Edward Marston - The Elephants of Norwich

‘Jocelyn Vavasour?’ said the other with alarm. ‘What was he doing here?’

‘The same as us, probably,’ said Drogo. ‘Hunting for those treasures.’

‘We must get to them before he does!’

‘Yes, my lord.’

Livarot was peremptory. ‘Ride with us,’ he ordered the other man. ‘We may need every sword we can muster. There’s no time to lose. Away!’

Urging on his horse, he set a fierce pace for them.

Hands still tied behind his back, Starculf rode between Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret on a horse they had borrowed in a village through which they had passed. Two of the men-at-arms led the little column, four more brought up the rear, Detached from the others by a dozen yards or more, Jocelyn Vavasour followed dejectedly, still fretting over the loss of his beloved elephants and chiding himself for lapsing so easily into violence when he captured the fugitive.

They were moving at an easy trot. It enabled the commissioners to continue their interrogation.

‘Why did you get those duplicate keys made?’ asked Ralph.

‘To gain access to the lord Richard’s house,’ confessed Starculf.

‘Yet you claim that you never made use of them.’

‘When I learned of Hermer’s death, it became unnecessary.’

‘But you did plan to kill him?’

‘I wanted revenge, my lord.’

‘Why wait so long?’ wondered Gervase. ‘It was ages since you’d been dismissed by him. And why go to all the trouble of getting into the house when it would have been far easier to ambush him when he was out on the estate or visiting one of the outliers?’

‘It wouldn’t have been that easy,’ said Starculf. ‘Hermer never travelled alone. I’d have been one man against three or four. Besides, I wanted to deliver a personal message to the lord Richard. The best place to do that was under his own roof.’

‘Yet the body wasn’t found at the house.’

‘If I’d killed Hermer, it would have been.’

‘Why do you think it was left close to the castle?’

Starculf shook his head. ‘I can’t tell you that.’

‘You must have some idea,’ said Ralph.

‘I didn’t kill him, my lord. That’s all I can say. I’d have done it very differently.’

‘So you plotted murder but didn’t have the stomach to carry it out.’

‘No,’ said the other with vehemence. ‘I wasn’t lacking in courage. I risked my life to get inside that house at night to borrow the lord Richard’s keys. That took a lot of courage. The reason I didn’t kill him was that someone got to Hermer before I did. I can’t reproach myself enough for that.’

‘For what?’

‘Delaying my move for so long. I lost my prize.’

‘Is that what you call it?’ said Ralph, disapprovingly.

‘Yes, my lord.’

Tired of riding adrift of the others, Vavasour caught them up and brought his horse alongside Ralph’s mount. The anchorite still believed that the prisoner was deceiving them in some way. He listened carefully to Starculf’s account of his movements since leaving Richard de Fontenel’s estate.

‘I was an outcast. The lord Richard didn’t merely hound me off his land, he threatened to have me whipped if I was ever caught in the county of Norfolk again. I went down into Suffolk to lie low for a while, working as a falconer for a new master, but I never forgot the old one. I knew Hermer feared that I might return and that kept him on his guard. I let time pass so that he and the lord Richard would think they’d seen the end of me.’ He gave a secret smile. ‘Then I went back for the keys.’

‘When both of them were absent from the house,’ said Gervase.

‘Yes.’

‘That was very convenient for you, wasn’t it?’

‘I knew where the lord Richard kept his keys,’ said Starculf. ‘Nobody else was allowed to use them so they’d not be missed for a few days. I chose a locksmith in Wymondham because I thought I’d never be looked for there.’

‘But you were.’

‘Unfortunately.’

‘Let’s go back to the theft of those keys,’ said Gervase, studying his profile. ‘I don’t think you would ride all the way up from Suffolk in the hope that the house you wanted to break into would be largely unoccupied. You knew, didn’t you? You had an accomplice who told you the exact moment to strike.’

‘Someone did give me a little help,’ conceded Starculf.

‘Who was it?’

‘That’s not important.’

‘Of course it is,’ asserted Ralph. ‘The fellow is as guilty as you are.’

‘No, my lord.’

‘Tell me his name!’

‘I’ll never do that,’ Starculf said, proudly. ‘The person who gave me the information had no idea what use I meant to put it to. When I broke into that house-and when I returned the keys I borrowed from there-I had no accomplice.’

‘What about the gold elephants?’ asked Vavasour, bitterly. ‘Did you have a confederate when you stole them?’

‘I’ve told you before that I didn’t steal them.’

‘I say that you’re lying.’

‘Not about the elephants,’ decided Gervase. ‘I don’t think he even knew that they existed until you mentioned them. And he’s not lying about the murder either. He’s doing something more subtle than that, aren’t you, Starculf?’

‘What’s that?’

‘Deliberately holding back the full truth.’

Further questioning was interrupted by the arrival of a body of riders on the horizon. Moving swiftly in pairs, twenty or more men were galloping towards them with the sheriff at their head. Ralph moved his party forward at a canter until the groups met.

Roger Bigot was delighted to see that they had a prisoner with them. ‘Is Starculf taken?’

‘He is, my lord sheriff,’ said Ralph. ‘We deliver him over to you.’

Slapping the rump of Starculf’s horse, he sent it forward. One of the sheriff’s officers took the reins, and two other men took up their positions either side of the fugitive. Roger Bigot eyed the prisoner with a mixture of relief and curiosity. ‘So this is the man who murdered Hermer, is it?’ he said.

‘He denies the charge,’ said Gervase, ‘and we believe him.’

‘I don’t,’ said Vavasour.

The sheriff noticed the hirsute rider for the first time. He peered at him. ‘Saints preserve us!’ he exclaimed. ‘Is it really the lord Jocelyn?’

‘That’s not a name I answer to any more.’

‘You’ve changed so much.’

‘For the better, my lord sheriff. I’ve drawn back from the abyss. I lead a contemplative life now instead of one dedicated to greed and warfare.’

‘Don’t let him give us a homily,’ implored Ralph. ‘It’s far too hot a day for that.’

‘This man is guilty,’ said Vavasour, indicating the prisoner.

Starculf was adamant. ‘I didn’t kill Hermer.’

‘I agree,’ attested Gervase. ‘I think he’s innocent of the murder.’

‘So do I,’ said Ralph. ‘Guilty of much else but innocent of murder.’

The sheriff was dismayed. Hoping that the case had finally been solved, he was faced with an unexpected setback. Starculf’s denial did not impress him but the firmness of the responses from the commissioners made Roger Bigot take the plea seriously. After staring at the prisoner, he divided a baleful glance between Ralph and Gervase.

‘If Starculf didn’t kill him,’ he said with exasperation, ‘then who did?’

The sunlit afternoon encouraged them to take a leisurely walk around the perimeter of the bailey. Having been thoroughly soaked on the previous day, Golde was pleased to be enjoying less trying conditions. Alys, too, blossomed in the bright sun.

‘Isn’t it beautiful out here?’ she said. ‘We might almost be in a garden.’

‘Apart from the high walls and the guards on the ramparts,’ replied Golde with mild cynicism. ‘But it’s good to be able to stretch our legs. There’s a limit to how long I want to watch the lady Matilda work on that tapestry of hers.’