The Burned Man (A Stephen Attebrook Mystery Book 9) by Jason Vail

Author:Jason Vail [Vail, Jason]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

Thoughts of Lillybita and the Buttere boys bumped around in Stephen’s head as he rode down High Street away from the castle, his six castle guards in a loose and reluctant line behind him. The problem of the missing money loomed large in these deliberations, and although he had only guesses to go on, it must be a fairly large amount, if what he found in the Buttere house was any guide. Tursty was likely to keep the lion’s share of the fraud for himself, with his accomplices fetching just enough to keep them satisfied and quiet. But where was the money?

With these thoughts in mind, he reined up at the mouth of College Lane, which ran away from High Street northward to the town wall. After a moment’s consideration, he yielded to impulse, turned his horse down the lane and descended the slope to Linney Gate, a narrow sally port at the foot of the lane. Sometimes the gate was left open during the day to allow locals from Linney meadow access to the town without the bother of having to go over to Corve Street. But today it was closed and barred.

Stephen dismounted, drew up the bar and opened the gate.

“Close it when you come through,” he said to the men, who had obediently followed him, although it was clear from their demeanor that they were not looking forward to a ride in the country. Such duty prevented them from their principle task of lollying about the guard room until it was their hour to take a turn upon the parapets or linger high in the watch tower for signs of danger that never seemed to materialize.

He rode down the steep path to Linney meadow and turned onto the cart track that skirted the base of the hill on which the town and castle sat until he reached Linney Lane.

The Mangall house was on the left, set back from the street, a rather large and handsome structure of timber and white plaster with a slate roof rather than thatch.

Stephen tied his horse to the fence bordering the street, and told the men to wait there.

He tried the latch on the front door. It lifted and he went inside. A buttery and pantry stood to the left of the doorway with a passage separating them. There was a hearth in the center with a long table next to it so that the occupants of the benches and chairs along its length might bask in the fire’s warmth in cold weather. But the fire had gone out, and someone had shoveled the ashes and charred wood aside and dug a sizeable hole where the fire had been.

As Stephen’s eyes adjusted to the dark, it became evident that someone had dug holes all about the hall, mainly in the corners, and when he stooped to look at these, he noticed that someone had probed the ground all about with a thin pole, probably of metal, in a clear attempt to locate something buried beneath the packed ground.

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