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.
'I have made a mistake,' the Marshal interrupted him curtly. 'Have them drawn on land again, and replace them in their original position.' He barked at General Mao: 'Go with a hundred men to Sang's camp outside the West Gate. Arrest him on the charge of high treason, and convey him in chains to the capital. General Kao shall take over his troops.' Then he turned to Judge Dee, who was still coughing. 'You get it, don't you? Sang is older than Lew, he couldn't swallow Lew's appointment to the same rank. It was Sang, that son of a dog, who conspired with the Khan, don't you see? His fantastic accusation was meant only to stop our counteroffensive. He would have attacked us together with the Tartars as soon as we started the retreat. Stop that blasted coughing, Dee! It annoys me. We are through here, come along!’
The council room was now seething with activity. Large maps had been spread out on the floor. The staff officers were checking all details of the planned counteroffensive. A general said excitedly to the Marshaclass="underline" 'What about adding five thousand men to the force behind these hills here, sir?'
The Marshal stooped over the map. Soon they were deep in a complicated technical discussion. Judge Dee looked anxiously at the large water-clock in the corner. The floater indicated that it would be dawn in one hour. He stepped up to the Marshal and asked diffidently: 'May I take the liberty of asking you a favour, sir?'
The Marshal righted himself. He asked peevishly: 'Eh? What is it now?'
'I would like you to review a case against a captain, sir. He's going to be beheaded at dawn, but he is innocent.'
The Marshal grew purple in his face. He roared: 'With the fate of our Empire in the balance, you dare to bother me, the Marshal, with the life of one wretched man?'
Judge Dee looked steadily into the one rolling eye. He said quietly: 'A thousand men must be sacrificed if military necessity dictates it, sir. But not even one man must be lost if it's not strictly necessary.'
The Marshal burst out in obscene curses, but he suddenly checked himself. With a wry smile he said: 'If ever you get sick of that tawdry civilian paperwork, Dee, you come and see me. By God, I'll make a general officer out of you! Review the case, you say? Nonsense, I'll settle it, here and now! Give your orders!'
Judge Dee turned to the colonel who had rushed towards them when he heard the Marshal cursing. The judge said, 'At the door of the anteroom a captain called Pan is waiting for me. He falsely accused another captain of murder. Could you bring him here?'
'Bring also his immediate superior!' the Marshal added. 'At once!'
As the colonel hastened to the door, a low, wailing blast came from outside. It swelled in volume, penetrating the thick walls of the palace. It was the long brass trumpets, blowing the signal to assemble for the attack.
The Marshal squared his wide shoulders. He said with a broad smile: 'Listen, Dee! That's the finest music that ever was!’ Then he turned again to the maps on the floor.
Judge Dee looked fixedly at the entrance. The colonel was back in a remarkably short time. An elderly officer and Captain Pan followed him. The judge said to the Marshal, 'They are here, sir.'
The Marshal swung round, put his thumbs in his swordbelt and scowled at the two men. They stood stiffly at attention, with rapt eyes. It was the first time they had ever seen the greatest solder of the Empire face to face. The giant growled at the elderly officer: 'Report on this captain!’
'Excellent administrator, good disciplinarian. Can't get along with the men, no battle experience ...' The officer rattled it off.
'Your case?' the Marshal asked Judge Dee.
The judge addressed the young captain coldly: 'Captain Pan, you weren't fit to marry. You don't like women. You liked your colleague Captain Woo, but he spurned you. Then you strangled your wife, and falsely accused Woo of the crime.'
'Is that true?' the Marshal barked at Pan.
'Yes, sir!’ the captain replied as if in a trance.
'Take him outside,' the Marshal ordered the colonel, 'and have him flogged to death slowly, with the thin rattan.'
'I plead clemency, sir!' Judge Dee interposed quickly. 'This captain had to marry at his father's command. Nature directed him differently, and he couldn't cope with the resulting problems. I propose the simple death penalty.'
'Granted!' And to Pan: 'Can you die as an officer?'
'Yes, sir!’ Pan said again.
'Assist the captain!' the Marshal rasped at the elder officer.
Captain Pan loosened his purple neckcloth and handed it to his immediate superior. Then he drew his sword. Kneeling in front of the Marshal, Pan took the hilt of the sword in his right hand, and grabbed the point with his left. The sharp edge cut deeply into his fingers, but he didn't seem to notice it. The elder officer stepped up close to the kneeling man, holding the neckcloth spread out in his hands. Raising his head, Pan looked up at the towering figure of the Marshal. He called out:
'Long live the Emperor!'
Then, with one savage gesture, he cut his throat. The elder officer quickly tied the neckcloth tightly round the neck of the sagging man, staunching the blood. The Marshal nodded. He said to Pan's superior, 'Captain Pan died as an officer. See to it that he is buried as one!' And to the judge: 'You look after that other fellow. Freed, reinstated to his former rank, and so on.' Then he bent over the map again and barked at the generaclass="underline" 'Put an extra five thousand at the entrance of this valley here!'
As the four orderlies carried the dead body of Pan outside, Judge Dee went to the large desk, grabbed a writing-brush and quickly jotted down a few lines on a sheet of official paper of the High Command. A colonel impressed on it the large square seal of the Marshal, then countersigned it. Before running outside Judge Dee cast a quick look at the water<lock. He still had half an hour.
It took him a long time to cover the short distance between the Palace and the Military Jail. The streets were crowded with mounted soldiers; they rode in rows six abreast, holding high their long halberds, so greatly feared by the Tartars. Their horses were well fed and their armour shone in the red rays of dawn. It was General Lew's vanguard, the pick of the Imperial army. Then there came the deep sound of rolling drums, calling up the Marshal's own men to join their colours. The great counteroffensive had begun.
The paper with the Marshal's seal caused Judge Dee to be admitted at once to the prison commandant. A sturdily built youngster was brought in by four guards; his thick wrestler's neck had been bared already for the sword of the executioner. The commandant read out the document to him, then he ordered an adjutant to assist Captain Woo in donning his armour. When Woo had put on his helmet, the commandant himself handed him back his sword. Judge Dee saw that although Woo didn't look too clever, he had a pleasant, open face. 'Come along!’ he said to him.
Captain Woo stared dumbfounded at his black judge's cap, then asked: 'How did you get involved in this case, Magistrate?'
'Oh,' Judge Dee replied vaguely, 'I happened to be at Headquarters when your case was reviewed. Since they are all very busy there now, they told me to take care of the formalities.'
When they stepped out into the street Captain Woo muttered: 'I was in this accursed jain almost a year. I have no place to go.'
'You can come along with me,' Judge Dee said.
As they were walking along the captain listened to the rolling of the drums. 'So we are attacking at last, eh?' he said morosely. 'Well, I am just in time to join my company. At least I'll die an honourable death.'
'Why should you deliberately seek death?' the judge asked.
'Why? Because I am a stupid fool, that's why! I never touched that Mrs Pan, but I betrayed a fine woman who came to see me in jail. The military police flogged her to death.'