Judge Dee at Work
- Автор: ван Гулик Роберт Ханс
- Серия: Judge Dee #14
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Другие детективы
Электронная книга - «Judge Dee at Work». Краткое содержание книги:
The eight short stories in Judge Dee at Work cover a decade during which the judge served in four different provinces of the T’ang Empire. From the suspected treason of a general in the Chinese army to the murder of a lonely poet in his garden pavilion, the cases here are among the most memorable in the Judge Dee series.
'You go ahead and examine her while I prepare the death certificate. Open the windows, steward, it is very stuffy in here.'
The judge took an official form from his sleeve and put it ready on the side table beside the door. Then he idly surveyed the room. On the centre table of carved rosewood stood a tea-tray with two cups. The square teapot had been knocked over; it was lying with its spout half across a flat brass box. A length of red silk cord was lying next to it. Two high-backed chairs stood by the table. Except for two racks of spotted bamboo between the windows, holding books and a few small antiques, there was no other furniture. The upper half of the walls was covered with wooden tablets, inscribed with famous poems. There was an atmosphere of quiet, elegant taste.
The steward had pushed open the last window. Now he came up to the judge and pointed to the thick, red-lacquered beams running across the dome-shaped ceiling. From the central beam dangled a red cord, its end frayed.
'We found her hanging there, sir. The chambermaid and I.'
Judge Dee nodded. 'Was Mrs Ho depressed this morning?'
'Oh no, sir, she was in high spirits at the noon meal. But when Mr Hwa Min came to visit the master, she ...'
'Hwa Min, you say? What did he come here for? He was going to meet Mr Ho in my office at two!'
The steward looked embarrassed. After some hesitation he replied, 'While I was serving tea to the two gentlemen in the reception room, sir, I couldn't help hearing what was being said. I understand that Mr Hwa wanted my master to give Your Honour advice during the conference that would be advantageous to him. He even offered my master a substantial ah ... reward. My master refused indignantly, of course... .'
The coroner stepped up to the judge. 'I'd like to show Your Honour something rather odd!’ he said.
Noticing the coroner's worried expression, Judge Dee ordered the steward curtly: 'Go and fetch Mrs Ho's chambermaid!' Then he went over to the couch. The coroner had turned the dead woman's head round. The face was badly distorted, but one could still see that she had been a handsome woman. The judge put her age at about thirty. The coroner pushed the hair aside and showed the judge a bad bruise above the left temple.
'This is one point that worries me, sir,' he said slowly. 'The second is that the death was caused by strangulation, but none of the vertebrae of the neck has been dislocated. Now I measured the length of the cord dangling from that beam up there, of the noose lying on the table and of the woman herself. It's easy to see how she could have done it. She stepped on that chair, then onto the table. She threw the cord over the beam, tied one end in a slip-knot and pulled it tight round the beam. Then she made the other end into a noose, put it round her neck and jumped from the table, upsetting the teapot. While she was hanging there, her feet must have been only a few inches from the floor. The noose slowly strangled her, but her neck was not broken. I can't help wondering why she didn't put the other chair on the table, then jump down from it. A drop like that would have broken her neck, ensuring a quick death. If one combines this fact with the bruise on her temple...' He broke off and gave the judge a meaningful look.
'You are right,' Judge Dee said. He took the official form and put it back in his sleeve. Heaven only knew when he would be able to issue the death certificate! He sighed and asked: 'What about the time of death?'
That's hard to say, Your Honour. The body is still warm, and the limbs haven't yet begun to stiffen. But in this hot weather, and in this closed room ...'
The judge nodded absentmindedly. He was staring at the brass box. It had the shape of a pentagon with rounded corners, measuring about a foot in diameter, and about an inch high. The brass cover showed a cut-out design of five interconnected spirals. Through it one could see the brown powder that filled the box to the brim.
The coroner followed his glance. 'That's an incense-clock,' he remarked.
'It is indeed. The pattern excised in the cover is that of the Five Auspicious Clouds, each cloud being represented by one spiral. If one lights the incense at the beginning of the design, it'll slowly burn on along the spirals of the pattern, as if it were a fuse. Look, the tea spilling from the spout of the teapot moistened the centre of the third spiral, extinguishing the incense about halfway through that part of the design. If we could find out when exactly this incense-clock was lit, and how long it took the fire to reach the centre of the third spiral, we would be able to establish the approximate time of the suicide. Or rather of the ...'
Judge Dee checked himself, for the steward had come in. He was accompanied by a portly woman of about fifty, in a neat brown dress. Her round face still showed traces of tears. As soon as she had seen the still figure on the couch, she burst out in sobs.
'How long has she been with Mrs Ho?' Judge Dee asked the steward.
'More than twenty years, Your Honour. She belonged to Mrs Ho's own family, and three years ago followed her here, after Mr Ho had married her. She is not too bright, but a good woman. The mistress was very fond of her.'
THE DESIGN OF THE INCENSE-CLOCK
'Calm yourself!’ the judge addressed the maid. 'This must be a terrible shock for you, but if you answer my questions promptly, we'll be able to have the body properly placed in a coffin very soon. Tell me, are you familiar with this incense-clock?'
She wiped her face with her sleeve and replied listlessly, 'Of course I am, sir. It burns exactly five hours, each spiral taking one hour. Just before I left, the mistress complained of the musty air here, and I lit the incense.'
'What time was that?'
'It was getting on for two, sir.'
'That was the last time you saw your mistress alive, wasn't it?'
'Yes, sir. When Mr Hwa was talking with the master in the reception room, over in the house, I took my mistress here. Soon after the master came in, to see that she was comfortably established for her siesta. She told me to pour two cups of tea, adding that she wouldn't need me again until five o'clock, and that I'd better take a nap also. She was always so considerate! I went back to the house and told the steward to lay out in the main bedroom the master's new grey dress, for the conference in the tribunal. Then the master came too. After the steward had helped him to change, the master told me to fetch Mr Hwa. They left the house together.'
'Where was Mr Hwa?'
'I found him in the garden, sir, admiring the flowers.'
'That's right,' the steward remarked. 'After the conversation in the reception room I just told Your Honour about, the master asked Mr Hwa to excuse him while he said good-bye to Mrs Ho in the pavilion and changed. It seems that Mr Hwa, left alone in the reception room, got bored and went outside to have a look at the garden.'
'I see. Now who discovered the body first, you or this maid?'
'I did, sir,' the maid replied. 'I came here a little before five o'clock, and I ... I saw her hanging there, from that beam. I rushed out and called the steward.'
'I stood on the chair at once,' the steward said, 'and cut the cord while the maid put her arms round her. I prised the cord loose, and then we carried her to the couch. Breathing and heartbeat had stopped. We tried to revive her with vigorous massage, but it was too late. I hurried to the tribunal to report to the master. If I had discovered her earlier ...'
'You did what you could, steward. Let me see now. You told me that during the noon meal Mrs Ho was in high spirits, until the arrival of Mr Hwa, right?'
'Yes, sir. When Mrs Ho heard me announce Mr Hwa's arrival to the master, she turned pale and quickly withdrew to the side room. I saw that she ...'