The Medieval Murderers - The Tainted Relic

‘Who is she?’ Baldwin demanded.

‘How should I know? Thing is, the brothers are always together. There’s a reason when they aren’t.’

Simon frowned. ‘Could Rob Brewer have killed Will of Chard, then?’

‘No.’ Tad didn’t think so. ‘He’s not a hard man. His brother Andrew could. It’s said him, Adam and Will attack people on the way here to market, knock them down and take their purses. Adam is a hard bastard. He’s got a room up near the Dominicans. Down Stycke Street. There’s a cordwainer’s shop-the man lost a lot of money and rents a room over the shop. Adam and Will live there. Well, Adam does now.’

‘What of Andrew?’

‘Rob’s brother? He shares with Rob most nights. A stable’s a good warm place to live.’

‘What was your argument about last night?’ Simon asked.

‘Look, Adam was looking for a fight. That’s how he is. The more he has to drink, the more he wants a fight. He made some comment about me, and I…That’s all.’

‘He insulted you to your face?’ Baldwin said.

‘Not to my face, no. He said it to another, and he told me.’

‘Tell us what happened.’

Tad could remember the whole evening perfectly clearly. ‘I got there before them. I got to the alehouse for a chance to relax, when those three turned up, bought their ales, and sat down in the corner of the room away from the door.’

‘Rob was with them?’ Simon sought to confirm.

‘’Course.’ In his mind’s eye he could see the three sitting with their heads close together, staring at the things in Will’s lap. Tad glanced at Simon’s face and grimaced. ‘Look, they’d robbed some poor bastard, I expect. Probably beat up someone, left him by the roadside and brought all his stuff to be shared out.’

‘What did they divide between them?’ Baldwin said.

‘Will had a little box. I saw Adam try to grab it,’ Tad recalled, ‘but Will wouldn’t let him.’

Simon glanced at Baldwin. ‘Will had something Adam wanted?’

‘Did it rattle, this box?’ Baldwin guessed. ‘Did it contain money?’

‘I saw him share out coins first, so it wasn’t that. No, there was something else in the box itself. Like a glass vial or something.’

‘What was it like, this box?’

‘Oh, just dark wood. There were some shiny bits on it. Didn’t see more than that.’

Baldwin was frowning. ‘Did anyone else in the tavern see it?’

‘A stranger. I saw him staring.’ The sword rose slightly and he spoke more hurriedly. ‘Tall, built heavy like a man-at-arms, dressed in black. Good leather boots…He was with one of the whores.’

Jonathan’s reed was over-full, and on hearing this word he made a large blot on the page. He quickly tried to rectify the mistake by setting his sleeve over the ink and soaking it up, but he was too hasty and knocked his reeds on the floor. Moaning to himself, he bent to retrieve them, and noticed two small parchments under his table. He picked them up with the reeds and set them on the table as he continued writing.

‘Christ’s bones,’ Simon breathed. ‘I’d bet my horse that he was the man told Art to fetch help.’

Baldwin’s puzzlement grew. ‘In which case, was he a companion of the wounded man, or a friend sworn to avenge him? Or does he also seek to steal this box?’

‘Did you see any sign of Rob’s brother last night or today?’ Simon asked.

There was no answer beyond a slow shaking of heads. Baldwin was about to draw Simon aside to talk when there was a loud pounding on the door. The sergeant who had been by Will’s body came in, panting. ‘Sir Baldwin, there’s another body, out towards Bishop’s Clyst. Can you come?’

Rob was so forlorn that Annie finally agreed to go for a drink. Neither wanted to go to the Blue Rache, and she suggested a tavern out near the Guildhall.

‘I’m worried,’ he said when they had a pot of ale each and were sitting outside in the sun. ‘Andrew has disappeared. I don’t know where he could be. And Will dying…I don’t want to stay with only Adam.’

‘Why not? He’s not changed.’ Her tone was cold, and she looked pale. Rob thought she was quite distracted…it was only to be expected. She had loved Andrew too. He’d been like a brother to her. ‘Will’s dead, but I expect Andrew will turn up again.’

‘No,’ he said with conviction. ‘If he was going to come back, he would have already. Yesterday we attacked two men, a clerk and a man-at-arms, and I think Andrew was killed by them.’

‘It would take much to beat Andrew,’ she said. ‘He’ll come back, you see.’

‘If he doesn’t, what’ll I do? I can’t stay with Adam. He’s mad-he’d kill me in a moment’s rage. The only time he’s happy is when he sees other people suffering.’

‘Rubbish. He just wants to make money, and stop living hand to mouth all the time.’

‘Well, we all do. But there are ways of doing it that are safer.’

‘Safer?’ she scoffed, and nodded towards St Nicholas Priory. ‘I suppose you’d prefer life in the cloisters, would you?’

He was quiet for a moment. ‘No,’ he said softly. ‘I don’t want to lose you. I couldn’t join the monks.’

‘Then stop whining about him. He’s part of your life. Our life.’

‘If I stay with him, I’ll end on a felon’s rope.’

‘Oh, leave him, then!’

He was hurt that she was irritated by his ramblings, yet he had to explain his plan to her. ‘Perhaps I could find a new trade.’

‘What?’ she demanded. ‘You have no skills. Everything you’ve tried has turned sour. You’re good with horses, but that won’t make you rich.’

‘Well, I can’t carry on like this for ever,’ he said, glancing about them. ‘Being a felon has no future. Not if a man wants to be married. I could learn myself stonework, perhaps? There’s always a living to be earned as a mason. I could build walls. They can’t be that difficult.’

She looked at him. ‘Maybe,’ she said, relenting in the face of his misery.

Just that was enough to make him grin. She almost expected him to start capering, like one of those bears that would dance at the whistle of his master. He made her want to scream, and the feeling made her hate herself.

This man had saved her when she first arrived, and she was grateful to him for that, but he was so pathetic ! Rob always moaned and whined, seeing risks or dangers in any plan, never agreeing to any new ideas, not like Andrew. Andrew had always worn that smile of confidence. If he wanted something, he found a way to acquire it.

‘We could leave the city and find a new place,’ he said. ‘We could marry.’

‘What, with all the gold we’ve saved?’ she demanded scathingly. ‘Shall we hire a pair of horses to ride to York or London?’

She had nearly died during the famine. Nobody could make her surrender to fate again. Here there was a house, some food and friends. She’d sworn that she would never starve again, no matter what.

‘I have something,’ he said quietly, and he stole a look over his shoulder before reaching under his tunic and bringing out a leather purse. ‘This could make our fortune. Will said it was Andrew’s share from our ambush yesterday, but he wanted to steal it. I managed to keep it last night…now I don’t know what to do with it.’

Annie eyed him doubtfully. Rob had been kind to her when she’d needed help, but that didn’t mean she was keen to marry him. God! The idea he’d take her away to an uncertain life elsewhere was ridiculous. Andrew maybe, but not Rob. No: she couldn’t go with him.

Interesting box, though. She opened it and saw the glass bottle. She stared, wondering what it was.

There were few things that could be worth having a box like this built around them. It was beautiful, like a…