Song of a Dark Angel

this.
    'Stand up!' he ordered.
    Ranulf got to his feet.
    'And the crossbow!'
    Ranulf looked at Corbett, who nodded.
    'Very carefully,' the priest snapped, 'put it on the table!'
    Ranulf obeyed.
    'And the bolts! Come on, you've got more than one!'
    Ranulf placed the two squat crossbow bolts on the table.
    'Clever, clever boy! Now, take the bolts!'
    Ranulf picked them up.
    'And throw them down the hall.'
    Ranulf obeyed.
    Alice whimpered, slumping in a half-swoon. The priest grabbed her by the arm and ordered Corbett nearer. 'Take her other arm!' he ordered.
    Corbett obeyed. He and the priest, who still held the knife to Alice's throat, dragged the half-swooning woman down the hall, walking backwards. The priest shouted curses and warnings at the rest to stay seated. Corbett curbed his own panic and resisted the desire to do something stupid, quickly dismissing thoughts of pulling Alice away, for he dare not take the risk. The priest's knife was still digging deeply into Alice's throat. Corbett knew the man was both insane and evil enough to kill her without a second's thought.
    At the hall door a group of servants, who had been half-dozing in the passageway, suddenly jumped to their feet. They stared in horror at the macabre procession. The priest ordered them into the hall and they scurried in like frightened children. Father Augustine pulled Alice towards him, circling her neck with one arm, the knife now under her chin.
    'Lock the door!' he yelled.
    Corbett swung the two great doors closed, pulling down the beam across the iron slats. He turned as the priest backed down the passageway.
    'For God's sake!' Corbett hissed. 'What on earth do you think will happen? Gurney will hunt you down and, if he doesn't, I will!'
    Father Augustine ignored him.
    'My ancestor survived for a year!' He snapped. 'Alan of the Marsh was never caught.'
    'How did you kill Monck?' Corbett asked.
    'Oh, that was simple. He said he had been examining Cerdic's clothes.' The priest grinned. 'Like you did. What did you find, Sir Hugh?'
    'Candle grease.'
    'Well, Monck found the same. He said it was from a church candle, beeswax. I, of course, denied it. I blamed those bitches up at the convent. He left in a hurry, believing they were the culprits. I told him that both Cerdic and I had suspicions about their smuggling and the chalice. When he came out of the convent I was waiting for him. Quite easy. A crossbow bolt in his chest. I put him back on his horse. I thrust his boots back into his stirrups and fastened his own belt round the saddle horn to keep him upright. I pricked the horse with my dagger and sent it galloping like a rider from hell through the village. The horse must have raced on to the moor until Monck was shaken loose and fell off. No one would believe that he had already been killed when his horse galloped through the village. Except you, of course!'
    Corbett watched the movement behind the priest.
    'Yes,' he said. 'I, too, saw the candle grease and the bruise on Monck's belly where the saddle horn had dug deep. I also noticed his belt was rucked and twisted.'
    'I should have killed you!' the priest hissed.
    He dragged the now unconscious Alice further along the passageway.
    'You were very clever,' Corbett flattered, hoping to distract the priest. 'I suppose you told Monck to go to the convent but not to voice his suspicions to Dame Cecily.'
    'Oh, yes.' Father Augustine smirked. 'Of course, once he visited that fat bitch, Monck would know Cerdic had been to see me.' The priest yanked Alice closer to him. 'You, of course, were different. There were three of you. I immediately recognized you, Corbett, for what you are, the king's hunting dog.' The priest smirked. 'I heard about your visit to Bishop's Lynn and changed round the signpost. You wouldn't have been the first travellers to die in some Godforsaken Norfolk marsh.'
    'That's when I began to wonder how Monck may have died,' Corbett said. 'Maltote freed me. He threw me a rope to put round the horse's neck so as to pull it from the mire. I widened it to loop round my saddle horn.' Corbett took a step nearer, watching the shadow behind the priest, further down the passageway. 'I really have a lot to thank you for, Father Augustine. After all, only when I raced for my life along the beach did I see the skull etched in the cliffs.'
    'Oh, so you know about that?' Father Augustine stared in surprise.
    'Yes, and how did you?'
    'Now that's my secret,' Father Augustine hissed. He raised