Peter Tremayne - Suffer Little Children

‘Although just seventeen, Nechtan, with his husky voice and slight figure, became a young woman,’ Fidelma agreed. ‘With the sprigs and berries of the elder to use as dye and create a redness to the lips and cheeks, Nechtan became Sister Necht.’

‘I initially thought that Dacán was an agent for Scandlán,’ went on Midach. ‘When I discovered that he had deciphered Illan’s will, I left the abbey immediately to bring them away before they were discovered. I brought the two boys back and arranged for Sister Eisten to take them at Rae na Scríne. It was only after I returned to the abbey that I discovered that Dacán had been killed.’

‘And when did Nechtan confess that he had killed him?’ demanded Fidelma.

‘The next …’ Midach bit his lip and hung his head. Nechtan stared in front of him without speaking, showing no emotion.

The Chief Brehon leant forward.

‘Why did the boy kill Dacán?’ demanded Barrán. ‘Let us finally get this point cleared.’

Fidelma grimaced sorrowfully.

‘Sister Necht, or rather Nechtan, killed Dacán out of fear. Midach, before leaving for Sceilig Mhichil, had told him that he believed Dacán was working for his enemies. Necht already hated Dacan as an autocratic, uncaring personality. It needed but a spark. A few hours after Midach left to rescue his brothers, Nechtan slew Dacan. I do not think that the act was cold-blooded. It was only after the deed was done that Nechtan sought to portray it as something premeditated.’

‘What do you mean?’ demanded Barrán.

‘Nechtan killed Dacan and later attempted to lay a pathhich would lead to another person in an effort to have that person blamed.’

‘How?’

‘After Midach had left the abbey, Nechtan was summoned to Dacán’s chamber to fetch water. Perhaps words were exchanged. Nechtan took out a knife and, in hot temper, rained a series of blows at the old man.’

‘He suspected who I was, I know it!’ Nechtan protested, speaking for the first time. The previously husky voice was now slightly sharpened and more masculine. There was no emotion in it. ‘It was my life or his. He would have killed me if he had known who I was.’

Forbassach was sitting shaking his head in bewilderment. Fidelma gestured towards him.

‘You may believe the honourable advocate for Laigin when he argues that Dacán and Laigin meant no harm to the children of Illan,’ Fidelma said. ‘So you, Nechtan, killed Dacán from an unjustified fear. Dacán was seeking you in order to get Laigin to support your claim to the Osraige kingship. It can be argued that you had an understandable fear. But what made this more heinous, Nechtan, was that you then went to great pains to lay a path to Sister Grella.’

‘I knew that Sister Grella was working with Dacán. I also knew that Grella was Salbach’s lover,’ Nechtan replied defensively. ‘When Midach went to save my brothers, I decided to save us all. If Grella was accused of Dacán’s murder then it would be a just retribution.’

‘You tried to destroy all the material that Dacan collected which would have identified you and your brothers. You did not realise that Grella had taken a draft of the letter Dacán was sending to his brother so that she could inform Salbach. Also you neglected to retrieve an Ogham wand which had rolled under the bed in Dacán’s chamber. You showed great dismay when I found it. You had to follow me when I took it to Grella in the library to check it was not incriminating. Grella recognisedit and pretended that it was something else to lead me from the scent. I left it at the library and, later that night, you returned to the library and burnt it with the other Ogham sticks in order to cover your tracks.’

‘But Dacán was bound before he was killed,’ pointed out the Chief Brehon. ‘How did this boy accomplish that?’

‘He was bound after he was killed to further implicate Grella. It was obvious that he was not bound before because the strips of cloth from Grella’s dress were so fragile that even an ailing child could have burst those bonds asunder. I noticed this at an early point in my investigation and knew then that I was looking for some carefully worked out plot.’

Fidelma spoke directly to Nechtan.

‘You must have lain awake for the rest of the night thinking about your deed. You decided that you must not only lay a path of suspicion away from yourself but, as you have admitted, you had a brilliant idea to visit some poetic justice on the person whom you believed to be one of your enemies.’

Nechtan stood silently.

‘You waited until the bell sounded for matins and you watched as Sister Grella made her way to that service. Hoping that no one had yet discovered Dacán’s body, you entered Grella’s chamber and found an old dress from which you tore strips of linen. It was the only distinctive piece of clothing you could find. You probably hoped that it was something she wore often so that the strips could immediately be identified. You did not realise that no religieuse would wear such a dress and that it was simply an old dress which she never wore any more.

‘You took the strips to Dacán’s chamber. You went in to find it in darkness. The oil in the lamp had run out. So you refilled it and lit it. It was obvious that no one had been there. You then tied Dacán’s ankles and his hands. In order to tie the hands behind him you had to turn his body over chest down on the bed, leaving the bloodstains on the blanket. I found thesecurious because he was laying on his back on the bed with chest wounds and the blood was on the blanket under the body. The body had to have been moved for a purpose. Then you left, forgetting to extinguish the lamp. Half-an-hour later Brother Conghus arrived. Your false clue meant nothing at the time. There was no one trained to deduce its significance. It meant nothing until I arrived over a week later to pick up the trail.

‘When I came back from Sceilig Mhichil and discovered that certain items had been removed from the bag which I had left with Abbot Brocc, I began to suspect what had happened. The items which had been stolen were the ones which gave information and clues to the identification of the sons of Illan. Those which were left behind were part of the evidence which implicated Sister Grella in the murder.’

Fidelma paused, waiting for the boy to respond. After a while Barran addressed him.

‘You say nothing. Do you admit to this?’

The boy shrugged.

‘I have nothing to say. I acted in self defence.’

‘That seems as good as a confession,’ warned the Chief Brehon.

‘If you say so,’ replied the boy without emotion.

Midach moved forward, his face troubled as he embraced the boy.

‘My son, I am your anamchara and your foster-father. I have guarded you in all things. I will procure the best advocate to defend you.’

Midach’s face dissolved in anguish as he gazed towards Fidelma.

‘It is my fault. It is my grievous fault! I put the fear of Dacán in him.’ He swung round to face the Chief Brehon. ‘Can you accept my guilt in place of this boy?’

Barrán shook his head.

‘The boy is now beyond the age of consent. He has an adult’s responsibility. As for putting the fear of Dacan in him, youmerely gave it some tangible form, for apparently the boy already hated Dacán and, through hate, feared him.’

‘Yes, he acted out of fear. Even Fidelma of Kildare admits that much.’

‘That may be so. But to deliberately implicate an innocent person brings a worse crime.’

‘A further word, Barrán,’ Fidelma interrupted. ‘This court will have done its duty in absolving the abbot of Ros Ailithir and the king of Muman from any culpability in the death of Dacán of Fearna. This assembly must confine itself to considering the claim by Laigin for compensation. It is now up to the court to rule on that matter. It has no further function.