‘My lordings, you wanted me?’ he asked in his best booming voice. The louder and deeper the voice, he always thought, the more bold and hearty a fellow sounded. Gervase liked to sound hearty.
‘You are Gervase de Brent? I am Simon Puttock, and this is Sir Baldwin de Furnshill. We would like to speak to you for a little.’
‘Is this about the robbery at the cathedral?’ Gervase asked hopefully.
‘Absolutely!’ the knight responded, and Gervase smiled, preening himself.
‘I thought I’d hear something soon. It is ridiculous to think that my loss should be ignored, as though any visitor to the cathedral can become a victim of crime in such a manner. Quite outrageous, really. To think that a man of business like me can be affected in that way.’
The two men persuaded him to join them in a darker part of the inn, out at the back, where they could sit and discuss the matter in peace, and Gervase walked after them trustingly. They were clearly sent to him by the cathedral’s chapter. The chapter was ashamed of their lapse. No chapter could afford to be thought to be harbouring a thief. No, as he’d been told, they wanted to make a deal. Well, that was no problem. God’s blood, he’d be happy with a couple of pounds. That’d be enough. He’d be delighted to forget the rest. Who cared?
‘You had your money stolen while you were in the cathedral, making use of their hospitality?’ the older man, the one called Sir Baldwin, asked.
‘That’s right. Someone must have taken it. I mean to say, you know what it’s like! I wouldn’t normally want to complain. It would embarrass the chapter, I dare say, eh?’ Gervase said, but then he set his face in a frown and leaned forward, shaking his head gravely. ‘But come, you and I are men of the world, yes? The last thing I would like to do is upset the Dean and chapter, but if there is one rotten apple, far better that it is removed before it can infect all the others in the barrel, eh? I think that it’s necessary to find that apple. Or at least to let him know he’s being sought. It’s not the money so much, you understand? It’s the idea that there should be a man in there who. ’
‘That is good. So you agree that you’ll not worry about claiming the money back?’ the knight said.
Gervase smiled through his teeth, although he was changing his opinion of the man. Clearly the knight was sent to minimize the loss to the chapter. ‘I don’t think I said I’d agree to lose so large a sum. It must seem a small amount to a noble knight, sir, but to a mere mean traveller and merchant like me, it’s a lot. But it’s important that the man is caught, too.’
‘What are you after?’ the other man asked. He had a smile on his face, and he looked like a fellow who was saying: ‘Come on, we’re all adults here. What do you really want, eh?’
Gervase smiled back. ‘Look, let’s be realistic, yes? All I want is the money I need to get back to Brent. It’s a long way. I’ve lost a small fortune, and I want to go home. What’s wrong with that?’
‘Nothing,’ the smiling man said, and then his smile seemed to flee his face and his head was lowered. ‘But if someone was trying to rob the cathedral, I might grow angry.’
‘Simon!’ the other said warningly. ‘There’s no need for that.’
‘This sodomite has accused the cathedral of robbing him, and you want me to treat him kindly?’
‘Simon, he’s just saving himself from the shame of confessing to what he’s done here, that’s all.’
Gervase made as though to stand. ‘I don’t need to listen to this!’
Simon stood up too. ‘Yes, you do!’ he snarled, and Gervase suddenly realized that these two were in his way to the door out of the tavern. He sat down again with a very hollow, sinking feeling in his belly.
‘First,’ Baldwin said, ‘how much do you owe to the brothel and the other gamblers? Were all your shillings thrown away on games of chance, or were some invested in the whores?’
‘I don’t know what you mean!’
‘Baldwin, let me hit him!’ Simon begged, standing again. Baldwin had to put out his hand, but he winced as he did so.
Gervase was suddenly very nervous. The sling about his neck showed that this Baldwin was injured. If his hot-headed companion decided to grow more aggressive, there might be little that the knight could do to stop him. He moved his stool a little farther from the table. ‘All right, all right, there’s no need for that! Yes, I lost a bit on the games. The tarts — well, you know — I was lonely. I’ve been travelling for some time now, and was on my way home.’
‘How much did you lose?’ Baldwin snapped.
‘About seven shillings.’
‘And you sought to claim six marks from the chapter?’ Simon sneered.
‘Look, it’s what people do, yes? That’s what they said, that the Church can afford to lose a little to a man like me, and when they have people who’ve lost a lot, they recommend that we demand it back from the chapter. The canons never quibble. They’ve got enough of their own, that’s what they said.’
‘Who are “they”?’ Simon demanded.
‘The ones there in the gambling rooms. Mick took me to them. One was Jordan, the other Reginald. They were the men who ran the place.’
‘Reginald who?’ Baldwin asked.
‘Gyll, or something. He was with Jordan le Ball or someone. They owned it, and the whorehouse too, according to Mick. He seemed quite scared of them both, although I don’t know why. They seemed reasonable enough to me,’ Gervase said, putting on his man-of-the-world expression.
‘Did you think so?’ Baldwin asked in a quiet voice. ‘What is your trade, Master Gervase?’
‘I am a merchant — but business is not good just now.’
‘If you were to start trying to sell goods to make some money instead of robbing a cathedral, you might find yourself in more luck,’ Simon said harshly.
Gervase had risen and was staring pathetically about him. ‘Don’t let him hit me!’
‘You’re not worth the effort,’ Simon said contemptuously and sat back with his arms folded. ‘But you will answer us now.’
‘I want to go. You’re holding me against my will.’
‘The little man has some fight left in him,’ Simon said to Baldwin.
‘Yes. Very well, Gervase. You may go. Oh, one thing, though …’
‘What?’
‘I am the Keeper of the King’s Peace and my friend here is a bailiff. We are working for the Bishop and the Dean. We could let it be known that you have been very helpful to us.’
‘That’s a threat?’ Gervase asked with a snigger.
‘You went to the gambling with a Master Mick?’ Baldwin asked.
‘He’s a friend of mine.’
‘Was. He’s dead.’
‘The poor fellow. I didn’t think he looked …’ Gervase looked at him doubtfully. ‘Are you threatening me now?’
‘No. I am telling you. He was murdered; his throat was cut. Did you meet a whore with him? A girl named Anne?’
‘Yes, a lovely little thing. Very young and pretty. She has such life in her.’
‘She’s dead. The man who killed Mick also cut her dreadfully about the face and body, and she committed suicide.’
Gervase stared at him, and his face seemed to crumple. ‘Both of them? Who would murder them?’
‘Did either of them mention that they might be leaving the city soon?’ Baldwin asked.
‘Mick did say that he was going to, yes. He said he was going to marry and settle. He’d got some money saved and was going to head south to the coast.’
‘That was why he died,’ Baldwin said flatly.
‘It’s no crime to marry,’ Gervase said. He was growing tearful.
Simon leaned forward, his elbow on the table top. ‘Are you being intentionally obtuse? Anne was going to run off with Mick. Her master, the man who owned her, was not happy to let that happen. He tortured and terrified her and murdered Mick, just to leave a message to all the other whores who work for him. He scared her badly, and scarred her still more, and she killed herself.’
‘Sweet Mother Mary, Blessed …’