Peter Tremayne - The Devil's seal

‘The grain had already been dried in the kiln and was ready mashed to be placed into the vat for boiling, straining and fermentation. As I was about to start cleaning the vat, I peered down. . and there was a body at the bottom of it!’

They had crossed the outside yard where three men were waiting — Rumann’s brewers. One of them was standing nervously near a great wooden vat. At his feet was something covered in sackcloth.

Rumann gave a quick nod to the man, who bent down and pulled off the covering. In spite of the coating of drying mash that covered the body, it was easy to recognise the corpse as that of Sister Dianaimh of Cill Náile.

Eadulf’s expression was grim. ‘Do you have water to wash the mash off so that I can examine her?’ he asked Rumann.

The innkeeper relayed the instruction to one of his workers, who hurriedly brought over a bucket of water. Eadulf poured some of its contents over the head and neck of the dead girl. Then he bent down beside the body and made a cursory examination.

‘It seems that she was strangled.’ He glanced up at Fidelma. ‘See there, the mark of a cord of some description which has cut and bruised her neck.’ He bent further in his examination. ‘To achieve this, the killer must have approached from behind, put the cord around her neck and twisted it with some force. She might have had time to cry out, but perhaps the surprise was so complete that she did not.’

Fidelma looked at Rumann. ‘I suppose no one heard any cry during the night?’

‘Not I, lady.’

‘I shall need to ask your family, workers and guests in a moment.’

‘Very well. The only permanent guests are the warriors of Clan Baiscne from Laighin. Apart from myself there was just my son in the inn. As you know, my wife died from the Yellow Plague some years ago. I closed up before midnight and went to bed and slept soundly. My boy had gone to bed before me and he was asleep when I went up.’

‘And your guests? The warriors?’

‘Most of them had retired, although I left two downstairs with a lamp playing a game of búanbach .’

‘Lasting victory’ was another favourite board game among warriors.

‘And what of your brewers?’ She turned inquisitively to the three men.

‘We all live on the far side of the square, lady,’ one of them volunteered as spokesman for all three. ‘We left the brewery just after sundown, having finished our day’s work. We returned this morning and started to prepare the brew, and that’s when Rumann found. .’ He swallowed and indicated the body with his head. ‘Rumann immediately sent his son to the palace to fetch a Brehon.’

Fidelma glanced at the body and then back to the three brewers. ‘May I make a request? Would you wrap the girl’s body and carry it to Brother Conchobhar in the palace? You would act under my authority and be rewarded for your trouble.’

The spokesman glanced at his companions, before turning back and raising a knuckled hand to his forehead.

‘We will do so and willingly, lady.’

Fidelma led the way to the front of the tavern where the Laighin warriors still sat at their dice game. It was clear that their concentration was not on their game. As Fidelma approached, they all rose to their feet immediately.

‘What is it, lady?’ asked one nervously. ‘Is something amiss?’

‘There has been a murder here,’ she replied. ‘Who is in charge among you?’

One of them took a step forward. ‘I am Muiredach, lady. I command these men.’

‘I am Fidelma of Cashel and a dálaigh .’

Muiredach inclined his head in acknowledgement. ‘How may we help?’

‘Did any of you see or hear anything during the night?’

There was a shuffling of feet and shaking of heads.

‘What time did you retire?’

One young man coughed with apparent embarrassment. ‘We went abed before the tavern-keeper. I am afraid some of us had indulged too freely in his liquor.’

Another of the younger warriors added defensively: ‘It is boring, simply waiting for the religious who we are escorting. We have to hang around for them to finish their business before we can move on. There is nothing to do here except play dice and drink.’

Fidelma felt a momentary sympathy with the young man and made a mental note to raise the subject with her brother. Members of his bodyguard could surely arrange hunting expeditions or indulge in contests with these men in order to distract them from their boredom. But at the moment, there were more important matters to consider. She was aware of the commander, Muiredach, looking displeased with his subordinate.

‘I can understand your boredom,’ she said briskly, ‘but for the moment, some questions. Who went to bed early? I am told at least two of you stayed up playing a game of búanbach .’

Two of the warriors indicated self-consciously that they had imbibed too much and gone to bed before the others. It was Muiredach and another man who admitted to being the game players.

‘We were playing a tough game, lady,’ Muiredach confessed. ‘Rumann had left us with a lamp and we played on until the pieces resolved themselves on the board.’

‘I was the victor,’ the other man smirked, with an obvious pride that he had bested his commander.

‘How long did the game last?’

‘Not very long,’ affirmed Muiredach. ‘But everyone was asleep when we retired to our beds. You could be deafened by their snores. Neither of us heard anything else and it was only after we awoke this morning that we learned that something had happened. It was a murder, you say?’

‘A young religieuse was strangled among the brewery vats,’ Eadulf explained in a heavy tone.

Muiredach and his companions looked shocked.

At that moment the brewery workers came by the front of the tavern. They had constructed a makeshift stretcher on which they had placed the body.

‘Perhaps you should look upon her face and see if anyone recognises her,’ Fidelma suggested, and she instructed the men to halt and put down the stretcher. Eadulf bent and gently removed the piece of sackcloth from the young woman’s face.

The warriors moved forward and glanced down. Muiredach’s expression immediately revealed that he recognised the victim.

‘Where have you seen Sister Dianaimh before?’ Fidelma asked, at the same time indicating to the brewers to continue carrying the body to the palace.

‘I do not know her name, but I have seen her before we came to Cashel,’ the warrior said.

‘ Before you came to Cashel?’ Fidelma was puzzled.

‘A few weeks ago, in Sléibhte.’

Fidelma gazed at him astounded, wondering if she had heard correctly. ‘Where did you say?’

‘At the Abbey of Sléibhte. I was sent to escort Brother Rónán and one of the foreigners to the abbey. That girl was there. I have no doubt it is the same one.’

‘Can you remember the circumstances?’

Muiredach pursed his lips for a moment. ‘There is not much to say. I escorted Brother Rónán and the foreigner from Dinn Ríg to the Abbey at Sléibhte. We stayed two days. Then Brother Rónán said that they would not require my services further, so I rejoined my companions at Dinn Rig. Then I was informed that I must escort the other three foreigners to Cashel and should choose a few of my fellow warriors for the journey.’

‘Yes, yes.’ Fidelma was impatient. ‘But what of the girl, Sister Dianaimh? You saw that she was at the Abbey of Sléibhte? Exactly where and when did you see her?’

‘On the day after we arrived at Sléibhte, I was sent back to Dinn Ríg. I was preparing my horse for the journey when, in the stableyard, I saw a girl mounting a horse also ready to leave the abbey. It was this girl. What is more, Abbot Aéd himself came into the stableyard to bid her farewell.’