‘No. I saw the girl, Alice, but no one else. In fact, I was surprised that there was no sign of Hal himself. I assumed he must be asleep, for there was no sound from his tent, and when I scratched at a guy rope, there was no response. I just thought he was dead to the world, exhausted by all his work.’
‘What time did you leave?’
‘It was daylight. I was very tired by then.’
‘I can imagine. After staying up all night.’
Fletcher turned his gaze upon Baldwin. ‘I haven’t slept properly for two years or more, Sir Baldwin. It’s nothing new.’
Simon interrupted with some impatience. ‘Your life is sad, no doubt, man, but we need to know who was out and about that night. There was someone lying in the grass next morning pretending to be pissed out of his mind. Did you see him?’
‘No.’
‘Think! There must have been something,’ Simon pressed him irascibly. ‘In Christ’s name, you must have seen or heard somebody!’
Baldwin glanced at his friend. Simon sounded as though he was close to the end of his tether. The last two days, especially with that fat fool Tyler accusing him of murder, had taken their toll. Now the Bailiff was out of patience, and his attitude was putting Fletcher on edge.
‘Fletcher, look at me,’ Baldwin said softly, holding up a hand to silence Simon. ‘Now, think back. When you were standing there outside the tent, was there any noise, any disturbance at all?’
Fletcher sipped at his ale thoughtfully, then he remembered: ‘Yes, there was something. I reckoned it was a badger or a fox – the buggers are all over the place at night. But it stopped and I thought it must have gone.’
‘Where was this?’
‘In the bushes near the river.’
‘You know where Hal was found?’ Baldwin asked.
‘Yes – and it would have been about there.’
Simon would have spoken but Baldwin shot him a look, then said, ‘It strikes you as strange now, does it? Why?’
‘I heard something in there, rustling, but it stopped.’
Coroner Roger couldn’t hold himself back. ‘That’s not unusual. Noises happen all night.’
‘Yes, Sir Roger,’ Baldwin explained mildly, ‘but a fox or badger would have made more noise in running away again as soon as it smelled a man.’
‘That’s right.’ Fletcher was frowning now. ‘It never ran.’
‘That’s because our murderer saw no need to. He wanted to dump his body – but you prevented him,’ Baldwin said.
‘Why’d he want to put Hal back in the tent?’ Simon demanded. ‘You thought Wymond was there as a message – perhaps to Hal. Well, it looks like you could have been right, but why leave Hal there?’
‘It would show that the two murders were connected,’ Baldwin hazarded. ‘Perhaps there was a message in that?’
Coroner Roger frowned at him. ‘You mean this killer could be planning to murder again?’
Baldwin was silent a moment. When he spoke he had been thinking aloud, he hadn’t considered the consequences of his words – but now he slowly moved his head in agreement. ‘I am afraid so,’ he said heavily.
‘And that means there may be another body out there waiting for us,’ the Coroner grunted. ‘Jesus! What a disaster!’
Baldwin turned back to the watchman. He spoke soothingly. ‘You see how important all this is? Fletcher, you said that you saw Alice. Where was she, and how late was this?’
‘It was at the darkest hour. I saw her walking among the trees at the bank of the river.’
‘Was this before or after the rustling?’
‘Oh, some time before.’
‘Then we can ignore her,’ Baldwin said. ‘If she was seen by you, she would have seen you as well. A murderer wouldn’t bring a body to a place where a witness stood. It is only people you saw after the rustling with whom we need concern ourselves.’
‘The drunk in the field wasn’t a woman, either,’ Simon said.
‘The drunk could have been an innocent,’ Baldwin said. ‘We do not know for sure that he was involved.’
‘The only man I saw was late,’ Fletcher said, frowning. ‘It was as dawn was breaking and the camp was coming alive. All the folks were waking and I saw the squire.’
‘Which?’ Baldwin asked.
‘The one with that knight from Gloucester. Sir Edmund.’
‘Squire Andrew?’ Simon said.
‘That’s the one. He had been in the trees and as the light came I saw him walking back from the stands. He’d been there a while, I reckon.’
They asked more questions but Fletcher either wouldn’t or couldn’t help them, and soon he rose, saying he had duties. Baldwin waved him away.
‘This is mad!’ Coroner Roger declared. ‘We hear that the man was likely in the bushes with his dead victim, and now we hear that another man was walking about the place.’
‘Andrew, yes,’ Baldwin said. He was watching Fletcher as he walked away. ‘What was the girl doing out at that time of night?’
‘And this Andrew,’ Simon pointed out.
‘Yes,’ Baldwin agreed. Fletcher was swallowed up by the crowds, but Baldwin remained staring after him a while. The watchman’s story had touched him. Fletcher’s life had lost meaning and sense, that was clear, and yet he continued to perform his duties like any honourable vassal. Baldwin wasn’t sure that he would have been able to carry on so stoically if he had heard his own wife and daughter dying in a fire. The thought was enough to make him feel faintly queasy.
Andrew had been near the stands. Why? Then another thought struck him and he drew in his breath sharply.
‘What, Sir Baldwin?’ the Coroner asked.
‘We have heard of the stands collapsing during a tournament. What if a man saw his family die there? Wouldn’t he want revenge against those who killed them?’
‘Perhaps. You suggested that earlier.’
‘It would be justification for killing the men who profited by using rotten wood. There were three of them: the banker, Benjamin, the carpenter, Wymond, and the architect, Hal.’
‘I see what you mean.’
‘No – I must be wrong,’ Baldwin said. ‘If Hal’s body was going to be put into the tent as a message, surely the killer sought another victim?’
‘If he wanted to leave a message. But the placement could have been merely symbolic, to show that the killer had murdered again for a purpose, for revenge,’ Coroner Roger said.
Just then they heard the scream and all three men rose simultaneously. ‘What in God’s name… ’ Coroner Roger began.
Simon had paled. ‘God’s bones! Please, not another murder!’
‘Come on, Hugh! Just a quick wander down into the arena. It can’t hurt.’
‘Your mother said no. She said to stay here in the castle.’
‘That’s so unfair! Why should she tell me what I can and can’t do? I’m not a silly little girl.’
‘Stamping your feet won’t make me change my mind. Your mother gave me orders and I won’t disobey her. Especially after the look of those men in the ber frois. It’s too dangerous.’
‘That was yesterday!’ she said scathingly. ‘Just because that man was found dead. We’ll be all right today. They’ve had time to sleep on it.’
‘You think an English mob forgets after one night’s sleep?’
‘Hugh, don’t be sarcastic! No, but most of them don’t know who I am anyway. It won’t matter to them having a young girl walking in their midst.’
‘Mistress Edith, if only one of them takes it into his head that you are the daughter of the Bailiff, you could be in danger. It’s not right.’
‘I want to see my friend. He’s just been knighted – knighted! Can you understand what that means to me? I want to congratulate him.’