Dark Hunter by F. J. Watson

Author:F. J. Watson [Watson, F. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Polygon

I seek out those who were on watch up until Nones on the day Tom Crory was killed, but they are far more eager to tell me their woes than to remember what has already become obscure and confused. Those at the southern entrances look at me as if I have a horn sticking out of my head, raising their shoulders helplessly. I did not expect more of them, for so many people work or trade on our wharves. But I did hope.

Peter Spalding comes to me, for he was on watch at the Cowgate on the day Tom died and I left a message at his lodgings saying I needed to speak with him most urgently. He finds me in the stables, for I like to brush Morial when I’m feeling low in spirits. I have not seen Peter for a week or so, but he is even more irritated and morose than ever, his face twisted into a permanent scowl. ‘I don’t know why you’re bothering about that old goat,’ he says, spitting on the floor. ‘No one’ll miss him.’

I look at him and think I will, but there’s little point in saying so. ‘Did you see him leave?’

‘No. I didn’t go on the walls till Terce. He always comes out not long after the gates open.’ He spits again and gives me a sharp look. ‘I thought you knew that.’

‘So, you didn’t see Tom Crory on the day he died?’

His lip curls into a sneering smile. ‘I didn’t say that, did I? You asked me if I saw him go out of the gate – and I didn’t. But I watched him poking about in the gorse bushes later on. He had a right pile of twigs and branches by the time he trotted off towards the shore.’

‘What time do you think that was?’

‘How the devil would I know?’

‘Well, was it nearer the beginning, the middle or the end of your time on watch? Was the sun on the side of your face, or more on the back of your neck?’

He folds his arms and shakes his head.

‘This is really important, Peter.’

He sighs and goes over to Caspar, Sir Anthony’s bay courser, stroking his graceful head. He turns back to me. ‘I would say it was not long before Sext, when we finished. I remember being desperate for a shite but thought I could wait till we were done with the watch. That wasn’t long after I saw Crory.’

So, Tom only went away from the walls and down to the shore late in the morning. That makes it easier to establish who was out there with him. ‘Thank you. That is exactly what I need to know. Was there anyone else?’

‘Those two old foxes . . . what are their names now? The silly one with the nodding head.’

‘Rebecca Scot?’

‘Yes, that’s the one.’

‘I suppose she was with Elizabeth Belford?’

‘That she was. Every bloody Tuesday, the two of them, regular as maggots in Joe Knapton’s pies.’

I don’t bother

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