‘Why?’ Corbett asked.
‘As I said, I wanted a witness. Decontet was a very wealthy man. I did not wish, later on, to face spurious allegations about my own honesty.’
‘Very well,’ Corbett soothed. ‘Do continue.’
‘Once Parson Warfeld arrived, Lechlade and I took a bench from the hall and forced the chancery door. Inside, on the floor near his counting table, was Sir Rauf. He lay face down in a widening pool of blood. The back of his skull,’ Desroches tapped his own head, ‘was smashed like a jug. Nearby was a set of bloodstained fire tongs, powerful pincers used to move coals in the fire, which, by the way, had died down. Sir Rauf was obviously dead. His flesh was cold, the blood beginning to congeal. I glanced quickly around but noticed nothing missing or disturbed.’
‘And the keys to the chamber?’
‘They was still on Sir Rauf’s belt. Lechlade and Warfeld will testify to that.’
‘Then what?’
‘Parson Warfeld immediately knelt down and whispered the act of absolution into the dead man’s ear to shrive him of whatever sins he carried.’
‘But he was definitely dead?’ Corbett asked.
‘Oh yes. The soul had gone, though perhaps it still hovered there, hungry for absolution, if God’s mercy permitted. Sir Rauf,’ the physician added wistfully, ‘certainly had a great deal to answer for.’
‘He did indeed!’ Lady Adelicia snapped. ‘His treatment of me.’
‘And then you arrived, my lady?’ Corbett continued.
‘Yes. I went into my husband’s chancery chamber and saw his corpse sprawled there. I was shocked.’ She gestured at her maid. ‘Both of us were.’ She paused to clear her throat. ‘When I’d entered the house, I’d taken off my cloak and laid it over a bench.’ She pointed to Castledene. ‘Physician Desroches had sent for him and the city guard. It was. .’ Her voice faltered.
‘It was dark when I arrived.’ Castledene took up the story. ‘I found Master Desroches, Lady Adelicia, Parson Warfeld and Berengaria sitting before the fire in the small parlour. I too checked the chamber and had the corpse immediately taken to the mortuary chamber at St Alphege’s church so it could be dressed for burial. I then questioned Lady Adelicia about where she had been, what she had done and what time she had arrived home. I carefully checked the house; there was no sign of any forced entry. The windows were shuttered, the rear and front doors had been locked and bolted. I could see very clearly where Master Desroches and Lechlade had broken down the chancery door.’
‘And the key?’ Corbett intervened. ‘The key to Sir Rauf’s chamber?’
‘It was certainly on a hook on his belt when I discovered the corpse,’ Desroches repeated. ‘Lechlade and Parson Warfeld can testify to that.’
‘I saw it too,’ Castledene added, ‘and took it into my keeping.’ He chewed on his lip. ‘Sir Hugh, you, as a royal justice, know the forma inquisicions — the kind of formal interrogation I must carry out. Lady Adelicia’s answers about her whereabouts were ambiguous. I asked to see her hands and examined the gown she was wearing. She objected-’
‘I am a lady!’
‘Hush.’ Corbett held a hand up warningly.
‘I found no bloodstains,’ Castledene continued, ‘but when I demanded to see her cloak, I found dried blood on both the right side and the left sleeve.’
‘I don’t know where they came from.’ Lady Adelicia was flustered. ‘I must have brushed a butcher’s stall or a flesher’s wall in the shambles.’
‘So that’s where you were!’ Lechlade slurred mockingly.
Corbett quickly quelled further outbursts.
‘I then asked to see her chamber, which is above the stairs,’ Castledene continued. ‘This was locked. Lady Adelicia declared there were two keys to that chamber, one held by herself, the other by her husband. I asked her for the key and she handed it over. I unlocked the chamber and went in. It looked as if someone had left it in disarray.’
‘I don’t know,’ Lady Adelicia protested. ‘I never-’
Corbett gestured at her to be silent and nodded at Castledene to continue.
‘I found a bloodstained napkin on the floor and more pushed behind the bolsters on her bed. I gave these to Master Desroches to scrutinise. He agreed the napkins were blood-soaked so I returned to Lady Adelicia and asked her where she had been? What part of the market? Whom she had conversed with? Could anyone bear witness that when her husband was killed, she was still in the city? She could not reply. I then asked Berengaria if she could support her mistress’s story. I reminded her that she would go on oath and that punishment for perjury in such matters is a horrid death. She could easily be cast as an accomplice.’
‘I told the truth!’ Berengaria interrupted, her voice rising to a screech. ‘I told you, Sir Walter, I left my mistress for a while. She went to make her own purchases, and so did I.’
‘How long?’ Corbett asked. ‘How long were you absent from your mistress?’
Berengaria gazed fearfully at Lady Adelicia, then stared down at the table.
‘Hours?’ Corbett asked.
Berengaria nodded without raising her head.
‘The bloodied rags,’ Sir Walter declared, ‘are in a canvas bag in my own private chamber here; they will be produced in court. Lady Adelicia has recognised them as napkins from her own store. She cannot explain how the blood got on them.’
‘So.’ Corbett straightened up in the chair and glanced across at the thick mullioned glass window. Even though it was early in the afternoon, the darkness was creeping in. He stared around the chamber. Despite its luxurious hangings and costly furnishings, this was a sombre place, made more so by the young woman at the end of the table whose life now hung in the balance. Corbett disguised his own unease. According to the evidence, Lady Adelicia must be lying. She could not explain where she had been or what she had been doing that fateful afternoon.
‘Lady Adelicia?’ Corbett smiled. ‘You claim you left your house about noon?’
‘That is correct.’
‘Before you left, did you quarrel with your husband? Were you cross with him? Lady Adelicia, one day you will go on oath. You must tell me the truth.’
‘I went to his chamber.’ Lady Adelicia paused, blinked and stared hard at Corbett. ‘We had the most bitter quarrel.’
‘Over what?’
‘Over the usual, money! I wanted to make certain purchases for myself. He refused.’
‘Did you scream at him?’
‘Of course she did,’ Lechlade intervened. ‘Her voice could be heard all over the house. Ask her maid.’
‘Then what?’ Corbett asked.
‘I left my husband’s chamber.’
‘And he locked it behind you?’
‘Yes, he did.’
‘What did you do then?’
‘I hurried up to my own chamber. I did not wish to be late-’ She stopped abruptly.
‘Late?’ Corbett intervened. ‘Late for what, Lady Adelicia?’
‘It was time to leave.’ She was flustered. ‘I took my purse and my cloak. Berengaria was waiting in her chamber — it’s a small closet room near mine — then we left.’
‘And you, sir?’ Corbett turned to Lechlade, who was now slumped half asleep.
‘I’ve told you,’ the man slurred, ‘once the lady of the manor left, Sir Rauf locked himself in his counting chamber. What more could I do? I went and bought a pot of ale, drank it and fell asleep until I was aroused by a knocking which would have raised the dead.’
‘We must visit Sweetmead,’ Corbett declared. ‘Even though the hour is late, I wish to see this house. You, Lechlade and Berengaria, where are you staying now?’
‘Parson Warfeld,’ Berengaria replied, ‘is a good man. He has given me and Lechlade comfortable lodgings in the priest’s house. He said we can stay there.’
‘Sweetmead and all its possessions,’ Castledene intervened, ‘have been sealed and placed under heavy guard. No one can enter until this matter is resolved.’