Satan in St Mary

swaying, between the tables, their long hair curled and pressed like a girl's.
    Corbett felt the sleeve of his cloak being pulled by Ranulf and realized he was standing gawking while other guests were coming down the ladder and pushing their way by him. He followed Ranulf to a small alcove and ordered wine from a boy who simpered and cast coy glances at Ranulf before mincing away. Corbett sat astonished at what he saw. He had heard of these secret taverns and drinking places but had never been in one. On the surface, it was just a secret tavern but he knew that he was in a male brothel and that all the customers ran terrible risks if they were caught, public humiliation followed by a lingering slow and painful death, which explained the furtiveness of the customers and the hidden secret ways of their meeting places.
    Ranulf seemed more at ease and relaxed, accustomed as he was to living outside the law, pitting his wits daily against the normal order of society. When the wine was brought, Ranulf caught the servant by the sleeve and whispered a name. The youth glowered and pouted, picked up the few coins Corbett put down and sauntered away. A short while later another boy came over and sat down on a stool opposite the two men. His hair was the colour of corn, the face heart-shaped like a girl's with long eyelashes, pale cheeks and small, red lips. Despite his air of forced gaiety, Corbett saw the fear in the youth's kohl-ringed eyes and felt pity for this ravaged face of sixteen or seventeen summers with eyes which looked a thousand years old.
    "I am Simon, " the boy lisped. "I am told you wish to speak to me. "
    Corbett leaned over. "No, " he replied softly, "but Lawrence Duket did!"
    The terror in the boy's eyes was something almost tangible and he would have jumped to his feet if Corbett had not held his arm tight and whispered reassuringly that he was Duket's friend and meant him no harm.
    "What happened to Duket?" Corbett whispered. "Why did he die? He was murdered wasn't he? Tell me please. I can protect you as well as bring his murderers to justice. "
    Simon stared at Corbett, biting his lower lip and blinking back the tears. He started to speak then bowed his head and nodded. Corbett waited until the boy raised his tear-stained face. "They murdered him, " he whispered.
    "Who?" rasped Corbett.
    "The Dark Ones, hooded and masked, led by a giant and a dwarf, " Simon answered softly. "They floated up the church. There was no sound. They simply picked him up, moved the chair and hung him up. " The youth wiped the tears from his face with the sleeve of his jerkin and looked quickly round.
    "I do not know where they came from or where they went, " he continued hurriedly. "They must have come from Hell. Not a sound, not a word. " He looked wide-eyed at Corbett. "And Lawrence did not even utter a word! Why?" he asked tearfully.
    "How do you know this?" Corbett asked, trying to calm his own pounding excitement.
    "I was there, " the boy replied. "I fled to the church early in the afternoon. I got in through a small window as the priest was at the door. "
    "What about the Watch?" Corbett asked.
    "They had not arrived, " Simon continued. "I went over to Lawrence and comforted him but he told me to hide. I lay down behind a bench in the sanctuary and fell asleep and did not wake till it was dark. There was a candle burning. I was going to get up when They suddenly appeared. So I hid. I was terrified and kept hidden till morning when the priest and Watch forced open the door. In the confusion I fled. "
    Corbett thought of the piece of fabric caught on the briar bush and nodded. "You must know more, " he insisted. "Giant? Dwarf? Who were these people?"
    The boy shook his head. "I must go, " he whispered hoarsely.
    "Tomorrow, " Corbett urged. "Meet me tomorrow, just before Prime, outside the church of St. Katherine's by the Tower. " The boy nodded, got up, smiled falsely and minced away.
    Corbett and Ranulf sat for a while longer then, pulling their hoods closer, got up and left, their shadowy guide letting them out into the street. Corbett was pleased to be out under the stars and gulped in the fresh air to purge and clean the evil humours of that cellar. Then, satisfied that they were alone and not being followed, they turned and made their way back to the Tower. Ranulf had scarcely followed the conversation between Corbett and the boy in the cellar and so pestered Corbett with a series of questions, but then gave up when