Peter Tremayne - Dancing With Demons

‘We will question these guards when the time comes,’ Fidelma said, smiling acknowledgement at Eadulf for picking up the point. ‘Certainlyit seems that the assassin had exceptional luck. Is there an entrance to the kitchen area from here?’

‘The kitchen is a separate building at the rear. There is a door at the back of the hall and the meals, once cooked, are carried into the High King through it. It is usually locked during the night. The commander of the guard has a key.’ Abbot Colmán hesitated and then pointed up the stairs. ‘From here, the assassin would have gone up these stairs.’

‘Are all the bedchambers above the stair?’ Eadulf asked.

‘Not all. The High King’s apartments are there. There are rooms for his family and for his personal attendants. On this floor, the ground floor, there is a room for the commander of the Fianna, the High King’s bodyguard. When Cenn Faelad stays in the royal house, he has a chamber on this level also. There are rooms for some of the servants here as well. There is a private chamber for the High King’s meetings with his advisers which also serves as a library, a small room for meals when there is no great feasting to preside over, and the remaining rooms are given to storage and bedchambers for the maids.’

‘Very well,’ acknowledged Fidelma, following the layout as the abbot indicated it. ‘So we shall follow the steps of our assassin, through these main doors, across the hall, which is luckily empty of the guard, and up the stairs. Proceed.’

The abbot led the way up the broad wooden staircase and halted on the landing.

‘To the left is the High King’s apartment, through that door. The next door enters into the apartments reserved for his family when they stay here. Needless to say, they are residing elsewhere in the royal enclosure at the moment.’

‘And those other doors?’ Fidelma queried, indicating the ones in the corridor leading to the right off the landing.

‘The far door is the chamber of the High King’s bollscari , Brother Rogallach.’

‘ Bollscari ? What exactly is the difference between the factotum and yourself?’

‘I deal with administrative matters for the High King whereas the bollscari is in charge of all the domestic servants.’

‘And these servants — who are they?’

‘His personal attendants, three females and three males. I think you have met two of the females for they are attending you in the guesthouse.’

‘What are their normal functions?’

‘They are in charge of cleaning here, one of them is the cook, and so on.’

‘So, only the servants and the commander of the Fianna were staying here that night?’

The abbot hesitated before replying. ‘In the royal house … yes.’

Fidelma noticed the hesitation and immediately asked: ‘You have thought of something?’

‘Nothing of consequence, but perhaps a matter of clarification. You may know that Sechnussach and Gormflaith had three daughters. The youngest are Mumain and Bé Bhail. They were with their mother at Cluain Ioraird that night. I think we overlooked the fact that Muirgel, the eldest daughter, was in Tara.’

‘If I am to conduct a proper investigation I must be in possession of all the facts,’ Fidelma said sharply. ‘You are now certain that Muirgel was in Tara that night?’

‘I believe so.’

‘You believe so?’ she repeated with emphasis.

‘Muirgel is a strong-willed young woman. She does not stay at the Tech Cormaic but I was told in the morning that one of the servants went to her house and she was there. Gormflaith and her daughters have a separate dwelling on the other side of the royal enclosure.’

Fidelma grimaced. ‘We shall talk to Muirgel later. But are you saying that Gormflaith and her daughters do not live in the royal residence? So their apartment would not be in use anyway.’

‘That is so.’

‘Apart from Brother Rogallach, can you name the attendants who were here?’

‘Certainly. There is the High King’s personal cook, Torpach. There is his assistant, Maoláin, and the handyman, Duirnin. Then there are three female servants, the senior being Brónach. You already have met Báine. The other servant girl is Cnucha, a general maid. When the High King had personal or special guests, they also served the guests’ hostel. Only the servants who were here at the time of the assassination have been retained, for usually there are many more attending all the royal enclosure. Chief Barrán decided to set them to work in the other residences. They were all roused by the noise of the discovery that night but saw nothing that would help you, of course.’

Fidelma noted the names carefully in her mind before asking: ‘And these servants have their chambers … where exactly?’

‘The senior members of the staff have chambers on this floor, along the corridor there. The others have chambers on the floor below.’

‘Very well. Let us examine the High King’s chambers as our first step.’

The abbot moved to the first door that he had indicated to their left.

‘As we have discussed, this door was usually locked from the inside when the High King retired for the night. There were only two keys — one in the possession of the High King and the other in the possession of Cenn Faelad.’

Abbot Colmán opened the door and ushered them in.

The room was spacious, as one might expect of the chamber of the High King. It contained two fairly large seinester or windows of opaque glass, one of which was directly behind the great tolg or bedframe. The walls were of red yew panels, and the one directly facing the end of the bed had a large ornate cross of native design hung on it. Fidelma was not sure what wood it was made of. Apart from the bed, the other furnishings were fairly simple a brothrach or couch along one wall, a table by the bed and a few assorted boxes. The bedframe was devoid of any covering.

The abbot saw Fidelma’s scrutiny and offered: ‘The coverings, including the dergud, the mattress, were removed and disposed of. Likewise the adart , pillow, and setigi , blankets. In fact, all of Sechnussach’s personal belongings have now been removed.’

Fidelma made no response, merely looking from the door to the bed. All the assassin had to do was take a few swift steps from the door … She raised her head and looked to the far side of the room. There were two doors in the opposite wall.

‘Where do those lead?’ she asked.

‘One is the room that is used as the fialtech, the privy, and it is where the High King usually took his bath. It has an outside door and staircase. Water is heated on the lower floor and brought up to the bath by this stair. That door was bolted from the inside. Next to the privy room is the erdam, a side room where the High King kept his clothes and weapons. It has a window but there are no means of entering it, apart from the door in this chamber. The bedchamber can only be entered by the door we came in by, or by the door to the privy room. Irél checked all the rooms and bolts at the time. If the assassin had an accomplice, they could not have entered nor left by the outside door. The bolts were still in place.’

‘Let’s examine these other rooms,’ Fidelma announced, and walked around the dark wooden bedframe to open the first door.

The small room beyond had another opaque glass window. The bottom of it came up to her chest height and she saw that it could be opened from the inside.

Abbot Colmán saw her examining its frame.

‘It was designed to open from the inside so that the steam from the bath, the dabach , could be released from the room. Also, of course, the fumes from the … ’ He gestured at the covered receptacles in the corner.