The Elephants Of Norwich Part 11

*Thank you,' said the monk, shaking off his melancholy. He held up a letter. *But this is why I'm so pleased to see you. I have something for you.'

*For me?' Alys said in surprise.

*It's addressed to both of you.'

*Who could be writing to us?' wondered Golde, taking the missive.

*The servant belonged to the lady Adelaide's household.'

*The lady Adelaide?'

*Open it, Golde,' urged Alys.

*No, you take it,' said the other, pa.s.sing it to her. *You spoke to the lady Adelaide last night. I didn't.' She gave a wry smile. *Though I heard a great deal about her from my husband. Ralph sat next to her.'

Alys broke the seal. *I'll see what she says.'

*I'm sorry that you missed the banquet, Brother Daniel,' said Golde.

*So am I,' he replied. *But I hear you had an uninvited guest.'

*Richard de Fontenel. It was his steward whose corpse you found.' She saw the astonishment on Alys's face. *Good news or bad?'

*Excellent news,' said Alys. *We've been invited to visit the lady Adelaide.'

*Alone or with our husbands?'

*Oh, alone. She makes that quite clear.'

Eustace Coureton had no intention of being excluded from the investigation of the two crimes. He plied Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret with searching questions about their visit to the manor house of Mauger Livarot. *What sort of man is the lord Mauger?'

*The kind that no sensible person would trust,' said Ralph. *Behind that leering smile of his was a selfish, cunning, deceitful man who'd stop at nothing to gain the upper hand over a rival.'

*Not even at murder?'

*No, my lord.'

*Then he could be the culprit?'

*I didn't say that. The lord Mauger is certainly capable of stabbing a man to death, though he'd be more likely to thrust the blade into his back than his chest. But I don't think he's guilty of this murder. He looked too surprised when he was told about it. Too surprised and too peeved.'

*Why was that?'

*He felt cheated out of the pleasure of killing Hermer himself.'

*Is that what he told you?'

*I read it in his eyes.' Ralph told Coureton in detail about the interrogation of Livarot and the old soldier took it all in, nodding sagely throughout. When the recital was over, he turned to Gervase.

*Do you have anything to add to that?'

*Only that I'm also convinced that the lord Mauger didn't commit or instigate the murder. It came as a welcome bonus to him. We could see that. As for the theft of the gold elephants, however,' reflected Gervase, *I'm not so sure. The lord Mauger may well be implicated there. So might Drogo.'

*Drogo?'

*His steward.'

Ralph gave a snort of disgust. *A wizened little weasel of a man.'

*He was too knowing,' said Gervase. *Too s.h.i.+fty, artful, sure of himself. He and the lord Mauger are well matched. They'll be subtle advocates when they appear before us to ratify their claim to the disputed property. We'll have to watch them like hawks.'

*We will,' vowed Ralph.

*I look forward to meeting them,' said Coureton. *But I'm glad you mentioned the theft of those elephants, Gervase. In pursuing a killer, the sheriff has rather lost sight of the earlier crime. His efforts are concentrated on solving a murder.'

*He believes that the two crimes are linked,' said Gervase.

*All the more reason to look more closely into the first because that may lead directly to the second. I thought that the sheriff's deputy was investigating the theft,' Coureton went on, *but when I spoke to Olivier Romain earlier, he told me he was riding out to the lord Richard's estate again to look for clues relating to the murder.'

*That won't please the lord Richard,' commented Ralph. *Nothing is more important to him than the return of his precious elephants. And we all know why. They're the bait for the lady Adelaide. What a hideous choice confronts her!' he said, pulling a face. *Richard de Fontenel or Mauger Livarot. She wouldn't be selecting a husband. She'd be choosing between death and d.a.m.nation.'

*The lady Adelaide may reject both,' said Gervase.

*That's her business,' said Coureton. *Ours is to do what we can to solve two crimes that are holding us back from the work that brought us here in the first place. To that end, I think that we should go hunting.'

*For what, my lord?'

*Elephants.' He leaned forward to explain. The three men were sitting at a table in the hall over a light meal. Ralph had a cup of wine in front of him; Gervase and Coureton had opted for ale. The latter's voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper.

*I had a long talk with Olivier Romain,' he said. *He admitted that he'd made little progress in solving the theft of those gold elephants. But he had stumbled on one promising fact.'

*What was that?' said Ralph.

*A year ago, the lord Richard employed a man who worked hand in hand with Hermer as his a.s.sistant. They got on well at first. Then they fell out. Hermer had the man dismissed and he went off swearing that he'd get his own back.'

*On the steward or on the lord Richard?'

*On both.'

*Who is the fellow?'

*His name is Starculf.'

*Then why hasn't he been questioned?'

*Because there's no sign of him,' said Coureton, frowning. *Starculf left the area months ago and hasn't been seen since. The sheriff's deputy looked everywhere and the search will continue. Starculf not only had a reason to steal, he had a motive to kill.'

*Also,' said Gervase, thinking it through, *he'd be familiar with the estate. He'd know his way around extremely well. If he was Hermer's a.s.sistant, he might even have had keys to the house.'

*Apparently, the lord Richard spoke very harshly of him. He flew into a temper at the very mention of Starculf's name.'

*It doesn't take much to enrage him.'

*Ira furor brevis est.'

*What does that mean?' said Ralph.

*"Anger is a short madness." I was quoting Horace.'

*Then he must have had someone like Richard de Fontenel in mind.'

*Starculf must be tracked down,' said Gervase. *He's an obvious suspect.'

*I agree,' said Coureton, *but I think we'll uncover some others before too long. Starculf was only one of several people with a grudge against the lord Richard.'

*Alstan, for instance.'

*I wasn't forgetting that poor old man.'

*It's a pity we didn't get him to tell us more about the way the estate was run.'

Coureton shook his head. *He knew little that would be of value to us. No, I fancy there are far more eloquent witnesses to his master's ruthlessness. And you're the person to find them for us, Gervase.'

*Me?'

*You're our sharp-eyed lawyer.'

*Where am I supposed to look?'

*Where else,' said Coureton, *but in that sheaf of doc.u.ments you brought with you? The lord Richard is contesting the owners.h.i.+p of a large acreage of land with Mauger Livarot, but it must have belonged to someone else before either of them tried to take it into their possession. Who was that original owner and how was his property seized from him?' He offered a helpful grin. *Does my suggestion make sense?'

*Considerable sense,' said Gervase, gratefully. *I went through the returns for this whole county and saw just how often the name of Richard de Fontenel was a.s.sociated with dubious claims. He acquired land by all manner of subterfuge.'

*Make a list of those he dispossessed.'

*I will, my lord.'

*Especially in the Taverham hundred.'

*Leave it to me.'

*We may turn up suspects that would not occur to the sheriff and his deputy.'

*I'll go through my satchel with care.'

Ralph was lost in thought. Emerging from his silence, he brought the flat of his hand down hard on the table and startled them. They looked quizzically at him.

*What if we're wrong?' he demanded.

*About what?' said Gervase.

*Everything. What if the two crimes are unconnected? We're all a.s.suming that one person is responsible for both but that may not be the case at all. In any event, we're more likely to solve the first crime if we treat it in isolation.'

*Why?'

*Because then we can examine it properly,' argued Ralph. *If we treat it as a prelude to murder, we only confuse the issue. Reduce it to the simple facts. Richard de Fontenel buys an expensive gift for the lady he wishes to marry. That gift is stolen from his home. What's his immediate conclusion?'

*That the lord Mauger took the elephants,' said Coureton.

*Exactly. A deadly rival trying to ruin his marriage plans. That's one reason for the theft but isn't there a much more obvious one?' He looked from one to the other. *Sheer gain,' he said, grinning at them. *Those elephants were made of solid gold. They'd be dangerous to keep because they're so distinctive. Besides, they were very valuable. So what would the thief do?'

*Have them melted down.'

*Yes, my lord.'

*That way, the evidence disappears from sight,' said Gervase.

*And he sells the gold for a handsome profit.' Ralph got up suddenly from the table. *Let the sheriff go chasing after Mauger Livarot,' he said with a chuckle. *I'm going to acquaint myself with the goldsmiths of Norwich. One of them may have had some unusual items presented to him recently.'

*Sound reasoning,' complimented Eustace Coureton. *You and Gervase are engaged in the selfsame search, my lord.'

*Are we?'

*Yes. While you're hunting through some shops in the city, Gervase will be scouring his doc.u.ments. I'll be interested to see which of you finds gold first.'

Roger Bigot lifted the lid of the rough-hewn wooden coffin and peered in. Wrapped in a shroud, Hermer's corpse had been reunited with his hands but they were not attached to his wrists. They had been placed either side of the body.

*Are you certain they belonged to your steward?' asked the sheriff.

*There's no doubt about that,' said de Fontenel, testily. *The left hand bears his ring and there's a scar on his right palm that I recognise. Those are Hermer's hands, my lord sheriff. Who else's could they be?'

Bigot took one last look at them before he closed the lid of the coffin. *When is the burial?' he said.

*This afternoon. There's no point in delaying it.'

*At least he'll be whole when he's lowered into his grave.'

*That won't be the case with his murderer,' promised the other with a glint in his eye. *I'll cut off more than his hands. I'll gouge out his eyes for a start.'

*You'll do nothing of the kind,' warned the sheriff. *When we arrest the villain, I'll decide what punishment to inflict.'

*Not if I get to him first!'

They were in the tiny church on Richard de Fontenel's estate, less than half a mile from his manor house. Since the building lacked a separate chamber, the coffin had been placed on trestles in the nave. The smell of incense filled the air. Summoned by a message from de Fontenel, the sheriff had ridden out to view the missing hands and to hear how they had reappeared. It was a puzzling development. Bigot waited until they left the church before he resumed his questioning.

*Who found the hands, my lord?'

*Clamahoc, one of my servants.'