When Baldwin came down the ladder, he saw Simon at the doorway. ‘Nothing up there, I’m afraid.’
In the shop itself Baldwin and Simon asked their companions to wait in the street doorway while they looked around. Simon in particular had hoped to find ashy footprints, but there were none. So many people had come in after finding the body that there was nothing more to be discovered. He leaned against a large counter-top with his arms crossed while Baldwin stood in the middle of the floor and gazed about.
The room was square, with skins and leathers tied together and hanging from strings looped over hooks on all the walls. Behind the counter were shelves, and here lay some of Ralph and Elias’s finished products: soft pigskin gloves; delicate and dainty light gloves for ladies; heavier, working two-fingered gloves, into each finger of which the wearer pushed two of his own; fine soft gloves for a gentleman; even thick gauntlets for men-at-arms.
Simon found his attention wandering. He looked at the hanging furs and leathers, smelling the faintly sour odour of the smoke, barks and urine used in the tanning processes. Then he found himself contemplating the paintwork. On the wall at the front there was only good, clean whitewash. Only when he noticed some marks low on the side wall under some skins did he feel his interest waken. He crossed the room and bent, touching the marks and sniffing at his fingers. ‘Aha! This is where he died, then.’
‘Why are you so sure?’ Baldwin asked.
‘Men who’ve been stabbed will often thrash about and kick, won’t they? The floor in the house there had ash on it. Some had got onto Ralph’s boots, I guess, and when he fell, his boot caught the wall. These smudges are wood ash. I imagine he opened the door to someone, turned to lead the way in here and that was then they threw the first blow, getting him in the back. Ralph fell, and his boots scuffed up the wall here.’
From the doorway, David spoke up. ‘He wasn’t there when they found him.’
‘Where was he?’
‘Here.’
Simon crouched again. There was blood in a dried and crusted pool where David pointed. ‘Someone must have moved him.’
David shrugged. ‘Does it matter?’
‘Only in so far that he was moved away from the door. The killer couldn’t get in and out with him lying in the way,’ Simon said. ‘Then again, perhaps someone wanted to avoid trouble.’
The ‘First Finder’ of a murdered man would be fined to ensure he appeared at the Coroner’s court. Many chose to avoid that cost by pretending not to see a body.
Baldwin added, ‘So many men prefer to deny seeing anything. It is cheaper.’ He noticed a small frown on David’s face as he absorbed all this. Baldwin’s tone sharpened. ‘Did you see anyone here the morning Ralph died.’
David looked as though he was about to shake his head, but then he grimaced unhappily. ‘Masters, it’s so hard to know what to do for the best, but yes, I saw someone with him that morning.’
Baldwin’s eyebrows rose. ‘Did you tell the Bailiff or anyone?’
‘There was nothing to tell! I saw Ralph and another man entering here. That’s all. I looked away, and when I looked back, they were gone.’
‘Didn’t it occur to you that the man with him might have killed Ralph?’ Baldwin exclaimed disbelievingly. ‘You saw Ralph with his murderer and did nothing?’
‘I didn’t see who was with him, so there was little I could tell anyone. And I didn’t know Ralph was going to be killed. I just thought he’d opened up early for once and there was no reason to report that,’ he said defensively.
Baldwin glared at him furiously. ‘You mean you didn’t want to get involved in the Coroner’s inquest and risk getting amerced to turn up when the murder trial is held, preferring to hold your tongue to avoid paying anyone.’
The man flushed slightly but didn’t speak.
John Coppe gripped his crutch as if readying himself to strike David with it. He rasped, ‘You saw the man? You saw the bastard who killed the glover and didn’t do anything about it? You’d rather see the apprentice hanged, is that it?’
The other three ignored him. ‘So,’ Baldwin said slowly, ‘was the man with Ralph his apprentice – Elias?’
‘I didn’t see clearly…’
‘Be damned to that!’ Simon roared suddenly, his anger getting the better of him. He took a couple of quick paces towards the man. The neighbour would have bolted, but the beggar grabbed his arm, and before he could free himself, Simon had his shirtfront in both fists. He hauled the man closer until their noses almost touched. ‘The knight asked you if it was Elias who was there with his master. Think carefully, you God-damned shit, because if you start lying to protect your own arse, I’ll have you in gaol before you can fart.’
‘You can’t – you have no authority here. I’m a Freeman of the City, I…’
‘Fetch Coroner Roger,’ Simon spat at the beggar.
‘No!’ the man cried, wilting in Simon’s grip. ‘All right, I don’t think it was Elias. I would have told the court, I wouldn’t have let the pathetic wretch hang for it. I just didn’t think it’d matter if I didn’t tell people just yet.’
‘You bastard!’ Simon said. He maintained his grip. ‘You saw that poor devil stuck in gaol for something he never did, and did nothing to protect him. Just to save you a few pennies.’
‘Did you recognise the man?’ Baldwin demanded.
‘I told you, no! He was under the overhang in the shadow and wearing a cloak or something, with a wide-brimmed hat. I only had a fleeting glimpse, no more. I thought it was just a client.’
‘That tells us nothing. Everyone will have a cloak and a broad-brimmed hat against the rain,’ Baldwin said.
Simon studied the man in his grasp. ‘Not necessarily, Baldwin. A cleric wouldn’t, would he?’
‘You consider this finally proves Peter’s innocence?’
‘Perhaps,’ Simon said. He shook David, not ungently. ‘It wasn’t Elias?’
‘No. Elias is taller, more gawky and clumsy. This one moved confidently, easily,’ David muttered. ‘I just thought it was someone after an urgent bit of work or something. How was I to know he’d kill poor old Ralph?’
‘Was this fellow taller or shorter than Ralph?’ Baldwin pressed him. At the same time Simon began to relax his grip a little.
‘I don’t know. Perhaps… no, he was shorter. I remember now. Ralph opened the door and thrust it open, allowing the client in first, and Ralph was taller.’
The beggar hawked and spat on David’s shoulder. ‘You make me want to puke. You were going to let the apprentice swing for something you knew he didn’t do, just so you could keep away from paying money into the court.’
David pursed his lips while Simon hastily withdrew his hand from the spittle. ‘Get inside,’ he said. Then to the beggar: ‘You stay out here and there’ll be another penny for you. Yes?’
‘Yes, Master,’ Coppe said, his head hanging low.
Ignoring David, Simon addressed Baldwin. ‘We know Ralph was murdered in this room. The killer didn’t run much of a risk. All he had to do was stab Ralph and leave him, dart next door and take everything from the cash box. Easy.’
‘Perhaps.’
Simon ran his hand over the gloves on sale. ‘He was a good worker.’
‘So was Elias,’ David offered.
‘He still bloody is,’ Baldwin snapped.
David appeared fully cowed and like many who find themselves on the wrong side of the law, he was keen to show how total was his conversion. Taking a deep breath he cleared his throat. ‘Sirs, there is another thing. A while before the two entered here, I saw another man.’