“Who found the servant’s body?”
John pointed him out and waved the lad forward. Bending close to the monk, he whispered, “Be gentle. He is of a timid nature and now owns a belly to match.”
A small, thin boy approached who shook so badly he could barely stand. The lad reminded Thomas of Gracia, but she had a bolder look. Looking into the eyes of the young apprentice, the monk was reminded of a young deer facing his hunter.
Thomas crouched so he would not loom over him and put a hand on his shoulder. “I know you went to seek the advice of your master. Tell me what happened when you got to the door of his private entry.”
“It was open. I knocked. No one came. I walked in. I did not see the servant. I called out. No one answered.” The boy’s face turned a pale green.
Thomas squeezed his shoulder. “Well explained, lad! Now nod if I am right about the rest.” He lowered his voice. “You walked up the stairs.”
The boy nodded.
“You saw the servant lying outside the master’s chambers.”
He swallowed and looked away.
“I know you saw the dagger, but do you recall if the door to the rooms was open?”
The boy shook his head, then raced outside.
Thomas heard him retching. Turning to John, he smiled. “He answered my questions well and was very precise.”
“He is the second youngest in the shop but very careful about details, Brother, and an honest lad. I have never caught him doing anything but what he was assigned.”
“Did anyone else go up the stairs after you came to the boy’s rescue?”
“None of us did. As soon as the lad saw the blood and knife, he fled to summon me. Before he could reach the shop, he vomited. After that, the merchant arrived and dismissed us. I watched the man. He immediately summoned you and did not climb the stairs first.” He hesitated. “I doubt he had time to go upstairs before I arrived. Our lad said the man from Norwich held him while he vomited.”
Thomas nodded, then spoke with the other apprentices, calming the fearful and answering the questions of others who chose to hide their terror behind curiosity.
John went out to talk with the boy who had found the corpse.
Before long, they heard the sound of men approaching. Thanking John for his help, the monk warned him that the king’s men would question them further and suggested the child be spared that. “He knows nothing that you do not,” Thomas said.
“I shall become the finder then,” John replied. He looked around at the other apprentices. “As we all agree?”
They nodded
“But there will be no jests about my weak belly!” He grinned.
He will also be a good father when he becomes a journeyman and can wed, Thomas thought, and left the shop.
***
Durant’s expression was as grim as the scowling leader of the armed men.
Thomas guessed this was the sergeant, who served under the crowner, and that he would not be pleased to be called to this crime. The murder of a prominent man was a troublesome thing for those charged with enforcing the king’s law. When a man living in the poorer alleys of the town was killed, the death might be forgotten if not quickly solved. But the town leaders would demand a hanging for Master Larcher’s death and a swift justice at that.
The monk waited until the merchant had led the party into the house and then emerged alone shortly thereafter. “Are we needed?” he asked, suspecting they were not.
“Let us depart, Brother. Did the apprentices have any information?”
When the monk told him of the conversation, Durant nodded. “I now agree with you that the manservant must have been stabbed as the killer was leaving and that Larcher knew the murderer or he would not have offered him such a fine wine.”
“If the poison killed him before he could cry out, I would agree.”
Durant directed the monk to a quieter part of the street, away from others who were passing. “You know that I am an agent of the king. I am here because an assassin has been sent to Walsingham to kill King Edward when he arrives to worship at the shrines. Larcher was my contact, and his duty was to discover who this person was. Sister Roysia was one of his sources of information.”
“A nun?”
“She was Prioress Ursell’s companion when the prioress met with those who came on pilgrimage. We have another set of ears in Walsingham Priory, but the nun was the better source.” Briefly, he smiled. “There are those who will tell a woman much because she does not have the ear of God like a priest does. I was often amazed at the news I got from Sister Roysia through Larcher.”
“Her death was not an accident then.”
Durant raised an eyebrow. “Did you ever think it was?”
“She had a piece of torn cloth in her hand when I found her body.” He looked meaningfully at Durant’s robe. “Well-woven and of somber color.”
“It was not mine, nor was it Larcher’s.” He grabbed the monk’s shoulder. “You must trust me, Brother. Search my room at the inn if it will satisfy you, unless you think me clever enough to destroy the robe first.”
“I do.”
“I would not kill someone as useful as Sister Roysia. That you might believe more readily. As for Larcher, there was nothing about him that was subtle, even in attire. He loved to dress in cloth that equaled the quality of his wine. You noted the color of the robe he was wearing when he died. It was not somber.”
Thomas conceded, and then added, “I saw a man in the street who hid in the shadows near the bell tower the night she was killed.”
“That was me. I saw you kneeling beside the corpse.”
“If Larcher was-”
“I saw a man flee when he heard the scream and believe it was the craftsman. I did not completely trust Larcher, nor did the man who sent me here. From the information I was given before I arrived, the craftsman believed the nun hoped soon to learn who the assassin was. I chose to follow him and, if needed, get the information without the need for further messages. Later, when I met with Larcher, he confessed he had gotten no information from her before she died.”
“And you have learned nothing from your other sources?”
Durant shook his head.
“You think the murderer is in Walsingham?”
“The deaths of the nun and the craftsman suggest that is the case.”
Thomas rubbed at his eyes. “Then we have little time. If the killer is here, the king must be coming soon.”
“That is my conclusion, although the precise date is unknown even to me.”
“Do you wish my help in discovering the name? I cannot promise success, but more of us in the hunting party bodes ill for the prey we seek.”
“I would be grateful, Brother, but it would be preferable if your prioress were not involved.” He held up a hand. “I respect the allegiance you owe her. If needed, tell her what you must and do as you think best. I trust your judgment and your discretion.”
Thomas swore it.
“I shall ask the neighbors here if they witnessed anything, before the king’s men do.” The merchant glanced over his shoulder toward the craftsman’s house. “And one or two others.”
“And I will seek more information where I think it safe to do so.”
“May you find that child, Brother.” Durant grinned at the surprise on the monk’s face. “I thought her clever but wondered if she had a questionable master.”
“If she had, she might be fatter.”
With a laugh, Durant embraced the man he now seemed to trust, promised to meet him soon, then hurried off.
Watching him walk away, Thomas knew he had agreed to do this for the sake of the king. As for the wine merchant’s allegiance, the monk had seen proof that the man worked for King Edward, and he did not doubt that Durant would kill anyone without hesitation if the need arose. Such ruthlessness made him uneasy, yet there was something about the man that drew Thomas to him as much as caution urged him to keep his distance.