Michael JECKS - The Boy-Bishop's Glovemaker

She looked so worried that Jeanne waved her inside with only a pang of regret. ‘I have only just returned myself as you can see, but let us go in and see if they are all inside.’

The hall was filled with men and women talking loudly, their faces red and merry from work and drink, but there was no sign of either Vincent or Baldwin, and when they called the host over and asked him, he said: ‘Master Baldwin left first thing this morning with Bailiff Puttock and I’ve seen nothing of either of them since.’

Jeanne smiled gratefully, but when she turned she could see that Hawisia was close to tears. Jeanne waved to Edgar, who correctly interpreted this as a demand for wine and disappeared. Seeing that Jeanne and Hawisia might wish for privacy, he took Hawisia’s servant with him.

‘Come, dear, tell me what’s the matter,’ Jeanne said soothingly.

Hawisia put a hand on Jeanne’s forearm as the two sat on a bench. ‘I am pregnant again.’

‘Then I will pray for a healthy child,’ Jeanne suggested with a smile.

‘My husband already has a child.’

‘Men are not so abstinent as their wives,’ Jeanne said warily. She wasn’t sure where this was leading.

‘But I fear his son Jolinde will be the cause of sore distress to him,’ Hawisia said, and she began to sniff as the tears started to run.

Jeanne had listened to enough of Baldwin’s and Simon’s conversations to know of whom Hawisia spoke. Now she sat silently while Hawisia wept, letting the silence draw the younger woman out.

At last Hawisia blinked to clear her eyes and wiped her face on her sleeve. ‘I am sorry. I must seem the veriest fool to behave like this, but I have been worrying for an age now.’

Jeanne nodded sympathetically, but she could not like Hawisia and she inwardly cringed at the thought that this young woman should have sought her out as a confidante. ‘What do you fear?’ she asked.

‘That my husband’s son should be found to be the murderer. You must know that Nick Karvinel and Vincent have no affection for each other. They are not friends, they are competitors. And Peter was his clerk. If Jolinde thought that Peter had done anything for Karvinel that could have hurt my husband, I fear… I truly fear–’

‘That your stepson could have killed Peter?’

Hawisia sniffed and nodded wretchedly.

Simon and Baldwin strode over the precinct alone. Gervase had left them at the door to the infirmary, saying that he must visit Adam and try to comfort him. When he opened the door, Simon saw the miserable Secondary gripping his belly and spitting a slimy dribble into a pot. Simon had seen the effects of such treatment before and had no desire to witness the inevitable result. It was with immense relief that he left the scene and followed his friend to the rooms where Jolinde had lived with Peter.

As they approached the house, Simon saw the large figure of the Coroner appear at the Fissand Gate. He was accompanied by the City Bailiff, to whom he bade farewell at the gate before coming over to join Simon and Baldwin. ‘The City Bailiff told me,’ he said simply. ‘You think it was Jolinde too?’

‘Possibly he can help us,’ Baldwin said. ‘He was out near the Canon’s house when the food was brought in.’

‘Let’s see what the bastard has to say this time.’

The door was opened almost immediately when Coroner Roger beat upon it, and Jolinde looked from one to the other with surprise. ‘What is it?’

Coroner Roger shoved the door wide. ‘We’re hoping you can help us–’

He stopped and Simon soon saw what had caused his astonishment.

The room was a mess. The plaster had been hacked from the walls in long sweeps following irregular lines; the floor had been dug up in places, and the perpetrator of the destruction was the shamefaced Secondary before them. That much was obvious from his feeble attempt at a grin as the three men took in the state of the place.

Baldwin walked quietly over to a stool and sat as if unaware of the devastation about him. ‘Jolinde, you have been accused of putting poison in Adam’s food. He has collapsed.’

‘Me?’ Jolinde stared uncomprehendingly ‘What on earth…’

‘What happened to the orpiment you bought from the apothecary?’

‘Orpiment? I was asked to fetch some by the Succentor for his students, but I gave it all to him.’

‘I see. You were driving the wagon which killed Ralph the glover’s wife and child, weren’t you?’

Jolinde covered his face in his hands. ‘It was a long time ago. Surely I can be permitted to forget an accident so long ago?’

‘Did she remind you of Vincent le Berwe’s first wife?’

‘Mistress Glover? No, not really. Why?’ Jolinde’s face was too surprised for him to be acting.

Baldwin returned to Adam’s poisoning. ‘You were seen out between Stephen’s house and the kitchen.’

‘Yes, I was there, but I never approached any of the staff. I was walking, thinking.’

Baldwin glanced about him. ‘Yes, so I see. And you didn’t find it?’

‘Find what?’ Jolinde asked, but he shuddered as if from fatigue and fear.

Baldwin walked to the wall and studied a long gash in the plasterwork. Shaking his head, he smiled sympathetically. ‘It’s not here, Jolinde.’

‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘The money that you stole from Ralph the Glover. It isn’t here.’

There was a short gasp and Jolinde staggered as if about to collapse, but then he recovered and took a deep breath. ‘Me? Steal?’

‘Coroner, it was an almost embarrassingly easy crime. For the two Secondaries it was simplicity itself,’ Baldwin explained. ‘Two youngsters, one of whom I daresay was led on by the other. Jolinde here had no need of money, but neither he nor his friend were likely to progress far here. They both had need of new careers and hit upon a daring means of winning the initial purse to set them on their way. They were asked to deliver jewels and money to Ralph, and both dutifully went to his shop and gave them to him. Except they cheated the man, counting upon his trust in two men of the cloth. They had already taken some of the choicest jewels from the container and when they counted the pieces with Ralph, they counted the remaining ones and asked him to sign the receipt. He was trusting and did so, putting his mark and seal on the receipt. The original numbers were there in front of him, upon the paper, but because Ralph couldn’t read or write, the simple fraud went unnoticed.’

‘You mean he signed for more than he’d received?’ the Coroner rasped. He scowled at the Secondary. It was hardly a new crime, but the Coroner found it disgusting. Relying on the trust of other men to deceive them was the lowest behaviour. At least a robber dared his own safety when he attacked to steal a man’s money.

Baldwin continued quietly, still holding the Secondary with his stern gaze. ‘Yes – and they pocketed the difference. Most merchants would not have been so trusting, but Ralph? He was pious, was he not? He believed in the integrity of other men, especially those who came from the Cathedral Close.’

Jolinde fell upon his knees. ‘Sir, do not blame Peter. It was none of it his idea. It was all mine. Peter wanted to earn enough to be able to go and learn what he could at University, but he didn’t want to do that at the expense of anyone else. I wanted to prove I was clever enough to steal and make my own way. I don’t know. I know it was foolish, but I…’

‘You intentionally stole the jewels and money from Ralph, didn’t you?’ Baldwin said.

Simon shot him a look. He was used to Baldwin being confrontational, occasionally brutal, but rarely so gentle, so calm and soothing.