feel moist. With water. And look! This is the small leaf of a water-weed sticking to the seam! Wrap this handkerchief up and take it along, Tao Gan. It may be important evidence.' All of a sudden the judge raised his hands and examined them carefully. 'That's very strange!’ he exclaimed. 'When I went to open the bamboo roll curtain just now, I noticed that the windowsill in the portico were covered with dust. Later, when leaning out of the left window, I put my hands on the sill. But there isn't a speck of dust on my fingers!'
He quickly stepped up to the left window. Beckoning Tao Gan to hold the candle close, he bent and peered at the red-lacquered surface of the broad sill. 'Thoroughly wiped clean,' he announced. 'And the sills of the other three windows are black with dust.' He turned to the first window and leaned outside; so far that Tao Gan solicitously grabbed his sleeve.
'Look!’ Judge Dee cried out. 'A narrow ledge runs along the balcony, just above the pillars that support it. Do you see that green stalk sticking to the edge? That's a water-weed, Tao Gan.' Righting himself he said quietly: 'This means that someone swam across the canal, and entered here by climbing up one of the pillars.'
The judge went to the table, angrily swinging his sleeves. He pulled out the second chair, and sat down heavily. Crossing his arms he looked up sombrely and said: 'My foreboding was right, after all, Tao Gan. This is very far indeed from being a simple, straightforward case.'
X
Judge Dee stood at the parapet of the central arch of the Halfmoon Bridge. Resting his elbows on the rough stone surface, he surveyed the dark water of the canal below, lit only by the four large signal lanterns of oil-paper suspended under the arch. Tao Gan, who was standing by his side, slowly wound and unwound the three long hairs that grew from his cheek round his forefinger. They were waiting. The judge had ordered two of the soldiers who had carried their sedan chair to roll Yee's corpse in a reed mat and take it to the Municipal Tribunal for a thorough examination by the coroner. The two other soldiers had been sent away to get another sedan chair, to take the judge and his lieutenant back to the palace.
'What a difference!' Judge Dee spoke up. 'In normal times this bridge is the hub of city traffic, bristling with activity till far into the night. The parapets are lined with hawkers' stalls with their garish lights, a dense crowd tramps up and down the bridge, and all kinds of large and small vessels, gaily decorated with coloured lampions, pass underneath. Now everything is dead and deserted. And do you notice the dank smell? The water in the canal is practically stagnant. Look at those pieces of driftwood, see how slowly they move along!’
'There must be swarms of mosquitoes down there,' Tao Gan remarked. 'Even up here you can hear them buzz. If——'
The judge raised his hand.
'Hush! Is there trouble downtown?'
What had seemed to be the buzzing of mosquitoes was now growing into an indistinct roar. A red glow rose above the houses in the distance.
'The Granary is in that direction,' Tao Gan said worriedly. 'The mob must be attacking it.'
They listened for a long while, in a tense silence. The roar seemed to be dying out, then grew in volume again. Suddenly there was the piercing blast of military trumpets, preternaturally loud over the hushed city.
'Our guardsmen have arrived!’ Judge Dee said, relieved. The red glow grew, flames shot up. 'I hope they'll be able to quell the riot without bloodshed,' he muttered. He looked up and down the bridge, but there wasn't a soul in sight. The windows of Hoo's villa remained dark, and nothing stirred in the smaller houses that lined the bank upstream from the bridge. The citizens of the capital, ordinarily so keenly interested in anything unusual happening in the street, had learned to mind strictly their own business, these last three harrowing weeks. The red glow grew faint, and the distant roar died out. All was silent again. A heavy, brooding silence, Judge Dee thought. If the people began to attack the granaries ...
'The presence of a third man on the scene of the murder certainly complicates matters,' Tao Gan said.
'A third man? Oh yes, the fellow who swam across, you mean.' The judge concentrated his thoughts on the murder, glad of the diversion. 'Well, the swimming bit was easy, of course. But to climb one of those pillars and get onto the ledge of the balcony, that asks for strong muscles. He must have been an acquaintance of Yee, otherwise Yee would have raised an alarm upon seeing a dripping wet man stepping through the window. Did Yee send the woman and her companion away when the third man arrived? Or was he perhaps an ally of the pair? And against whom did Yee want to defend himself with the flower vase? If we assume that——'
The judge broke off. Creasing his bushy eyebrows, he stared fixedly at the dark villa. 'A famous hunter, Cassia said... . Could it be possible?'
'Could what be possible, sir?' Tao Gan asked eagerly.
'Well,' Judge Dee began slowly, 'it just occurred to me that perhaps Yee did not grab the flower vase in order to defend himself. The maid described him as a vicious, mean person. What if he broke the vase deliberately, and in order to draw attention to the Willow Pattern? And thus leave a clue pointing to his friend Hoo, in the villa over there that so closely resembles that pattern?'
Tao Gan pensively tugged at his short goatee.
'It doesn't seem impossible,' he agreed. 'On the other hand, I know from my study of the files that the maid spoke the truth when she said that the "old people" form a closely-knit small community, and that none of its members would dream of raising his hand against Yee, their traditional leader. Yet, if Hoo had a very strong motive ...'
The judge remained silent. He was slowly stroking his sidewhiskers, his eyes on the dark villa. At last he said:
'Since we are here, Tao Gan, we'd better go over there and pay Mr Hoo a surprise visit. I admit that the clue of the Willow Pattern is a very tenuous one. But Hoo will be able to tell us more about Yee at least, so that we can check Cassia's stories. Come along.'
They walked down the bridge. After having followed the main thoroughfare for a short distance, they saw among the tall trees on their right a rustic bamboo gate. The wooden board suspended above it was inscribed with two elegant characters reading 'Willow Abode'. A winding pathway took them to the villa's gatehouse. The door, lacquered red, was decorated with a pattern of willow leaves in gold.
Tao Gan knocked hard with his bony knuckles. He waited, and when no sound came from inside, he picked up a stone and let it rattle on the wood.
'We are in for a long wait, sir,' he said gloomily. 'We'll have to rouse the doorman from his sleep.'
He had hardly finished speaking when the door swung open. A squat man with extraordinarily broad shoulders and long, ape-like arms looked them up and down suspiciously. His greying head was covered by a skullcap. As he raised the candle, the wide sleeve of his houserobe fell back, revealing a hairy, muscular forearm.