Baldwin looked at Simon. The bailiff was studying the Dean with an expression of amused tolerance. He glanced at Baldwin and grinned at the Dean’s discomfort.
‘It all came to a head that day, really. It, er, ended sourly. The two and their servants broke into the chapel and took the body, the cloth, the ornaments and candles, everything! All of it was quite legitimately ours, not the Black Friars’, um. But of course they fiercely denied any such suggestion. They alleged that, um, they had the right to bury a confrater who had lived with them as one of them, even if he had not actually taken on their habit. It was, um, as you can imagine, er, quite a difficult time.’
Simon gulped his wine enthusiastically. ‘So what happened? You held the funeral and buried the man, and …’
‘We held his — ah — funeral, but when we, er, took the body back to the friars, they locked their gates against us. Quite, um, childish. Naturally, there was little we could do. So we, um, left him there.’
Simon sprayed wine and guffawed. ‘You left the poor … fellow out there? What, just dumped the body and ran back to the cathedral?’
The Dean scowled distastefully. ‘We, er, had a duty to return the body to them, we felt.’
‘But you kept the candles, the cloth, the estate …’ Simon grinned.
‘They were ours. Yet if they, er, wanted to have the body, we felt …’
‘They could keep it. I think we understand.’
‘Unfortunately that was not the end of the matter. They pursued the canons involved quite, um, relentlessly. Entirely unnecessary and pointless, of course, and we won all the cases they brought against us.’
Simon’s face cleared. ‘My … you mean this is the matter that so affected the Bishop for all those years before he was installed?’
‘Yes. He was, er, one of the two canons involved.’
Baldwin shrugged. ‘This is all old history, though. What does it have to do with us now?’
‘Feelings between our two, er, institutions have not eased over time. In fact, I would, er, say that they have deteriorated recently.’
‘Why is that?’ Simon asked.
From his tone of voice Baldwin could tell that he was enjoying the Dean’s discomfiture. It was not that Simon disliked the Dean, but to hear that such pettiness had erupted between two such powerful organizations was enough to amuse any man. Not Baldwin, though; not today. He had the feeling that this was leading up to his remaining in the city for a while, and he did not like the idea.
The Dean shook his head. ‘It started over the affair of Gilbert de Knovil’s money. Do you, ah, remember him? He was a Justice, and the Sheriff at the time. No? Well, he was a reliable man, when it came to his money. He deposited some with the Friars Preacher, and they, um … well, one of their fellows, Nicholas Sandekyn from Bristol, took it. And another friar knew of the theft, as did three successive priors. So, we here in the chapter, um, rather enjoyed their embarrassment.’
‘As you would,’ Simon said. He was trying to keep a straight face.
‘Yes. Um. Well, all was cool between us for some little while, but recently they have been exercising themselves against us under their new prior, Guibert. He, um, dislikes the chapter because he was one of those who witnessed our canons taking Ralegh’s body. And the fact that some, ah, canons thought it amusing to make fun of the friars when the theft was discovered did not endear us to him.’
‘So what has made matters worse recently?’ Baldwin asked.
The Dean squirmed in his seat, winced, looked up at the ceiling, and then sighed. ‘We have had a theft from a visitor. . and a rash canon removed a second body from their chapel.’
Simon nodded seriously. He took a deep breath, looked at Baldwin, and roared with laughter.
Jordan sat in his chair for a long time after she left.
The whore, she had to know that he had been involved. Agnes couldn’t be so stupid as not to have noticed that he and Daniel detested each other. Anyway, Juliana must have told her. So Agnes was threatening … what? If Juliana accused him, no one hearing her could possibly doubt that Jordan had made sure Daniel was at last dead.
It was ridiculous to be so battened down. He was one of the wealthiest men in Exeter, and certainly one of the most powerful, bearing in mind all the men he had at his beck and call, and yet just now a tiny slip of a wench had him seriously humiliated. The poisonous bitch deserved to be swung by the ankles and dropped over the city walls. Except if Agnes were to suddenly die as well, Juliana would be bound to wonder whether her dear older sister’s death could be anything to do with Jordan. No one could be so stupid as to miss that. Ach! His head was hurting! The whistling in his ears was incessant, and so loud he wondered no one else could hear it.
The little bitch was dangerous, that much was certain. Juliana was a problem too. He could show exactly where he was on the night Daniel was murdered, but after the way the receiver and the clerk responded to him that morning, he realized that there were many who’d be willing to listen with an open mind to accusations that he had himself planned Daniel’s murder. Especially since Agnes had made that snide little comment. He must make sure that Reg kept quiet about things.
It was a while since Daniel had first declared that Jordan must never be allowed inside his house again. Agnes had spoken very carefully, as though testing him.
‘Daniel is keen to find felons in the city, isn’t he?’ she had said.
‘He is a sergeant. I suppose he must look for crime everywhere he goes,’ Jordan had replied smoothly.
‘In some cases he knows exactly where to look. He says you are lucky because you haven’t been caught yet. Did you know he’s been chasing you ever since the famine? He kept that to himself after a while, poor Daniel. But just think what others would think if they were told. You should keep your efforts hidden, lover!’ She had giggled then, and reached for him, as though she thought that making love with a felon was a delightful distraction and amusement for her.
He didn’t need to think at the time; he had known perfectly well what people would have thought. They would have thought that Jordan was a bit of a daring soul, but a good fellow on the whole. If he was involved in a little naughty behaviour, keeping whores and gambling dens, so much the better. Most of the men in the city would visit his establishments at one time or another. Yes, they would have looked up to him, most of them. And some of the more senior merchants might have sought his friendship in order to gain preferential rates.
But now Daniel had died because he was close to showing that Jordan was busy making money illegally. That might just lead a few people to investigate him more closely. That Keeper, or the Coroner … either could cause him some difficulty. He should have thought of this; should have planned this aspect better. He hadn’t thought that Juliana would tell her sister all, though. The bitches hadn’t seemed to trust each other before. Why should they start now? He couldn’t understand it.
Juliana was a threat. He had to remove her. Agnes thought she was safe with him, but she’d proved that she was as dangerous as her sister. In the past she’d been his ally; now it seemed she was her sister’s, first and foremost.
He could do the same as before, maybe: pay someone else to kill them both while Jordan was visible somewhere else, prominently drinking or playing with his companions …
Jordan frowned. Perhaps he was being too sensitive. If he went to Juliana and spoke to her, he’d soon see whether Agnes had been telling the truth. Just the first moment of entering the room would tell him whether Juliana had really said what Agnes said she had. And if she hadn’t?
If Juliana knew nothing, God help her sister: if Juliana knew nothing, Agnes must have realized herself what had happened, and she was the threat.