Edward Marston - The Wildcats of Exeter

‘Yes, Canon Hubert. No man is more impartial than you.’

‘The abbot of Tavistock will be judged fairly and objectively. He will receive no special courtesies from me or from anyone else.

Where the Church has erred — as it occasionally has in some of the disputes we have looked into in other counties — I have been the first to point it out.’

‘Your record has been unblemished.’

‘And so it will remain.’ Hubert chose what he felt would be the most comfortable chair, sitting down like a mother hen settling herself on her eggs. ‘But where are the others?’ he complained.

‘They should have been here by now.’

‘The lord Ralph is usually very punctual.’

‘He was until he married,’ said Hubert sharply. ‘This would not be the first time that his wife has made him tarry. I am not at all sure that her influence on him is entirely beneficial. It might be better if the lady Golde did not travel with him on his assignments.’

‘That is my feeling,’ said Simon, nodding energetically.

‘She is an intelligent lady and pleasant company but not an appointed member of this commission. Inevitably, she is a distraction.’

The door opened and they looked up in anticipation, but it was not their colleagues who stepped into the hall. A Benedictine monk shuffled slowly towards them, his hood up and his hands tucked in the sleeves of his cowl. He stood respectfully before the table.

‘Canon Hubert?’ he asked.

‘Yes?’

‘I bring word from the lord Ralph.’

‘Why is he not here?’

‘He has been delayed by the lord sheriff,’ said the monk. ‘He hopes to be here with the others before too long but sends his apologies in the meantime. The delay was unforeseen.’

‘And most unwelcome,’ observed Hubert. ‘We have an immense amount of business to conduct. An early start is imperative.’

‘It will not be possible today.’

‘Our deliberations take precedence over conversations with the lord sheriff. Bear that message to the lord Ralph.’

‘I would not be admitted to their presence.’

‘Why not, brother?’

‘Because they have arrant fools enough without me.’

Hubert gaped. ‘Fools, did you say!’

‘Fools, idiots and mindless soldiers.’

‘Such immoderate language for a monk!’ said Simon.

‘That is why I could never take the cowl for more than a few minutes,’ said the messenger, pulling back his hood to reveal the distinctive head and hair of Berold. ‘I came in jest but I spoke in truth.’

‘To disguise yourself as a Benedictine is an act of sacrilege,’

said Hubert in disgust. ‘I will make mention of this to the lord sheriff.’

‘Then you would be the biggest fool of all, Canon Hubert.’

‘Do you dare to mock me?’

‘I am only giving you fair warning,’ said the other, skipping to the door and divesting himself of his cowl at the same time. ‘My master is hot with rage. Only a simpleton would go near him when he is in such a state. Ask the lord Ralph. He is feeling the sharp edge of the lord sheriff’s fury.’

‘You were expressly told to keep yourself out of it!’ roared Baldwin.

‘Do you not recognise an order when you hear one?’

‘My orders come from the King himself,’ said Ralph.

‘Devon is under my aegis and you would do well to remember it.’

‘A sheriff is still answerable to a higher authority.’

Baldwin turned puce. ‘Do you defy me, my lord?’

‘I simply wished to view the last remains of Nicholas Picard.’

‘Against my wishes.’

‘It was too early to seek your permission, my lord sheriff,’ said Ralph with a sly wink at Gervase. ‘Or we would surely have done so.’

‘My permission would have been refused.’

‘Then it is as well we did not wait for it.’

‘You sneaked into that mortuary like thieves in the night,’

yelled their host. ‘This is my castle and I expect my guests to respect my authority within these walls. What you did was unforgivable.’

‘But within my rights.’

‘No, my lord!’

‘Yes,’ insisted Ralph. ‘The lord Nicholas figures so largely in our investigations that we have a keen interest in what happened to him.’

‘He was murdered. That is all you need to know.’

‘Why are you keeping the truth from us?’

‘Do you dare to accuse me of lies?’ howled Baldwin as his anger reached a new pitch. ‘Take care, my lord. Men have been thrown into my dungeons for less than that.’

‘I did not say that you told lies,’ countered Ralph. ‘Merely, that you have held back the full truth and tried to prevent us from finding it out. I would respect your authority more if I felt that you were worthy of it.’

Baldwin de Moeles was so incensed that he reached for his sword. Ralph did not flinch but Gervase Bret moved swiftly.

Stepping in between the two men, he acted as a peacemaker.

‘There is no call for argument here.’ He turned to the sheriff.

‘We were wrong to disobey your orders, my lord sheriff, and owe you a profound apology. Curiosity got the better of us. We were in the chapel at first light, praying for the success of our work here, when we remembered that the lord Nicholas lay in the mortuary. The temptation to inspect the body was too great to resist, but it was a mistake.’

‘No, it was not, Gervase,’ argued Ralph vehemently.

‘Let me handle this, my lord.’

‘We had to see the lord Nicholas.’

‘Subject to my lord sheriff’s approval.’ Gervase shot Ralph such a look of reproof that the latter was silenced at once. When his young friend was in such an assertive mood, it was as well to heed his advice. It was time to let him take over the negotiations.

All that Ralph had done was to trade bold words and insults with their host. They had almost come to blows and a brawl would advantage nobody, least of all a commissioner who relied on the sheriff both for accommodation and for help with his office.

Gervase’s diplomacy would achieve far more than Ralph’s plain speaking. Voices which had reverberated around the hall at the castle needed to be deprived of their passion and volume. Gervase shrugged his shoulder and gave a conciliatory smile. ‘We were too curious and too arrogant, my lord sheriff,’ he said.

‘I know it well,’ grumbled the other but he sheathed his sword as he did so. ‘Too curious, too arrogant and too rash.’

‘We had the audacity to believe that we could discover something which your own more experienced eyes had missed. We are royal commissioners who sit in musty halls with our noses in wrinkled documents and ancient charters. What do we know about the pursuit of a killer?’ He saw Ralph bite back an interruption and hurried on. ‘It was a monstrous folly on our part to imagine that we could do your job in your stead.’

‘I am glad that you appreciate it.’

‘Appreciate it and acknowledge our fault.’

‘I heard no such acknowledgement from the lord Ralph.’

‘Nor will you!’ Ralph said under his breath, then he felt a sobering kick on the ankle from Gervase. ‘He is right, my lord sheriff,’ he added aloud. ‘I do see the error of our ways now.

Gervase speaks for both of us.’

‘Would that he had done so earlier!’ snapped the other.

‘My remarks were intemperate. I take them back.’

‘I am glad to hear it.’

‘So am I,’ said Gervase with feeling. ‘Nothing can be achieved by our bickering. We are all on the same side here. Fall out among ourselves and disharmony follows. Pool our resources and work together — under your direction, lord sheriff — and we form an irresistible team.’

‘That is so,’ said Baldwin, slightly mollified. ‘We can join forces but I must be in command.’