‘Why should she do that?’ Sir Thomas asked.
‘She wanted to make sure that she was not suspected of the murder, so she put something by the body to implicate the apprentice – his own knife and keys. No doubt she stabbed the body first to add a certain verisimilitude to the scene and mark his knife. That was why the Bailiff was so convinced that Elias was guilty. Meanwhile, Hawisia made off, taking the leathers with her. To give herself an alibi, she took the cart to her husband, and then had one of his men push it home for her. Once there I assume she concealed the money and…’
‘She told me she had sold some jewels to buy me leathers to trade,’ Vincent said dully. ‘I needed the money. I didn’t suspect her then.’
‘No, but then you realised from what Karvinel said that she had been there when Ralph died. You realised that your wife had parked the cart there and had stolen the leathers – and that if she had taken the leathers, she killed Ralph and stole his money as well.’
‘Yes.’
‘Peter didn’t realise that when he saw the cart, it was being pushed by Hawisia. He assumed it was you. But Peter was an innocent, wasn’t he? He thought that because Elias had been arrested, Elias must have stabbed Ralph. And he had so much guilt on his conscience after he had aided Karvinel execute an innocent man, helping put Hamond to the noose, that he didn’t think clearly about Ralph’s death. He just assumed Elias was guilty.’
‘Is that why Peter was poisoned?’ Sir Thomas demanded. ‘Because he saw Hawisia?’
‘No. She meant to kill Jolinde, as I said. However, by accident she killed the man who could truly have put the noose about her own throat. It was merely Peter’s bad fortune.’
The Coroner was frowning. ‘But why should Hawisia have decided to kill Karvinel now?’
Baldwin looked over at Vincent. ‘I assume Karvinel threatened to expose Vincent.’
Le Berwe met his gaze. ‘You are right. He did so yesterday. My wife suggested, when I told her, that I should approach Sir Thomas one last time and get him to finish off Karvinel once and for all. I told her I couldn’t, but she wept and said that she couldn’t see me ruined for want of a little help. I tried to stop her but she went off anyway. She said to see Sir Thomas.’
‘She never came to meet me,’ Sir Thomas growled.
‘Vincent never thought she would,’ Baldwin said. He faced le Berwe. ‘Hawisia knew all about your business dealings, didn’t she? And she took great pride in supporting you in both your business and political dealings. Nothing was too much for her to help you, was it? You know full well that she committed these crimes, that she killed Peter and Ralph and tried to kill Adam as well, before last night murdering the Karvinels.’
Vincent did not answer, but his eyes slid away from Baldwin’s cold, intense stare.
‘Very well. Let us see if we can persuade you to consider your position,’ Baldwin continued. ‘Hawisia was trying to murder your son when she killed Peter. Did you realise that?’
‘I don’t think that she would…’
‘And she certainly murdered your first wife. Christ Jesus, man! How many more people would you have allowed her to kill before you put an end to her atrocious acts?’
Vincent had slowly come to face Baldwin. He stood, gaping with horror, as Baldwin’s words sank in. ‘No!’ he breathed.
‘I am afraid “yes”,’ Baldwin said.
Vincent shook his head, his face slack and expressionless, like a waxen mask which had been left near a fire. He tried to walk to a jug of wine, but stumbled and had to sit on a stool while he poured with shaking hands.
‘Are you sure of all this?’ Coroner Roger asked.
‘It became clear at the baker’s just now,’ Baldwin explained. ‘The girl there clearly didn’t care when I said that I’d tell Vincent, although if she had been involved in a crime she should have been worried to hear that the Receiver would be involved. No, she told us to tell him! That showed me that she thought she had operated with his sanction. But we already know that Vincent wasn’t there that morning. He was at the Guildhall. Except a wife may give orders in her husband’s name and many will assume she speaks with his approval. As for using poison, it is ideal for a woman since it can be administered at a distance, and does not involve some of the more risky and unpleasant aspects of murder.’
‘And Ralph?’ the Coroner asked.
‘Was stabbed with a small blade, only half an inch wide. A woman’s knife,’ Baldwin said dispassionately. ‘Just as her berserk attack was typical of a scared woman killing her first victim.’
‘Did you know this?’ Roger demanded of the silent merchant.
‘You only guessed recently, didn’t you, Vincent?’ Baldwin said softly.
‘I didn’t guess until last night when she got back. She told me she’d done it all for me, but I couldn’t believe her. I honestly couldn’t. She told me she’d put poison in Nick and Juliana’s wine. All for me, she kept saying. All for me.’
‘She is evil, Vincent. She thought to placate you for having tried to kill your son. Where is she? She’ll kill someone else if we don’t catch her,’ Baldwin said gently.
Vincent closed his eyes and tears sprang from beneath the lids. He looked as though he had aged twenty years in the last ten minutes. ‘She went to Mass. She’s not back yet.’
Baldwin patted his arm, but then glanced through the window at the daylight outside. ‘For the first Mass of the morning? Shouldn’t she be back by now?’
‘I don’t know,’ le Berwe said and covered his face again.
Sir Thomas was leaning against the wall picking his teeth with a dirty nail. He glanced at Sir Baldwin. ‘What is it?’
‘This woman is irrational. She sees murder as the only means of controlling events and people.’
Simon was already striding for the door. Over his shoulder he called, ‘And two Secondaries are still loose ends to her.’
It was bright and warm in the sunlight and Hawisia felt perfectly composed and calm. The service had gone smoothly for once, the sermon had been comprehensible, and the Secondaries had not dropped the candles or sniggered as they so often did. Today, the twenty-seventh, was after all an important day, for later tonight the boy-Bishop would come into his own.
And everything was going well, too. Thank goodness the Karvinels were no longer a threat. Their menace had been removed from Vincent’s life and he could look forward to a secure future. Hawisia smiled. Her man deserved it. She had done it all for him. There were only two items of business left for her to complete.
She had gone to the north tower and offered to take Jolly’s loaf to him, bearing in mind Adam was unwell. She carried the bread in her basket now, slightly altered with a few of the drops from her bottle. First Jolly, then she must see Adam again.
The air was crisp and fine. From the precinct she could see the smoke from chimneys and louvres all over the city, rising a short distance and then drifting and falling until it formed a pale grey blanket over the whole place. It was warming and pleasant to see how God embraced the world.
Surely she was in God’s hands. At no time had she been in any danger. When that meddling fool Ralph had been about to tell the City Bailiff of Vincent’s little ‘arrangement’ with Adam to do with the candles, she made sure to visit him before the Bailiff. Her luck had held; the baker’s girl had done her job well. Ralph had opened the door, expecting to see William de Lappeford, and expressed his surprise, but when Hawisia, at her most charming, explained that she wanted to buy back some of her husband’s cordwain, he had reluctantly agreed and taken her into his shop.