The Chinese Nail Murders
- Автор: ван Гулик Роберт Ханс
- Серия: Judge Dee #5
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Другие детективы
Электронная книга - «The Chinese Nail Murders». Краткое содержание книги:
Judge Dee is appointed to the magistrate of Pei-chow—a distant frontier district in the barren north of the ancient Chinese Empire. It is here that he is faced with three strange and disturbing crimes: the theft of precious jewels, the disappearance of a girl in love, and the fiendish murder involving the nude, headless body of a woman. And even more curious, the crimes seem to be linked together by clues from a popular game of the period, the Seven Board.
First published in the 1950s, The Chinese Nail Murders includes charming illustrations and an epilogue that details the origins of each case and how the author discovered them.
Judge Dee filled in the official form, then said to the undertaker:
"Before we start the autopsy, I want your statement as to how you opened the grave."
"In accordance with Your Honor's instructions," the undertaker said respectfully, "this person and his two assistants opened the tomb after noon. They found the stone plate that closes the grave in exactly the same condition as when they put it there five months ago."
The judge nodded, and gave the sign to the coroner.
Kuo cleaned the corpse with a towel dipped in hot water, then examined it inch by inch. All watched his progress in tense silence.
When he had completed the front side, he rolled the corpse over and began examining the back of the skull. He probed its base with his forefinger, then went on to examine the back of the corpse. Judge Dee's face grew pale.
At last Kuo rose, and turned to the judge to report.
"Having now completed the examination of the outside of the body," he said, "I report that there are no signs that this man met with a violent death."
The onlookers began to shout, "The magistrate lied! Set the woman free!" But the people in the front row called out to those behind to be quiet, and listen to the end of the report.
"Therefore," Kuo continued, "this person now requests Your Honor's permission to proceed to the inside examination, so as to verify whether poison has been administered."
Before the judge could answer, Mrs. Loo screamed:
"Isn't this enough? Must the poor body be submitted to further indignities?"
"Let that official put the noose around his own neck, Mrs. Loo!" a man in the front row shouted. "We know you are innocent!"
Mrs. Loo wanted to scream something again, but Judge Dee had already given the sign to the coroner, and the onlookers shouted at Mrs. Loo to keep quiet.
Kuo worked on the body for a long time, probing with a lamella of polished silver, and carefully studying the ends of the bones that were sticking out of the decomposed body.
When he rose he gave the judge a puzzled look. It was very still in the packed graveyard now. After some hesitation Kuo said:
"I have to report also that the inside of the body doesn't show any marks that poison was administered. To the best of my knowledge this man died a natural death."
Mrs. Loo screamed something, but her voice was drowned in the angry shouts of the crowd. They surged forward toward the shed, and pushed the constables aside. Those in front shouted:
"Kill that dog official! He has desecrated a grave!"
Judge Dee left his seat and went to stand in front of the bench. Ma Joong and Chiao Tai sprang to his side, but he roughly pushed them away.
When the people in the front row saw the expression on Judge Dee's face, they involuntarily stepped back and fell silent. Those behind them stopped their shouting, to hear what was going on.
Folding his arms in his sleeves the judge called out in a stentorian voice:
"I have said that I would resign, and I shall do so! But not before I have verified one more point. I remind you that as long as I have not yet tendered my resignation, I am still the magistrate here. You can kill me if you like, but remember that you are then rebels, rising against the Imperial Government, and that you will suffer the consequences! Make up your minds; I am here!"
The crowd looked with awe at the impressive figure. They hesitated.
Judge Dee went on quickly:
"If there are any guildmasters here, let them come forward, so that I can entrust to them the reburial of the corpse."
As a burly man, the master of the Butchers' Guild, detached himself from the crowd, the judge ordered:
"You will supervise the undertakers when they place the body in the coffin, and you will see to it that it is replaced in the tomb. Then you will have the entrance sealed."
He turned around and ascended his palanquin.
Late that night a doleful silence reigned in Judge Dee's private office. The judge sat behind his desk, his shaggy eyebrows knit in a deep frown. The glowing coals in the brazier had turned to ashes, and it was bitterly cold in the large room. But neither the judge nor his lieutenants noticed it.
When the large candle on the desk began to splutter, the judge spoke up at last:
"We have now reviewed all possible means for settling this case. And we are agreed that unless we discover new evidence, I am finished. We have to find the evidence, and we have to find it quickly."
Tao Gan lighted a new candle. The flickering light shone on their haggard faces.
A knock sounded on the door. The clerk came in and announced excitedly that Yeh Pin and Yeh Tai asked to speak to the judge.
Greatly astonished Judge Dee ordered him to bring them in.
Yeh Pin entered, supporting Yeh Tai on his arm. The latter's head and hands were heavily bandaged, his face had an unnatural green color, and he could hardly walk.
When with Ma Joong and Chiao Tai's help Yeh Tai had been made to sit down on the couch, Yeh Pin said:
"This afternoon, Your Honor, four peasants from outside the East Gate brought my brother home on a stretcher. They had found him by accident, lying unconscious behind a drift of snow.
He had a fearful wound on the back of his head, and his fingers were damaged by frostbite. But they looked after him well, and this morning he regained consciousness and told them who he was."
"What happened?" Judge Dee asked eagerly.
"The last I remember," Yeh Tai said in a weak voice, "is that two days ago when I was walking home for dinner, I suddenly received a crushing blow on the back of my head."
"It was Chu Ta-yuan who hit you, Yeh Tai," the judge said. "When did he tell you that Yu Kang and Miss Liao had met secretly in his house?"
"He never told me, Your Honor," Yeh Tai answered. "Once I was waiting outside Chu's library, and heard him talk loudly inside. I thought he was having a quarrel with someone, and put my ear to the door. I heard him raving about Yu Kang and Miss Liao making love under his own roof; he used the most obscene language. Then the steward came and knocked. Chu was suddenly silent, and when I was admitted inside, I saw that he was alone, and quite calm."
Turning to his lieutenants Judge Dee said:
"That clears up the last obscure point connected with the murder of Miss Liao." To Yeh Tai he continued: "Having thus accidentally obtained this knowledge, you blackmailed the unfortunate Yu Kang. But August Heaven has already severely punished you for that."
"My fingers are gone!" Yeh Tai cried out despondently.
The judge gave a sign to Yeh Pin. Together with Ma Joong and Chiao Tai they helped Yeh Tai to the door.
Twenty-first Chapter
The next morning Judge Dee went out for an early ride. But in the streets the people shouted at him, and near the Drum Tower a stone nearly hit him.
He rode to the old drill ground, and galloped around it a few times. Back at the tribunal he reflected that he had better not show himself outside till he could call a session of the tribunal and announce a solution of the case of Mrs. Loo.
The next two days he passed dealing with matters connected with the district administration. His three lieutenants went out every day, searching frantically for new clues. But all their attempts were in vain.
The only good news came on the second day, in the form of a long letter from his First Lady. She wrote from Tai-yuan that the crisis had been tided over, and that her old mother was now well on her way to a complete recovery. They were planning to return to Pei-chow in the near future. The judge reflected sadly that unless he solved the case of Mrs. Loo, he would never see his family again.