Michael Jecks - The Prophecy of Death

It was plain enough that they were both intensely distrustful of him. The idea that he could mould them to his thinking was ridiculous, but there might be an angle which was exploitable, purely because of the assault by Wattere. It was worth a try, certainly, he thought.

‘You badly hurt my man, Bailiff. He tells me you bested him twice.’

‘He insulted my wife, and then tried to rob me. What would you have an Englishman do?’

‘You have stood in my path once more.’

‘I will stand in your path many times if you seek to despoil me,’ Simon grated.

‘Simon!’ Baldwin said calmingly. ‘Now, Sir Hugh, we do not take action against you lightly. However, clearly you anticipated just such a response to your man. You had a motive, and I do not believe that a man who spends so much time acquiring manors and estates would be interested in a small farm.’

‘I do have rather more interesting lands already,’ the Despenser said modestly.

‘So what did you intend when you sent that man to Simon’s house? Merely to upset him? Or was it to warn me away?’

‘You have a high opinion of your importance,’ Despenser said. He turned his attention from the board and gazed at Baldwin seriously.

‘No, I do not. I do have a high opinion of your intelligence, though. You would not do something without good reason.’

‘Perhaps. I feel honoured that you can be flattering, though.’

‘It is not flattery. It is simple realism.’

‘Very well, then. I shall be singularly honest in return. Yes, I had a motive. It was to persuade you that any further interference in my affairs would prove to be dangerous and painful to you. I did not, and do not, want you taking any further actions against me or my men.’

‘That we can agree, Sir Hugh — provided that your actions do not have any bearing on members of our families or friends, and that you don’t try to harm our own interests.’

Despenser tilted his head to one side. ‘That does seem perfectly reasonable. Then we are agreed?’

‘For my part, yes,’ Baldwin said.

Simon remained standing, saying nothing.

‘And you, good Bailiff?’

‘I came here today thinking that I would be likely to be killed by your men for insulting you, and now I learn that you will leave us alone, so long as we do likewise. You’ll excuse me, Sir Hugh, if I feel confused. Why would you agree to leave me alone so soon after attacking me in my own home?’

Despenser gave a slow smile. ‘You are a shrewd man, Bailiff. Very well. Perhaps it is merely that, as adviser to the King, I have so many other matters to take up my time. There is much going on right now which makes demands on me. I cannot afford to waste it running around after impecunious bailiffs from the wilds of the West Country.’

‘That is good.’

‘However,’ Despenser continued, strolling to the cupboard and filling himself a tankard, ‘if you wanted to seal our new understanding, you could help me.’

‘In what way?’ Baldwin asked sharply.

‘Nothing too stressful. I merely ask that you consider the matter of this stolen oil. You were at the priory shortly after the murder and robbery, I think. You perhaps spoke with some of the people involved there, so you would be well-placed to try to make some sense of it all. I confess, from the miles which lie between Beaulieu and Canterbury, I could make no sense of the affair.’

‘You wish us to conduct an inquiry into the theft?’ Baldwin said.

‘Yes. And quickly. We need to have the oil back, if the King is to have any defence against the hordes which are arrayed against us.’

‘What hordes?’ Simon enquired.

‘A host of men is being recruited even as we speak. I think that if the King doesn’t get to France in the near future, the French will come to him.’

‘But if we agree to hold an inquiry into the death of the monk and the oil which was taken, you will leave our homes and families in peace?’ Baldwin said.

‘Yes. Completely.’

‘Then tell us everything you already know,’ Baldwin said.

And so he did. After he had run through his investigations so far, he added, ‘The man you found dead was called Richard de Yatton. He’d been up to Leeds Castle, near Maidstone, and should have been back at Beaulieu long before. I don’t know what he was doing there on the road.’

‘It is a question of whether or not he had anything to do with the murder,’ Baldwin agreed.

‘I heard that the killer was seen escaping, and that he wore a King’s tabard,’ Despenser said pointedly.

‘Any man can pull on or take off a tabard,’ Baldwin pointed out. ‘And the body was so decomposed that it could have lain there a week or longer. A man may have killed him, knowing he was to pass by, taken his tabard, and then made his way to Canterbury. He killed the monk, then rode back and put the tabard on the dead herald, before making his escape. It is a possible explanation.’

‘I see …’

‘Another explanation, however, would be that the herald rode along that way, an outlaw saw him, slew him, dumped his body, and stole the little he possessed in ready money.’

‘Yes,’ Despenser grunted. He sighed. ‘I suppose I should tell you that I believed the man Thomas had something to do with it. The friar, Nicholas, pointed him out to me, and I think he was acting oddly. But although I had my men search his belongings twice, there was no sign of the oil.’

‘Is there anyone else you suspect?’ Baldwin asked.

‘My dear Knight — I suspect everyone. That is my job.’

Simon left the room in Baldwin’s wake, feeling confused and angry.

The man had not apologised. He admitted that he was responsible for the violent threat against Margaret, that he had tried to evict Simon from the home he had possessed since he first took on the job as bailiff of the moors, and yet Despenser had the nerve to then demand Simon and Baldwin’s aid.

‘He would taunt the devil and then ask his advice,’ he muttered.

Baldwin glanced at him, but continued on his way. ‘Not here, Simon. There are too many men about here who would be keen to know your thoughts.’

It was not until they were outside again, that Baldwin stopped and looked about them carefully. ‘You are unhappy with the arrangement?’

‘The arrangement appears to be that we must work for him and hope that he will then prove trustworthy and honourable. When has he given that impression before?’

‘Simon, he is not. However, there is another aspect to this which may have escaped you. He is asking us not to help him, but to help the King. If we question the King’s men and investigate this affair, the King will get to learn of it. And then he is likely to ask us what success we have had. I am more of a fool than I realise if I do not manage to mention the fact of the persecution which you have endured. And if I then ask the King to help us, by refusing to allow Despenser to continue in his campaign against us, I am sure that he will do so. The King is an honourable man, and when he has given his word on a matter, he is likely to hold fast to it.’

Simon considered. ‘I suppose that makes sense. However, it does not leave me any more content for now.’

‘Of course it doesn’t. But do not fret about it. We shall resolve the problem in one way or another. And now, Simon, we should think about how we may proceed.’

‘Do you want to return to Christ Church?’

‘I am not sure that it will be necessary,’ Baldwin said with a frown as he began to wander slowly along the path to the main court.

‘No,’ Simon agreed. ‘The man who killed the monk was probably wearing a tabard, and we know-’

‘There are two factors we need to think about most deeply, Simon,’ Baldwin interrupted gently. ‘We know as much as we are likely to about the matter of the dead monk, and we think that the killer may have passed by the woods and killed the man there.’