Edward Marston - The Wildcats of Exeter

‘From time to time.’

‘What about your sons?’

‘They found him as cruel and selfish as I did.’

‘Cruel and selfish enough to drive them to thoughts of killing him?’

‘Yes,’ said Engelric readily. ‘We wished him dead many a time, but that does not mean we lifted a hand to kill him. Normans can be vicious masters, as you must know. Cross them and your family will suffer for generations.’

‘How well were you acquainted with the lady Catherine?’

‘Not well at all. I only saw her once when I called at the house.’

‘Did you feel bitter to see your former home occupied?’

‘Bitter but resigned, Master Bret. It is the only way.’

‘Do your sons share that view?’

‘My sons are no more involved in this murder than I,’ said the old man with spirit. ‘And what is this conspiracy you allege?’

‘Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.’

‘With regard to the dispute?’

‘Yes, Engelric. Someone sent me letters in order to discredit one of the claimants, trying to secure unfair advantage over that person. And there have been other indications of conspiracy.’

‘None point to me,’ returned the other firmly. ‘Justice is the one thing I seek. That is what my claim stands or falls upon. To pervert the course of justice would be folly on my part.’

‘I accept that.’

‘Then accept this as well, Master Bret. We may be poor, and resentful at what happened to us, but we are not criminals. We abide by the law of the land even when it goes against us.’ He straightened himself on his stool. ‘Though we shed no tears over the lord Nicholas’s death, we want his killer to be caught and punished.’

‘So do we all,’ said Gervase, ‘but let us not forget that there is a second murder here. That is the one which weighs most heavily on my mind.’

‘Quite rightly. The lord Hervey was your colleague. I did not know him but he questioned me fairly at the shire hall and I took him for an upright man.’

‘That is a good assessment of him.’

‘I work on instinct, Master Bret.’

‘It is very sound.’ Gervase changed his tack. ‘Tell me about Saewin. How well do you know him?’

‘Fairly well. I have lived in these parts a long time.’

‘Would you call him a personal friend?’

‘I would.’

‘Have you had many dealings with him in the past?’

‘Yes, I have.’

‘And would you describe him as an honourable man?’

‘Extremely honourable,’ said the other defensively. ‘Saewin is very single-minded. He works hard and is always ready to offer free advice to his friends.’

‘Did he offer you advice concerning this dispute?’

‘No.’

‘Why not?’

‘He has high principles, Master Bret. I suspect that you do as well, so you will understand. Saewin showed me no favour at the shire hall, but he has advised me on another matter.’

‘Oh?’

‘I have been thinking of moving to the city.’

‘Why?’

‘My bones are too old to withstand another cold winter in the depths of the country. A dwelling in Exeter would be far more suitable, something akin to this house. Small, humble but snug.’

His smile sent new waves of wrinkles over his face. ‘Saewin promised to let me know when a property fell vacant. He has been very helpful.’

‘Have you ever been to his own house?’

‘Many times.’

‘He has a dog, I believe.’

‘It is more like a human than an animal, Master Bret. The reeve has taught that dog things which a child could not learn.

Saewin has a way with dogs. I prefer pigs and cattle myself.’

‘Why?’

‘You can eat them.’

Gervase waited until his cackle died away. ‘When you went before the first commissioners who visited the county, how were you received?’

‘Justly but unsuccessfully.’

‘You and the lord Nicholas were pitted against each other.’

‘He called many witnesses in his support. I had none.’

‘Yet you must have impressed our predecessors,’ said Gervase,

‘or they would not have asked us to take a second look at the holdings in Upton Pyne. This time, of course, we have five claimants instead of two. I wonder why some of them did not come forward earlier.’

‘Did you tax them with that question?’

‘Yes, Engelric. According to the abbot of Tavistock, he was cunningly misinformed about the date of the session here and arrived to find that the commissioners had moved on to Totnes.’

The old man cackled again. ‘Do not expect me to feel sorry for the abbot. It was he who seized my land in the first place by means of a fraudulent exchange. Who else failed to come forward?’

‘The lady Loretta.’

‘What was her excuse?’

‘That she was away in Normandy when the returns for this county were being taken.’

‘Who told you that?’

‘The lady Loretta herself.’

‘Then either she is deceiving you or she has a very poor memory.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘When the first commissioners visited this county, she was at her home in Exeter. I remember seeing her when she attended a service at the cathedral. The lady Loretta is a handsome woman,’

he said with grudging admiration. ‘Even I am not too old to notice that.’

‘But she swore under oath that she was in Normandy.’

Engelric was unequivocal. ‘Then she lied to you.’

Geoffrey, abbot of Tavistock was not deterred by the presence of the sheriff. His voice was loud, his tone acerbic. He was alone in the hall at the castle with Baldwin and Ralph Delchard, but so large were his gestures and so passionate his rhetoric that he might have been addressing a vast asssembly.

‘This is one of the most shameful acts that I have ever had the misfortune to encounter,’ he said with rising fury. ‘I have never had such disrespect shown to me before. You, my lord Ralph, went off behind my back to speak to one of my knights in Tavistock.

And you, my lord sheriff, much to my dismay and, I may say, astonishment, condoned this rash conduct. Walter Baderon is my man. My permission should have been sought before he was dragged from his bed to answer any questions.’

‘Would you have given your permission?’ said Ralph.

‘No!’

‘That is why I did not bother to seek it.’

‘You had no right to ride off to Tavistock like that.’

‘I had every right, my lord abbot,’ said Ralph unrepentantly. ‘I am searching for the man who murdered the lord Hervey and I will go wherever I wish in pursuit of the villain.’

‘I support the lord Ralph to the hilt,’ said the sheriff.

‘Then you are not the man I took you for, Baldwin,’ retorted the abbot. ‘I provide fifteen knights for the defence of Exeter. They perform their duties well. They do not deserve to be treated like suspects in a murder investigation. I demand an apology from both of you.’

‘You will not get one from me,’ vowed Ralph.

‘No apology is needed, Geoffrey,’ said the sheriff, trying to calm him down. ‘We took what action we felt was needed at the time.’

‘Walter Baderon is an innocent man!’ insisted the abbot.

‘Innocent but dishonest,’ said Ralph. ‘He had valuable information to give and it took me time to wrest it from him. Had you left the fellow here in Exeter, I would not have been put to the trouble of galloping all the way to Tavistock. You are to blame here, my lord abbot.’

Geoffrey simmered. ‘I have sole authority over my men.’

‘Until they commit a crime.’

‘Walter Baderon did not do that, my lord Ralph.’

‘He withheld vital evidence and that is a crime in itself.’

‘There is no point in bickering about it,’ said the sheriff wearily.