‘Me?’ Jolinde stared uncomprehendingly ‘What on earth…’
‘What happened to the orpiment you bought from the apothecary?’
‘Orpiment? I was asked to fetch some by the Succentor for his students, but I gave it all to him.’
‘I see. You were driving the wagon which killed Ralph the glover’s wife and child, weren’t you?’
Jolinde covered his face in his hands. ‘It was a long time ago. Surely I can be permitted to forget an accident so long ago?’
‘Did she remind you of Vincent le Berwe’s first wife?’
‘Mistress Glover? No, not really. Why?’ Jolinde’s face was too surprised for him to be acting.
Baldwin returned to Adam’s poisoning. ‘You were seen out between Stephen’s house and the kitchen.’
‘Yes, I was there, but I never approached any of the staff. I was walking, thinking.’
Baldwin glanced about him. ‘Yes, so I see. And you didn’t find it?’
‘Find what?’ Jolinde asked, but he shuddered as if from fatigue and fear.
Baldwin walked to the wall and studied a long gash in the plasterwork. Shaking his head, he smiled sympathetically. ‘It’s not here, Jolinde.’
‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘The money that you stole from Ralph the Glover. It isn’t here.’
There was a short gasp and Jolinde staggered as if about to collapse, but then he recovered and took a deep breath. ‘Me? Steal?’
‘Coroner, it was an almost embarrassingly easy crime. For the two Secondaries it was simplicity itself,’ Baldwin explained. ‘Two youngsters, one of whom I daresay was led on by the other. Jolinde here had no need of money, but neither he nor his friend were likely to progress far here. They both had need of new careers and hit upon a daring means of winning the initial purse to set them on their way. They were asked to deliver jewels and money to Ralph, and both dutifully went to his shop and gave them to him. Except they cheated the man, counting upon his trust in two men of the cloth. They had already taken some of the choicest jewels from the container and when they counted the pieces with Ralph, they counted the remaining ones and asked him to sign the receipt. He was trusting and did so, putting his mark and seal on the receipt. The original numbers were there in front of him, upon the paper, but because Ralph couldn’t read or write, the simple fraud went unnoticed.’
‘You mean he signed for more than he’d received?’ the Coroner rasped. He scowled at the Secondary. It was hardly a new crime, but the Coroner found it disgusting. Relying on the trust of other men to deceive them was the lowest behaviour. At least a robber dared his own safety when he attacked to steal a man’s money.
Baldwin continued quietly, still holding the Secondary with his stern gaze. ‘Yes – and they pocketed the difference. Most merchants would not have been so trusting, but Ralph? He was pious, was he not? He believed in the integrity of other men, especially those who came from the Cathedral Close.’
Jolinde fell upon his knees. ‘Sir, do not blame Peter. It was none of it his idea. It was all mine. Peter wanted to earn enough to be able to go and learn what he could at University, but he didn’t want to do that at the expense of anyone else. I wanted to prove I was clever enough to steal and make my own way. I don’t know. I know it was foolish, but I…’
‘You intentionally stole the jewels and money from Ralph, didn’t you?’ Baldwin said.
Simon shot him a look. He was used to Baldwin being confrontational, occasionally brutal, but rarely so gentle, so calm and soothing.
Jolinde covered his face again. ‘I did. Peter was unhappy about the scheme except I dared him and offered a gamble to tease him. I have money from my father every so often and Peter had none. It was easy to get him to agree.’
‘Tell us what happened, Jolly,’ Baldwin said.
Coroner Roger opened his mouth to tell the Secondary what he thought of him, but as he drew breath he saw Baldwin give him a sharp look and shake of his head. The Coroner was at first irritated to be commanded, but he decided to give the knight the benefit of the doubt. Clearly Sir Baldwin thought there was something more to be learned. Roger haughtily pulled his cloak about him and sank onto a small three-legged stool.
Jolinde hung his head and stared at the ground. ‘You are right. I didn’t need the money. I will be all right because my father is Vincent le Berwe and as his only heir I am secure, but poor Peter wasn’t. He had nothing – no money and no patron, only the pittance he earned from clerking. Still, he would never have thought of stealing from anyone. Peter was always decent. He would no more have thought of stealing than he would of murdering. Yet he wanted desperately to go to University.’
Jolinde broke off and stared at his hands, shaking his head. ‘The morning that we were to deliver the jewels and money to Ralph back in the first week of December, I teased Peter all the way to the Treasury to collect them, pointing out that he was too honest for his own good. If he didn’t learn to relax in front of other people, he’d end up without any possibility of a patron. No one liked a dullard.’
‘Then you pushed him into a challenge that you could fool Ralph?’ Baldwin asked gently.
‘More or less, yes. I bet him that I could take money from Ralph without the glover noticing. Peter refused to accept the bet at first so I told him he was a coward and he would never get himself a patron.’
‘I kept on at him all the way, and then as we waited at Ralph’s door, I said he’d never be able to become a Vicar or Deacon unless he was prepared to take risks. And if he wasn’t even prepared to try this for a laugh, what chance was there for him.’ Jolinde blinked hard as if to keep the tears at bay, and looked up to meet Baldwin’s eye. ‘It was all my fault, Sir Baldwin. I cannot allow Peter to take the blame just because he is dead.
‘We entered and Ralph welcomed us gladly, as he always did. I felt bad, but I wanted the money. We counted out the jewels and money in front of him and then wrote the numbers on a receipt as if they were the same – but they weren’t. We wrote down the quantities which the Treasury had given us. Ralph trusted us and put his mark alongside.
‘Afterwards we went to a tavern. Peter had been silent in Ralph’s shop but in the tavern he asked how I was going to get the money back to Ralph. I… I laughed.’
‘You never intended giving the money back?’ Baldwin asked.
Jolinde had flushed and now he shivered. ‘No. Once we had it, it seemed stupid to think of going back to return it.’
‘I see,’ Baldwin said slowly. He was staring up at the ceiling now, but he gave a gesture indicating Jolinde should continue.
Behind Baldwin, Simon watched Jolinde with interest. It was rare to be given so detailed a confession. Naturally it was due to the fact that Jolinde felt safe – he was protected by Canon Law and would not be hanged for his theft as a common man would. Yet something rang false about his narrative. Simon moved so that he could see Jolinde’s face more clearly.
Jolinde continued, ‘Peter was quite furious. He called me all sorts of names, saying I’d persuaded him to be my accomplice and swore that he’d never touch a penny piece taken from the glover. I passed him my purse, into which I had put all the money and jewels, and told him to take them back. I was confident he wouldn’t, though.’
‘Why?’ Simon snapped.
Jolinde faced him with an expression of faint surprise. ‘Because that would be confessing to theft. How could Peter ever hope to persuade the Bishop to support him in University if he admitted to stealing? As soon as the Dean and Chapter got to hear he’d be out. Even if he wasn’t thrown from the Cathedral, he would hardly be looked at for promotion. No, his only chance lay in keeping his mouth shut. And trusting me to do the same.’