Sir Hugh Corbett 11 - The Demon Archer

would be it. What you didn’t know was that Brother Cosmas was absent, gone to see his friend Odo.’ Corbett sat down beside the prioress. ‘You know the hermit was the Owlman?’
    ‘What!’
    For the first time since Corbett had begun questioning her, Lady Madeleine showed genuine surprise.
    ‘Oh yes, he hated your brother as much as you do. An ancient sin, one curled up like a poisonous snake. The fruit of your brother’s lusts and lack of care for anyone else.’
    ‘Why should I kill a Franciscan?’ she asked sharply.
    ‘Let us go back to the death of Françoise Sourtillon,’ Corbett replied. ‘You’d killed her, buried her corpse and you thought that was the end of the matter. True, the grave was shallow. One day the body might be unearthed but the corpse would be simply regarded as a casualty of some outlaw attack, or even the infamous Owlman. My suspicions were first provoked by your generosity. Lady Madeleine, you may be consecrated to Christ but, to be honest, you manifest little of His teaching. You are locked in your own private heaven where the male and the brutish things of life are kept carefully at the gate. Yet you immediately offer to bury a stranger’s corpse. Why?’
    ‘An act of compassion. It is one of the Corporal Works of Mercy.’
    ‘You don’t understand the meaning of the word!’ Corbett snapped. ‘You buried her corpse to get it out of the way, hidden in the soil as quickly as possible. If it had been any other corpse, you would have sent it to St Oswald’s-in-the-Trees for interment in the common plot. I did wonder why the great Lady Madeleine manifested such speedy and merciful measures? You kept well away from the corpse but you made careful enquiries. Perhaps this is where God’s hand makes itself felt; for you became very suspicious why the corpse of your victim was left at your priory gate. Was someone pointing the finger of suspicion? Had your attack on poor Françoise been seen? Was this a reminder? Now, and this is a series of coincidences, on any other day you might have thought it was your brother. One of his subtle tricks to prick your memory. But, that particular morning, it couldn’t have been. He was preparing for his great hunt in which he was later killed.’
    ‘So?’ she asked, a touch of humour in her voice.
    ‘You went down to the death house, where the corpse had been placed in a habit. You carefully studied the cloak in which it had been wrapped when it was left at your postern gate. I would wager a tun of wine that you recognised that cloak, one your priory had given to Brother Cosmas.’
    ‘Where is this cloak?’ Lady Madeleine asked, eyebrows raised .
    ‘Oh, madam, I am sure it’s gone now. You would, perhaps, recognise the distinctive stitching and draw the logical conclusion that the corpse had been left by Brother Cosmas. What you didn’t know was that Cosmas, in turn, had given that cloak to the hermit, Odo, who was also the Owlnian. Odo had come to this forest in search of justice against Lord Henry.’
    ‘And so it was he who found the corpse?’ Lady Madeleine asked quietly.
    ‘Yes he did and he’s confessed to it. He didn’t want to carry the corpse to St Oswald’s-in-the- Trees, that might create suspicions. The corpse was that of a woman, so he left it at the priory.’
    Lady Madeleine abruptly rose to her feet. Corbett’s hand dropped to the dagger on his belt. She moved to stand beside the oaken sarcophagus but kept well away from Ranulf’s sword and dagger lying on the top. For a while she stood caressing the dark polished oak. Then, going round the side, she stared squarely across at Corbett.
    ‘This is a beautiful shrine, Corbett,’ she said, staring up at the ceiling. ‘And I am its keeper and prioress. There’s no one here to witness what I say.’
    ‘Except God, his host of saints and all the heavenly force.’
    ‘In which case, clerk, they already know the innermost workings of my heart!’ She leaned on the tomb and half-smiled. ‘Now, sir, you’ve walked into this shrine and laid serious allegations against me, one of the Lords Spiritual of Holy Mother Church. Yet what proof do you have? Where are the witnesses? Where is the documentation? How can you prove that I left the priory to go murdering in the forest?’
    ‘I have very little proof, madam. I said that from the beginning. But there’s a logic to it. You wanted your brother dead. You had to kill Françoise. Cantrone had to be silenced and