The abbot seemed suddenly defensive. ‘They were not and I felt that it was more important to contact the heir apparent and Chief Brehon first.’
‘Very well. What then?’
‘Then I called a scribe to come and make such notes as I thought necessary to be placed in the tech screpta, the library. I asked the guards to give their statements … ’
‘Indeed. I will examine them later. It is more important to question a witness in person. The matter of the guards interests me. Was the High King’s chamber not guarded that night?’ asked Fidelma.
‘The assassin eluded the two guards, Lugna and Cuan. They had been in the kitchen investigating a suspicious noise. Alerted by screams issuing from the King’s chamber, they ran up the stairs and burst in just as the assassin turned his knife on himself.’
‘Alerted by screams?’ frowned Fidelma. ‘What — from the High King?’
Abbot Colmán looked puzzled at the question. ‘Who else would scream in these circumstances?’
‘And were the guards able to explain how the assassin had managed to enter the royal enclosure, even gaining entrance to the High King’s house and bedchamber while it was still dark? Was the building not locked from the inside?’
Abbot Colmán looked uncomfortable. ‘In the centre of Tara, in the royalenclosure, it has always been thought unnecessary to bolt the doors, for two guards are always standing without.’
‘And the door to the High King’s bedchamber, was that not locked?’
This time, Abbot Colmán reached into his leather purse and drew forth a bronze key. He held it out to her.
‘We think it was, but the assassin carried a key.’
She took it and held it up. It was a well-crafted key and had a pattern on it.
‘Where was this found?’
‘In the assassin’s sparrán.’
‘Before you go further, Fidelma,’ Cenn Faelad said softly, looking embarrassed, ‘I know the key to be mine. It bears the same marks that are on my key.’
Fidelma looked curiously at him. ‘You keep a key to the High King’s bedchamber? When did you find your key was missing?’
‘As heir apparent, I have a duplicate set of keys to all the royal apartments. But as for your second question,’ he held out his hands helplessly. ‘I didn’t. I mean, it isn’t.’
‘I do not understand,’ she replied impatiently.
Cenn Faelad drew forth another key and handed it to her. She took it and examined it. Then she held out both keys side by side and looked at them carefully. Now she understood.
‘They have been cast from the same mould but also filed with exactly the same markings. That is unusual, but the explanation is simple. The intruder’s key must have been copied from your key.’
Cenn Faelad nodded quickly. ‘I agree. A locksmith has made both keys to bear the same personal markings. The keys of important buildings are given different markings so that their holders can be identified. In this case, the locksmith has ensured that both keys bear marks that identify them as mine.’
‘How long have you had your key, Cenn Faelad?’
‘Since I was elected tánaiste — that is, five years ago, and it has been in my possession ever since. But, look, that mark at the end of the key … ’
‘Like a deep score in the bronze?’
‘That was made only three weeks ago. Yet the other key also has it.’
Fidelma compressed her lips thoughtfully. ‘How was it done?’ she asked. ‘The mark, I mean.’
‘I had been carrying out an inspection of all the locks with the bollscari, the head of the household staff, as he felt that some of them neededreplacing. We tested the keys of the royal house. At the end of the inspection I was late for a sword practice with Irél, the commander of the guard, and I took the keys with me. I had laid them aside with my purse and belt. My sword was a new one and I was not sure of the balance. I made a swing to test it and the sword came down on this key. The blade nicked the bronze which, of course, was then dented.’
‘And that was just three weeks ago? Did you leave the key with anyone during this time? Was it out of your possession at all?’
The young man shook his head. ‘That is the frustrating part. I did not miss it at any time. To be honest, I never even check the keys unless there is a reason. They are kept in a box in my chamber in the royal house. The chamber is locked when I am not there.’
‘Is the box also locked?’
‘It was not felt there was a need.’
‘Could any other person gain access to your chamber?’
‘The bollscari, Brother Rogallach, is the person who keeps the only other key.’
‘And you are there most of the time?’
‘No. I have my own residence outside of Tara and am more often there.’
Fidelma sighed softly. ‘We must return to this matter later. But it seems that our assassin was able to enter the High King’s bedchamber because he had a key, one copied from your own within the last few weeks. Further, our assassin was able to get through the main gate of what should be the most fortified palace in all Éireann without challenge and walk directly into the High King’s house without being seen.’
Brehon Barrán coloured a little at the note in her voice. He said, ‘It seems that a guard on the main gate let him pass, through, without proper challenge. That guard has been held, pending your interrogation. He may have been in collusion with the assassin.’
‘His name?’ This was from Eadulf.
‘Erc the Speckled.’
‘You have said that the High King was alone in his bedchamber when he was murdered. This is a certainty?’ Eadulf asked next.
‘It is,’ Brehon Barrán replied with a frown. ‘Why, are you implying that-’
‘What Eadulf meant,’ Fidelma explained hurriedly, ‘was that we have not been told where Sechnussach’s wife, the lady Gormflaith, was that night. I think Abbot Colmán implied that she was not at the royal residence.’
‘That is correct. The lady Gormflaith and her daughters had gone to Cluain Ioraird to spend the night in prayer for the repose of the soul of her mother,’ Cenn Faelad told Fidelma.
‘The abbey of Cluain Ioraird is on the road to Uisnech … ’ said Brehon Barrán.
‘I accompanied Gormflaith to the abbey before riding on to Uisnech,’ the young man said hastily.
‘And presumably, once you heard the news of your brother’s death, you returned to the abbey as it was on your way back here?’
‘Of course,’ replied Cenn Faelad, and he sighed. ‘It was a logical thing to do. It was my sad task to inform the lady Gormflaith of her husband’s death. It was decided that it would be best if she remained in the abbey until more was known about the assassin and his motives. But when it became clear that there was no immediate danger to her and her daughters, then they returned here.’
‘So, at the moment,’ Fidelma summed up, ‘if there was no one else in the King’s chamber, we may presume that the alarm was given by Sechnussach’s death scream? Yet it seems unlikely. If a person’s throat is cut open, there is little chance of emitting any sound, let alone a scream.’
Abbot Colmán was puzzled. ‘Are you saying that someone else must have screamed?’
‘What is known of Dubh Duin?’ Fidelma went on, ignoring the question. ‘What is known of his personality, of his family? I am aware that he was the chief of the Cinél Cairpre, but what else can you tell me about him?’
‘Little else, except he was a member of the Great Assembly.’
‘That was his right as chieftain of the Cinél Cairpre,’ added Brehon Barrán.
‘Is that the clan who dwell around the Plain of Nuada?’ queried Eadulf.
Cenn Faelad smiled and shook his head. ‘No. That is the Cairpre of Magh Nuada. The Cinél Cairpre Gabra dwell around the shores of Loch Gomhna, the lake of the calf. They are mainly hunters and farmers even though Dubh Duin was a direct descendant of my ancestor Niall of the Nine Hostages. He was proud of his lineage and boasted that he had some claims on the High Kingship. His ancestor Tuathal Maelgarb was the last successful claimant to the throne of Tara, but that was three or four generations ago. The only other thing I know is that Dubh Duin was not married.’