‘You are wrong,’ said Matilde. ‘She is carrying a burden that is hard to bear. I noticed it when Edith introduced us days ago, when Turke was still alive. Perhaps she realised what a mistake she made in declining you in favour of him. I am sure it is something to do with love – or the lack of it. We women can tell these things.’
‘It is probably indigestion,’ said Michael, eliciting a husky chortle from Dunstan. ‘God knows, the woman eats enough!’
Amused by the monk’s unashamed hypocrisy and Matilde’s wild assumptions about a woman she did not know, Bartholomew mixed Dunstan a mild dose of laudanum to induce the sleep he felt the old man needed. Then he sat in mute sympathy when Dunstan’s laughter dissolved into tears. When he began to doze, Bartholomew and Michael left him with Matilde, and slipped away. Michael sniffed hard as they walked along the towpath, and when he spoke his voice was unsteady.
‘I hate winter, Matt. It is a cruel and uncaring season.’
‘Summer can be as bad,’ Bartholomew replied sombrely. ‘Hot-weather agues claim people, too, and so does marsh fever.’
Michael took a deep breath and tilted his head to look at the bright stars overhead. ‘We have so much to do,’ he said eventually. His voice was steadier, and he was evidently finding solace in thinking about his duties, pushing Athelbald and Dunstan from his mind. ‘We have the picture of the knife to show folk in order to identify Norbert’s killer. And I should speak to the town’s other Franciscans about Godric – I am suspicious he has a new knife just after Norbert’s murder.’
‘And there is Harysone’s stabbing. We have to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Michaelhouse lads did not do it before he complains to the Chancellor. Tynkell will do almost anything to avert a riot, and may order Michaelhouse to pay Harysone to keep him quiet. We cannot afford to compensate the man for his injury – unless we want to spend the rest of the winter living like Ovyng.’
‘You are right. But things are beginning to come together and I can see connections now that were not obvious before. For example, we know Harysone played dice with Norbert and lost a tench to him. Meanwhile, Harysone has also been asking about Dympna, who we know sent missives to Norbert.’
‘Dympna connects Norbert to Turke, too. He said her name as he died. And fish links all three men to each other: Norbert’s tench, Harysone’s book, and Turke’s chosen trade.’
‘I disagree with you about Turke’s dying words, as you know,’ said Michael pompously. ‘But your fishy associations look promising. However, I will not accept that Turke killed Norbert. The culprit is far more likely to be Harysone.’
‘Then there are the Chepe Waits,’ added Bartholomew, not wanting to argue about it. His conclusions had been built solely on the fact that Turke had died near where the murder weapon had been found, and he knew this was a weak foundation for any theory. He also accepted that the visiting fishmonger had no reason to murder Norbert. Although he did not want to admit it to Michael, he had reconsidered the hasty suppositions he had made relating to Turke’s place of death, and was inclined to believe that the monk was correct after all. Turke did not kill Norbert.
‘What about the Waits?’ asked Michael.
‘Quenhyth saw them conversing with Harysone in the King’s Head; they played in Turke’s house and admitted talking to Gosslinge in Cambridge; and they spoke to Norbert. They have connections to the three dead men, too.’
‘We know they were desperately looking for someone to employ them, so they probably spoke to lots of people,’ said Michael, unconvinced as he mulled over the information. ‘I think that particular connection is spurious.’
‘But it is odd that Philippa should not mention she had hired them – and that Giles immediately left when they appeared. And what about Quenhyth? He is a connection, too. He knows the Waits, he hails from near Chepe, and he is the son of a fishmonger.’
‘That must be coincidence,’ determined Michael. ‘I can accept he might kill a Wait, but he, like Turke, has no motive for murdering Norbert. So, we are left with a lot of questions. It seems there are strands linking Norbert, Harysone and the Turke household together, but we cannot be sure what – if anything – they mean. Meanwhile, Stanmore believes – and I concur – that the circumstances of Turke’s death warrant a little probing by the Senior Proctor. You yourself said it is odd that he and his servant should die in quite such quick succession.’
‘But there is nothing on either body to suggest foul play: Turke died because he fell through ice, and Gosslinge seems to have been a victim of the cold weather.’
Michael’s expression was crafty. ‘Both still lie in the church, because there is too much snow to bury one, while the other is awaiting transport to London. Will you look at them again? To make sure there is nothing you missed?’
