Paul Doherty - The Gallows Murders

In any other circumstances I would have gone wandering into the city looking for mischief, but I was frightened. Benjamin kept to his studies: he borrowed parchment, quills and inkhorn from the Tower stores, and began to scribble furiously. On the morning of our third day he finished. I came back from my usual walk on the Tower Green, where everyone could see me, to find him sitting on the bed, studying what he had written.

What if,' he began, 'the young Edward the Fifth did survive? Or his younger brother, or both? They kept their seals and now work in the Tower garrison as humble soldiers or servitors?' He took one look at my face and grinned. 'It was just an idea,' he declared. He swung his legs off the bed. This is the problem, Roger. Forty years ago, the two sons of Edward the Fourth, his eldest boy, also named Edward, and Richard Duke of York, were locked up in the Tower by their Uncle Richard. They disappeared. They could have been murdered, or they could have escaped. We know that, for most of Henry the Seventh's reign, the King's peace of mind was plagued by pretenders who claimed to be the lost Princes. Even our present King has had to face conspiracies from the secret Brotherhood of the White Rose.'

Benjamin walked to the window and looked down at the soldiers practising their archery on the Tower Green. 'Now, I think both Princes are probably dead. However, their seals, which should have been broken and defaced, are being used to blackmail Henry. The sequence of events is as follows, correct me if I am wrong. On the sixth of June last, the Guild of Hangmen celebrated the King's birthday in a banquet which turned into an orgy. The hangmen were dressed in their official garb. It's possible that one of them saw something in the Tower which put the whole company at risk. Time passes: the sweating sickness breaks out in London, but the garrison only suffers one casualty, Philip Allardyce, clerk of the stores. He falls ill and is looked after by the crone Ragusa. We know he was ill from the testimony of witnesses. The old woman claimed he died: his sheeted corpse was taken to the death-cart at the Lion Gate, where a bailiff also pronounced him dead.'

'Aye, that road is closed,' I agreed. We know Allardyce was ill and died. He can't possibly be the villain in the city'

The sweating sickness begins to rage,' Benjamin continued. ‘Kemble sealed the Tower as if it was under siege. He and his two principal officers stay here, as do Mallow and his guild. No one is allowed to enter or leave. Then the first blackmailing letter arrives. It was left in Kemble's chamber, so the writer must be someone in the Tower. However, he must also have an accomplice in the city who can issue those proclamations and demand the money be left near St Paul's. We also think the same villain is behind the death of the hangman Andrew Undershaft, whose blackened corpse was found in a cage at Smithfield. Agreed?' ‘Yes, Master.' 'And what else, Roger?'

The sweating sickness passes and the Tower is opened. Another hangman is murdered, knocked on the head and drowned in a sack in the Thames, whilst a further blackmail letter is left on the Abbot's seat at Westminster. We, unhappy two,' I continued bitterly, ‘have the miserable task of taking the gold to where the blackmailer wants it at St Paul's. By subtle trickery, the villain seizes this and also taunts us. Once again we know it could not have been anyone from the Tower as, for most of that particular day, the Tower was locked and sealed. Nevertheless, we come back here, Horehound is horribly murdered. We are none the wiser, except that we know someone in the Tower, and another outside, are working in partnership.' I paused.

Benjamin walked back to his bed and sat down, head in hands. ‘I was with Kemble when you were thrown into the wolf-pit,' he said, 'and we were both with the officers when Horehound was killed.'

'So?' I asked. 'Are you saying the malefactor must be amongst the hangmen?'

‘I think so,' he replied, and smiled at me. 'I am also beginning to wonder if you are correct, Roger. Is Andrew Undershaft really dead?'

'One thing does bother me,' I replied. 'Granted, the hangmen have been slaughtered because one of them saw something untoward, but why kill them in such barbarous and grisly ways? It's as if the killer is imitating every type of execution: burning in a cage, drowning in a sack, or being pressed to death under a heavy door. There's a malicious relish here,' I declared. 'As if the assassin is determined to kill the hangmen in the most barbaric way possible.' 'For revenge?' Benjamin asked.

'Possibly,' I replied. We should have another word with Master Mallow.' 'As the King wants a word with you!'

I spun round. Agrippa stood in the doorway, his black, broad-brimmed hat clutched in his hands. 'You've come from Windsor?' Benjamin asked.

'Aye.' Agrippa walked across and sat down on a stool, staring at us with those strange eyes. Tell us the worst,' I moaned.

"The King is furious. He's talking of treason, dereliction of duty by faithful servants. Do you remember the captain of the guard in St Paul's churchyard? What was his name?' 'Ramasden,' I replied.

Well, Ramasden's no more. He was hanged on the common gallows outside Windsor. The King is threatening to do the same to you, Master Roger. What's worse -' Agrippa pulled a small scroll from beneath his cloak and handed it to me – 'yesterday morning this was handed to one of the royal justices as he left Westminster Hall.'

I gazed down at the elegant writing. To the King5 and the red silk ribbon like a circle of blood around the scroll. 'Not another letter!' Benjamin exclaimed.

I undid the ribbon. The letter was shorter than the first but couched in the same arrogant, impudent tones. 'From Edward V, King of England, etc., etc., To one Henry Tudor, calling himself King…'

The date given was two days earlier at the Tower. The threat was the same: the writer accused Henry of trying to trap him, and therefore imposed a fine of one thousand gold coins. This time the money was to be left at the foot of the gallows at Tyburn.

'On your allegiance to Us,' the letter concluded, 'do not attempt to obstruct or impede our rightful collection of these taxes.'

The monies are to be left there at Michaelmas,' Agrippa explained.

I looked up. Two weeks hence.' I threw the letter at Benjamin. ‘Master, what can we do?' I went and sat next to him on the bed and gazed bleakly at Agrippa. 'What's the King so frightened of?' I shouted. 'Why doesn't he just refuse to pay the gold and tell the villain to go hang?'

Agrippa shook his head like a benevolent schoolmaster facing a dim-witted pupil.

‘You don't understand, do you? In his father's reign a kitchen boy pretended to be a Yorkist prince. A mere kitchen boy, Roger! Yet he won the support of powerful princes abroad. He invaded from Ireland. Henry's father met him at East Stoke in Nottinghamshire, and nearly lost the battle to a kitchen boy who could produce very little proof of his scurrilous claims! A few years later, Perkin Warbeck, the son of a Flemish weaver, came forward and claimed to be one of the younger Princes, Richard of York. And, for almost ten years, harassed the King's father to the point of distraction. Even now Henry is busy watching anyone with Yorkist blood in him.'

Agrippa beat his hat against his knee. 'Can you imagine, Roger? Must I keep repeating it? What would happen if such letters, signed and sealed by a Yorkist prince, began appearing all over London? Letters bearing the royal seal, proclaiming Henry as a usurper and alleging that the burdens the country is facing are because of his father's usurpation? Henry would spend tens of thousands raising troops and crushing revolts. No, this villainy must be stopped, the perpetrators captured and hanged immediately.' 'And is that all you can say?' I yelled back. He spread his hands. 'I can only say what I know'