Shakespeare No More by Tony Hays

Author:Tony Hays
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Shakespeare, Jacobean, historical mystery, England, poison, King James I, Ben Jonson, Overbury Affair, Stratford-upon-Avon
ISBN: 978-1-56474-794-5
Publisher: SCB Distributors
Published: 2015-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

While I was not surprised to see Richard Quiney at the George upon our arrival, I was surprised at his purpose.

“Simon, thank God that I found you!” Quiney was sitting at a table in the tavern at the George. He often came to London on council business, but though we knew each other well, we were not close.

“Richard? You are seeking me?” I made my way to his table and sat, followed suit by Jonson.

“Aye, a most horrible thing has happened in Stratford. I rode straight here, stopping only to change horses in Oxford.” And indeed, he looked haggard. His hair was in disarray and his clothes marked with dirt and soil from the road.

“What, Richard? What has happened?”

“John Hall has been set upon by rogues and nearly killed!”

Ben and I exchanged quick, anxious glances.

“How? When?”

Quiney drank a dram of cider from his beaker before continuing. “Yesterday morning, he had gone out for an early walk. He had hardly left when two men attacked him and then broke into his house.”

“John, is he all right?”

Quiney emptied his beaker and waved for another before nodding. “Aye, but he will take some time before he will be well enough to be about. He begged me to come here and tell you.” Quiney leaned across the table and spoke in a whisper. “They took John’s notebook, Simon. The one that recorded his treatment of Will.”

“What of Susanna and Elizabeth?” My mind was reeling.

“They hid in another part of the house. Apparently, the scoundrels knew exactly what they wanted and knew where to find it. But they warned John.”

“About what?”

“Simon, they told him that more people would be hurt if you did not stop asking questions.”

I burned inside. Shifting to look at Ben, I asked him, “What think you of that, Ben?”

“I think,” the redheaded giant said, “that you have unleashed forces that you can no longer control. Perhaps there is something to your theories after all.”

“Why, thank you, Ben. It only took my friend being half beaten to death for you to agree with me.” My sarcasm lay heavy.

“What will you do? Henry Smythe thinks you should abandon this quest and return to Stratford. He believes your skills would be better used finding these scoundrels who attacked John,” Richard continued.

“Then I should remain here, for I suspect that those men are within the city walls as we speak. Besides, I am now in the service of Bacon and Coke. Until I have followed that road as far as it goes, I will not be ready to return. They could only have wanted the notebook on the chance that it contained information critical to knowing who killed Will. Now, they have it. I doubt that they will see much profit in returning to Stratford.”

“That is a mighty risk,” Richard warned me. “They could set upon your own wife and children.”

He was right. But I was more convinced than ever before that Will’s death was decided in London. Whatever he had done, whatever role

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