The elderly man turned to Fidelma and bobbed his head, drawing back his lips from toothless gums.
"I am Midnat, lady. I am the cook for this vessel. I went ashore today to buy fresh vegetables and oats for the crew."
"At what time was this?"
"Just as the bell for the midday meal was being struck at the abbey."
"Tell Sister Fidelma what happened," interrupted Mugrón. "Exactly as you told me."
The old man glanced at him in surprise.
"About the… ?"
"Get on with it, man," snapped Mugrón. "Tell her everything."
The old man raised a hand and wiped it over his mouth and chin.
"Well, I am returning to my boat. I've bought the vegetables, you see. So, I am going back… well, this sister hails me and asks me whether my captain will be prepared to take two passengers on a voyage."
"She said two passengers?" queried Fidelma. "What exactly did she say?"
"Like that: 'Hey, sailor, do you come from that oceangoing ship?' she says. I nods. 'How much will your captain charge for the passage for two to Britain or Gaul?' Then I realize that she has mistaken me for someone off the Frankish ship yonder. The big merchant ship. She offers, she says, two screpall for the passage."
Fidelma stared at him in astonishment.
"The sister offered such valuable silver coins?"
Midnat nodded emphatically.
"I says: 'Would that I could take it, sister, but I am just the cook from the Laigin warship there. For passage out of this land you need to contact a sailor from the Frankish merchantman at anchor on the other side of the inlet.' No sooner have I said that, then she steps back with a hand to her mouth and eyes wide as if I am the devil incarnate. And she turns and runs away."
The man paused and waited, watching Fidelma's face.
"Is that all?" Fidelma was disappointed.
"It was enough," confirmed Midnat.
"She disappeared and you did not see her again?"
"She runs off along the seashore. I returns to my ship. Then a short while ago, just as dusk is about to descend there's a commotion. I goes on deck to see what it's about. Not far off there's a couple of local fishermen hauling a body out of the water. It's this same sister that offers me the money for a passage."
Fidelma glanced up sharply.
"It was dusk, nearly dark. How could you be sure it was the same sister?"
"There's enough light," said the old cook, "and the body of the sister is wearing a curious cross around its neck. Distinctive enough for me to know that I have not seen another except worn by the sister who asks about the passage to Britain or Gaul."
It was right enough, thought Fidelma. Eisten's Roman cross was fairly distinctive in these parts. But she decided to make certain.
"Curious? In what way?"
"It's a cross without a circle."
"Ah, you mean a Roman cross?" Fidelma pressed.
"I don't know. If you say it is," replied the other diffidently. "But it's large and ornate and with some jewels worth a king's ransom encrusted on it."
It was not surprising that the old sailor might mistake the semi-precious stones for jewels of great wealth. The identification, though tenuous, was enough to convince her of the accuracy of what the man had said.
"That will be all, Midnat," Mugrón dismissed the sailor.
The old cook raised his knuckles to his forehead once more in a farewell salute and left the cabin.
"Well?" asked Mugrón, "does this testimony satisfy you?"
"No, it doesn't," Fidelma replied calmly. "For you still have not explained how you knew the actual name of this unfortunate woman."
Mugron shrugged dismissively.
"Well, there is no great secret in that. I told you that we had the permission of Salbach to anchor here and pursue our distraint against Brocc of Ros Ailithir."
Fidelma nodded.
"When we came here just over a week ago, on instruction of our king's Brehon we went straight to Salbach's fortress at Cuan Dóir to ask his permission."
"And so?" prompted Fidelma, not understanding where Mugrón was leading her.
"At Cuan Ddir I was introduced to this Sister Eisten. When Midnat came to me and described this sister, with her strange crucifix, saying that it was the same sister who was seeking passage, I remembered the crucifix and her name."
"So you are sure that Sister Eisten was at Salbach's fortress a week ago?" Fidelma felt confused by the apparent ceaseless twists the path of this investigation kept taking.
"Indeed. Cuan Dóir lies in the next bay, so not far from here. Why do you seem surprised that she would be there?"
Fidelma did not attempt an explanation.
"There is one thing I would like you to do, Mugrón," she said to the captain of the Laigin warship. "That is, I want you to accompany me to the abbey and make sure that the body of Sister Eisten is the same person as the sister you saw at Salbach's fortress. I want to be absolutely sure."
Mugrón was hesitant.
"Well, I suppose a trip ashore will be better than sitting on this tub buffeted by the seas. Yet I cannot understand what relevance the death of this tragic young woman has to do with the killing of Dacán? Surely that is the more important matter with which you should be concerned?"
He saw the look in Fidelma's eye and raised a hand in placation.
"Yes, yes, Sister Fidelma. I'll come with you but you, as dálaigh, must ensure that no indignity will be done to me by any followers of the Abbot Brocc."
"That I can assure you," Fidelma confirmed.
"Then it is agreed."
"There is another thing," Fidelma said, reaching forward to stay him as Mugrón prepared to rise to his feet.
"Which is?"
"You said that you were introduced to Sister Eisten. Why was that?"
"It was while we were awaiting the arrival of Salbach in the feasting hall that I saw this young religieuse. I was interested in the cross she wore because it was not like the crucifixes worn by our native religious. I could get a good trade for such a cross in Laigin."
"It is true," confirmed Fidelma. "The crucifix was obtained in Bethlehem, for Sister Eisten went on a three-year pilgrimage to the Holy Birthplace of the Christ."
"Exactly as she told me at the time, sister," agreed the captain. "I was told that everyone asks about it. I had asked Sister Eisten's companion to introduce me to assure her that I could be trusted. Alas, the sister valued her cross too much to trade it."
"Who introduced you?" frowned Fidelma. "You have implied that you knew this companion of Sister Eisten."
Mugrón was without any guile.
"Oh yes. Of course I knew her. I had met her when I visited Fearna in the service of the old king. And she recognized me right enough. I was astonished that a lady of Laigin was to be found at the fortress of the chieftain of the Corco Loigde especially when the lady was none other than the former wife of Dacán."
Of all the surprises Fidelma had heard during her investigations at Ros Ailithir this statement came as the biggest shock of all.
"The former wife of the Venerable Dacán?" she repeated slowly, scarcely believing what he said. "Are you absolutely sure of this?"
"Of course I am sure. I had known that Dacán had been married. It was fourteen years ago but I remembered her. An attractive young girl. They were not long together before she divorced him in order to pursue her religious career. I thought she had gone to Cealla."
"And who was this former wife of Dacán?" Fidelma asked quietly. "Does she have a name?"
"Why, of course. Her name is Grella."
Chapter Eleven
After Mugrón had duly identified the body of Sister Eisten as being that of the same religieuse whom he had seen at Salbach's fortress, he had returned to his ship. Fidelma and Cass then made their, way to the abbey kitchens in search of a meal for, having missed the evening meal, they were both ravenous. It took some insistence on Fidelma's part, and an emphasis of her position and relationship with the abbot, to persuade the surly sister in charge to provide them with a pitcher of ale, some barley bread and cold cuts from a larac or leg of beef. A bowl of apples was also provided and they ate voraciously and in silence at a small table in the corner of the now deserted refectory.