The Golden Peacock - The Seal of King Siridhammathoka and Other Short Stories

Seal of King Sridhamma Soka

As U San Shar and I walked down from the station, some spots on the ground, which had been dusty and shiny due to the rain that had fallen yesterday evening, were clearly visible. U San Shar interrupted his conversation with me and walked quietly, as if he was carefully examining the footprints.

Servant .. “What the hell, U San Sya, what strange things are you seeing in the footprints?”

"It's not that it's strange , it's just that it's so strange to see two people walking side by side on the bare ground, so I just watched it as I liked."

Servant .. "One's footprints are like chicken-footed canvas shoes. The other's are like leather shoes..."

" The chicken leg shoes are so big that they look like a brand. Wait a minute, how can you say that these two sets of footprints are walking together?"

"You're just looking at it now, I can tell you I've been watching all along. Judging by their stride and the fact that their shoe sizes are at least 7/8, you already know that they must both be quite tall. But there 's one thing that's strange. Look carefully......

" Did you notice that they were both walking with a stick? As usual, if you walk with a stick on the ground, you take one step every four steps, as I said. The man with the leather shoes on this side takes one step every four steps, very steadily...

“ The man with the chicken legs over there had two feet on each side. His cane had sunk deep into the ground. He had a small stick stuck in each of his right feet. What do you mean by that?” “I think he had to rely on the cane because he couldn’t walk properly.”

"You are a good son, Ko Thein Maung. The fact that the stick is so deep supports this fact. Okay , why is it possible that the stick is used?"

Servant . . “It must be because of old age, or illness, or something like that.” Sha . . “That’s right, too. Walking side by side means that the two sets of footprints are evenly spaced along the path. And then, when we reached this narrow path, we saw that the two could no longer walk side by side, and the chicken leg shoe had stepped on the footprints of the leather shoe. I noticed it on a narrow path earlier. At that time, I saw that the leather shoe had been placed on the chicken leg shoe.

" The two sets of footprints, one on top of the other, show that these two people were walking together at the same time, right? He walked in front of me, one in turn."

Servant .. "I am satisfied."

" Shh .. "Okay...compare these two things and try to interpret them."

I carefully compared the stick marks on the sides of the footprints, but I couldn't see any significant difference. So... . . "To my eye, the stick marks are somewhat similar. The stick with the chicken legs is a little thicker, the stick with the leather shoes is a little deeper. It looks a little smaller. That's all I can say."

Shay .. (Shaking his head) “Not yet, Ko Thein Maung, you have left out one very important point.”

Servant : "What, what's important?"

"First of all, the man's leather shoes and cane marks are placed on each of his right feet. Second, each of his cane marks is slightly shallow in the front and slightly slanted to the right. Please look carefully ."

I carefully measured the sticks with a matchstick and found that, as U San Sya had said, there was a slight shadow in the front and slightly to the right.

" Sir .. "Yes, it's cloudy. How do you interpret that?"

"Shia .. "Just think about it, you've been with me for so long. Can't you just let go of a single thought?"

Servant .. “Okay….. In that case, it’s because the stick he’s holding is a little too far forward.”

"Is this natural? Think about it . This matter is quite interesting."

"The stick is worn out because it's been held for a long time. It's natural."

" Sh .. "It's too late, I'll let you go. U Ba Kyaw, the one who wore the robe, is also coming to meet us. Let's continue talking later."

U Ba Kyaw, who was wearing a robe, was standing in the courtyard, looking up, and when he saw us, he came rushing over. When we got closer, U Ba Kyaw said...

“ I thought you would come on this train, so I was going to pick you up. I’m sorry I’m a little late. Thank you very much for coming, U San Shya. To be honest, I was wondering if U San Shya would come at all, since the matter is quite clear. It’s good that you came.”

He said.

Then I felt a pang of discontent at the joyless welcome.

"Sir .. "Your telegram is like it's not clear that he committed suicide. If it's clear that he committed suicide, we're here anyway."

Kyaw .. “Well, it’s obvious, but it’s better for us that U San Syaar came to see it himself. Well, the dead man had his life mortgaged with a life insurance company for ten thousand baht…..

“ If he committed suicide, the company wouldn’t pay compensation. So I thought it was worth calling someone like U San Sya to make sure he committed suicide and pay the cost, so I sent a telegram. Anyway, come and see, U San Sya.” Sya Sya . “Tell me a little bit about what happened.”

Kyaw .. “Kai... Before you go inside, I'll tell you briefly. The dead man is U Ba Than....

" His brother, U Blang, is my neighbor and a resident of Watlong. U Blang went to work this morning and received a telegram, so he immediately ran to me and asked me to come with him, so I went with him...

“ I was the one who came up with the idea to send a telegram to U San Sya as soon as I arrived. U Ba Lan, the cloth merchant, was also at home.

" It happened like this, after dinner last night, U Ba Than went for a walk. His habit is to walk after dinner every evening.....

" The family saw him leave. No one saw him come back. However, his habit was to come back from his walk and go back in the back, read in his room, and go to his room to sleep when it was time to go to bed, so the family didn't pay much attention to whether U Ba Than came back or not...

" Last night, he returned from his usual walk and apparently went into his room. But no one noticed."

" So this morning, the servant, Po Htoo, went to his teacher's room to wake him up with a cup of tea, but he didn't find him in the bedroom either.

" So, when the people outside asked where his teacher was going, all the family members came and went to the reading room to see."

" The door to the room was closed, so I had to go through the back door and enter the reading room...

" When we got to the room, we saw Thane Dau sitting on an armchair near the table..

" On the table were a bottle of whiskey and two bottles of soda, three fish, a cigarette tin, a Cigarillo, an ashtray, a bottle of potassium, a poison used in photo studios, and a glass."

" So I immediately called the doctor and wired to U Blang. When the doctor arrived, he examined the body and said that he had been dead for at least 12 hours. If so, that would mean he had been dead since last night...

" The cause of death is clearly potassium poisoning. That's what happened ...

" So the family took the body off the chair and prepared it as usual. But after sitting there all night, the body became stiff and could not be straightened, and it became a little crooked."

Servant : "So, have you notified the police?"

Kyaw .. “When they came to see me after I reported it, they said he committed suicide. But since there is still the matter of the ten thousand baht bail, I advise you to call me.”

"Shah .. "The way you say it sounds like he committed suicide. Wait a minute, what is the financial situation of the deceased? His brother will know."

Kyaw . . “Yes, I think I know. From what U Ba Lan said, his younger brother U Ba Than is a little bit nervous right now. However, I still asked him when I met his brother. Okay... let’s go inside.”

We were standing near the gate of the courtyard, talking, and then they entered the courtyard and approached a large, fortified house. U Blang came out of the house and greeted us.

U Ba Lan, who was in the cloakroom, was no stranger to us, having met us from time to time.

U Blang seemed to be deeply moved by his brother, but like a man of high rank, he suppressed his sorrow and tried to do his duty to the guests and welcomed them.

Lan .. “Thank you very much for coming, U San Xia. However, since my brother’s case is very serious, it is probably not worth coming to U San Xia, who wants to see the case. To be honest, I don’t think I would even bother U San Xia. This is because my friend U Ba Kyaw sent a telegram to advise me...

" You could say that suicide is strange. But apart from this one thing, we don't see anything strange about it.....

" My brother is a very stable man. Our family is not a family that commits suicide. No one has ever seen anything like this happen. But please take a look at the body."

Then U Blang led the way and we followed him. U Blang took us first to the room where the body was found.

As U Ba Kyaw had said, the items on the table were still in their original places, but the chair was still in its original place, but the body was gone.

U Ba Than's body was laid out on a bed in the living room as usual, covered with a large cloth because of its poor condition.

We came out of the study and approached the body. U San Shaar slowly removed the shroud and saw U Ba Than's body lying on its side, fully clothed and with both knees bent.

As mentioned above, the body had been sitting for 12 hours, so it could not be broken, and it had to be laid flat, so it could not be laid flat on its back.

In fact, they even found the body with shoes on its feet because they wanted to keep it as it was before U San Sya arrived.

I didn't want to get too close, so I stood at my feet and watched. As usual, he approached me and looked carefully.

While this was happening, I was at the foot of the corpse, so I looked closely at the bottom of the shoe, which was pointing straight at me, and I was shocked to see that it was a pair of chicken thigh shoes.