The Emperor's Pearl
- Автор: ван Гулик Роберт Ханс
- Серия: Judge Dee #9
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Другие детективы
Электронная книга - «The Emperor's Pearl». Краткое содержание книги:
In The Emperor’s Pearl, the judge discovers that these two deaths are connected by an ancient tragedy involving a near-legendary treasure stolen from the Imperial Harem one hundred years earlier. The terrifying figure of the White Lady, a river goddess enshrined on a bloodstained altar, looms in the background of the investigation. Clues are few and elusive, but under the expert hand of Robert van Gulik, this mythic jigsaw puzzle assembles itself into a taut mystery.
“If you have not yet discovered Judge Dee and his faithful Sgt. Hoong, I envy you that initial pleasure which comes from the discovery of a great detective story. For the magistrate of Poo-yang belongs in that select group of fictional detectives headed by the renowned Sherlock Holmes.”—Robert Kirsch, Los AngelesTimes
“The title of this book and the book itself have much in common. Each is a jewel, a rare and precious find.”—AtlantaTimes
'Ho ho, not so fast!' Sheng Pa exclaimed aghast. 'Listen now! You being also a municipal officer, you'll understand that in my position I couldn't afford a . . . er rebuttal, so to speak, isn't it? I have to keep to my principles, you see.'
'I don't understand this at all! ' Hoong said crossly. 'What do you want me to do, after all?'
'I want you to go to her, and put in a word for me. That's all I want, sir! Put in a word for me. Just that, mind you. No more, no less!'
'I'll do that with pleasure. Where do I find her?'
'Go to the Temple of the War God, sir, and ask for the establishment of Miss Liang. Miss Violet Liang. Anybody about there will tell you.'
Sergeant Hoong rose.
'I am rather busy just now, Sheng Pa, but I'll go there as soon as I can find time. In a day or two, perhaps.'
'You'd better find time tomorrow morning, Mister Sergeant! ' the giant said with a smug grin. 'It just came to my mind that those two fellows, Tong and Sia you called them if I remember correctly, visit Miss Liang's place. Rather often, I think. You ask Miss Violet Liang about them, Mister Sergeant! But gently, mind you. She is a delicate woman, she used to be attached to —'
'I know, to the Imperial Court. All right, Sheng Pa, I'll come here again some time tomorrow.'
IX
Early the next morning, just after breakfast, Sergeant Hoong found Judge Dee standing by the desk in his private office, feeding green leaves to the tortoise.
'It's remarkable how developed the senses of those animals are!' the judge remarked. 'To us these leaves have no smell at all, but look at this small fellow!'
He put a few salad leaves on the chair. The tortoise that was crawling over a book on the desk soon raised its head and made for the chair. Judge Dee put the leaves in front of him. When the tortoise had gobbled them up, he opened the window and put the small animal back into the rock-garden. Then he seated himself behind his desk and asked briskly:
'How did it fare last night, Hoong? '
The sergeant gave a detailed account of his meeting with Sheng Pa. When he had finished he added: ' Sheng Pa evidently had heard already that there was something wrong with Tong Mai's so-called accident. And also rumours about the bets having been manipulated. He even suggested that, since Dr Pien is short of money, he might have cornered the bets and profited by his own boat losing the race.'
The judge raised his eyebrows.
'He did, did he?' He tugged at his moustache. 'That puts the doctor in a very curious light. I bad the impression that he's looked upon here as a well-to-do, worthy citizen, of unquestioned integrity. Looks quite a dignified fellow too, with that solemn, pale face and that jet-black moustache. I admit, however, that he was rather keen to have Tong's death recorded as due to heart failure. Did you ever hear anything against him, Hoong?'
'No sir. He is generally considered one of the best physicians in this town. It's a pity that Sheng Pa expresses himself so darkly. I wager that he knows more about Tong Mai and Sia Kwang than he wants to admit. But he'd rather die than make a straightforward statement!'
Judge Dee nodded.
'It's clear,' he said, 'that he prefers us to hear the information about Tong and Sia directly from the woman he mentioned. We shall go and see her this morning. Hasn't Sia come back yet to his lodging? I'd like to meet him first of all, then hear what Sheng Pa's girl-friend has to say about him and Tong Mai.'
'Unfortunately Sia hasn't come back to his lodging, sir. The headman told me that just now one of the constables who was watching Sia's place came back and reported that Sia hasn't turned up.' Hoong paused. After a while he resumed, rather diffidently: ' Speaking about Sheng Pa's girlfriend, Your Honour, it might be possible that the old scoundrel somehow or other has got the wind of the sale of the pearl, and wanted to give me to understand that the woman knows something about that affair. What else could he have meant by stressing so much that she had been attached to the Imperial Palace — which is of course the purest nonsense!'
The judge shrugged his shoulders.
'Remember that there are thousands of women employed in the palace, Hoong. Including charwomen and scullery maids. As to the Emperor's pearl, you can get that fabulous treasure out of your head! For I have come to the conclusion that the whole story is a hoax, Hoong! A fairy-tale, from beginning to end!'
The astonished sergeant opened his mouth to say something, but the judge went on quickly:
'It was a hoax, Hoong. And, what is more, I am convinced that Kou knew it! I didn't sleep too well, I couldn't get that tale about the pearl out of my head. I went over again and again the story of how it disappeared, and how Tong Mai got hold of it. And came to the conclusion that the pearl doesn't exist. Listen, carefully! As I explained to you last night, it is more than probable that Tong Mai and Amber had a liaison. A couple of months ago Amber informs her lover that she is pregnant, and that he is the father. They realize that they can't keep the affair secret any longer, and they decide to flee together. But how to get the money? Then the two of them concoct the story of the Emperor's pearl. Amber informs her husband that Tong has hidden the pearl in a safe place, and she offers to go there and conclude the transaction. The lovers will meet in the pavilion, and elope together, with the ten gold bars. A clever plan! However, they did not know that Kou had found out their secret relations already, and was only waiting for a chance to take his revenge. Kou would have been a fool if he hadn't figured out that the safe place known to both Tong and Amber referred to the deserted villa. Kou feigns to believe Amber's story. He poisons Tong, and hires a ruffian to kill Amber in the pavilion and bring the gold back to him. What do you think about that, Hoong?'
The sergeant looked doubtful. He replied slowly: 'Last night I refrained from further comment on Your Honour's theory about Mr Kou's guilt, because we were then just surveying various possibilities. But now that a definite case against Kou is being formulated, sir, I must confess that I can't see a quiet gentleman of refined taste like Mr Kou perpetrating such a foul crime. And there are so many other possibilities to be considered. Just now we discussed Dr Pien and his ...'
'Jealousy can make even a quiet man commit violent deeds!' Judge Dee interrupted. 'Be that as it may, we'll go to the deserted villa and have a second look at the pavilion. I am convinced that the pearl is non-existent, but I'd like to see the scene of the murder in broad daylight. And an early-morning ride will do us good! If, upon returning to the city, we find that Sia Kwang hasn't shown up yet, we'll go straight to Sheng Pa's girl-friend, and see whether she can direct us to that elusive fellow. I must absolutely have a talk with him before I open the morning session of the tribunal.'
As Judge Dee rose, his eye fell on the book the tortoise had been crawling on.
'Oh yes,' he resumed, 'I forget to tell you! I slept badly as I told you, and I woke up an hour or so before daybreak. I did a bit of reading in an interesting book I borrowed a few days ago from the chancery library.'
He took the volume, opened it on the place indicated by a book-marker, and went on:
'This is a collection of notes on this district, privately published about fifty years ago by a former magistrate here who took a great interest in the past history of the region. One day he made a trip to the ruined temple of the River Goddess in the Mandrake Grove. In his time there still was a passable road leading up to it. This is what he says:
"The outer wall and the gatehouse have been damaged considerably by the earthquake, but the main hall and the famous statue of the goddess still stand. The statue represents a woman, more than ten feet high, standing erect on a pedestal, all carved out of one block of marble. The square altar in front of the statue has been cut from one and the same block. A remarkable work of art indeed!" '