‘We all need to pray,’ said Hamo. He raised his hands in the air, and closed his eyes. ‘In fact, we should praise the Lord with-’
‘Alleluia,’ agreed Roger with enthusiasm. ‘Let us lift our voices to the Heavenly King.’
‘Dame Eleanor has been petitioning St Hugh on my behalf, too,’ said Christiana to Michael, as the Gilbertines began to rail. ‘She has asked him to send me a good husband. I am not sure I shall follow your advice of taking the veil and soothing my loneliness with lovers.’
‘I did not put it quite like that,’ said Michael, startled. ‘I said there are ways to-’
‘We have learned a good deal about the Hugh Chalice,’ interrupted Bartholomew. He did not think Michael should have that sort of discussion with a bishop standing within earshot. ‘We know Simon and Aylmer were the friars charged to bring it to Lincoln, but that Aylmer sold it because he could not resist the temptation of easy money.’
‘Twenty shillings,’ said Suttone, shaking his head. ‘He could have had ten times that.’
‘Perhaps he did,’ Bartholomew pointed out. ‘We do not know the Geddynge priest was his first and only victim. It is possible that he had already sold it several times before.’
‘And it has languished in Lincoln for the last twenty years,’ Michael went on, reluctantly dragging his attention from Christiana’s kirtle and focussing on his investigation, ‘because Miller knew Shirlok had escaped hanging, and did not want to attract his attention by hawking the goods that had been used to convict him. Meanwhile, the fraternity was Simon’s idea. Aylmer joined so as not to reveal his role in the original theft; Chapman enrolled because he sincerely believes it belongs here; and I suppose Flaxfleete and Herl subscribed later.’
‘Flaxfleete always was an ardent devotee of St Hugh,’ said Gynewell. ‘He was distraught when the chalice failed to arrive from London two decades ago, and wanted to serve the Head Shrine when he became a canon. This did not occur to me when we discussed the mark on his skin a few days ago, but on reflection it is obvious that he would have belonged to such a fraternity. He founded the Guild of Corpus Christi to emulate the saint’s good deeds.’
‘And Herl would have enrolled because aligning himself with powerful men might have brought him wealth,’ said Roger. ‘I am afraid he was a greedy, selfish man.’
‘But Shirlok has since died,’ continued Michael. ‘And Chapman saw it was finally safe to bring the stolen goods – including the Hugh Chalice – out of his cellar. Flaxfleete offered to “donate” it to the cathedral, but the dean visited him … ’
Gynewell grimaced. ‘Poor Bresley. He has an uncontrollable urge to lay hold of items that do not belong to him, but he puts them in the crypt, so I can return them to their owners. He thinks he will be unable to steal the real chalice, which is why he is so certain Simon’s is a fake.’
‘He believes it will cure him?’ asked Bartholomew, suddenly understanding some of the dean’s curious remarks about the relic.
Gynewell nodded. ‘He removed the cup from Flaxfleete when he went to inspect it on the cathedral’s behalf, and I was obliged to take it back the following day. Aylmer was blamed, although he was innocent. The next I heard was that Flaxfleete had given it back to his relic-seller for reasons he declined to share, but that the relic-seller had approached Simon instead.’
‘It was during this time that Herl confused matters,’ said Michael. ‘He made copies of the cup and sold some to Tetford, who gave them to his … ’
‘Seamstresses,’ interjected Bartholomew.
‘Simon and Chapman knew nothing about these duplicates, though, and nor did Aylmer.’
‘How are you able to conclude that?’ asked Gynewell curiously.
‘Because both Simon and Chapman were appalled by the prospect of replicas, and Simon died trying to learn the truth. Meanwhile, Aylmer was trying to protect the chalice when he was stabbed: you do not lay down your life for something of no value.’
‘Who is this vile killer?’ asked Gynewell tiredly. ‘I would like an end to this before Sunday.’
Michael smiled. ‘You will be the first to know, My Lord. We will talk to young Hugh, and-’
‘Hugh?’ asked Eleanor, appalled. ‘He can know nothing about this! He is a child!’
‘Do not worry,’ said Michael reassuringly. ‘He is not on our list of suspects. All we need from him is the identity of the person who might have read a letter he was supposed to deliver to Chapman. And when he tells us, we shall be a step closer to catching this fiend.’
Gynewell approached the altar. ‘Well, de Wetherset? Which is the real Hugh Chalice? It is time it was in the cathedral, not lurking in dungeons and at the scenes of murders.’
‘I have not received divine inspiration yet,’ said de Wetherset with a pained expression. ‘Give me time. I shall give you an answer.’
‘I am sure he will,’ said Bartholomew to Michael, ‘but how will we know if it is the right one?’
