Peter Tremayne - Absolution by Murder

Eadulf nodded eagerly.

‘And Athelnoth’s brooch was found with the body of Seaxwulf,’ he added. ‘And on both bodies there were pages of vellum copied from a book of Greek love poems.’

Oswy was bewildered.

‘Are you now saying that Seaxwulf was the culprit?’

Fidelma shook her head.

‘No. The brooch that Athelnoth had was of Irish craftsmanship. Clearly, this was the betrothal gift Abbess Étain had given him. Now Seaxwulf had a brooch of Saxon workmanship. This was the brooch given in reciprocation by Athelnoth. The murderer had taken Athelnoth’s brooch from Abbess Étain’s body together with the poem found subsequently on Seaxwulf.

‘Seaxwulf had found it after it had been removed and was going to show it to me when he was murdered. He might have named the killer to me but the killer discovered that he had taken these incriminating things and killed him instead. I came too quickly to the rendezvous with Seaxwulf to allow the killer to recover the brooch and the incriminating piece of vellum with the poem on it.’

‘Incriminating?’ demanded Hilda. ‘To whom?’

Eadulf was looking nervous. So far, the person whom Fidelma had confided to him that she suspected was behaving with nerves of steel. There was no panic on the suspect’s placid but watchful features.

‘Let us get this clear,’ interposed Wighard sharply. ‘You are saying that Étain was killed by a jealous lover? Yet you say Athelnoth, who was her real lover, did not kill her. He was killed by the same man who killed Étain? And Seaxwulf was also killed by this same man? Why?’

Eadulf felt he should make some contribution.

‘Athelnoth was killed not only because he was the man whom Étain loved but also because he could point the finger of accusation in the right direction. Seaxwulf learnt who the killer was by discovering the brooch and Greek poem in the murderer’s sacculus. He took them before he realised what they were. When he realised, he asked Fidelma to meet him. That was why he was killed.’

Oswy sighed in exasperation.

‘This seems too complicated. So now you must tell us. Who is the jealous lover of Étain? Name the man!’

Sister Fidelma smiled wistfully.

‘Did I say it was a man?’

She turned slowly to where Sister Gwid stood silently, her face grey, almost stony. The dark eyes stared back at Fidelma with hatred, the teeth clenched. ‘Sister Gwid, would you like to explain how you came by that tear in your tunica which you have sought to mend? Was it when you hid under Athelnoth’s cot to avoid detection by Sister Athelswith?’

Before anyone realised what she was doing, Gwid had seized a knife from her robes and thrown it with all her force at Fidelma.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Fidelma was so surprised by Gwid’s unexpected reaction that she was frozen to the spot. She was aware of a hoarse cry of alarm and then the breath was knocked from her as she was borne to the ground by the weight of a body knocking into her.

There came a shrill scream.

The force of the fall caused her to wince in pain on landing on the stone floor and she found herself entangled with a breathless Eadulf, who had flung himself at her to knock her out of the path of the murderous missile. Fidelma peered up, trying to identify the source of the scream.

It was Agatho, who had been standing just behind her. Gwid’s knife was now embedded in his shoulder with blood pouring across his tunic. He stood staring at the haft in disbelief. Then he began to moan and sob.

Gwid was running for the door but the giant Oswy was there before her. He seized the struggling woman in his arms. Gwid was powerful, so strong that Oswy was beaten back and forced to use his drawn sword to keep the snarling Fury at bay while he called loudly for his guards. It took two of Oswy’s warriors to drag the screaming woman from the room with Oswy’s orders to lock her in a cell and guard it well.

The king stood for a moment gazing ruefully at the red scratches on his forearms where Gwid had rent his flesh. Then Oswy glanced to where Eadulf was helping Fidelma to her feet.

‘This needs a lot of explanation, sister,’ he said. Then, more kindly, ‘Are you hurt?’

Eadulf had taken charge, fussing a little over Fidelma and pouring her a goblet of wine.

She turned it away.

‘Agatho is the one who is hurt.’

They turned to him. Sister Athelswith was hurrying forward to staunch the bleeding.

Agatho was now laughing, in spite of the knife still embedded in his shoulder and the blood soaking his clothes. He was crooning in his shrill voice.

‘Who, except the gods, can live time through forever without pain?’

‘I will take him to Brother Edgar, our physician,’ Sister Athelswith offered.

‘Do so,’ agreed Fidelma with a sad smile. ‘Brother Edgar may well be able to treat the knife wound but I fear there is little he can do to treat this poor man’s mind.’ As the elderly domina escorted Agatho through the door, Fidelma turned back to the others and grimaced.

‘I had forgotten how strong and swift Sister Gwid could be,’ she said almost apologetically. ‘I had no idea that she would react with violence.’

Abbess Abbe looked moodily at her.

‘Truly, are you telling us that these horrendous murders were committed solely by Sister Gwid?’

‘That is what I am telling you,’ affirmed Fidelma. ‘Sister Gwid has now given you proof of her guilt.’

‘Indeed,’ Abbess Hilda agreed, her face still showing the shock of the revelation. ‘But a woman … to be of such strength … !’

Fidelma glanced at Eadulf and smiled. ‘I will have that wine now.’

The anxious brother handed her the goblet. She drained it and handed it back.

‘I knew that Gwid seemed to worship Étain and preened herself whenever she was near. I was in error to think that she had sought Étain’s friendship out of mere respect. We are all wise after the events. Gwid had studied under Étain at Emly. Étain became the object of adulation by Gwid, a lonely, unhappy girl who, incidentally, had spent five years as a slave in this kingdom, having been captured from her own country as a small child.

‘Apparently Gwid was upset when Étain left Emly for Kildare. She could not follow because she was bound in the abbey for another month. When she was free to follow Étain she found that Étain was coming to Northumbria to take part in this debate. She therefore took passage from Ireland to Iona.

‘It was there, at Iona, that I met Gwid and she claimed that she was Étain’s secretary in order that she could journey with us to Streoneshalh.

‘But the indications of what was really happening were before my eyes the whole time. When I saw Étain she seemed hesitant about acknowledging Gwid as her secretary. In fact, Athelnoth indicated that Gwid had followed Étain here not because Étain had sent for her but from her own motivation. He thought Étain had given Gwid the job once she arrived out of pity. Naturally he did not go into detail as to how he knew this because he did not want to reveal his relationship with Étain.

‘But this was confirmed by Seaxwulf, who was Wilfrid’s secretary. He told me quite clearly that Gwid was not really Étain’s confidant nor privy to any of the negotiations Wilfrid was conducting with Étain. We were all so horrified to learn of these negotiations that we forgot this main point.’

Fidelma paused. She poured herself another goblet of wine and sipped it reflectively.

‘Gwid had developed an unnatural adulation for Étain, a passion that Étain could never return. And Étain had told me yet I did not see it. She told me that Gwid, who is a good Greek scholar, spent more time worshipping the poems of Sappho than construing the Gospels. Knowing Greek, I should have known immediately the implications of that remark.’