Maureen Ash: A Plague of Poison

Eric was quick to defend himself, although his voice shook slightly as he spoke. “The flagon was clean,” he insisted. “And so is the rest of the kitchen. Master Gosbert would not allow it to be otherwise. And some of the honey with which I sweetened the wine had already been consumed. It could not have been tainted.”

“What Eric says is true,” Gosbert confirmed, drawing himself up to his full short height and returning Martin’s glare. “I do not allow laxity in the kitchen. I am most particular that all of the work surfaces and the vessels we use are scoured regularly. And, as for the honey,” he turned his eyes to Nicolaa and said confidently, “lady, it was your own good self that had already eaten some. It was in the marchpane I laid atop the simnel cake I sent to your chamber. It was from a new jar that I opened especially to make the topping and must have been wholesome, otherwise it would have made you ill as well.”

Nicolaa’s brows drew down into a frown. “Simnel cake? I have had none such.”

The cook took a step towards his mistress, his speech earnest now. “But I sent one of the serving maids up to your chamber yesterday morning, early, with a platter on which it was laid. The maid did not bring the cake back; if you did not eat it, somebody else must have.”

At Nicolaa’s look of confusion, her attendant, Clare, spoke quietly to her mistress. “You were sleeping, lady, when the maid came with the cake,” she told her. “I knew your throat had become very sore, and you were having difficulty swallowing. I did not think you would be able to eat any of the cake, so I told the maid to take it away.”

“But Gosbert says she did not return it to the kitchen. Do you know what she did with it?”

“Yes, I do,” Clare replied, her voice tremulous. “I thought the clerks in the scriptorium might enjoy it, so I told her to take it there.”

Nicolaa looked at her secretary. “Was this cake there when you returned and found Ralf ill, Master Blund?”

“No, lady,” Blund replied, “it was not, but there was an empty platter in the chamber. If that is the same one on which the cake was served, then it had been consumed while I was absent.”

“And, since your clerk was in the scriptorium alone yesterday morning, it would be logical to assume that he was the one that ate it?” Nicolaa persisted.

Blund nodded his head sadly. “Yes, lady. He would have done. He had an especial liking for sweet confections.”

Martin leaned forward and said triumphantly, “And it would appear that only Sir Simon and the clerk were served food or drink which contained honey that came from this pot. If it has become tainted in some way, then I am correct. Food from the kitchen was the cause of these deaths.”

The horrified silence that followed his words was broken by Thomas, who leapt forward and would have attacked both Gosbert and Eric with his fists if de Laubrec had not grabbed the lad and restrained him. “I knew I was right about the wine,” the squire shouted as he struggled against the knight’s viselike grip. “ Those filthy cooks poisoned Sir Simon!”

A babble of voices broke out in agreement. Bascot stood up and gave a stern command for order. As the room fell silent, he said, “It would seem that it is possible-and I repeat, only possible-that we have discovered a substance that may have been the cause of these deaths. The honey must be tested before we can be certain.”

With a glance at Nicolaa for a nod of permission, he came down from the dais and onto the floor of the hall and called to Ernulf. The serjeant came forward at once. “We will need the help of Thorey, the castle rat catcher, for this task,” Bascot said to him. “Have one of your men fetch him and tell him to bring one of the live rats he uses to train his dogs to the bail, and wait outside the entrance to the kitchen.”

He motioned to Gosbert. “You will then take the cook to the kitchen and have him show you the pot of honey that he used, and bring it and some bread on which to smear it, to the catcher. We will have Thorey feed it to the rat and see if it dies. That should prove whether or not the honey is at the root of this mysterious illness.”

As Ernulf left the hall to carry out the instructions he had been given, Nicolaa came down from the dais and accompanied Bascot in leading the group from the hall.

It was another fair day outside. A shower of rain had fallen earlier, but it had been brief and the ground was only slightly damp underfoot. Thorey had answered the summons quickly and was waiting for them outside the building that housed the castle kitchen. He was a small man, with sunken cheeks and a sharp nose, and was wrapped in a cape made from rat skins. On his head was a peaked cap of the same material. In one hand he held a metal cage containing a large black rat, and at his feet were two small dogs of a terrier breed; both were white in colour and had contrasting dark patches of fur about their ears and eyes. They watched intently as their master set the cage containing the rat on the ground, with their ears pricked and bodies alert as they waited for Thorey to loose the rodent and give the command to kill.

When Ernulf arrived with the honey pot, a container that held about two pounds of the sweetener, and the bread, Bascot gave the catcher his orders. “Smear some of the contents of that pot onto the bread and feed it to the rat.” At Thorey’s questioning look, he explained, “There is a possibility that the honey is noxious. Do not let your dogs near it.”

Thorey’s dark eyes narrowed at the warning, but he made no comment and gave a command to the two terriers to go a few paces away from him. The dogs swiftly obeyed, but their concentration remained focused on their master as he took a piece of the bread and, using a spoon given to him by Ernulf, scooped some of the honey onto it. He pushed it through the iron bars of the cage. All waited and watched with morbid fascination as the rodent first sniffed at the morsel then turned it over and over in its tiny paws before beginning to nibble at the bread.

It was not long before the honey’s deadly effects became apparent. Soon the rat began to shake and twitch, then froth bubbled from its mouth and it began to convulse. The spectators watched in awestruck horror as the rodent suffered one final, and obviously painful, spasm and fell onto its side, dead. Shocked gasps broke out from those who had been watching, and the sempstress, Clare, gave a heartrending sob.

Nicolaa, too, was shaken by what she had witnessed. “There can be no doubt that the honey in that pot is contaminated,” she said in a voice that struggled with disbelief, “but it is far too toxic to have been caused haphazardly. This has been done on purpose, with malicious intent.”

She swung around to where Gosbert was standing. “That honey has been poisoned, cook. If I had not been too ill to eat the cake, it is I who would have died, not Ralf.”

The cook fell to his knees, his plump face terror stricken. “Lady, I swear by the precious blood of Our Saviour that I did not know the honey was tainted. I would never contrive at your death, never. Please believe me, I beg of you.”

Nicolaa regarded the cook for a moment, and his assistant, Eric, who was staring at the rat in stupefaction, as though he could not believe it was dead.

“I would like to believe you, Gosbert, but your innocence must be proved before I can do so.” She made a motion with her hand, and Ernulf ordered two of his men to seize Gosbert. “Until it is, you will be kept confined and under guard.”

As the cook was dragged across the bail towards the holding cells, Bascot gave Ernulf further instructions, the Templar’s thoughts leaping to the significance of what they had just witnessed. “All of the honey pots in the kitchen, Ernulf, both sealed and unsealed, must be brought out into the bail so that Thorey can test the contents. If there are not enough vermin for the purpose, obtain more from rat catchers in the town.”