Mystery in the Minster by Susanna Gregory

Author:Susanna Gregory [Gregory, Susanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, General
ISBN: 9780748126057
Google: dKBAepmtdhkC
Amazon: B005AVIWZ4
Publisher: Sphere
Published: 2011-08-10T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

Cynric offered to keep watch over Radeford, while Michael took Bartholomew – unsteady on his feet now the excitement was over – to the hospitium. Once there, the physician described in detail both his findings and the subsequent assault. Langelee and Michael listened in growing horror.

‘So were you attacked because you were on the verge of discovering that Radeford was poisoned?’ asked Langelee worriedly. ‘Or because you are a Michaelhouse scholar, and the villain failed to dispatch you when he shot his arrow from St Mary ad Valvas?’

‘The first makes no sense,’ said Michael before Bartholomew could speak. ‘Radeford was killed with subtlety – a crime committed in the expectation that no one would ever find out. However, alarm bells would certainly have sounded if Matt had been cleaved in two by a sword.’

‘But the villain may have been coming to ensure that he had left no clues, and panicked when he saw Bartholomew inspecting the corpse,’ argued Langelee. ‘Frightened people are rarely rational. How many of them were there?’

‘Two, perhaps three,’ replied Bartholomew. ‘But, as I said earlier, I do not think I was their intended target.’

‘Explain,’ ordered Langelee.

Bartholomew struggled to rally his confused thoughts. ‘The skirmish occurred during compline, when the monks attend prayers in the abbey. Meanwhile, we have stood vigil in St Olave’s for the last two nights, so would not have been expected to do it a third time. The probability was that Radeford would be alone. Moreover, it is common knowledge that he will be buried tomorrow …’

‘So tonight was the last chance to search his body for the codicil,’ finished Michael. ‘Or the list of French spies. Cynric said someone had been in our bags, so when the culprits did not find what they were looking for there, they came to see whether Radeford had concealed it on his person instead.’

‘It will be those vicars,’ predicted Langelee grimly. ‘If they are willing to clamber about in people’s chimneys, then they are not beneath ransacking corpses.’ He glanced at Bartholomew. ‘Are you sure Radeford did not secrete anything in his clothes?’

‘Positive.’

Michael was thoughtful. ‘If the attackers were after the codicil, then the vicars probably are responsible, because they are the ones who do not want us to have it. But if it is the roll of spies, then we have a whole new list of suspects.’

‘Yes, but we do not know who they are,’ said Langelee bitterly. ‘Because I hunted them without success for years, and just as Radeford was on the verge of revealing all, you two distracted him with inconsequential chatter.’

This was not how Bartholomew recalled what had happened, but there was no point in saying so. ‘Oustwyk is at the top of my list for espionage, on the grounds that he is suspiciously interested in our business, and keeps appearing in unexpected places.’

Michael nodded. ‘Aided and abetted by Abbot Multone, because there must be some reason why he appointed the man as his steward – Oustwyk is inept, to say the least.

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