‘But an attack did take place,’ interposed the Brehon Rumann.
‘Yes, but not on the abbey itself. Baoill and his archer companion had already set an alternative plan in motion. Don’t forget the main purpose of these actions was to cause dismay and alarm among the people of Muman, so that the kingdom would split. The attack to cut down and destroy the sacred yew-tree of the Eóghanacht would be equally devastating to Muman. Once it was known that the Holy Relics and Mochta had disappeared from the abbey, the great yew-tree became the obvious target. It was the only other thing which would cause such dismay and alarm in Muman.’
The Brehon Fachtna intervened for the first time in this recital. ‘You tell an interesting story, Fidelma of Cashel. You have exonerated the Prince of the Uí Fidgente from this matter. Your story will become more interesting if you tell us who your chief conspirator is. Who is behind this conspiracy?’
‘It was a driver of Samradan who first put my feet on the right track.’
Brehon Dathal frowned. ‘Samradán the merchant? You say he was a messenger to Armagh, to the Comarb of Patrick?’
‘He actually told me that he had been twice to Armagh during the last two months. He was so guileless that I realised that he probably did not even know what he was involved in. He was only concerned about his illegal activities.’
‘His illegal activities?’ queried the Brehon Rumann. ‘Is the man in this court?’
‘No. He was murdered the night before last. He was killed because it was thought that he might lead me back to the chief conspirator.’
There was an audible ripple of surprised voices through the Great Hall.
‘Samradán was a merchant who was mainly engaged in illegal trade. He and his men had found a small silver mine close by Imleach. The land was part of the abbey lands. The silver mine was not Samradán’s to mine. As he was under the patronage of our chief conspirator — remember he is a powerful noble- that same Prince encouraged him to mine it and took a percentage of the spoils. There was another person in that mining conspiracy …’
Nion the bó-aire of Imleach was trying to leave the hall surreptitiously.
‘Capa!’ called Fidelma, pointing to the smith.
The burly captain of the bodyguard of Colgú held the smith with a surprising force, forcing him by the shoulder to halt.
‘Bring him here into the court,’ instructed Brehon Rumann.
Nion was pale. ‘I had nothing to do with the conspiracy to overthrow Cashel,’ he gasped.
‘Do you admit you were involved with this … this merchant, Samradan?’ inquired the Brehon Rumann.
‘I do not deny that. I dealt only with him because he brought me the ore from the mine. I extracted the silver and sometimes worked it.’
Fidelma was nodding. ‘Yes. I believe that you sometimes made excellent little solar-symbol brooches with it. Unfortunately the raiders destroyed your forge so that, on the day following the raid, Samradán had to leave the mine taking only one sack of silver which you had extracted but also a sack of unprocessed ore.’
‘My forge could not deal with it,’ agreed Nion.
‘Did you ever see Samradán’s patron?’
‘Never. I was not involved in any plan to overthrow Cashel …’
Fidelma turned to the judges. ‘There was my confusion,’ she admitted. ‘For a while I thought that Samradan and his illegal mining were the key to the problem. Especially when I found that the mine was in the same complex of tunnels in which Brother Mochta andthe Holy Relics were hidden. It was merely coincidence that Brother Bardan, while going to find Mochta, stumbled onto Samradán’s mining operation and was taken prisoner by him and brought to Cashel. Samradán could not take responsibility for the death of a Brother, so he hid Bardán. beneath his warehouse, waiting for his patron to make a decision. That Prince decided that both Samradan and Brother Bardan would have to be killed. He suspected that they would lead me to him. Samradán was dead when I reached him. Luckily, I’d already released Bardan from the warehouse. He is in the court as a witness.’
‘You said, however, it was Samradan who set you on the right track. Yet you say he was dead when you reached him. How could a dead man speak?’ asked the Brehon Rumann.
‘No, I mentioned Samradán’s driver,’ corrected Fidelma. ‘This driver was coming to see me to give me some information about the archer and Baoill. You see, the driver, whose name we never knew, had no knowledge about his master’s involvement in the affair nor, even, that his master had a patron. Samradán thought he was coming to betray the illegal mining operation for I had stupidly alerted Samradan that I knew he was involved in such an activity. I had asked him whether he dealt in silver and he denied that he did. Samradán mortally wounded the driver. Before he died, the man was able to tell me, in front of the witness of Brother Eadulf-’ she nodded towards where Eadulf was sitting — ‘certain things, which led me to Brother Mochta. More importantly, he told me of the time when the archer, who was staying at the same inn, had met with a man he could not identify. A young man, in a cloak. It was night time.’
‘If he could not identify the man, how could that lead in any meaningful direction?’ inquired the Brehon Fachtna.
‘The archer addressed the man as rigdomna — Prince — giving an indication of the rank of the man. This was the chief conspirator. Brother Bardán heard the raiders speaking to Samradan and he also heard that this rígdomna was conspiring with a Comarb.’
Fidelma looked to where Nion was still standing with Capa keeping a close watch on him. Then she swung round to where Finguine, the Prince of Cnoc Aine was sitting.
‘Let Finguine come to stand before the judges,’ she called softly.
A new wave of whispering echoed round the great hall.
Finguine stood up, his features suddenly creased in anxiety. He hesitated.
‘Come forward,’ rumbled the Brehon Rumann. ‘Come forward, Finguine.’
The young Prince of Cnoc Aine came slowly forward.
‘You arrived at Imleach just after the attack on it?’ asked Fidelma.
‘I did.’
‘At that time, you were certain it was an attack by the Uí Fidgente?’
‘Yes. Nion believed so. There was also the carving on the tree and the fact that the raiders went north after the attack. Everything pointed to the Uf Fidgente.’
‘As it was meant to,’ agreed Fidelma. ‘With, of course, one exception. The raider we had captured.’
‘Yes. But he had been killed before we could identify who he was …’ began Finguine.
‘The night before you left Imleach, Brother Bardan approached you in the chapel and confessed that he knew where Brother Mochta was hiding with the Holy Relics.’
Finguine indicated the witnesses. ‘Brother Bardan is seated there. He will tell you as much.’
‘He arranged to bring Mochta and the Holy Relics to you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do I presume then that it was coincidence that Solam joined you that morning?’
‘It was as I have already told you. I was compelled to give him an escort to Cashel. But we had been delayed because I had given Bardan my word and he had not turned up. I told Solam as much as I felt it necessary for him to know. Later I discovered that you had been seen on the road to Ara’s Well with the Saxon and with Brother Mochta. You were described as carrying something which could only be the reliquary. As for Bardan, well, he had disappeared.’
‘How did you discover where I had hidden Brother Mochta and the Holy Relics?’
‘Nion saw you leave the house of Della. It took no imagination to make inquiries and find out how friendly you were with her.’
‘That is why you went to Della’s house and took Mochta and the reliquary away with you? One thing is puzzling. You have proclaimed your suspicions of the Uí Fidgente on more than one occasion. Why, then, did you take Gionga of the Uí Fidgente to ransack Della’s house?’