Peter Tremayne - The Devil's seal

The Venerable Verax paused for a moment, as if undecided. Then he replied: ‘Then you will know that I set out from Rome on a mission to Theodore of Canterbury, bearing with me certain items that were given by the Holy Father and intended for Theodore and none other.’

‘I presume that you had but recently arrived in Canterbury when the theft occurred?’ she prompted. ‘But I should like to know the exact circumstances.’

‘I had brought with me certain holy objects. These I carried with me in a chest which was never out of my sight nor that of my personal servant.’

‘Except at the time when they were stolen?’ she pointed out with dry humour.

‘I thought them to be safe in the chest in my residence whilst I was in discussion with Archbishop Theodore. I returned to my chamber late one night, however, and found that my servant had been attacked, the chest had been forced open, and these items and papers removed. Enquiries were made. At this time Bishop Arwald was serving Archbishop Theodore as the head of his custodes . He undertook the task of helping to track down the thief or thieves.’

Fidelma turned to Bishop Arwald. ‘Archbishop Theodore had decided to copy the Lateran Palace and set up a group called the custodia which took care of the security and valuables of the church at Canterbury. Is that so?’

‘He had.’

‘And you were placed in charge of them?’

‘I was.’

‘And they included Brother Bosa and Brother Cerdic?’

‘They did.’

‘So, you undertook to discover the thief. When did you learn that a thief, passing himself as a priest called Victricius, was responsible for the theft of these objects?’

‘It did not take long. There is no honour among thieves, and Victricius was a known thief. Witnesses saw him at the Archbishop’s residence and leaving the quarters used by distinguished guests. He was later observed at various taverns meeting with a young man — a warrior from the descriptions. This young man had previously been seen by both Bishop Arwald and Brother Bosa, but it was only later that a connection was made. The young man resembled Brother Eadulf there, as had already been pointed out. It was not long before their hiding place was betrayed by other thieves. One of the custodes went there to investigate but the two had already fled, leaving behind, I should say, some inconsequential documents from their theft, which evidence confirmed their guilt.’

‘Was it Brother Cerdic who was sent to investigate their hiding place?’

Bishop Arwald seemed surprised but nodded. ‘He was but newly joined in our custodia . He had impressed me with his enthusiasm.’

‘He reported back that the thieves had fled?’

‘When thieves fall out, truth is to be found,’ replied the Bishop Arwald. ‘I afterwards questioned the innkeeper where they had been hiding and learned that they had set off for the coast north of Canterbury. Riders went after them but found they had embarked on a merchant ship heading for this kingdom. We realised they would doubtless find buyers for those items they stole here.’

‘What made you believe that?’

It was the Venerable Verax who answered. ‘I knew from my brother and in our archives that Ard Macha had already petitioned to be recognised as a primacy here. Obviously there would be interest in these objects.’

‘Are we to be told what these objects are?’ asked Chief Brehon Frithel.

‘Yes; we will come to them in a moment,’ Fidelma replied. She turned back to the Venerable Verax. ‘So you decided to follow the thieves here?’

‘There was no option but to make an attempt to retrieve the items.’

‘It puzzles me that you did not follow by the same sea route,’ Fidelma commented.

‘Storms were coming up and we were told it might be several days before we could find a ship. We took advice from Brother Bosa, who had been here before, and it was decided that we ride for a harbour in the land of the West Saxons and take ship from there. Brother Bosa had studied here in Darú and knew the route well. He felt that we might even land in advance of the merchant ship because of the long voyage it had before it.’

‘A question!’ It was Eadulf who interrupted, and receiving permission of the Brehon Fíthel, he asked: ‘I can understand the custodes giving chase in this fashion, but why was the presence of the Venerable Verax necessary? He was a distinguished visitor from Rome.’

‘I was given a commission by the Holy Father,’ explained the elderly prelate. ‘It was my task to see it carried out. Anyway, I alone knew what these items were and could identify them.’

‘Well, the thieves could identify them as well,’ Eadulf replied pointedly.

Brehon Fíthel leaned forward and declared: ‘I must now insist that we are told exactly what these valuable items were.’

‘Items of extreme value to certain people within these kingdoms wishing to show authority from Rome,’ Venerable Verax prevaricated.

‘Certain people?’ Fidelma smiled indulgently. ‘To be succinct, those who wanted to be recognised as Chief Abbot or Bishop of the religious over all these kingdoms. That, of course, is why you were so interested in finding out which of our abbots and bishops would want to claim this primacy. The intention of Victricius and his companion was clearly to sell these items to the highest bidder, as they would seemingly confer the authority of the Bishop of Rome on whoever owned them.’

Abbot Ségdae now intervened with a frown. ‘Surely, it must have occurred to the thieves that such a transaction would be as illegal as it would be invalid?’

‘Invalid because the items would not have the authority of the Bishop of Rome and because they were presumably intended for another,’ agreed Fidelma.

The Venerable Verax smiled tightly. ‘Unfortunately, the declaration of the name and office on the parchment, given under the Holy Father’s own seal, was left to be filled in later by a scribe.’

‘I thought that you said these items were sent to and intended for, Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury?’ Eadulf said sharply.

‘Theodore was already Archbishop,’ agreed the Venerable Verax. ‘He needed no such authority. But he was finding it hard to control all the kingdoms of the Angles and Saxons. He had sent an emissary to Rome with the request that he be allowed to elevate a bishop called Wilfrid as Archbishop of Northumbria, with his cathedral in a town called York. This Wilfrid would therefore become the second Chief Bishop among the kingdoms of the Angles and Saxons. However, Theodore wanted the power to do this without Wilfrid being specifically named, until such time as Theodore was certain of his ability, since there were still some matters of contention between them. My task was to take the pallium and the declaration, given under the Holy Father’s seal, to Canterbury. As I said before, the name and bishop’s see, the official centre and jurisdiction of the bishop, was left for one of Theodore’s scribes to fill in.’

‘In other words,’ Eadulf summed up, ‘someone could purchase these items from the thieves and then append their own name? Rome might deny it, but the claim could be announced and could convince enough people to cause a schism that might last for generations.’

‘Exactly so,’ confirmed the Venerable Verax.

‘Well, I would have had nothing to do with such false baubles,’ Abbot Ségdae declared immediately.

‘But there may be others who have no such scruples,’ Fidelma pointed out. ‘I have attended councils at Streonshalh and at Autun; I have seen how bishops and abbots are no better than temporal princes in their quest for power. No doubt there would be many who would pay a king’s honour price for such items. Fortunately, some of these items were destroyed.’