Michael Jecks - Dispensation of Death

‘I will have no part of it!’ Baldwin spat. He turned on his heel.

‘Sir Baldwin,’ the Bishop called. ‘I do not expect you to understand me in this matter. But do not condemn too swiftly. Your anger may be misdirected.’

‘Misdirected ,’ Baldwin fumed ‘My arse!’

Simon glanced up and down the corridor. ‘Old friend, I think it would be best were we to leave this place as soon as we may.’

‘I agree. There is nothing for us here. All here are shallow and dishonourable. My God — I despair of this. That the Bishop himself could suggest that I might condemn too swiftly! Dear God in heaven, what must a man like Despenser do to be found deserving of punishment? He is safe from accusations of murder, so how may a man find justice?’

‘I don’t know. It was an odd thing, though.’

‘What?’

‘The way the Bishop said that — about not condemning too swiftly. Did you hear his words? That “when commanding a kingdom, a man must look to the necessities of the ruler” — could he think that the King was responsible?’

Baldwin looked at him and there was some wildness in his eyes. ‘You think that the Bishop considers Despenser a gentle, kindly fellow? Simon, we have merely seen a glimpse today of the Bishop’s own heart. He would prefer stable government to honesty! A man must not rock the balance of power in the state in case it topples. I suppose that was what he meant. But for my part, I would see Despenser accused, gaoled and hanged if there was even a remote scrap of evidence.’

‘But there cannot be,’ Simon said. ‘You cannot find a man who would have seen Despenser walking the passages during the night, because you know that the killer was the man Despenser himself hired. And the other, the man who killed Mabilla, was built in a more scrawny manner than a knight, if that woman Joan is to be believed. It was probably some fellow discovered in the streets, like the lone bowman sent to kill Ellis.’

‘Sir Baldwin, Master Bailiff,’ the Coroner called breathlessly. He had been trying to keep up with them since seeing them leave the chamber, but their anger had made their steps fly over the ground.

‘Sir John,’ Baldwin said coolly. ‘How may we serve you?’

‘I think it is unlikely we can do much, except I was not sure whether I hold any information which could be of use to you.’

‘You did not mention it in there,’ Simon said curtly.

‘Aye, well, a man may love truth and honour, and yet choose to keep from accusing a man like Sir Hugh,’ Sir John said with a twisted grin.

‘You didn’t trust us?’

‘No, not at first. I do now, though, seeing how you tweaked the tail of Despenser. No, I was just unsure whether you had spoken to Arch.’

‘Yes. And got little of any use from him,’ Simon admitted.

‘Did he tell you about the moon’s halo?’

Simon and Baldwin exchanged a blank look.

‘I checked with the men. He asserted that he saw a moon with a halo. All others said that the night was black and there was no moon until the middle watches. I asked that guard to the Queen’s door, and he said that it was only then that the moon rose, and it did have a halo, just as Arch stated. So he wasn’t lying. He was awake through to the middle of the night. Arch even recalled the guard walking the circuit.’

‘I do not see how that helps us, my friend,’ Baldwin said after a moment’s consideration. ‘It means we know the assassin must have arrived late into the night, I suppose, but that is all.’

‘Why did the guard walk about?’ Simon wondered.

‘Hmm?’

‘Surely all the guards should have kept to their posts, not wandered about like lovers under the stars?’

‘Arch said that the Queen’s guard was checking because there were rumours of danger,’ John shrugged. He left them shortly afterwards, declaring a desire for ale.

Baldwin stood watching him with a frown of concentration marring his features. ‘Eleanor was certain that it must be Pilk or Ellis — but either of those two she would have recognised, surely.’

‘Yes,’ Simon said, frowning. ‘Although in the dark …’

‘We both know that they were all accustomed to candlelight. No, I believe that if it were either of those two, Eleanor and Alicia at least would have recognised him and told us.’

Alicia, Simon thought. ‘Alicia never gave us a description of the man, did she? It was only Cecily and Joan and their lady. The Queen and Alicia did not.’

‘What of it?’

‘When we spoke to Eleanor earlier, you pointed out that the killer must have been aware of the Queen’s movements to ambush them all. We spent time thinking of Ellis and Pilk, but what if it wasn’t the Despenser’s man, but another. Perhaps the Queen had a man come to help her.’

‘Which allies does she have here?’ Baldwin mused.

‘Her Chaplain mentioned one, didn’t he? A man-at-arms about the palace, maybe?’ Simon stood still, staring up at the grey sky. Alicia was not keen to describe the killer … and Peter told us she is having an affair with Blaket.’

Baldwin peered at him narrowly. ‘What of it?’

‘Baldwin, you remember the other day, when we got to the Bishop’s palace and the Bishop had Rob serve us in uniform? I didn’t recognise him at all at first, even though that was a well-lighted room. There are times when you may not recognise a man, aren’t there? When you look at a man in uniform, you may see the uniform, not the man beneath. And since many will always wear the clothes bought for them by their master, if they were to go abroad in different clothes, they might not be recognised.’

‘I suppose so. Why — what are you thinking?’

‘If the Queen wished a man to do her this favour, she has a limited fund of men from which to draw. Her household is disbanded.’

‘True.’

‘But there is one man who has been intensely loyal to her. That guard on the door, Blaket. He has been hard to get past, hasn’t he? He’s been determined to protect his mistress. She has turned his head, perhaps. Or his wallet.’

‘He’s in the King’s pay.’

‘Maybe he was, Baldwin. But recall: we met him twice, and did not realise at first that it was the same man, because he was in different places each time. We just thought him a guard by his clothing. Yet if he was not in uniform, would we have recognised him at all?’

‘The Queen sees him every day,’ Baldwin said. ‘He could hardly be unknown to her.’

‘No. Nor to most of her ladies,’ Simon said. ‘But think what descriptions we’ve had from Eleanor and the others: that the man had the slighter build of one who fights on foot. No great thickened neck like a knight. Like Blaket. And yes, he would be known well enough in daylight — but how many of the ladies had seen him at night, in strange clothes, with a mask covering his features?’

‘Why should he try to kill Mabilla?’

‘As I said a minute ago, just think how loyal he was to the Queen. When we tried to see her in her chapel, he refused us entry. He was enormously protective of her.’

‘True enough — yet I ask you again: why should he kill Mabilla?’

‘Because he learned, perhaps, that she was not so loyal to the Queen as he would expect?’

Baldwin looked away. Although he was reluctant to admit it, he wanted to see Despenser accused and convicted. There was something about his swaggering arrogance, his conviction that no matter what, he was safe from any form of justice, that made Baldwin’s hackles rise. It was obscene for any man to consider himself above the law. Even the King had his powers restricted by the barony. The law existed to protect all free men from persecution.

‘Baldwin, I believe that the Bishop was trying to explain it to us. Perhaps he was telling us the Despenser was innocent of this.’