Necklace and Calabash
- Автор: ван Гулик Роберт Ханс
- Серия: Judge Dee #15
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Другие детективы
Электронная книга - «Necklace and Calabash». Краткое содержание книги:
Due to its proximity to the Water Palace, the summer residence of the Emperor's favorite daughter, Riverton lies within a Special Area administered by the military. To Judge Dee, returning to his district of Poo-yang, the peaceful town promises a few days' fishing and relaxation. But it is not to be. A chance meeting with a Taoist recluse, a gruesome body fished out of the river, strange guests at the Kingfisher Inn, a princess in distress--before long the judge is facing one of the most intricate and baffling mysteries of his career.
The judge unfolded the single sheet. It said that the undersigned regretted that unavoidable circumstances had prevented him from visiting Lang on the appointed day, to discuss the purchase of the raw silk. Today, however, he would be in Lang's godown at six. If the samples of silk were satisfactory, the deal would be concluded then and there. It was signed 'Hao'. The style was impeccable, the writing, the formal, regular hand used in chanceries. It was doubtless genuine, for it would have taken Lang at least a day to find in Rivertown a scholar who could write such a letter. Handing it back to Lang, the judge said:
'All right. This is indeed the proof I wanted, Lang. Our truce continues, as agreed. I shall be at the godown at six.'
Mr Lang raised his thin eyebrows.
'At the godown? You don't think we are going there, do you? The whole thing is off! Hao'll find no one there, and the door locked!'
Judge Dee gave him a pitying look.
'No wonder you can't get good personnel, Lang. You are losing your power of judgement! Heavens, man, here are ten solid gold bars coming to you, and you lock your door and put up a notice that you aren't at home! Listen to me, my friend, I'll tell you exactly what we'll do! We shall receive Mr Hao very politely, and inquire whether he has the gold with him. If so, we'll gratefully accept it. Adding that we didn't get the necklace, but that we went to a hell of a lot of trouble and expense on his behalf, and that we are willing to consider the ten bars as an amicable settlement.'
Lang shook his head.
'That dogshead Hao must represent powerful people. High officials by the smell of it. Or friends of palace officials, seeing they knew so much about the lay-out of the place. I am a man of peace, brother, I don't like trouble.'
'Don't you see that we have them in the hollow of our hand, Lang, high officials or not? If Mr Hao doesn't like our fair proposal, we say that as law-abiding citizens we are perfectly willing to go together with him to the Headquarters of the Guard, and let the authorities decide the case. We shall then have to explain, of course, that we went along with the criminal proposal to steal an Imperial treasure only because we wanted to have full proof of the outrage before reporting it. And now we claim the government reward.'
Lang hit his fist on the table.
'By heaven!’ he shouted. 'Now I understand why your league always gets the best of us. You have real men, while I must make do with stupid sons of dogs like this self-styled accountant!’ He jumped up and viciously slapped the bullet-headed man twice. Having thus given vent to his feelings, he resumed his seat and told the judge with a broad smile: 'It's a beautiful, a splendid plan, colleague!’
'It means five gold bars to us,' Judge Dee remarked dryly. 'Four for the league, and one for me, as commission.'
'Your leaders ought to give you two!’ Lang said generously. He snapped at the accountant, 'This is your last chance to make good, fathead! You go to the godown with our colleague here.' And to the judge: 'I can't afford to go personally, of course. I have my reputation to consider. But you two won't be alone, for I shall post a dozen or so good men in the godown behind mine.' He shot the judge a quick look and added hurriedly, 'Just in case our Mr Hao brings a couple of men with him, you see!’
'Yes, I quite see your point!’ the judge said coldly. 'I'll be in the godown a little before six. Tell your men to let me pass, will you?' He went to the door, and Mr Lang saw him personally to the corridor, saying jovially:
'It was a pleasure making your acquaintance, colleague! We'll have a drink here together afterwards. To the friendly co-operation of the Blues and the Reds!’
XII
Judge Dee went to his room to fetch his calabash and his sword. He had to see Captain Siew at once, tell him about the meeting in the godown, and make arrangements with him for the arrest of the mysterious Mr Hao and Lang's hoodlums.
Fern was standing at the front entrance of the Kingfisher, haggling with an old woman selling toilet articles. He was about to pass her with a friendly nod, when she laid her hand on his arm and showed him an ivory comb, set with cheap jewels. 'Do you think this one would suit me?' she asked coyly. When he bent over to look at it she quickly told him in a whisper: 'Watch out! The two men outside were asking after you.'
'It'll suit you very well,' he said and stepped out on the portico. Feigning to inspect the sky, he saw out of the corner of his eye two gentlemen standing at the gate of the Nine Clouds. Their sedate costume, grey robes with black sashes and black caps, gave them a nondescript character. They might belong to Lang's league, or they might be agents from the palace. And from now on he would have to reckon also with agents of the Red League, who might have learned that he was masquerading as one of their own. Whoever they were, they must not know that he was going to visit Captain Siew.
He strolled up the main street, occasionally halting to inspect the wares displayed in the shop fronts. Yes, the two men in grey were following him. In vain he tried a few well-known dodges. He would round a corner at a leisurely pace, then suddenly rush ahead and try to get lost in the crowd, but the two men stayed behind him, and without any apparent effort. They were old hands at the game. Getting annoyed, the judge went into a large eating-house and chose a table at the back. When the waiter came to take his order he told him he had forgotten something and ran outside by the kitchen door. But one of the gentlemen in grey was standing at the corner of the back alley. The judge walked back to the main street. If he had known the town well, he might have had another try at eluding his pursuers. As it was, he had to resort to a trick that would force them to show what they were, and at the same time get him to Headquarters.
He went along with the stream of traffic till he spotted the spiked helmets of guardsmen ahead. Then he suddenly quickened his pace, halted abruptly and turned round. As he bumped into the taller of the two pursuers, he shouted at the top of his voice: 'Pickpockets! Hold them!’
At once a small crowd gathered round them, asking excited questions. 'I am a doctor!’ Judge Dee shouted. 'This tall scoundrel bumped into me while the other tried to put his hand into my sleeve!'
A burly coolie grabbed the tall man by his collar. 'Shame! To rob a doctor! I'll ...'
'What's all this?' A squat sergeant had pushed his way towards them. The two men in grey had made no move to flee. The elder one told the sergeant quietly:
'This man is falsely accusing us. Take us to your captain!’
The sergeant quickly looked the judge and his two opponents over. Hitching up his swordbelt, he told the coolie:
'Let the gentleman go! It's all a misunderstanding, if you ask me. But my captain’ll decide. Come along, gentlemen, the office is right ahead.'
While they were walking to Headquarters the two men in grey maintained a haughty silence. Lieutenant Liu took them up to the captain's office.
Captain Siew looked up from his papers. Ignoring Judge Dee, he curtly ordered the sergeant to report, then he held out his hand. 'Your papers, please!’
The two men in grey put similar papers on the desk; each had red edges and bore a number of stamps. The elder told the captain:
'This so-called doctor is an imposter. We have orders to take him to the palace. We want a military escort at once.'
Captain Siew pushed his helmet back.
'You know I can't do that, gentlemen! Not without a warrant issued by my commander. Doctor Liang's document is quite in order. Properly registered here by my own office, I see.' He scratched his nose. 'Tell you what I'll do, though. You take a note from me to Colonel Kang, then you come back here for this gentleman.' He selected a blank from the papers before him and moistened his writing-brush.