Sir Hugh Corbett 11 - The Demon Archer

would have stayed a week, ten more days and taken my leave. Sir William is of the same rotten stock but I do not hold him guilty of any sin against me.’ He sighed. ‘I am sorry for loosing the arrows at you.’
    Corbett scrutinised both the hermit and Brother Cosmas. On the one hand he felt the hermit was telling the truth but, on the other, he felt a slight unease. What if Brother Cosmas was the killer, using his friend as a pretext, a catspaw? Like many friars, both were practical men. Strong, vigorous, with a passion for justice, could this have clouded their priestly training?
    ‘What now?’ Brother Cosmas asked.
    Corbett glanced at Ranulf but he seemed distracted. He was drawing something on the side of the piece of parchment, which Corbett recognised as the capital ‘A’. Corbett got to his feet. He was aware of Alicia standing behind him while Verlian, sitting deeper in the sanctuary, must have also heard everything.
    ‘I’ll be honest,’ Corbett began. He pressed his fingers on Ranulf’s shoulder, warning him to keep silent. ‘All four of you are suspects.’
    ‘But I’ve told the truth,’ the hermit gasped.
    ‘I’ve said before,’ Corbett reminded him, ‘evidence or logic, or both, prove a hypothesis, verify a conclusion. I know you are the Owlman, that you were helped by Brother Cosmas. Logic and evidence also provoke suspicion against the Verlians, both father and daughter. So, if I empanelled a jury, it would note that each person in this church has a case to answer.’
    ‘We are clerics,’ Brother Cosmas protested.
    ‘You could still be murderers,’ Corbett replied softly. ‘One of you, two of you.’ He felt the nape of his neck grow cold. ‘Indeed, all four of you could have been involved. Let me explain.’ He sat down on the bench. His eye caught the gargoyle on top of one of the pillars: a grinning demon, cowled like a monk, its forked tongue slipping out between thick lips: the long-dead carpenter must have been ridiculing some priest. Corbett wondered if the two clerics in front of him were mocking him.
    ‘Three people have been murdered in Ashdown Forest ,’ he continued hurriedly. ‘Lord Henry and an Italian physician, Pancius Cantrone. Then we have this young woman, killed by an arrow, her body stripped and buried in a shallow grave but, for some strange reason,’ he watched the hermit intently, ‘her corpse was dug up and placed at the postern gate of St Hawisia’s priory. Now, Odo, you expressed a deep desire to put an arrow deep into Lord Henry’s heart, and that happened. The other two were killed by an arrow to the throat.’
    ‘What are you saying?’ Odo became agitated. ‘I — I — simply used a turn of phrase.’
    ‘A jury might think it significant. It might wonder if we have two killers: one who slew Lord Henry, and a second who killed the other two victims.’ Corbett paused. ‘Tell me, Brother Cosmas and you, Odo, have you ever seen anything untoward in the forest? If you wish I can put you both on oath. Let me help you. A young woman was killed by an arrow to the throat. The assassin stripped her, for God knows what reason, and buried the corpse in a shallow grave. It was meant to stay there. Now, if anyone else had discovered that corpse, let’s say a wolfs-head, he’d probably leave it where he found it. If Brother Cosmas had found the corpse he would have carried it to St Oswald’s for honourable burial. One of the forest people would have raised the hue and cry while Master Verlian, or one of his verderers, would have taken it to Ashdown Manor.’
    Ranulf’s pen was now racing across the page, squeaking as he briefly summarised Corbett’s statement. Corbett pointed at Odo.
    ‘You discovered the corpse, didn’t you? You are a priest and, for all my suspicions, a man of tender heart. You dare not raise the hue and cry because people would ask what this anchorite was doing wandering around the forest. You could not bring it to Brother Cosmas, that might arouse suspicion. So you took it to St Hawisia’s priory. Your conscience clear, your duty discharged. I am correct, sir?’
    Odo nodded.
    ‘The morning Lord Henry was killed,’ he replied, ‘I knew about the hunt. I went to see if I could do any mischief: loose an arrow, scare the game. I slipped and fell where the earth was soft.’ He shrugged. ‘I found the corpse. The rest is as you say. I later came to St Oswald’s to tell Brother Cosmas but I glimpsed Verlian’s daughter