Michael JECKS - The Traitor of St Giles

‘What are you accusing me of?’ Sir Peregrine demanded.

‘Sir Peregrine, I do not accuse you of killing the knight but you did commit a slaying that night.’

Bewildered, Lord Hugh looked at Baldwin. ‘Dyne was killed by the other two.’

‘Sir Peregrine killed Sir Gilbert’s dog.’

Sir Peregrine took a deep breath. ‘I am afraid that is true, my Lord. When the merchants appeared and pointed towards my hiding place thinking to catch Dyne, I set off back into the woods. I hadn’t got far when the dog attacked me.’

‘The hound saw or heard you that afternoon,’ Baldwin told him. ‘As soon as Sir Gilbert set off for the trees his dog caught your scent and ran after you.’

‘He came straight at me. There was nothing I could do but run him through. I left him there and made off. But I swear I never killed Sir Gilbert.’

‘You had the motive,’ Baldwin said. ‘You didn’t want your lord to support the King’s favourite.’

‘Maybe not, but that is no reason to kill.’

Baldwin nodded thoughtfully. ‘Sir Gilbert rode up, saw his beast lying hurt, dismounted and dropped to his side – and was stabbed. It was all over very quickly.

‘Meanwhile, Dyne was being hunted. He was found by Andrew Carter and run down. His sole weapon – Sir Gilbert’s dagger – was knocked away, and he was beaten severely by Carter before he was beheaded, probably so that he could not tell Nicholas about Carter’s incest and subsequent murder of his daughter. All the while Sir Gilbert’s body lay nearby, and the murderer, I expect, looked on.

‘Many people were there near the woods that night. Harlewin was riding along the road when Sir Gilbert came out of the woods, and was asked to remain there to prevent the felon crossing over.’ He turned to John Sherman. ‘You were there.’

‘Yes, I told you,’ he admitted.

‘Only you forgot to mention that you brought Sir Gilbert’s horse back to town with you.’

At this, Lord Hugh exploded. ‘What? You killed the poor devil, spicer?’

‘No, my Lord, no!’ Sherman felt people move away from him. ‘It wasn’t me! What would I have killed him for?’

‘Tell us again what happened – and this time, make it the truth,’ Baldwin said remorselessly. ‘You were riding through the woods. Who did you see?’

‘I had seen a woman on horseback riding along slowly and thought…’ he stopped and glanced at his wife. ‘I thought it was my wife. When she darted into the woods I believed that she had seen me and was hiding so that I wouldn’t find her with her lover.’

‘Did you see a man with her?’

‘No, so I decided to follow after her and see what was happening. I had only gone a short way in when I heard a scream. That put me on my guard. A while afterwards I heard a heavy mount cantering towards me and I saw Sir Peregrine sweep back towards the road.’

‘What did you do?’

‘I continued, Sir Baldwin,’ Sherman said and his back straightened a little. ‘I may not be a very good husband, but if my wife was in there and was in trouble, I intended to find her and rescue her.’

‘I see.’

‘I edged forward slowly. There was a lot of commotion in among the trees. My God! It was horrible. And then I saw Father Abraham. He was walking, leading a horse. He stopped at the roadway and slapped it hard on the rump to make it flee.’

‘What? This is nonsense!’ exclaimed the priest angrily.

Sherman carried on. ‘I turned into the woods and soon caught up with him; he seemed almost to jump out of his skin when I called to him.’

‘What would you have done?’ demanded Father Abraham. ‘I thought it was an outlaw or someone.’

‘The Father seemed furious to see me there. He wanted to know what I was doing, and when I said I had heard a scream and seen a woman hereabouts and thought it could be my wife, he told me that my Cecily wasn’t there, and ordered me to leave and return home. However, just then there was another scream, a short cry of terror, and the priest crossed himself. I was scared but I felt I should go and see what was happening. I thought my wife could be in danger. I rode towards the sound, ignoring the priest’s words, and came across Dyne’s body.’

His voice trailed off. When Lord Hugh gave an impatient gesture, Sherman hung his head. ‘I didn’t want to be fined for being the first finder, so I came away as quickly as I could. What was the point of me being amerced and going to the inquest later? I just left the woods as quickly as I could, praying that Father Abraham was telling the truth and Cecily wasn’t there. On the way home I saw the horse Father Abraham had been leading. I caught it and brought it back to town, leaving it at the hackneyman’s stables.’

‘Why didn’t you bring it in to be impounded?’ Lord Hugh asked. ‘That’s what should happen to a horse found loose.’

Baldwin answered. ‘Because the horse he found had brands at neck and rump saying it was owned by the Despenser. John Sherman did not want that family to think he might have had a hand in any action against them or their friends so he took it to a dealer for safekeeping.’

‘It looks suspicious, though,’ Lord Hugh said. ‘A murderer would steal a horse in the same way, concealing it to sell it later.’

Sherman felt his danger. He stammered, ‘If… If anyone was guilty it was the priest. He was there, he caught the horse – who else could have killed the knight?’

Baldwin nodded his agreement. ‘Quite correct – so he was. Father Abraham didn’t pass Harlewin in the road. I think because he found a corpse and went to Templeton through the woods, avoiding the roads where he could. He knew of Sir Gilbert’s Templar connections and Father Abraham hates the Templars, even to the extent of cursing the body of Sir Gilbert as he laid the body in its grave.’

‘ I didn’t kill him!’

‘But you did find the horse.’

‘Yes,’ the priest sighed. ‘I found it. And I was thinking about keeping it for myself, but then I saw Sir Gilbert’s body slumped over his dead dog and didn’t want to be associated with a murder. Especially when I saw the Despenser brands. So I set it free.’

‘Slumped over his dog?’ Baldwin shot. ‘So you left him in that position?’

‘Yes. To my shame. I should have arranged him like a Christian, but I couldn’t. I had to get away from there.’

‘So there we have it,’ Baldwin said. ‘And who else saw you in there?’

‘Cecily Sherman,’ the priest replied. ‘She saw me with the horse. She was there too and made it quite clear she thought I had killed Sir Gilbert. If it was anyone else I’d have laughed off her words, but I knew Sir Gilbert and knew he was a Templar. If one woman believed I had killed him, others would think I hated his kind enough to kill him.’

‘And you don’t?’ Baldwin sneered.

‘No! I am no murderer. Cecily promised not to tell anyone, but she obviously thought I was guilty. It scared me, as I say, for if a woman like her thought it possible that I could have killed a man to steal his mount, then any man or woman in my congregation might think the same. She blackmailed me. Forced me to lie to her husband for her, covering up for her fornication. Only this morning she arrived late in my church and demanded that I lie and say she had come to the church for early Mass. I didn’t dare tell the truth in case she said she had seen me.’

‘That night, she thought she was being chased, that her husband had lost his mind and was determined to catch her in her adultery and kill her,’ Baldwin said slowly. ‘She was going to meet her lover, but all the noise made her hide in the woods.’

‘That was what I feared,’ John Sherman said. He stared at his wife bleakly.