By Murder's bright Light

Master Cabe, and murderers hang. But those who turn king’s evidence may seek the royal pardon and agree to leave England ’ — Cranston screwed up his eyes and looked towards the door of the tavern — ‘for, shall we say, three years?’
    Athelstan grabbed the seaman by the arm. ‘For the love of God, Master Cabe, tell us the truth!’
    ‘Can I have some wine, Father?’
    Cranston ordered him a goblet of claret. Cabe sipped at it carefully.
    ‘These are the facts,’ he began tonelessly. ‘Roffel was a murdering bastard. God forgive us, it wasn’t the first time he attacked a ship and killed the prisoners, but this time it was special. Roffel was looking for something.’ He shrugged. ‘Ah, well, you know what happened. Afterwards Bracklebury and I decided to confront him. Now, perhaps, Roffel meant to lock the cabin door but he didn’t; anyway it was very rare for us just to walk in. On that morning, however, we did; Roffel was sitting at his table, the money belt before him, silver coins spilling out. We knew at a glance what had happened. Roffel just roared at us to get out and said he would hang us if we ever did that again.’ Cabe rubbed his face. ‘Well, Bracklebury and I were furious. It wasn’t the first time Roffel had stolen our shares.’ Cabe glanced at Athelstan. ‘Whatever you think of me, Father, I am a good seaman and I am not frightened of anything that walks on earth. My whole body is one scar from head to toe. And for what? Stale wine, cheap whores, a damp bed in some seedy alehouse?’ He picked up his goblet and gulped at the wine. ‘Bracklebury and I laid our plans, but then Roffel fell ill and died.’
    ‘Did you murder him?’ Cranston interrupted.
    Cabe raised his hand. ‘Before God, I had no hand in Roffel’s death!’
    ‘Did Bracklebury?’
    ‘God knows! Anyway,’ Cabe continued, ‘Roffel’s death gave us the opportunity to search the cabin. We went through everything but there was no trace of a belt full of silver. The ship anchored in the Thames , Bracklebury took Roffel’s corpse ashore and, for a while, we acted our parts. We allowed the sailors to have their whores on board then, as you said, Bracklebury cleared the ship. Bracklebury was a good mate but I didn’t trust him fully so we agreed that, about each hour, he would flash the signal lamp towards shore and I would answer.’ Cabe licked his lips. The rest of the officers were too drunk to remember where each of us wandered off to. I spent most of the bloody night on that quayside fearful of everything. What happened if Bracklebury didn’t find the silver? What happened if Bracklebury did and decided to flee? It was then that I saw the whore Bernicia standing on the quayside, looking out to the ship. I heard Bracklebury curse her and the misbegotten creature disappeared.’ Cabe slurped his wine. The mist shifted — sometimes it blanketed the God’s Bright Light completely, at other times it parted. I saw the signals being flashed and the admiral’s boat go across. We had expected that but Bracklebury said he would fob him off.’ Cabe splayed his fingers out on the table top. ‘The next morning I thought I was in a nightmare. The God’s Bright Light was deserted. There was no sign of Bracklebury or the rest of the watch. I immediately concluded that Bracklebury had found the silver and either killed his two shipmates and fled or shared it with them and jumped ship.’ He smiled thinly at Cranston . ‘But it wasn’t as simple as that, Sir John, was it? There was all the mystery of who kept passing the signals between the ships and neither myself nor anyone else had seen anyone leave or approach the God’s Bright Light.' Cabe tapped the table top. That did intrigue me, because Bracklebury couldn’t swim.’ Cabe gulped at the wine and stared beseechingly at Cranston . ‘You promise I won’t hang?’
    ‘I promise.’
    ‘Well, two days ago I got a note. It was written in some scrivener’s hand but it bore Bracklebury’s mark, a circle with a dot in the centre. It simply said that he had jumped ship and was in hiding from the law. The message also claimed that, somehow or other, Bernicia had seized the silver. The whore had double-crossed everyone!’
    ‘You know Bernicia was a man?’ Athelstan asked. ‘Yes, I discovered that when I killed the slut.’
    ‘So, you did murder Bernicia ?’
    ‘Oh, yes,’ Cabe replied. ‘I followed her to that drinking-hole.’
    ‘You didn’t wonder how