Odo’s eyes narrowed. ‘I do not believe you. And you do not look well today. You-’
‘He said it was a misunderstanding,’ snarled Walter, coming to stand close to the prior and insinuating enough menace into his words to make Odo step back in alarm. ‘So that is an end to it. You would do better to pay heed to your own business — for example, establishing which of your monks murdered Leger, who, incidentally, is uncle to Sir Geoffrey’s wife.’
‘That means Geoffrey is Leger’s kin, and you are in serious trouble,’ added Pigot provocatively.
‘How dare you make such accusations,’ shouted Odo. ‘You know perfectly well that the villain was one of the brutes who stand at your heels. They have killed before and-’
‘I came to return this,’ interrupted Walter. He pulled the cloth from the parcel he held, to reveal a large altar-cross. ‘It was found in the possession of a local thief, and I imagined you would be pleased to have it back. However, I did not come here to bandy words with you. I am above such indignities. With your permission, I shall take it to the church.’
He turned and strutted away, without waiting to hear whether he had permission or not, leaving Odo grinding his teeth in impotent rage. It was a clever piece of manipulation — coming to present the priory with stolen property, and then manoeuvring himself into the position of injured party during the exchange that followed — although Geoffrey saw through it. But Walter’s games with the priory were not his concern.
‘We need to talk to Marcus,’ he told Odo, watching as Walter and his henchmen opened the church door and disappeared inside.
‘He is your spy,’ added Roger, presenting the little box and its contents with a flourish. Geoffrey closed his eyes. He had imagined the thing had been left where it had been found and would have stopped Roger, had he seen him removing it.
Aidan snatched it from him. ‘Walter owns a lot of these. I know, because when we say Masses for his daughter’s soul, the coins come in one. And here is one of our wooden crosses. It looks like Marcus’s — his was chipped when he dropped it once, and here you can see a small piece is missing.’
‘But Marcus told me he lost it,’ said Odo, bemused. ‘And that his family had sent him a gold one as a replacement. He asked my permission to wear it, because he said a gift from his family helped alleviate the sorrow he felt at losing the one he was given at his ordination.’
‘If this cross was at the castle,’ said Aidan, staring at his prior with worried eyes, ‘then it means Walter stole it. Marcus would not have parted with it otherwise. Or it fell off when he was in their dungeons.’
‘Fell off into a box?’ asked Roger archly. ‘Which was then hidden in a wall of the room allocated to him when he is at the castle? And in company with gold coins?’
‘There are no gold coins in here,’ said Aidan, peering into the box doubtfully.
‘They must have fallen out,’ said Roger smoothly.
‘We should confront Walter,’ said Aidan, watching as the constable left the church. Walter was walking briskly, giving the impression of being a busy man. ‘He is here anyway.’
‘No,’ said Odo, reaching out a hand to stop him. ‘We will talk to Marcus first. Where is he?’
‘Asking forgiveness for his sins in the church,’ replied Roger piously, ignoring the fact that he had some sins of his own to confess, the most recent being theft.
Odo set off towards the building, the others at his heels. It was far darker than it had been the previous day, because of the gathering thunderclouds. As if to accentuate the point, there was a flash of lightning and another growl of thunder, this time closer.
It illuminated Marcus, who was in the Lady Chapel next to Leger’s coffin. He was lying on his face, and there was a dagger protruding from his back.
Odo released a strangled cry and ran towards him, while the blood drained from Aidan’s face. Geoffrey dropped to one knee beside the prostrate monk but could see he was past all earthly help. Like Leger, he had been killed neatly and proficiently with a single, efficient blow.
‘Walter!’ exclaimed Aidan. ‘He was just in here. He killed Marcus!’
‘He might have done,’ acknowledged Geoffrey. ‘However, you can see from here that the cross is back on the high altar. Perhaps Walter really did just replace it and leave.’
‘Then why did he not raise the alarm when he found Marcus?’ demanded Aidan.
‘Because you would not be able to see a body on the Lady Chapel floor from the high altar,’ explained Geoffrey. ‘And Walter is not stupid, anyway: he is unlikely to commit such a bold murder when he is the obvious suspect.’
Or, he wondered, was that what Walter was hoping everyone would think? That the clever constable would be more subtle in dispatching his enemies? But Marcus was not an enemy — he was a much-valued spy. Of course, Geoffrey thought wryly, he had probably heard Roger’s stentorian announcement, and so knew the monk would no longer be of use to him — worse, that he might be a liability, should Odo decide to write to the King. The knight rubbed his head, not sure what to think.
‘Well, we know the killer is not Odo or Aidan,’ muttered Roger as the two monks began deliberating how best to confront Walter. ‘First, you can see they are shocked. And, second, we saw Marcus enter the church, and they were outside until we came in here.’
‘It is easy to feign horror,’ Geoffrey murmured back. ‘Moreover, both Odo and Aidan disappeared from sight briefly after you announced that Marcus was the spy, and I can see from here that there are another two doors they could have used — one at the back of the building and one at the side.’
‘They would not have had time,’ objected Roger. ‘And they would be drenched in blood.’
But Geoffrey shook his head. ‘You know as well as I do that it takes but a moment to plunge a knife into a kneeling man’s back — and that leaving the weapon in the wound reduces spillage.’
Roger frowned. ‘But this means our suspects for Marcus’s murder are the same as the ones for Leger — Walter and his creatures, and Odo and all his monks. We cannot eliminate anyone.’
‘No,’ agreed Geoffrey. ‘And you can add Cadowan and Nest to the list, too. They also disappeared from sight after you bawled our findings to half of Wales.’
Roger looked indignant. ‘I merely spoke the truth. But which of these villains do you think is the culprit? You have a sharp mind: you must have some theories.’
‘Not really,’ said Geoffrey. ‘However, while all our suspects had the opportunity to dispatch Marcus, they do not all have a motive. I understand why Walter might have done it — and the monks will certainly want to avenge themselves on the spy who has been selling embarrassing secrets to the castle. But Cadowan and Nest?’
‘They are obsessed with getting the sky-stone,’ said Roger. ‘Perhaps they think the spy at the priory is one reason why Ivar is so distrustful. In other words, Marcus’s death will mean everyone likes each other again, and Ivar will relax enough to part with the thing.’
It did not sound very likely, but Geoffrey was acutely aware that there was a lot they did not know about Estrighoiel and its inhabitants. Cadowan and Nest might have a motive that had not yet been uncovered. He winced when there was a particularly loud grumble of thunder. It rattled the glass in the window frames, and the lightning that flashed just before it was enough to turn the twilight gloom into bright daylight.
‘Which of those dogs did it, do you think?’ Aidan was asking Odo, clearly having dismissed Geoffrey’s reasons for why Walter might be innocent. He was fingering a dagger. Monks were not supposed to carry weapons, and Geoffrey wondered where it had come from.
‘Revelle, probably,’ replied Odo bitterly. ‘He will obey any order, no matter how repugnant. Or his stupid friend Pigot. Walter would not have delivered the fatal blow himself. But one thing is clear: we shall not sit back and do nothing while a second monk is murdered.’
‘A monk who was a spy,’ Roger pointed out.