"Kenneth Robeson - Doc Savage 123 - The Talking Devil" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

Ogden spread his hands with the palms up. “Poor Sam has this statue of a devil-”

“Where did he get it?”

“I gave it to him,” Montague Ogden said. “I frankly admit that.”
“Where did you get the statue?” Doc asked.

“From a Chinaman,” Ogden explained. “From an old Chinaman named Chi Sui. Poor Chi Sui was a very
elderly Oriental who for a long time had operated a shop in Mott Street dealing in knickknacks, the trash
that tourists buy in Chinatown. But old Chi Sui wanted to close up his business and go to China to help
Chiang against the Japanese, and he had very little money, but he did have this statue, which was realistic.
I bought it from Chi Sui-ah-in spite of the rather hair-lifting story he told me about it.”

Doc said, “So the former owner of the devil statue had a story to tell about it?”

“Yes.”

“What was the nature of the story?”

Montague Ogden blinked, smiled sheepishly, said, “A ridiculous story, of course. One in which I placed
no stock. Not a bit of belief, not for a minute.”

“Suppose you tell it to us, anyway,” Doc invited.

Ogden nodded. “It was a rather simple story. It seems that this Chinese statue was molded by Co Suan,
a friend of the original Buddha, and that the spirit of Buddha captured a portion of the spirit of the King
of Evil, and imprisoned it in this statuette. That was to give the little statue life, because Co Suan, the
sculptor, was a great friend of Buddha, and the All-Mighty One wished to give his friend fame and
fortune deserving of such a kind and goodly fellow. Therefore Buddha imprisoned the spirit of the devil in
the statue in order to give the little thing of brass a life and realism which no other sculptor could ever
equal.”

“That is all of the story?”

“Yes. It's ridiculous, of course.” Montague Ogden smiled at them. “I want you to understand, of course,
that I do not credit for a minute the belief that the statue is actually talking to poor Sam Joseph.”

“You have not heard the statue speak?” Doc asked.

“No.”

“Anyone but Sam Joseph heard it?”

“No.”

“What else do you know?” Doc Savage asked.

“Nothing. Nothing more.”