Paul Doherty - The Magician

Soon after, Sir Edmund announced that food would be served in the hall below, and Corbett brought the meeting to order. He and de Craon agreed that they would adjourn for the rest of the day whilst Bolingbroke and Sanson compared the manuscripts. Chattering volubly, de Craon led the rest of the group along the passageway into the hall. Corbett and Ranulf stayed to have a word with Sir Edmund. The Constable closed the door behind his guests and, plucking Corbett by the sleeve, took him over to the fireplace, gesturing at Ranulf to join them.

‘The snow’s ceased falling,’ he murmured. ‘A peddler has reached the castle; he came in from one of the coastal villages. He brought rumours of the Flemish pirates being seen much closer to the coast than normal.’

‘In this weather?’ Corbett exclaimed. ‘The seas are swollen, there will be few vessels leaving port. So what are they waiting for?’

‘What are they looking for, more like?’ Ranulf retorted.

‘I feel nervous,’ the Constable confessed. ‘This castle is well fortified and manned, but sooner or later you and the French envoys must leave. Think, Sir Hugh, of the disgrace if you or Monsieur de Craon, either on land or sea, were ambushed or captured by Flemish pirates. I would hear Edward’s roars from Westminster here, whilst Philip of France’s anger, well . . .’ He shrugged.

‘But there is no real danger, surely?’ Corbett replied. ‘The pirates are at sea; they are looking for plunder, a careless merchantman, or some unprotected village where they can slaughter fresh meat and retreat to their ships.’

‘I know, I know.’ The Constable shook his head. ‘You are a clerk, Sir Hugh, skilled in the matters of the Chancery. I am a soldier. It is rare for pirates to come in so close at such a time, with the weather so bad. Yet they could use it to their own advantage. They could beach their ships, teeming with men, desperate veterans. If they made a landing, it might take days, or even weeks, for a message to get through the snow to London or one of the Cinque Ports. I thought I should tell you.’ He gestured towards the door. ‘Will you join us in the hall?’

Corbett didn’t feel like eating; he made polite excuses and went out, slipping and slithering on the icy cobbles, to his own chamber in the Salt Tower. He waited before the fire until Ranulf and Chanson returned and, whilst the groom guarded the door, he tried to settle the chaos seething in his mind.

‘I understand none of it, Ranulf.’ The red-haired clerk sat at the small desk, and dipped his quill into the ink warmed by the fire. ‘It’s like being in the countryside when the mist comes down. Do we go forward or wait until it’s cleared? Anyway, let’s list the obstacles.’

Corbett walked up and down whilst Ranulf’s pen scratched the parchment, writing in a cipher only he and Corbett understood.

Primo – Why is our King so interested in Friar Roger’s secret manuscript? What has he discovered which so intrigues him yet he won’t even tell me? He has gone through all of Friar Roger’s writings and brought the Secretus Secretorum from his Treasury of Books at Westminster. Is it because he has heard that Philip of France is equally interested, or is the opposite true? Is Philip simply, like I am, deeply curious at Edward’s close interest in the writings of a long-dead Franciscan ?

Secundo – Is the Secretus Secretorum a genuine manuscript? Does it contain a treasure house of secrets or is it mere babble? Is there a key to the cipher? A genuine key. Edward of England hasn’t translated it, but has Philip of France? According to de Craon, and he showed some proof this morning, one of the lines can be translated. But is that a mere accident ?

Tertio – Why did the French agree so readily to Edward of England’s request? Indeed, insist that such co-operation was in accordance with the Treaty of Paris? Why did they concede to come to England and ask that the meeting take place in a lonely castle near the coast?

‘Because they knew,’ Ranulf lifted his head, ‘that Edward would agree to that. He does not like you in France. If Philip insists that the two courts co-operate, it’s the least Edward can expect.’

‘True, true,’ Corbett murmured. He paused before the fire and stared at the faces cut into the wooden shelf. The sculptor had tried to imitate the faces of gargoyles seen in churches but in the end had satisfied himself with simple roundels, the eyes, nose and mouth cut roughly into them. Corbett continued his pacing.

Quarto – De Craon brings experts on Friar Roger’s writings from the Sorbonne. These men are also experts on ciphers and secret letters. One of these has already died in unfortunate circumstances. My old friend Crotoy confesses that none of these periti, or experts, are friends of the French King. They oppose his ideas of kingship. Crotoy is convinced that Destaples was murdered but there is not a shred of evidence to prove that. He is also of the mind that he himself, and the others, are marked down for death, that they have been brought to England to be killed, that they will all die in unfortunate incidents. Louis Crotoy believes such ‘accidents’ will be dismissed, and if there is any suspicion, it will be laid firmly at the door of the perfidious English .

Quinto – The business in Paris. Ufford and Bolingbroke maintain that one of the masters of the University, in return for gold, informed them where Magister Thibault’s copy of the Secretus Secretorum was kept. Ufford and Bolingbroke stole this, but for some unknown reason, Magister Thibault and the young whore he was entertaining went down to the strongroom at the very moment of the robbery. From what I gather, Magister Thibault was reluctant to go down. According to the evidence, he was probably showing off to his lady friend. Yet why should a Paris courtesan be interested in an old manuscript? Was she told to take Magister Thibault down there at that time? If so, the person who betrayed Philip, this mysterious master of the University, also tried to betray Ufford and Bolingbroke. Indeed he nearly succeeded. Ufford was killed and Bolingbroke only escaped by mere chance and his own skill.

Corbett shook his head. ‘I can make no sense of that.’ He sipped at a beaker of wine.

Sexto – The deaths in this castle. I have sworn to find the killer. But why are hapless young maids being killed by a crossbow bolt? They are not ravished or robbed, their corpses are being found both within the castle and outside. The killings began after the Feast of St Matthew. First, a young woman disappears, but the rest have been found in or near the castle. Some attempt has been made to blame a coven of ragged outlaws. I don’t believe that. First, why should they harm local girls – they would only stir up hatred in the local community against them. Secondly, that’s why those outlaws were waiting for us in the cemetery. They know that a King’s man has arrived in Corfe and they don’t want to be hanged for murders they haven’t committed. I wonder what they meant about the horror in the forest?

‘We could ride in there.’ Chanson, crouching by the door, grinned eagerly at Ranulf. ‘We could go deep into the forest and follow the ancient trackways.’

‘Why don’t you go?’ Ranulf snapped.

‘Pax,’ Corbett declared. ‘Let’s go back and see what we know.’ He seized a quill and a piece of parchment and drew a crude map. ‘This is Purbeck Island – there’s sea to the east and to the south. Corfe lies here, high on the downs which stretch down to the sea. Further north, just as we enter the forest, is the church of St Peter’s and the Tavern in the Forest, with a small village lying further to the east. Now, most of the victims have been found in or near the castle, the only exception being poor Rebecca, who was killed on a trackway outside the cemetery. These young women had little in common except that they lived in the castle and met every Saturday with Father Matthew in the nave of his church. They were all killed by a crossbow bolt loosed so close the quarrel was embedded deep in the flesh. From the little I have learnt, the girl Alusia journeyed to the cemetery to pay honour to a dead friend buried there, also a victim of this malevolent killer. She went down on a cart with Mistress Feyner, who takes laundry between the castle and the Tavern in the Forest. Apparently Rebecca was supposed to go with her but she didn’t arrive in time.’ Corbett went and stood by Ranulf’s shoulder. ‘Tell me, Ranulf, why should someone murder young women? If it’s not to ravish them or rob them?’