Blood Moon (8 page)

Laughing was both the best and worst thing I could have done for while it eased the tension it humiliated de Saye, and a mocked man is a dangerous man. If he resented me before he must surely loathe me now. He looked as though he’d have liked to kill me. He did take a step towards me but it is difficult to maintain a menacing stance when all around you are collapsing with mirth. Finally with a roar he spun on his heel and barged his way through the crowd followed by his bodyguard who collided with each other in their confusion and haste to leave.

Chapter 9

PRIOR HERBERT DI
SPLEASED AGAIN

I
received my summons to the prior’s study later the same day. Funny how impenetrable the place was before when I wanted to get inside it and how permeable now when I did not. Jephthet was back at his post fiddling with quills and parchment as usual and looking this time not so much like a fox with the smell of sour grapes under his nose as the cat that got the cream. As I passed his desk I gave him the briefest of nods which he answered with a self-satisfied smirk. That smirk confirmed what I already knew: There was trouble ahead.

Hearing voices on the other side of the door, I knocked and waited. There were hurried whispers followed a few moments later by Herbert’s nasal whine:

‘Come!’

I composed my features into a blend of sycophan
cy and innocence, took a deep breath and put my head round the door.

‘You wished to see me, brother prior?’

If the size of a man’s office reflects his level of self-importance then Herbert was a very insecure man indeed. His was enormous, at least thirty feet long, and he sat alone at the far end of it – that is to say, there was no-one else in the room. But the door to his private chapel stood slightly ajar behind him. Since I’d distinctly heard voices before I entered and there was no other exit I guessed whoever it was Herbert had been speaking to had now retreated to the chapel. No prizes for guessing who that might be.

Herbert’s eyes narrowed and he beckoned me towards him with a
manicured forefinger. It felt a bit like the old days when I was often being hauled before Abbot Samson to receive a dressing down for some misdemeanour or other, although Samson’s study was barely a quarter the size of this one. Herbert had Samson’s same air of displeasure but none of the Norfolk Trickster’s cunning.

Dispensing with civilities, he launched straight in to the attack:

‘You were in the marketplace today, Walter. Why?’

‘My assistant summoned me. He heard there had been an accident and thought I might be able to help – in my capacity as abbey physician you understand.’

‘The girl was already dead.’

‘But I didn’t know that until I got there. You’ll be surprised how many corpses spring back to life again once they’ve had a chance to recover. These difficult diagnoses are best left to the experts, don’t you agree?’

Herbert made a growling noise in his throat. ‘You insulted my Lord de Saye.’

He spoke the name clearly and with due deference thus confirming my guess had been correct and the man was indeed in the chapel a few feet away and listening to every word.

‘Did I? I’m sure I didn’t mean to. I don’t actually remember saying anything much to him.’

‘You laughed at him.’

I shrugged. ‘Lord de Saye made a joke and I laughed. Everybody laughed. It was a good joke.’

Herbert wagged his head slowly. ‘Walter, you undermine his lordship’s authority with your impertinence.’

‘In that case I apologize. Had I known he was going to take such a personal interest in the case -’

‘Lord de Saye
does not take a personal interest in the case,’ Herbert interrupted abruptly. ‘How could he? He’d happened to be passing through the market on his way to see me when the body was discovered. It was only natural he should take charge.’

That was a clumsy lie. A cleverer man would have passed off de Saye’s earlier visit to the priory as a courtesy call instead of trying to pretend it never happened. It just confirmed to me that skulduggery was afoot. But more interesting to me was why someone of de Saye’s rank should take any interest in the death of a mere maid.

‘Not just any maid,’ said Herbert reading my thoughts. ‘The murdered girl was a member of an important household. The Bishop’s household. These things need careful handling.’

‘How astute of his lordship to have divined all that merely from a casual glance at the body as he happened to be passing by.’

I thought I heard another angry growl this time coming from the chapel. Herbert glanced briefly over his shoulder before turning back to me.

‘
You’ll gain nothing by being clever, Walter. Lord De Saye has graciously offered to resolve this appalling business - with my full approval I hasten to add - and it is the duty of all of us to try to help him if we can.’

The thought of my helping Geoffrey de Saye
almost made me choke. ‘In what way could I help him?’ I asked.

‘You’re one of the few people to have had dealings with the
family. You must have met the murdered girl on one of your visits. How did she strike you?’

I shrugged. ‘A pleasant enough girl. A bit young to be a maid, perhaps.’

‘What about the Lady Adelle.’

‘As you would expect
of someone of noble birth: She is a lady of refined manners and sensibilities.’

‘
Could she have murdered the girl?’

I
nearly guffawed. ‘Of course not! She has just given birth, virtually bed-ridden.’

‘What
about the boy? How did he seem to you?’

I
had to be careful here. I didn’t want to give too much away about the previous night’s activities.

‘Like all young men these days
,’ I answered carefully. ‘Selfish, inconsiderate...’

‘Violent?’

I hesitated before replying. In all conscience I couldn’t deny that I thought Raoul was capable of violence - after all, he’d grappled with me on the chamber floor and Effie had clearly been terrified of him. But being capable of committing murder was one thing; actually carrying it out was quite another. Unfortunately my hesitation only confirmed Herbert’s suspicions. He smiled knowingly.

‘Oh, now wait a moment,’ I protested. ‘You can’t just assume -’
             

‘He threatened the girl.
Brother Gregor confirmed as much.’

‘Every master disciplines his servants,’ I countered. ‘It is only natural. An ill-disciplined household is a weak household.’

‘But not every master murders them.’

‘There’s nothing to suggest Raoul did, either.’

‘His cap was found at the scene.’

‘
Which could have put it there by anyone.’

‘For what reason?’

‘To incriminate him, of course.’

He snorted. ‘And who would want to do that?’

‘I don’t know. Perhaps you should ask Lord de Saye since he seems to have the answers to everything else.’

Herbert’s eyes
lit up at that. It was a hasty remark to have made and I cursed myself for my impetuosity. I hadn’t actually accused de Saye but I’d come pretty close to it, and him just feet away in the chapel listening to every word. Frankly I should have been surprised that he didn’t emerge from his hidey-hole right then and there and have me hauled off to some dungeon. He would have been perfectly justified to do so. In light of what I know now, of course, I can see why he didn’t. But at the time I wasn’t thinking clearly. I was too angry at being forced to defend the boy. Raoul de Gray was a brute and a bore and I didn’t much like his morals. But I liked Geoffrey de Saye’s even less.

‘If you’re so sure
he did it,’ I said rowing back a little, ‘why don’t you arrest him?’

Herbert smiled his weasely smile. ‘We have. Lord de Saye detained him this morning immediately after the discovery of the maid’s body and placed him in the abbey gaol.’

The news stunned me. I hadn’t anticipated things would move so quickly. ‘What will happen to him?’

‘He will be taken back to
Norfolk for trial.’

That shocked me even more. ‘Why not try him here? Surely it comes under the abbey’s jurisdiction? You being most senior in the order have the authority,’ at least until the new abbot is appointed, I could have added.

Herbert grimaced painfully. ‘Unfortunately I am unable to give the matter the attention it deserves. You know our situation over this election. I’m far too preoccupied with that. And it wouldn’t be proper for me to begin proceedings only to have to hand the case over to the new abbot while still in mid-stream.  Far better for the boy if Lord de Saye takes him back to his home in Norfolk and carry out proceedings in full there. He’ll receive a fairer hearing that way.’

‘If he makes it that far
,’ I snorted.

Herbert
glanced quickly over his shoulder as though expecting de Saye to be there. ‘Walter, this continued antagonism towards Lord Geoffrey does you no credit. I know you and he have had your difficulties in the past. But that is ancient history now. If Lord de Saye is willing to work with you over this tragic affair you should do the same. It is, after all, your Christian duty to turn the other cheek.’

‘It’s also my duty to correct an injustice when I see one.’

‘Not this time. Your duty is to obey me. And I’m telling you to leave well alone.’ He sighed heavily. ‘Remember what happened last time. I refer, of course, to that child murder back in ’99. I was new to the cloister then, only two years monked, but it made an impression on me. It was quite a fiasco, as I recall. The murderer escaped and ended up killing himself and his wife while his accomplice got clean away. We wouldn’t want that happening again, would we?’

‘That’s not quite what happened,’ I objected
, and was tempted to add that far from getting “clean away” the true murderer was apprehended - by me - and was at that moment standing barely five feet away from us.

‘
Be that as it may,’ Herbert said waving his hand in the air. ‘This time you are not to get involved. That is a direct order - do you understand?’

I didn’t reply but
simply lowered my eyes. So he repeated himself more forcefully: ‘Do you understand, Master Physician?’

I nodded curtly.

‘Besides,’ he added enticingly, ‘I have another job for you.’

I looked up.
‘Oh?’

‘Yes.
This Gilbertine canon.’

‘What about him?’

‘You tended his wound after the incident in the chapterhouse, I gather?’

‘
Hardly a wound. He had a nose bleed.’

‘Which you managed to stop
- impressively I might add. The boy was very grateful.’

‘I am heartened to hear it.’

‘Indeed,’ Herbert nodded. ‘You know why he’s here, of course?’

‘I believe he’s something of a euphoric.’

‘One of the chosen.’ Herbert smiled. ‘I envy him.’

‘
Do you?’

‘
Of course. It must be wonderful to feel the spirit moving so strongly.’

I looked at him
sceptically.

Herbert continued
: ‘The boy is alone here. In need of a chaplain.’

Oh,
now I could see where this was going. ‘Brother Prior -’

‘
And since he knows and trusts you -’

‘
Prior Herbert, I have my duties…’

‘…which need not conflict.’ He smiled beguilingly. ‘Just keep an eye on him, that’s all I’m asking.
You’ve already recommended a change of diet – a recommendation, by the way, which I have approved. Now I want you to continue your interest and mentor the boy fully.’

I shook my head. ‘
Out of the question. I’m far too busy.’

Herbert sighed heavily. ‘Walter, please don’t make me go to the Bishop.’

I was trapped. It was obvious what he was doing. He wanted to keep me so preoccupied that I wouldn’t have time for the murder. If I refused he would appeal to Bishop Eustace of Ely as our temporary pastoral director while the abbacy was vacant. Ironically, that role would normally belong to the Bishop of Norwich - Raoul de Gray’s uncle; but Bishop John was out of the country. I knew Bishop Eustace well enough but even if I managed to persuade him to relieve me of this duty it would involve a lengthy trip to Ely in Cambridgeshire. By the time I returned de Saye would have Raoul half way across Norfolk. It was a shrewd move on Herbert’s part - uncharacteristically so. More likely it was Geoffrey de Saye’s idea. I was angry and frustrated which probably explained what I said next: