"Charlie Chan - 7405 - The Temple Of The Golden Horde" - читать интересную книгу автора (Chan Charlie)

He turned and left the dim, candlelit room with its heavy atmosphere of incense. The Khan had not moved an inch since he had last spoken, except to rock gently from side to side like a tree in the gentle wind. Madame Li sat equally impassive, her sharp eyes following Chan as he left. Only Carleton Sedgwick moved, seemed to lick his lips, nervous.
Outside, Chan walked back down the gravel drive in the dark night. As he walked, he thought about The Temple Of The Golden Horde. One thing was clear to him; the Khan believed in the truth of his Temple, and perhaps Madame Li did also, but Carleton Sedgwick was no believer in spirits or demons or temples.


VII

THE WINTER DAWN of the next morning was clear in San Francisco. The city came awake slowly, the streets starting to move as the first early-morning people emerged from the old frame houses on the steep hills that bordered the great bay.
Charlie Chan, the windows of his suite wide open to admit the clear dawn air, sat immobile and silent in the 'lotus' position. He had been in this position of contemplation since dawn.
He breathed deeply and without any visible effort.
At precisely a half an hour after dawn, he moved, rose, and began his daily ten-minute exercise of the ancient Chinese discipline of T'ai-Chi-Chuan. The system of ballet-like calisthenics for physical fitness and self-defense was an art of balance and grace without overt strength, and in the hands of a lifetime practitioner like Chan, it gave a skill absolutely deadly in effect.
His ten minutes over, the detective showered, dressed, and sat for a time in thought. Only his veiled, black eyes moved as he concentrated on his thoughts. At last, he stood and went to the telephone. He placed a long-distance call to Honolulu and instructed his office to make a complete check of the activities of Benny Chan in Hawaii.
He then made a local call to the San Francisco Police and his old friend Captain Mort Wade.
"Charlie!" Captain Wade cried. "When did you get to town?"
"Some days ago. I intended to call for a social visit with my old friend when all the speechmaking was concluded."
"Just name the time, Charlie," Wade said at once.
"I'm afraid it must wait a few days. This call is prompted by business not pleasure. You know of a cult named Temple Of The Golden Horde?"
"I've heard of it," Wade said. "Somewhere down the peninsula near Half Moon Bay, isn't it? A legitimate operation as far as I've heard. Why?"
Chan explained about Benny Chan, and the doubts of Betty Chan. "I'd like to learn more of the background of Li Po who is Khan of cult, and of his wife, Madame Li. And I need to know the same for lawyer named Carleton Sedgwick."
"I'll get someone on it right away. Anything, else?"
"Yes, some background on Betty Chan, daughter of Chan Wu Han, once waiter at Kung Shi Restaurant. She lives in Chinatown," and he gave the girl's address.
"Okay, Charlie, and don't forget the social visit."
"The pleasure will be mine."
Chan's third call was to Betty Chan. There was no answer. This made him frown. It was too early for the girl to be at her work. He looked at his watch, and stood up. It was time for breakfast. As he walked to his door, there was a heavy knocking.
"Mr. Chan? It's C.V. Soong. I have to speak to you!"
Chan hesitated a second, found his pistol and slipped it into his pocket, and then opened the door. The tall, bone-thin old philanthropist hurried into the suite, motioning for Chan to close the door quickly.
His dignified face with its long white mustache was agitated. He wore western dress now, a gray suit, blue shirt, and tie, and seemed suddenly much older. He carried the heavy, brass-bound box of the sacred scroll.
"I think I'm being watched, Inspector! Followed!"
Chan's eyes narrowed. "Can you describe your suspected watchers?"
Soong described two men, one of them much like the man Chan had seen following himself!
"You know these men?" Chan. asked.
"I... I'm not sure, Inspector," the old man said. "It's possible I've seen one of them before - in Honolulu! Some time ago, perhaps six months. Near my house."
"At about the time you decided to present scrolls for loan to Temple Of The Golden Horde?"
Soong nodded. "Yes, just about then! But I have no idea who they could be. Only -" The old man bit his lip, looked around nervously, and then sat down on a couch. He was pale as he looked up at Chan.
"I was about to take the scroll down to Li Po at the Temple, but now I'm afraid. Perhaps someone does want to steal it!"
"For what reason, Mr. Soong? All agree that the scroll is unique, could not be sold."
"I know, and the great value of the scrolls is largely for scholars, for study. Even an eccentric collector would get little pleasure if he couldn't show them. But -" the old man hesitated again, went on chewing his lip nervously. "It would be of great value in two places, Mr. Chan, where it could be shown without any danger of arrest by American authorities. Two places where it could be wanted very much, and shown publicly in defiance of being returned - by the governments of Communist China and Soviet Russia!"
"They would want the scrolls?"
"They have for a long time, part of the history of both nations. Their scholars have made many offers, but I have always refused. The scrolls would be of immense national value to both countries."
Chan considered for a time. The men he had seen tailing him and Betty Chan, and now C.V. Soong, could be professional agents.
"Yet," Chan said slowly, "if agents are attempting to steal the scrolls, why was the fifth scroll found abandoned on a beach?"
"I don't know. Perhaps Benny Chan dropped it in the fog, and the agents were scared away by something before they could find it that night."
"Perhaps so," Chan said, and he thought about Angela Smith and her vision of seeing demons.
"Mr. Chan, I'm scared," C.V. Soong said. "Would you take the scroll to the Temple? In your hands I know it would be safely delivered."
"If agents of China or Russia want the scrolls, would they not attempt to steal all of them from the Temple?" Chan asked.
"I don't know. The Khan has them locked up well. I made sure he had strong security."
Chan rubbed his chin. "It's odd that only the fifth scroll would be target of theft and possible murder. What is special about this scroll? What changed on this trip of Benny Chan from Hawaii?"
"Nothing that I know of, but... Please, Inspector. I'm too old to risk agents attacking me."
"Very well. I will deliver the scroll."
"Thank you!" Soong said fervently. "I'll see that you are well paid for your trouble."
"Pay is not required. Perhaps you will donate to some charity in my name."