Edward Marston - The Wildcats of Exeter

‘Without question.’ Gervase looked meaningfully at Ralph.

‘Well?’

‘Yes, yes,’ came the lacklustre endorsement. ‘Without question.’

‘Then let us put this aberration behind us,’ decided Baldwin, strutting around the room. ‘I will forget what has happened if you give me your word not to interfere any more in this murder investigation.’

‘We give it unconditionally, my lord sheriff,’ said Gervase.

‘Do we?’ murmured Ralph in dismay.

‘It is the only way to proceed.’

‘Then let us leave the matter there,’ said Baldwin.

‘Not until we have given you our opinion,’ said Gervase persuasively. ‘It was wrong of us to visit the mortuary, but we did reach certain conclusions about the murder victim. They may well confirm your own observations, my lord sheriff, and should be heard for that reason alone.’

Their host pondered. ‘As you wish,’ he said at length.

‘Our feeling was this …’

Ralph watched with admiration as Gervase adopted new tactics.

Instead of increasing their host’s anger with naked defiance, Gervase was subtly flattering him in order to draw information from him. He deliberately altered the deductions they had made about the dead man so that the sheriff would be provoked into correcting him. Ralph and Gervase were learning valuable new details about the case.

‘What, then, was your final conclusion?’ asked Baldwin at length.

‘That the lord Nicholas was killed by someone in order to prevent him from appearing before us to affirm his right to the disputed holdings. One man probably carried out the murder,’ said Gervase.

‘Someone well known to the lord Nicholas who unwittingly let him get close enough to make a surprise attack.’

‘Then you are mistaken on every point, my young friend.’

‘How can that be?’

‘Nicholas Picard was ambushed by robbers in the wood. His purse was empty when he was found and valuable rings had been taken from his fingers.’

‘Could not that have been a ruse on the part of the murderer?’

said Ralph, unable to keep silent any longer. ‘A cunning villain would do his best to make it look like the work of robbers in order to deflect suspicion away from himself.’

‘We know that robbers were involved, my lord. Two of them.’

‘How can you be so sure?’

‘Because my men trailed them to an inn near Credition,’ said Baldwin. ‘A messenger rode through the night to bring me word.

The robbers had moved on but the innkeeper remembered them well. They spent far too much money for men as poorly attired as they were. He told my officers which way his guests went.’ He gave a harsh smile. ‘It is only a matter of time before those men are apprehended and brought back here to stand trial for the murder of Nicholas Picard.’

When the commissioners eventually arrived at the shire hall, they found a number of people awaiting them. Saewin had assembled all the witnesses who needed to be examined on the first day and was standing by to receive further instructions.

Ralph Delchard, Gervase Bret and Hervey de Marigny strode into the hall with the speed and purpose of men who wished to make up for lost time. Canon Hubert’s protest about their lateness was brushed aside by Ralph. Four of his men were stationed at the rear of the hall while four of de Marigny’s knights acted as sentries outside. Ralph had learned from experience that the presence of armed soldiers tended to encourage a more truthful response from witnesses.

All five of them were soon seated behind the table with documents set out before them. Ralph occupied the central position with Hubert and de Marigny on either side of him. Brother Simon was poised to record the proceedings of the day in his neat hand. Gervase was the most anxious of them all to set things in motion. Though his mind was concentrated on his duties, his heart was still in Winchester with his betrothed.

Every delay lengthened the time he would be apart from her and might, he feared, even prevent him from returning in time for his wedding.

Hervey de Marigny looked along the table and gave a chuckle.

‘What a daunting tribunal we make!’ he observed. ‘I would not like to face such an imposing set of judges.’

‘We endeavour to frighten the witnesses into honesty,’ said Ralph with a grin. ‘Only minor cases come before us today so we will not be unduly taxed. I would suggest that you watch us throughout the morning before you join in the merriment.’

‘It is hardly merriment, my lord,’ said Hubert reproachfully.

‘We are royal agents with serious business which must be addressed seriously. May I remind you that one of our principal witnesses was murdered on the eve of our arrival? That is hardly a cause for merriment.’

‘No,’ agreed Ralph. ‘I am justly rebuked. Though our work is not a tale of unrelieved tedium. I am sure that our new commissioner will find some amusement in the lies and evasions which we are bound to hear in the course of the day.’

‘Let us begin,’ suggested Gervase.

‘We have waited long enough to do so!’ sighed Hubert.

‘Your patience would make Job look restless,’ Ralph teased him. ‘It is time to let the citizens of Exeter know that we are here and that we will tolerate no false claims to property.’ He addressed one of the guards. ‘Ask the reeve to send in those involved in the first case.’

‘I find this oddly exciting,’ said de Marigny.

‘So did we at first,’ said Ralph. ‘Then boredom quickly set in.’

Hubert sniffed noisily. ‘The administration of justice is never boring.’

‘Speak for yourself, Hubert.’

‘I always do, my lord.’

‘Much of what we do is bound to be humdrum.’

‘Not if you have the intelligence to probe below the surface.’

Ralph laughed at the reproof, then composed his features into judicial solemnity as the reeve brought a number of people into the hall and directed them to sit on the benches. When all the witnesses were present, Ralph introduced himself and his colleagues then called the first man to give his testimony. After taking an oath, the witness launched into a long defence of his claim to some property to the north of the city, plucking charters out of his satchel and waving them in the air. Hervey de Marigny was enthralled. Minor disputes which seemed innocuous on the page took on a colour and vitality which surprised him. Even the most insignificant cases were invested with a bitterness which made them blaze in the shire hall.

The commissioners had complementary skills. Ralph was a stern but just leader, controlling events with a sure hand and giving every person the right to plead his case in full. As befitted a lawyer, Gervase worried away at the fine detail of a claim, haggling over the wording of charters and questioning the legal basis of many assertions. But it was Canon Hubert who most impressed their new colleague. Having found him a learned but vain man, too puffed up with his own importance, de Marigny watched with fascination as Hubert’s true mettle emerged. Fair but fearless, he asked the most searching questions and pursued any hint of deceit quite relentlessly. Three of the witnesses were exposed as arrant liars and a fourth was reduced to tears by his persistence.

By the time the cathedral bell gave sonorous warning of Nones, de Marigny felt able to take a more active role in the process, asking for elucidation, questioning witnesses directly and studying their faces for telltale signs of their true character. Under the pressure of examination, few of them maintained their composure throughout. Hervey de Marigny soon learned how to sow discomfort with an artless query and he was eventually repaid with a moment of triumph. At the end of the day’s proceedings, Ralph was the first to congratulate him.