Dissolution

'Yes, sir.'

I looked at him seriously. 'That letter you took to Copynger about the land sales. I asked him also to find out if there were any boats going to London. It would take a week to cross the Weald in these snows, but after that letter of Jerome's I need to see Cromwell. It occurred to me there might be a boat going and there is; one is leaving on the afternoon tide with a cargo of hops. It should arrive in London in two days, returning the day after. If we're lucky with the weather I'll be away four days. I mustn't miss the chance. And I want you to stay here.'

'But should you leave now?'

I paced up and down. 'I have to take this opportunity. Remember, the king doesn't know what's been going on here. If Jerome got any other letters out and the king saw them, Cromwell could be in trouble. I don't want to go, but I must. And there's something else. Remember that sword?'

'The one in the pond?'

'It had a maker's mark. Swords like that are made to order. If I can find the maker, I should be able to find whom he made it for. And it's the only lead I have now.'

'Except to question Brother Edwig when we have evidence about the land sales.'

'Yes. You know, I cannot see Brother Edwig working with an accomplice. He seems too self-contained.'

Mark hesitated. 'Brother Guy could have killed Singleton. He's stringy, but looks fit enough, and he's tall.'

'He could, but why him particularly?'

'The hidden passage, sir. He could so easily have slipped away that night and gained access to the kitchen. He wouldn't have needed a key.'

I kneaded my brow again. 'Any of them could have done it. The evidence all points in different ways. I need more; I pray I find it in London. But I need a presence here; I want you to move into the abbot's house. Check the letters, keep an eye on what's happening.'

He gave me a sharp look. 'You want me away from Alice.'

'I want you safe away from the precincts, like old Dr Goodhaps. You can take his room, it's a finely appointed place for someone of your age to sit in state.' I sighed. 'And yes, I would prefer you away from Alice. I have spoken to her, I have told her that involvement with you could damage your prospects.'

'You had no right, sir,' he said with sudden vehemence. 'I have the right to decide my own path.'

'No, Mark, you do not. You have obligations, to your family and to your own future. I order you to move to the abbot's house.'

I saw ice in the wide blue eyes that had captivated poor Gabriel. 'I have seen you look lustfully after her yourself,' he said, and there was contempt in his voice.

'I control myself.'

He looked me up and down. 'You have no choice.'

I set my teeth. 'I should kick your arse out on the road for that. I wish I did not need you here while I am away, but I do. Well, are you going to do as I say?'

'I shall do all I can to help you catch the man who has killed these people. He should be hanged. But I make no promise for what I do afterwards, though you disown me utterly.' He took a deep breath. 'I am minded to ask Alice Fewterer for her hand.'

'Then I may have to disown you,' I replied quietly. 'By God's flesh I would not, but I cannot ask Lord Cromwell to take back a man married to a servant girl. That would be impossible.'

He did not answer. I knew in my heart that if it came to the worst, even after what he had said, I would take him as a clerk; find him and Alice a room in London. But I would not make it easy for him. I met his gaze with a look as steely as his own.

'Pack a bag for me,' I ordered curtly. 'And saddle Chancery. I think the road is clear enough to ride to town. I will see the prior now, then leave for London.' I walked away; I would have wished for his company in tackling Prior Mortimus, but after what had passed we were better apart.

* * *

The obedentiaries were still in Gabriel's office, as dejected a group as I had ever seen. It struck me how disconnected they were from each other; the abbot in his increasingly fragile haughtiness, Guy's lonely austerity, the prior and the bursar the ones who kept the place functioning and yet, I sensed again, not friends. So much for spiritual brotherhood.

'You should know, Brothers, I am going to London. I need to report to Lord Cromwell. I will be back in about five days and Mark Poer is to deputize till I return.'

'How can ye get there and back in five days?' Prior Mortimus asked. 'They say these snows reach to Bristol.'

'I am taking a boat.'

'What have you to discuss with Lord Cromwell?' Abbot Fabian asked nervously.

'Private matters. Now, I have let it be known how Brother Gabriel died. And I have decided Orphan Stonegarden's body should be delivered to Goodwife Stumpe for burial. Please arrange it.'

'But then the town will know she died here.' The abbot frowned, as though he was finding it hard to puzzle things out.

'Yes. Matters have gone too far now for secrecy about that.'

He raised his head and looked at me with a touch of his old haughty manner.

'I must protest, Master Shardlake. Surely such a matter, affecting everybody here, should have been discussed with me first, as abbot.'

'Those days are done, my lord,' I said shortly. 'Now you may all go, except Prior Mortimus.'

They passed out, the abbot giving me a vacant, puzzled look as he went. I folded my arms and faced the prior. I dragged reserves of mental energy from somewhere, I know not where.

'I have been considering, Brother, who knew I was coming to the church. You were there, by the pond, when I told my assistant.'

He laughed incredulously. 'I had left you.'

I studied him, but could see only angry puzzlement. 'Yes, you had. Then the person who pushed the stone was not lying in wait for me at all, but had another purpose. Who could have had reason to go up there?'

'Nobody, not till the works are agreed upon.'

'I would like you to accompany me back to the walkway to take another look.' I had remembered the missing relic, the gold that must be concealed somewhere if I was right about the land sales. Could they be hidden somewhere up there, was that why the killer had been on the walkway?'

'As ye like. Commissioner.'

I led the way to the stairs and mounted again. My heart pounded as we came out on the walkway. Down below the servants were still cleaning, squeezing reddened mops into pails of water. This is what a man comes to. I was overcome with sudden nausea and clutched at the rail.

'Are you all right?' Prior Mortimus stood a couple of paces off. It suddenly occurred to me that if he should choose to seize me, he was stronger than I: I should have brought Mark.

I waved him away. 'Yes. Let us proceed.'

I looked at the little heap of tools where the blocks of stone had been, the workmen's basket suspended from its cradle of ropes.

'How long is it since any work was done here?'

'The ropes and basket went up two months ago, so the workmen could get to the statue, which was in a perilous state, remove it and examine the crack. That basket suspended from the wall and the tower by moveable ropes is an ingenious arrangement; the mason devised it. They'd hardly begun when Brother Edwig ordered the work stopped; he was right, Gabriel shouldn't have started before the programme was approved. Then he dragged his heels to show Gabriel who was in charge.'

I looked at the mesh of ropes. 'A dangerous task.'

He shrugged. 'Scaffolding would be safer, but can you imagine the bursar approving the cost?'

'You do not like Brother Edwig,' I ventured casually.

'He's like a fat wee ferret, hunting out pennies wherever he can.'

'Does he consult you much about the monastery finances?' I watched him carefully, but his shrug was casual.

'He consults no one but my lord Abbot, though he wastes my time and everyone else's making them account for every last farthing.'