The Medieval Murderers - The Tainted Relic

‘I do not see how you can claim all this from a drawing,’ said Michael. ‘It-’

‘I see exactly what happened now. Witney was planning to do something untoward on the roof. The harness and the pile of missiles were his, not Tomas’s-just as this diagram was his. And his interest in the chimney explains why he was found dead with his head sticking up it.’

‘You are wrong,’ said Seton, although his voice lacked conviction. ‘Witney was not interested in the chimney because he wanted to kill someone, but because a savage draught whistled down it. He told me so when I found him poking about up it once.’

‘Then you are not the only one who caught him doing something odd involving the roof,’ mused Bartholomew. ‘So did Urban, although he did not understand its significance. He found Witney with a ladder, and Witney fabricated some tale about a pigeon’s nest. But the reality was that he was about to ascend to the roof to set his lethal trap with stones. He pretended to be inept at climbing when Urban saw him-the boy ended up knocking down the nest himself. But do you remember what Kip Roughe said about the people who had recently borrowed Bene’t’s long ladder, Brother?’

‘That Witney had done so once or twice ,’ said Michael. ‘If his purpose had been just to rid himself of a noisy pigeon, once would have sufficed.’ He turned to Seton with considerable anger. ‘Why did you not tell us about his interest in the chimney before? Surely, you must have seen it was pertinent to my enquiries?’

‘It was irrelevant,’ snapped Seton. ‘The poor man was murdered !’

‘I am not so sure about that,’ said Bartholomew. ‘You and Urban both noticed his fascination with the roof-and with the relic. Andrew said he had tried to take it by force, and I think he was telling the truth. Witney was a fanatic, passionate about the Holy Blood debate and, contrary to his Order’s teachings, believed blood relics should be destroyed. He took it upon himself to oblige, but first, he had to dispatch its owner.’

Seton rubbed his eyes tiredly. ‘I did see him covered in thatching once. He told me he had been looking for pigeon eggs as a surprise for my supper. But then he was murdered, and…’

‘He was not murdered,’ said Bartholomew. ‘He set his trap with loose masonry in the chimney, and then came to see if it would work. Perhaps it was a freak gust of wind, or perhaps it really was Barzac’s curse, but a stone fell just as he happened to look up it. The rock did not kill him, but the soot that tumbled down with it did. It was an accident and Tomas had nothing to do with it. Someone else hid the diagram among his possessions, to mislead Michael.’

‘Big Thomas,’ said Seton heavily. ‘Witney gave the diagram to Big Thomas before he died.’

‘Big Thomas was a thatcher,’ said Bartholomew. ‘He knows about roofs, and I heard Witney arguing with him about thatching in the High Street. I imagine the picture was central to that row?’

Seton looked as though he would continue to deny the allegations, but a glance at Michael’s stern, forbidding expression convinced him to prevaricate no longer. ‘Witney was rash enough to show it to Big Thomas-he told him he was going to pay for St Bernard’s roof to be replaced, but that he needed the opinion of a professional thatcher before he parted with money. However, Big Thomas claimed the scale was wrong or some such stupid thing. He would not listen when Witney said scale was unimportant, and was determined to have his say. We might still be there, forced to listen to his deranged ranting about angles and pitch, if Tomas of Pécs had not rescued us.’

‘Poor Tomas,’ said Bartholomew. ‘Witney’s death was an accident, Andrew killed himself and Tomas has an alibi for Urban’s demise. You should let him go, Brother: he had nothing to do with any of it.’

‘But there are still loose ends,’ complained Michael, as they walked towards the proctors’ prison to release the hapless Dominican.

‘You said that did not matter when we arrested Tomas,’ said Bartholomew. ‘So, logic dictates that it should not matter now he is innocent.’

Michael shot him a black look. ‘You can show that no one killed Andrew and Witney, but Urban is another matter. He told us on his deathbed that someone tripped him with the sole intention of forcing him on to the shoe-scraper.’

‘Someone tripped him,’ agreed Bartholomew. ‘But I think his ending up pierced was an accident, too. It must be Barzak’s malediction. He did touch that damned relic, after all.’

‘You believe that?’ asked Michael, startled. ‘I thought you had dismissed it as superstition, and I was the one convinced of its power. Now, you claim that these horrible deaths were brought about by this wicked curse, and it is me telling you that there may be a human hand involved.’

Bartholomew shrugged sheepishly. ‘Two days ago, I would have insisted that the relic was irrelevant to all that has happened, but Witney’s death is unusual, and Andrew could have saved himself when he jumped into the water. And then there is Urban. All three touched the thing. Perhaps I was wrong to be dismissive of matters I did not-do not-understand.’

‘Kip Roughe touched it, too,’ Michael pointed out. ‘But he is still alive.’

‘He said he only touched it briefly,’ said Bartholomew.

‘I do not think the length of time matters to the heavenly hosts. You either die when you handle it, or you do not. If you believe in Barzak’s spell, then you must expect Kip to meet with a grisly end, too. We had better warn him.’

Bartholomew hesitated. ‘The mind has considerable power over the body. If you tell him he will die, it is possible he may will himself to do so. I think you should say nothing.’

Michael smiled. ‘You are not completely convinced about the curse, or you would not believe Kip has a chance of life. However, I would not mind another word with him, anyway. I am not sure that he and his brother were telling the truth when they said they did not know what happened to the relic.’

Tomas said nothing when Michael unlocked the door and indicated he was free. He stepped out of the cell and spent a few moments gazing up at the deep blue sky, as if he had not expected to see it again. He gave Bartholomew a shy smile.

‘Brother Michael says I owe my release to you-that you were the one who reassessed the evidence and found it lacking. Thank you.’

‘We are going to visit the Roughe brothers,’ said Bartholomew. ‘Bulmer told us they are inveterate liars and we have caught them in at least two untruths-about you trying to kill them, and about it being Big Thomas’s idea to sell the relic to an abbey. Thomas is not clever enough to invent such a plan-but they are.’

‘If they lie about one thing, they will lie about another,’ said Michael. ‘And someone placed that “evidence” among your possessions for me to find. They have access to all parts of the friary, and they had the opportunity-and the wits-to leave phials and diagrams to mislead a lowly proctor.’

‘You are not lowly, Brother,’ said Tomas charitably. ‘Cambridge is lucky to have you.’

‘Generally, you are right,’ agreed Michael immodestly. ‘But in this case, I have been wrong at every turn. Will you come to see the Roughes? The sight of you may encourage them to say something they might otherwise keep to themselves.’

Tomas gave a rather wolfish grin, obviously keen to avenge himself on two men who might have seen him hanged. He led the way to the Dominican priory, where the door was opened by a sullen Big Thomas, back at his duties on the gate. Bartholomew paused.

‘Witney and Seton asked you about St Bernard’s roof,’ he said.