Sir Hugh Corbett 11 - The Demon Archer

Stay here until this matter is finished.’
    ‘What do you mean?’ Corbett asked.
    ‘Ashdown can be a lonely place.’
    The priest came across the sanctuary, his sandals slapping the floor. He took a tinder and lit the two candles on the altar.
    ‘Robert Verlian is an innocent man. I don’t want some accident happening to him. He’s claimed sanctuary. Let him stay. He’s safer here than elsewhere. Don’t you agree, Robert?’
    The verderer rubbed his chin.
    ‘You have the sanctuary,’ the priest continued reassuringly. ‘And at night you may use my house. What more could you ask?’
    ‘But, if you are innocent,’ Ranulf asked, ‘why not go out and face your accusers?’
    Verlian sat down on a bench and cupped his face in his hands. For a while he just sat then he looked up.
    ‘The morning Lord Henry died I went back to my house to make sure that Alicia was safe. I came back to join the hunt. I saw nothing untoward. However, when I reached Savernake Dell, Lord Henry was dead, an arrow deep in his heart.’
    ‘How did you come?’ Corbett asked.
    ‘I was hurrying from my house,’ Verlian explained. ‘Ahead of me I could hear the hunters and their hounds, the crashing of deer as they bolted through the thicket towards the dell.’
    ‘Which side did you approach? The side on which Lord Henry was standing or the other?’
    Verlian closed his eyes. ‘I came from behind,’ he said. ‘Following the same path as the huntsmen.’
    ‘So, you were at the entrance to the dell?’
    ‘Yes, I stopped there. I could see something had happened. Figures clustered around a fallen man. Someone shouted Lord Henry had been killed.’
    ‘But why didn’t you hurry across?’
    ‘I don’t know!’ Verlian glanced up, eyes blinking. ‘I really don’t know. I was frightened. One thought occurred to me. Everybody is where they are supposed to be, except me.’
    ‘Sir William wasn’t,’ Corbett said. ‘He had gone into the woods to ease his bowels.’
    ‘I didn’t know that.’ Verlian shook his head. ‘You must remember, Sir Hugh, I was all agitated. I was Lord Henry’s chief verderer. I was also father of the young woman who was the object of his lust and lechery. I am not a man skilled in law. Even as I turned to run, I could think of what my accusers would say. When Lord Henry was killed, Verlian wasn’t where he was supposed to be! Verlian is a master bowman! Verlian knows the forests like the palm of his hand and, above all, Verlian had the motive, good enough reason to slay his lord!’
    Corbett took a stool from just inside the rood screen and sat down next to the verderer.
    ‘Master Verlian, I came here early this morning because I wanted to question you before others arrived who might eavesdrop, take what you say and do mischief with it.’ He saw the wary look in Verlian’s eyes.
    ‘What... what do you mean?’ he stammered.
    ‘I can understand your panic and fear.’ Corbett tried to sound reassuring. ‘But there are gaps in your story, aren’t there? You see, Master Robert, I don’t know the times, who was where when the hunt began. Your task was to lead the huntsmen and drive the deer into Savernake Dell, yes?’
    Verlian nodded.
    ‘But you didn’t do that. We know from Alicia that you went home to ensure Lord Henry hadn’t left the hunt and visited her. You left Beauclerc hunting lodge early, went to the stables and ensured the verderers, huntsmen and whippers-in had all the preparations in hand. You probably visited the deer trap in Savernake Dell, built for the quarry to be driven in. After all, Lord Henry would not wish to disappoint his guests. Now we know,’ Corbett continued, ‘the hunt went wrong. You were not present. The huntsmen drove the quarry too fast and, by the time they reached Savernake Dell, two deer were running like the wind! So fast the archers missed them and the deer jumped the fence cunningly built to trap them.’
    ‘What are you implying?’ Verlian nervously touched one of the cuts on his cheek.
    ‘Oh, I’ll come to that in a moment. I believe you are innocent, Master Verlian. What I am trying to say is that you were gone from the hunt far too long. You planned to leave it for a short while then come hurrying back. But something delayed you.’ Corbett paused.
    He glanced up at Brother Cosmas standing beside him. The friar was looking sternly at the chief verderer.
    ‘Have you lied to me, Robert?’ he demanded. ‘Is there something you haven’t