The Castle Abductions: When missing turns to murder… (The Bailiff Mountsorrel Tudor Mysteries Book 1) by David Field

Author:David Field [Field, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sapere Books
Published: 2023-11-30T16:00:00+00:00

John Simpson, Rector of St Nicholas’s Church across from the castle, threw the first handful of soil onto the winding sheet in which Richard Keyworth — or Dickon, as he was more commonly known — was wrapped for his burial. He then stepped back to allow the four mourners to do likewise as he intoned the final blessing. Young Dickon had only been in his mid-twenties, and the two bailiffs he had so loyally served had been joined by his only surviving relative, his sister Emma, and her husband. The grey cloud that loomed over them was threatening the first snowfall of the year, and the sexton and his boy were waiting to complete the filling in of the grave before the first flakes began to descend.

The man who had been Dickon’s brother-in-law walked slowly over to where Edward and Francis stood with bowed heads and held out his hand in a gesture of friendship. ‘I must thank you gentlemen most heartily for your kindness to poor Dickon. He spoke highly of your concern for his welfare, and he was proud to be of service to you both.’

‘He was highly valued and respected,’ Francis replied, wiping a tear from his eye. ‘I only wish that there could have been more here today to honour his passing.’

‘There was only my wife,’ the man replied, ‘and I have not yet introduced myself properly. My name is Ralph Tolney. As you must know, having gone to the trouble of advising me of Dickon’s death and today’s burial, I conduct a fulling enterprise here in Wheelwright Lane, barely yards from where we stand. My wife Emma was Dickon’s older sister, and he would visit us on his days off from your service. He was a most likeable lad, and I thought of him as my brother also, despite the difference in our years.’

‘There are no other family members?’ Francis asked.

Ralph shook his head. ‘His parents died of the sweating sickness when it came through their village some years ago. There are, I believe, cousins in Northampton or some such place, but the farm on which Dickon and Emma were raised was sold for a pittance by the lord of the manor when the rent was due and no-one had any reason to keep up the payments.’

‘I am an orphan,’ Edward volunteered, ‘so I have never known what it is to lose a loved one. However, if the grief I felt at Dickon’s passing was anything to judge by, then I must be grateful for that blessing.’

‘We are still beyond outrage at the manner of his death,’ Francis added. ‘The fire was clearly intended for us, and Dickon was, we believe, bravely trying to defend us when he met his end.’

‘Is your new house completed?’ Ralph asked.

Francis shook his head. ‘It still wants a roof. To judge by the weather, this will not be achieved until next spring. In the meantime we are lodging in the Guildhall, should you wish to contact us.’

‘You have suitable lodgings there?’

Edward allowed himself a hollow laugh.

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