Edward Marston - The Wildcats of Exeter

‘Why was the other box taken in preference to yours?’

‘I have no notion.’

‘Could it be that the thief knew what he would find?’

‘No, Master Bret. I think he stole it by chance.’

Gervase glanced around. ‘When there are so many other things of value in the house to steal, several in this room, for instance?

Where was the box kept?’

A moment’s hesitation. ‘Upstairs,’ she said.

‘In your bedchamber?’

‘Close by it.’

‘So the thief might well have disturbed you.’

‘Happily, he did not,’ said Tetbald.

‘But the possibility was there,’ said Gervase. ‘Why take the risk of going upstairs at all when he could have taken many valuable items from the ground floor? It is puzzling, my lady. Has the house been broken into before?’

‘No, Master Bret.’

‘We have dogs to guard it,’ said Tetbald.

‘Why did they not alert you to the presence of an intruder?

They barked loud enough when we rode up. Were they not on guard on the night of the burglary?’

‘They were,’ she admitted, ‘but they did not raise the alarm.’

‘Is that not strange?’

‘Very strange and very worrying.’

‘Have you any idea who the intruder could be?’

‘None.’

‘What about you, Tetbald?’

‘I am baffled.’

‘Yet this is a very singular thief,’ said Gervase. ‘There are guard dogs here and somehow he evades them. He finds his way around the house in the dark. And he takes only one item, even though it is in a room close to that of the lady Catherine. There can be very few men who fit that description.’ He looked from one to the other. ‘Has Engelric ever visited this house?’

‘Not since we took possession of it from him,’ said Catherine.

‘Did he protest when you did so?’

‘Strongly.’

‘The lord Nicholas had to threaten him in order to keep him off the property,’ added Tetbald. ‘Engelric was somewhat younger then. He has mellowed a great deal since that time.’

‘Yet he still resents the loss of this manor house?’

Catherine was cold. ‘That is his problem.’

‘Does Engelric have sons?’ asked Gervase.

‘Two of them.’

‘Did they have cause to come here at any time?’

‘Not to my knowledge.’

‘But the family were your husband’s sub-tenants. There were surely times when they came to pay rent or to transact business with the lord Nicholas? On such occasions, is it possible that your husband had that box with him and opened it in their presence?’

‘It is possible,’ she conceded.

‘But highly unlikely,’ said Tetbald quickly. ‘Rents were usually paid by Engelric and his sons to the estate reeve. He brought the money here and the lord Nicholas locked it away.’

‘In the box that was stolen?’

‘Perhaps.’

‘But you are not certain?’

‘We never saw that box open,’ said Catherine evenly. ‘As I told you, my husband was an intensely private man. He did not involve me in the running of his estate in any way.’

Gervase heard a slight rancour in her voice. He also noticed that the steward had moved a step or two closer to her. There was a more overtly protective air about him now even though Catherine, calm and assured, did not seem in need of his defence.

‘On the day that he was killed,’ said Gervase softly, ‘your husband was returning from Exeter. Do you know why he went there?’

‘On business,’ said Catherine.

‘What was the nature of that business?’

‘He did not tell me.’

‘But I believe that he intended to call on Saewin,’ volunteered Tetbald. ‘He wanted to know when you and the other commissioners were due to arrive in the city.’

‘Could he not have sent a servant on such an errand?’

‘He could have, Master Bret. But he did not.’

‘He must have had other business to transact in the city?’

probed Gervase. ‘The lord Nicholas would hardly ride all that way to spend a few minutes with the town reeve. Whom else would he normally visit when he went to Exeter?’

‘I do not know,’ said Catherine.

‘Did you never ask him?’

‘It was not my place to do so.’

‘But you were his wife.’

‘A wife is not her husband’s keeper.’

‘He went to Exeter alone that day. Without an escort. Was that usual?’

Tetbald leapt in. ‘These questions are distressing the lady Catherine,’ he said warningly. ‘They show a grave lack of consideration on your part, Master Bret.’

‘I am sorry. I did not mean to cause offence.’

‘The lord Nicholas did sometimes ride into the city alone. He was careless of danger. The wood through which he had to ride has harboured robbers in the past but he ignored the threat. If that is all you wish to know,’ he said, trying to ease their guest on his way, ‘I am sure that the lady Catherine would appreciate being left alone now. It is still only a matter of days since the lord Nicholas was killed. You must surely see that you are trespassing on her grief.’

‘Let me be the judge of that,’ she said with a reproving glance.

‘The doctor advised rest, my lady.’

‘I know what the doctor advised, Tetbald. But I am the only person who knows how I feel. Master Bret will not leave until he has asked the main question which brought him here. And so I will answer it honestly,’ she said, turning back to Gervase. ‘Well?’

‘Does the name Asa mean anything to you?’

‘It does.’

‘Were you aware of her friendship with your husband?’

‘Of course.’

‘Did you ever see any letters which she may have written to him?’

‘No,’ she said with a sneer, ‘but I would be surprised if the woman was able to write. I understand that her talents lie elsewhere.’

‘When he rode into Exeter for the last time,’ said Gervase, choosing his words with care, ‘is it at all possible that the lord Nicholas might have wished to visit her?’

‘Yes,’ she snapped. ‘It is. But now that you have forced me to confess that, you are welcome to leave my house. Or is it your intention to inflict further humiliation upon me, Master Bret?’

When Ralph Delchard and his men finally reached the castle, they were hungry and fatigued. The journey from Tavistock was taxing. Ralph was not pleased to find Canon Hubert waiting for him inside the gate.

‘What news, my lord?’ he said eagerly.

‘We are weary from travel, Hubert. That is the news.’

‘Was no arrest made?’

‘None was necessary.’ Ralph dismounted and let one of his men lead the horse away to the stables. ‘Walter Baderon was not involved in the murder of the lord Hervey.’

‘But you told me that you believed he was.’

‘I was wrong.’

‘So the journey was a waste of time?’

‘Not at all, Hubert. I was sure that Baderon had valuable information to give us. And so he did — when I persuaded him to part with it. After such a long ride, I was in no mood to be baulked.’

‘What did he tell you?’

‘That will become clear in time.’

‘But I wish to know now,’ said Hubert. ‘I want to be able to take some comfort back to the cathedral. Bishop Osbern is disturbed, Dean Jerome is frankly alarmed and Brother Simon is in fear of his life. The whole community is in need of reassurance. May I give it to them?’

‘Not yet, Hubert.’

‘There must be something that you can tell me.’

‘There is.’

‘What is it?’

‘Whoever else is in danger, it is not Brother Simon.’

‘What …’

‘Just convey the good tidings to him,’ said Ralph with a yawn.

‘You will have to excuse me now. I must go to my wife. Golde will have been worried by my long absence.’