‘Moleyns sent him invitations to meet in St Mary the Great.’ Bartholomew took up the tale. ‘We do not know why, but it was probably nothing to do with siege engines. Then he went up the tower and fought a person who then managed to escape, even though there was nowhere to hide.’
‘Either Tynkell or his killer used Meadowman’s keys to get up there,’ Michael went on. ‘But they were back in their hiding place shortly after his death, which means the killer must have returned them.’
‘Unless Tynkell unlocked the tower and replaced them before going upstairs,’ said Tulyet. ‘It is an odd thing to do, but little about these murders makes sense.’
‘Moleyns died next,’ continued Michael. ‘A dog was set racing after a bone, which caused his horse to unseat him. He chose Satan himself, so we cannot blame anyone else for giving him a mount that was beyond his skills. The culprit merely took advantage of the fact – as he did the mêlée when half the town clustered around the fallen Moleyns. No one saw him kill his victim.’
‘I believe someone did,’ said Tulyet. ‘The woman in the cloak with the fancy hem, who saw what happened and fled for her life. Unfortunately, I have still not managed to identify her.’
‘Moleyns was also engaged in untoward activities – namely sneaking out of the castle at night to steal.’ Michael shrugged when Tulyet winced. ‘It is the King’s fault for giving him such outrageous freedoms. Moleyns should have been kept locked in a cell, like the felon he was.’
‘I doubt that argument will win me much sympathy at Court,’ muttered Tulyet.
‘Moleyns met Tynkell – and Cook – in St Mary the Great,’ said Bartholomew. ‘Where Lyng carried messages between them.’
‘Inge and Egidia deny all knowledge of Moleyns’ nocturnal forays,’ said Tulyet. ‘They also insist that they could not get close to Moleyns immediately after he fell, although Weasenham and Kolvyle claim otherwise. Inge and Egidia are liars, and we should believe nothing they say.’
‘And finally, there is Lyng,’ said Michael. ‘Who probably aimed to spend Thursday evening winning votes, but was ambushed near the King’s Ditch. The killer arranged his body neatly, and left it in a place where it was unlikely to be discovered very soon.’
‘Lyng received a letter,’ mused Bartholomew. ‘And someone took a huge risk to retrieve it, so it must have been important.’
‘It was my fault that he succeeded,’ said Michael bitterly. ‘I should not have announced to all and sundry that I was going to Maud’s to collect it. Lord! It makes my skin crawl to think that the villain was there, monitoring my every word.’
‘You must have noticed someone paying you special attention,’ said Tulyet. ‘Think, both of you. Who was listening when you brayed your plans?’
‘I did not bray them,’ objected Michael testily. ‘I spoke in my normal voice. Even so, it is unfortunate that Matt did not hush me sooner.’
‘Cook was there,’ said Bartholomew to Tulyet, more interested in talking about suspects than apportioning blame. ‘Along with Kolvyle.’
Michael rolled his eyes. ‘And four dozen others, all of whom had his – or her – hood pulled up to ward off the chill. But you saw the rogue on the ivy, Matt. Surely you noticed something that will allow us to identify him?’
‘The room was too dim to let me see more than a shape, and once he was outside, he was hidden by leaves.’ Bartholomew spread the fingers on his right hand and stared at them. ‘I even had hold of him for a moment, but he managed to pull away from me.’
‘Could it have been one of the tomb-makers?’ pressed Tulyet, rather keenly. ‘After all, Moleyns, Tynkell and Lyng were killed with a burin.’
‘With something akin to a burin,’ corrected Bartholomew. ‘Or perhaps a surgical instrument – of the kind that that Cook will own.’
‘I spoke to Cook about his encounters in St Mary the Great with our victims,’ said Tulyet. ‘He claims they met there by chance.’
‘Then he is lying, and you should interrogate him again,’ said Bartholomew, ignoring the fact that his own attempt to prise the truth from the barber had been no more successful.
‘There is another connection between the victims, besides the manner of their deaths and their meetings,’ said Michael. ‘Namely Stoke Poges: Moleyns once owned it, Lyng hailed from the next village, Tynkell wanted its chapel for the University, and a rider with its insignia was seen galloping away shortly after Moleyns’ murder.’
‘Then I shall invite Inge and Egidia to the castle, and we shall discuss the matter again,’ said Tulyet, ‘but do not hold your breath. Inge is a lawyer with experience of criminal courts, so getting a confession from him will be nigh on impossible. And do not suggest cornering Egidia alone – I tried that, but she refused to speak to me until someone had fetched him.’
‘What about the deaths of Lucas and Reames?’ asked Bartholomew, moving to another subject. ‘How are those enquiries going?’
‘Poorly,’ replied Tulyet glumly. ‘Incidentally, we should not forget Dallingridge in all this. I am sure he was murdered, and his death precipitated something dark and wicked, with Moleyns like a spider at its centre. My chief suspects are Egidia, Inge and all the tomb-makers, who were in Nottingham at the time.’
‘So was Cook,’ said Bartholomew, promptly and with great satisfaction. ‘Along with Kolvyle and Whittlesey.’
‘Well, you are both wrong,’ declared Michael, ‘because the culprit is Godrich. Whittlesey let slip that he was in the vicinity of Nottingham on the day that Dallingridge was poisoned, although I can think of no good reason for him being there.’
‘Have you asked him?’ queried Tulyet.
‘Of course, but he told me to mind my own business, which was no way to convince me that he has nothing to hide. He is dangerously ambitious, and will do anything to achieve his goals. The same is true of Kolvyle, who is second on my list, with Hopeman a close third.’
‘Hopeman was never in Nottingham,’ said Bartholomew.
‘How do you know?’ retorted Michael. ‘It was in the summer vacation, when lots of scholars were away. He was one of them – I checked.’
‘What about Thelnetham and Suttone?’ asked Tulyet. ‘Were they away, too?’
‘Yes,’ admitted Michael. ‘But Suttone is too fat to fly off roofs and scramble down walls, while Thelnetham has alibis for the deaths of Tynkell and Moleyns in the form of Nicholas and his Gilbertine brethren. Moreover, Thelnetham would not have “found” Lyng’s body if he was responsible for killing him. He would have left it for someone else to discover.’
‘True,’ acknowledged Bartholomew. ‘It led to awkward questions – ones that may have lost him votes.’
‘Yet Godrich told us that Thelnetham visited Stoke Poges in the summer,’ Tulyet pointed out. ‘Perhaps he also has secret connections to Moleyns.’
‘Not necessarily,’ said Michael. ‘There is a Gilbertine cell nearby, so he had a perfectly legitimate reason for passing through the place.’
‘Right,’ said Tulyet, standing abruptly. ‘I will speak to Egidia, Inge and the tomb-makers again, then resume my hunt for the woman in the embroidered cloak. I will also try to learn more about Stoke Poges. Perhaps one of my knights knows something. What will you do?’