Michael JECKS - The Boy-Bishop's Glovemaker

‘Of what?’ the Coroner demanded, baffled. ‘And why kill him? Ralph was a lovely fellow, always kind and honest.’

‘He told the City Bailiff that he thought he had learned of a robbery,’ Baldwin said. ‘He had discovered that Vincent here was stealing from the Cathedral.’

‘I wouldn’t do a thing like that!’ The merchant’s cheeks went purple.

‘Adam has confessed.’

‘The feeble-minded cretin! He hasn’t the–’ Then le Berwe stopped and shrugged, defeated. ‘Well? What of it? I was only doing what any other man would do. It didn’t cost the Cathedral much, and I needed the money. My ship sank, you know. I’ve got next to nothing.’

‘So you killed Ralph?’ the Coroner said disbelievingly.

Baldwin shook his head. ‘Think of the poisonings. What sort of person uses poison? And who was the target? Peter? Or was it someone else: the man living with him – Vincent’s illegitimate son, Jolinde .’

Simon nodded. They had agreed this before – but what sort of man was le Berwe, to have tried to kill his own son?

‘No. This is all rubbish. No, you’re wrong,’ Vincent said, shaking his head in denial. He half-lifted a hand as if to protest further, but let it fall into his lap.

Baldwin ignored him. ‘That must have been difficult for you, Vincent, knowing that your wife had tried to kill your own son. Why? Well, probably because Hawisia is herself pregnant. She would hardly want a competitor to her own child’s inheritance, would she? But her plan failed. She poisoned the wrong man. For all her planning, she killed poor Peter by accident. And Jolinde, being a pleasant, easygoing sort of fellow, never even guessed that he was the target of the poison.’

The Coroner gaped at Baldwin, dumbfounded. ‘A woman did all this?’

‘That’s preposterous!’ Sir Thomas exclaimed. ‘Hawisia is too highly bred to do such a thing. Perhaps a slattern from a tavern would be capable of it, but a woman like Hawisia?’

Only Simon grunted in agreement as he saw how all fell into place. ‘What about the Karvinels? Why should she try to murder them?’

‘No, this is mad,’ Coroner Roger said, but his tone was unconvinced.

Baldwin continued quietly, assured and certain of his facts. ‘Presumably Nicholas knew something. We know that expensive leathers are missing from Ralph’s shop. Perhaps Karvinel saw the thief taking them.’

Vincent covered his face with his hands. There were no tears; he was like a man who has found peace at last after a long and terrifying struggle, but his voice was broken, almost sobbing. ‘You’re right. Karvinel heard that I was seen in the street that morning. I didn’t realise what it meant at first.’

‘You were in the Guildhall, weren’t you?’ Simon confirmed.

‘Yes. But Peter, rot him, told Karvinel I had been there, since he had seen my cart, but it wasn’t me, it was my wife. Hawisia came to the Guildhall to see me with one of my carts, saying she thought I wanted it for goods, but I didn’t. I told a servant to take it home rather than see her struggle with it.’

Coroner Roger gazed from him to Sir Baldwin. ‘I don’t understand.’

Baldwin continued. ‘Hawisia had wanted to help her husband by removing a threat to him. She thought Ralph was more dangerous than Karvinel and planned his murder to the last detail. She went to his house and knocked, having already ensured that his apprentice would be away. She persuaded Ralph to open his shop for her, and when he had done so, she murdered him, striking him madly, like a berserker. But I think she carried on quite calmly with her plan after that unpleasantness. She was perfectly collected; she took his keys, locked the shop and went to the house, locking that door after her. That was why Elias couldn’t get in. She went upstairs and got the money from the strongbox. It was then that Elias arrived. He banged on the door without answer, then went round to the back. While he did so Hawisia unlocked the front door, crept out and unlocked the shop.’

‘Why should she do that?’ Sir Thomas asked.

‘She wanted to make sure that she was not suspected of the murder, so she put something by the body to implicate the apprentice – his own knife and keys. No doubt she stabbed the body first to add a certain verisimilitude to the scene and mark his knife. That was why the Bailiff was so convinced that Elias was guilty. Meanwhile, Hawisia made off, taking the leathers with her. To give herself an alibi, she took the cart to her husband, and then had one of his men push it home for her. Once there I assume she concealed the money and…’

‘She told me she had sold some jewels to buy me leathers to trade,’ Vincent said dully. ‘I needed the money. I didn’t suspect her then.’

‘No, but then you realised from what Karvinel said that she had been there when Ralph died. You realised that your wife had parked the cart there and had stolen the leathers – and that if she had taken the leathers, she killed Ralph and stole his money as well.’

‘Yes.’

‘Peter didn’t realise that when he saw the cart, it was being pushed by Hawisia. He assumed it was you. But Peter was an innocent, wasn’t he? He thought that because Elias had been arrested, Elias must have stabbed Ralph. And he had so much guilt on his conscience after he had aided Karvinel execute an innocent man, helping put Hamond to the noose, that he didn’t think clearly about Ralph’s death. He just assumed Elias was guilty.’

‘Is that why Peter was poisoned?’ Sir Thomas demanded. ‘Because he saw Hawisia?’

‘No. She meant to kill Jolinde, as I said. However, by accident she killed the man who could truly have put the noose about her own throat. It was merely Peter’s bad fortune.’

The Coroner was frowning. ‘But why should Hawisia have decided to kill Karvinel now?’

Baldwin looked over at Vincent. ‘I assume Karvinel threatened to expose Vincent.’

Le Berwe met his gaze. ‘You are right. He did so yesterday. My wife suggested, when I told her, that I should approach Sir Thomas one last time and get him to finish off Karvinel once and for all. I told her I couldn’t, but she wept and said that she couldn’t see me ruined for want of a little help. I tried to stop her but she went off anyway. She said to see Sir Thomas.’

‘She never came to meet me,’ Sir Thomas growled.

‘Vincent never thought she would,’ Baldwin said. He faced le Berwe. ‘Hawisia knew all about your business dealings, didn’t she? And she took great pride in supporting you in both your business and political dealings. Nothing was too much for her to help you, was it? You know full well that she committed these crimes, that she killed Peter and Ralph and tried to kill Adam as well, before last night murdering the Karvinels.’

Vincent did not answer, but his eyes slid away from Baldwin’s cold, intense stare.

‘Very well. Let us see if we can persuade you to consider your position,’ Baldwin continued. ‘Hawisia was trying to murder your son when she killed Peter. Did you realise that?’

‘I don’t think that she would…’

‘And she certainly murdered your first wife. Christ Jesus, man! How many more people would you have allowed her to kill before you put an end to her atrocious acts?’

Vincent had slowly come to face Baldwin. He stood, gaping with horror, as Baldwin’s words sank in. ‘No!’ he breathed.

‘I am afraid “yes”,’ Baldwin said.

Vincent shook his head, his face slack and expressionless, like a waxen mask which had been left near a fire. He tried to walk to a jug of wine, but stumbled and had to sit on a stool while he poured with shaking hands.

‘Are you sure of all this?’ Coroner Roger asked.