Brother Cadfael 19: The Holy Thief

murder."
    She waited for him to agree thus far, and the abbot said neutrally: "So we thought, and so we said. It seemed clear. Certainly we knew of no other."
    "But, Father, I have cause to believe that there was another."
    She still had not named him, but he knew. No question now but he was looking round towards the gate, and shifting softly, careful not to draw attention to himself, but in a furtive effort to draw gradually clear of the ring of men and horses that surrounded him. But Robert Bossu's two squires were close, hemming him in, and he could not extricate himself.
    "I believe," she said, "there is one here among us who has hidden in his saddlebag property which is not his. I believe it was stolen that same night of the flood, when all was in chaos in the church. I do not know if Aldhelm could have told of it, but even if he might have seen, was not that enough? If I am wronging an innocent man, as I may be," said Daalny with sharp ferocity, "I will make amends by whatever means is asked of me. But search and put it to the test, Father." And then she did turn and look at B�zet, her face so blanched it was like a white hot flame; she turned and pointed. And he was penned into the circle so closely that only by violence could he break out; and violence would at once betray him, and he was not yet at the end of his tether.
    "In the saddlebag against his side, he has something he has been hiding ever since the flood came. If it was honestly come by, or already his, he would not need to hide it. My lord, Father Abbot, do me this justice, and if I am wrong, justice also to him. Search, and see!"
    It seemed that for one instant B�zet contemplated laughing at the accusation, shrugging her off, saying contemptuously that she lied. Then he gathered himself convulsively, pricked into response by all the eyes levelled upon him. It was fatally late to cry out in the anger of innocence. He, too, had missed his time, and with it whatever chance was still left to him.
    "Are you mad? It's a black lie, I have nothing here but what is mine. Master, speak for me! Have you ever had cause to think ill of me? Why should she turn on me with such a charge?"
    "I have always found B�zet trustworthy," said R�, stoutly enough and speaking up for his own, but not quite at ease. "I cannot believe he would steal. And what has been missed? Nothing, to my knowledge. Who knows of anything lost since the flood? I've heard no such word."
    "No complaint has been made," agreed the abbot frowning and hesitant.
    "There is a simple means," said Daalny implacably, "to prove or disprove. Open his saddlebag! If he has nothing to hide, let him prove it and shame me. If I am not afraid, why should he be?"
    "Afraid?" blazed B�zet. "Of such calumny? What is in my baggage is mine, and there's no answer due from me to any false charge of yours. No, I will not display my poor belongings to satisfy your malice. Why you should utter such lies against me I cannot guess. What did I ever do to you? But you waste your lies, my master knows me better."
    "You would be wise to open, and let your virtue be seen by all," Earl Robert said with dispassionate authority, "since not all here have such secure knowledge of you. If she lies, uncover her lie." He had glanced for one instant at his two young men, and raised a commanding eyebrow. They drew a pace nearer to B�zet, their faces impassive, but their eyes alert.
    "There is something owed here to a dead man," said Abbot Radulfus, "since this girl has recalled to us one most precious thing stolen. If this is indeed a matter that can shed light on that crime, and lift even the shadow of doubt from all but the guilty, I think we have a duty to pursue it. Give here your saddlebag."
    "No!" He clutched it to his side with a protective arm. "This is unworthy, humiliation... I have done no wrong, why should I submit to such indignity?"
    "Take it," said Robert Bossu.
    B�zet cast one wild, flashing glance round him as the two squires closed in and laid competent hands, not on him, but on bridle and saddlebag. There was no hope of leaping into the saddle and breaking out of the closed circle, but the young men had loosed their own bridles to pen him in, and one of the horses thus released was some yards nearer to the gate, standing docilely clear of the agitated group in the centre of the court. B�zet plucked his hands from his gains with a sob of fury, dealt his startled mount a great blow under the belly that