Michael JECKS - The Abbot's Gibbet

“I headed south as quickly as I could, but pursuit was only a few hours behind. I had never hidden the fact that I came from Tavistock. It was lucky that instead of going directly to my own place, I went to my brother’s. Elias gave me a meal and went out to fetch ale, and it was while he was out that he was told I was sought. He returned, and we made a plan to escape. My only hope was to abjure the realm, so I went to the coast. I found a ship, and within days I was in Gascony. I’ve lived there ever since.”

Baldwin glanced at Hugo. “Friar, was there any chance that Lybbe could have fooled you and been associated with the trail-bastons? Could he not have been sent on ahead to spy out the land before they attacked?”

“No, Sir Baldwin. I was with the band for several days, and met all their men. They were not trained soldiers, they didn’t have men to scout ahead, they were just uneducated peasants. Lybbe was not with them. Then again, when I met him at the priest’s house, he had opportunities to rob the place when he was there alone, yet he didn’t. I have absolutely no doubt he is innocent.”

“Then why do you think Luke accused him?” the Abbot asked.

“Because Lybbe wanted to attack him at the altar; I have no doubt that Luke accused Lybbe in revenge. Perhaps Luke had been planning on escaping from the church and was only forced to remain when Lybbe arrived. That would mean Lybbe was the cause of his having to approve and abjure the realm. Some men would consider that sufficient cause to exact a vicious revenge.”

“And it would explain why Luke would be scared once he recognized Lybbe in the tavern,” Baldwin observed. “It must have been a terrible shock to him to see Lybbe there after so many years.”

“But I didn’t recognize him, sir,” Lybbe asserted.

“No, but you were distracted by seeing the others, weren’t you? Tell me, though, did you see Luke while you were in Bayonne?”

“I never noticed him – the Camminos didn’t have him with them when they went around the town. Certainly when they were out buying goods he wasn’t with them. I would have recognized him for sure.”

“I wonder whether he recognized you there, or whether it was only when he came here, and saw you on your home territory that he realized who you were. Abroad he might hardly have given you a second glance, but here, hearing you speak English, he must have realized that you had escaped his vengeance.”

“It’s clear enough what happened, though,” Simon said. “Luke saw Lybbe in the tavern, recognized him, and immediately persuaded the Camminos to leave.”

“He pointed at me, sir,” said the friar. “I had preached at them earlier that day, and Antonio had no wish to be accosted for a second time.”

“And then he left the tavern with his master and son. I expect his mind was spinning with the risk he was running, but back at the Abbey he had a thought. He still had his habit from Bayonne. He could throw it on, hurry back to the tavern, and wait for Lybbe. It was pure misfortune that he happened to come across Torre instead.

“He had not meant to kill Peter, but the monk saw him in town. I have no doubt that Peter accosted him, and rather than be exposed as the murderer of Torre and the robber of Ruby and others, he was willing to kill again.”

Baldwin agreed. “But he had to escape from the town before he could be discovered. That was when he had the idea of duplicating the scene of Bayonne. He came across the friar giving a sermon against usury, and saw his opportunity. He mentioned to some of the men that there was a usurer staying with the Abbot. A few were already drunk, and it only took his subtle murmurings to rouse them. Luke was content that his master would be only too eager to escape from the town once he heard there was another mob baying for his blood.”

“But he didn’t go with them,” the Abbot pointed out.

“No,” said Simon, “and that shows a certain shrewdness on his part. How would it be if we had chased after the Camminos and then discovered a black Benedictine habit in Pietro’s bags? We would have brought them all back to Tavistock, and Luke might have been uncovered. But this way, he could try to run off while the two were being interrogated, and then he would have to be unlucky to be caught. That was what he planned: to get away while we were trying to persuade Antonio and Pietro to confess their guilt.”

“Yet Antonio and Pietro were…” The Abbot paused thoughtfully.

“We don’t know they were guilty of anything,” Baldwin said pointedly. “I think we all accept that the thief in Bayonne was Luke, and if that is so, we also have to assume that Antonio and Pietro only fled from Bayonne because of the mob. Likewise they left Tavistock in such a hurry because of the angry crowd here, in front of the Abbey gates.”

“I shall have to speak to them,” the Abbot said. “Now we know of Luke, as you say, it all becomes clearer. There is one last thing, though, Lybbe: Torre’s head. Why did you cut it off?”

Lybbe met his gaze steadfastly. “My lord Abbot, I guessed as soon as I saw the body, as soon as Elias said it looked like me, that someone had planned to kill me. In the tavern I had recognized the Camminos, but I couldn’t see why they should want to hurt me. Bayonne was a long way away. But the man with them had been familiar, and seeing Torre’s body, wondering who could want me dead, I suddenly realized who it was.

“But I couldn’t go to the watch. How could I, when I knew I might immediately be arrested for the crimes he had accused me of? I could say nothing. And if it was spread around the town that it was Torre who lay there dead, Luke might try to hunt me again. I thought that cutting his head off might leave Luke surprised, for he would have no idea who could want to do that.”

“Surprised! I should think he would be more than merely surprised to hear someone had stolen a corpse’s head,” the Abbot said heavily.

“I know, my lord. It was a horrible thing to do, but I had to try to prevent Luke from realizing he had got the wrong man. All the time he thought he had killed me, I was safe and had time to plan how to bring him to justice.”

“And there was another aspect which struck you, wasn’t there,” Baldwin said quietly. “I had wondered why the head was buried in Elias’ yard. At first I thought you just didn’t know where else to conceal it, but that wasn’t it, was it? You thought the best way to show Luke was guilty was to somehow plant the head on him, didn’t you? That was why you left it where you could get to it easily.”

Lybbe shot him a glance, but his eyes dropped. “It was bad enough cutting his head off, let alone burying it. I just did it on the spur of the moment, I hardly thought about the consequences. Yes, I had intended to make sure it was left on Luke somehow. I wondered whether I could waylay him, and leave it on him where he and it would be discovered, or maybe plant it among his goods so that it could be found. Anything, so that people would realize he was the killer. But then it was found, before I could do anything at all.”

“It is hard to know whether you behaved well or badly. The intention was to show who was the murderer, which was justifiable, even if the method was deplorable,” Champeaux said. “I would hesitate to condemn your act, when you had been so intolerably treated, but to desecrate a dead body that way was appalling.”

Simon was interested by another factor. “Why didn’t you simply tell us the truth once you were arrested? I can’t see what you had to lose when you were already in jail.”

“I hadn’t any need to at first, because you hadn’t discovered I was suspected of being an outlaw, so I held my tongue,” Lybbe said. “And afterward, what was the point? Would you have believed a felon?”