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.
'Quite so. What did you do next?'
'I prepared a sedative for Madame Mei, my lord. Then I had a look at the old housemaster, and when I found him sleeping peacefully, I told Madame Mei to leave everything as it was, and went straight to the Municipal Tribunal, to call the coroner. Everybody was very busy there, and the coroner could not be found. Someone told me that he was away, inspecting the communal pyre. So I went home, and repaired to the tribunal again early this morning. The coroner was there, and I took him to the Mei mansion. Fortunately the housemaster had quite recovered, so that he could go and summon the undertakers. The coroner examined the body in my presence. He found that——'
'Yes, I have seen his report. All right, Doctor Lew, that's all. I am rather worried about Mrs Mei. She'll need help in arranging the funeral service and so on. Go there now, doctor, and tell her that I shall send her a few chancery clerks, to assist her.'
'You are most kind, my lord! She'll deeply appreciate that.'
Doctor Lew made a low bow, then went down the marble stairs.
'Suave bastard!' Chiao Tai burst out angrily. 'What he told you about saving the girl from two scavengers is a damned lie, sir! It was he who was accosting her. Not she him!'
'I gathered as much,' Judge Dee said quietly. 'Not a very prepossessing person, the doctor. That's why I questioned him rather closely, as you heard just now. And although he is widely known as a learned physician, I didn't feel like consulting him on one point in our coroner's report that rather puzzled me. Can you get me that report, Tao Gan? It must be among those papers.'
Tao Gan rummaged among the documents till he found the official form filled out by the coroner. He handed it to the judge.
'Brief and to the point, as usual,' Judge Dee said with approval as he glanced through it. 'Listen!
Corpse of Mei Liang, male, profession merchant, age sixty-nine. Frontal bone crushed completely by hitting newel-top at bottom of staircase; some grey hair and blood found stuck to the sharp point of the said newel-top. Black smudges on left cheekbone, presumably soot, or black paint. Left and right flank badly bruised, more bruises on legs, back and shoulders. Provisional verdict: death by accident.'
He tossed the document on the table and said slowly:
'The bruises were of course caused when he tumbled down the stairs. It's those black smudges I am wondering about.'
'The old man had been up in his library, hadn't he?' Chiao Tai remarked. 'Did a bit of writing there, apparently, and got ink smudges on his face.'
'If you rub the ink-cake on a slab that is not perfectly clean,' Tao Gan added, 'the ink will spatter.'
'That could be the explanation,' Judge Dee agreed. 'By the way, have your guardsmen sealed off all the sewerholes, Chiao Tai?'
'Those uptown have been closed with iron gratings, sir. Not a rat will get through there. This afternoon our men started on those in the old city. I made an appointment with Ma Joong to go down there together tonight and see how things are getting along.'
'All right. I'll see both of you later, when you are back. I have to go over a number of administrative problems with Tao Gan, and we won't be through until midnight, I presume.'
V
Ma Joong scowled at the wine-cup he held in his large hand.
'Tavern of the Five Blessings, they call this hole!’ he muttered to himself. 'Brother Chiao could've chosen a more lively spot. But lively spots are hard to come by, nowadays, that's true enough.' He took a sip of the cheap, raw liquor, winced, and set the cup down hard. He stretched himself with a prodigious yawn; he had not had more than a few hours sleep every night, during the last weeks. He was an extraordinarily strong man, however, taller even than Chiao Tai. Heavy muscles rippled under his tight-fitting coat of mail. He did not wear the golden colonel's badge on his breast, having stuffed it under his helmet, to save himself the bother of answering the salute of every soldier he met in the street.
Folding his arms, he bestowed a sombre look on the long, narrow taproom, lit by only one oil-lamp of cheap earthenware, on the counter of roughly hewn boards. Cobwebs hung from the low, raftered ceiling, and the smell of rancid fat and stale liquor mingled in the close, hot air. The innkeeper, a surly hunchback, had disappeared into the back room as soon as he had served Ma Joong.
The only other customer was an elderly man who was sitting alone at the corner table. Studiously ignoring Ma Joong, he seemed engrossed in the contemplation of the gaudily dressed marionette he held in his hand. Two other puppets were lying on the table in front of him. He was shabbily dressed in a pair of patched trousers and jacket of blue cotton, which matched the faded blue of the wallcurtain behind him. His tousled grey head was covered by a greasy black skull-cap.
The small brown monkey perched on his right shoulder seemed to resent Ma Joong's stare. It lifted its brow so that the tight skin turned white and its black crest stood on end. Baring its teeth, the small animal curled its furry tail round its master's neck, and made a sharp, hissing sound. Now the man raised his head. Fixing Ma Joong with a quizzical look, he said in a deep, educated voice:
'If you want another cup, soldier, just shout. The innkeeper is in the back room, comforting his old woman. She is upset, because they took away three dead from the house opposite half an hour ago.'
'He can go on comforting her,' Ma Joong said curtly. 'One cup of this rotgut will serve me for a long time to come.'
'Quiet!' the other scolded the monkey softly. Patting its small round head, he said: 'This tavern caters for simple tastes, soldier, and for slender purses. But it's conveniently located, just in between up- and downtown.'
'Takes lots of cheek to call it after the Five Blessings,' Ma Joong remarked sourly.
'The Five Blessings,' the other repeated pensively. 'Money, high office, long life, good health and many children. Why not call this tavern after them, soldier? It's built against the back wall of the last big house of this quarter. Across the streets the slums begin. So this tavern is a boundary stone, so to speak, dividing the five blessings between the rich and the poor. Money, high office, long life and good health for the rich. Many children, too many, for the poor. Four to one. But the poor don't complain, not they! One is enough and to spare — for them!’
He put the puppet down, and detached its head from the rump, with a few deft movements of his long, sensitive fingers. Ma Joong got up and walked over to his table. Sitting down on the chair opposite he remarked:
'Nice business you are in. I always like a good puppet show. Wonderful how you people can make warriors fence! What are you looking for?’ The other was rummaging about in the bamboo basket of puppets by his side.
'I can't find the right head!’ the puppeteer remarked peevishly. 'I want a real, true to life villain. The body I have here is fine, as you see. Big, strong fellow, with strong appetites. But I can't find the right head.'
'Hell, that's easy! All our stage villains have a face like this.' Ma Joong puffed out his cheeks, rolled his eyes ferociously, and contorted his mouth into a snarl.
The puppeteer gave him a scornful look.