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.
'What about Lieutenant Kao?' Judge Dee asked.
Mao silently took him to the window and pointed outside. Judge Dee looked up and realized that though from the window of the storeroom one could cover the door of Soo's room and the space in front of the window arch, the part of the room beyond, where the couch stood, was out of range.
'How did Meng explain his presence in the armoury?' Dee asked the Commander. 'He said clearly that he wouldn't go up there that day, didn't he?'
Fang nodded unhappily. The idiot said that after he had gone up to his room to lie down, he found there a note from Soo, ordering him to meet him in the armoury at two. When asked to produce the note, he said he had thrown it away! We considered that story as strong proof of Meng's guilt.'
'It does indeed look bad for him,' Judge Dee agreed. 'Meng didn't know that Kao would go up to the leather room. If Kao hadn't surprised him, he would have sneaked back to his own room after the deed, and no one would have suspected him.' He stepped up to the desk and picked up the arrow lying next to the iron helmet. It was about four foot long, and much heavier than he expected. Its long, needle-sharp iron point, provided at the base with two wicked barbs, showed some brownish spots. 'I suppose this was the arrow that killed Soo?'
The Commander nodded. 'We had a messy job getting it out,' he remarked, 'because of the barbs.'
Judge Dee examined the arrow carefully. The shaft was lacquered red, with black feathers attached to the end. Just below the iron point, the shaft had been reinforced by red tape tightly wound around it.
'Nothing special about the arrow,' Mao said impatiently. 'Regular army issue.'
'I see that the red tape is torn,' Judge Dee remarked. 'There is a jagged tear, parallel with the shaft.'
The others made no comment. The judge's remarks didn't seem to strike them as very brilliant. He didn't think much of them himself, either. With a sigh he put the arrow back on the desk and said:
'I must admit there's a strong case against Colonel Meng. He had the motive, the opportunity, and the particular skill required to utilize the opportunity. I'll have to think this over. Before leaving the fort, though, I'd like to see Colonel Meng. Perhaps Lieutenant Kao could take me to him, then I'll have seen all persons concerned in this vexing affair.'
The Commander gave the judge a searching look. He seemed to hesitate, then he barked an order at Colonel Mao.
While Lieutenant Kao was conducting him to the prison at the rear of the fort, Judge Dee unobtrusively studied his companion. Kao was a good-looking youngster, very trim in his close-fitting mail coat and round helmet. The judge tried to make him talk about the murder, but got only very curt answers. The young man was either overawed or extremely nervous.
A giant of a man was pacing the cell, his hands behind his back. As he saw the two men arrive in front of the heavy iron bars, his face ht up and he said in a deep voice: 'Good to see you, Kao! Any news?'
'The magistrate is here, sir,' Kao said rather diffidently. 'He wants to ask you a few questions.'
Judge Dee told Kao that he could leave. Then he addressed the prisoner:
'Commander Fang told me that the court martial pronounced you guilty of premeditated murder. If there is anything you might adduce for a plea for clemency, I should be glad to help you formulate that plea. My two lieutenants Ma and Chiao spoke highly of you.'
'I didn't murder Soo, sir,' the giant said gruffly. 'But they found me guilty, so let them chop my head off. That's the army statute, and a man has to die sooner or later anyway. There's no occasion for any plea.'
'If you are innocent,' the judge resumed, 'it means that the murderer must have had a compelling reason for wanting both Soo and you out of the way. For it was he who sent you the faked note, to make you the scapegoat. So that narrows down the number of suspects. Can you think of anybody who had reason to hate both you and Vice-Commander Soo?'
'There were too many who hated Soo. He was a good administrator but a real martinet; he had the men flogged at the slightest provocation. As for me, well, I always thought I had only friends here. If I offended someone, I did it unwittingly. So that doesn't help very much.'
Judge Dee silently agreed. He thought for a while, then resumed, 'Tell me exactly what you did after you came back to the fort, the night before the murder.'
'The morning, rather!’ Meng said with a wry smile. 'It was long after midnight, you know! The boat trip back had sobered me up a bit, but I was still in a happy mood. The captain of the guard, a good fellow, helped me to get up to my room. I made a bit of a nuisance of myself, and wouldn't let him go, insisting on telling him in considerable detail about the good time we'd had, what nice fellows those two Koreans were, and about their splendid hospitality. Pak and Yee their names were — funny pronunciation those people have!’ He scratched his unruly head, then went on, 'Yes, I remember that I let the captain go only after he had solemnly promised me that he would come along too, next week. I had told him that Pak and Yee had said they'd have even more money to spend then, and were determined to throw a real party for me and all my friends. I laid myself down on my bed fully dressed, feeling perfectly happy. But the next morning I didn't feel happy any more! I had the father and mother of all headaches. Somehow or other I managed to get through the morning drill, but I was glad when it was over and I could go up to my room for a nap. Then, just as I was going to throw myself on my bed, I saw that note. I ...'
'Couldn't you see it was faked?' the judge interrupted.
'Heavens no, I am no student of calligraphy! Besides, it was just a few scrawled words. But Soo's seal was on it and that was genuine — I have seen it a hundred times on all sorts of papers. If the seal hadn't been on it, I would have thought it a prank by a colleague and would have checked with Soo. But that seal made it genuine all right, and I went up to the armoury at once. Soo didn't relish people questioning his orders! And that's how my trouble started!’
'You didn't look out of the window while you were in the armoury?'
'Why should I? I expected Soo to come up at any moment. I examined a couple of crossbows, that's all.'
'YOU ARE SHIELDING SOMEONE, MENG!’ JUDGE DEE SAID ANGRILY
Judge Dee studied Meng's broad honest face. Suddenly he stepped up to the bars and shouted angrily:
'You are shielding someone, Meng!’
Meng grew red in the face. Gripping the bars with his large powerful hands, he growled, 'You are talking nonsense! You are a civilian. You'd better not meddle in military affairs!’ He turned round and resumed his pacing.
'Have it your own way!' Judge Dee said coldly. He walked down the corridor. The turnkey opened the heavy iron door, and Lieutenant Kao took him to the Commander's office.
'Well, what do you think of Meng?' Fang asked.
'I admit he doesn't seem the type that murders a man in his sleep,' Judge Dee replied cautiously. 'But one never knows, of course. By the way, I have mislaid one of the copies of the official correspondence you always let me have so kindly. Could I have an extra copy, just to complete my file? The number of the document is P-404.'