The Gallows Murders

Benjamin asked tartly.
    The seals!' Sir Edward declared. The quality of vellum is excellent, the wax is the purest you can buy, those seals were no makeshift forgeries. They are the seals of King Edward V: both the signet and the Chancellor's. Now, as you know, they should have been destroyed some forty years ago. Even if they did survive, you know how delicate such seals are? They would be battered and chipped.'
    ‘I can't answer that, Sir Edward,' Benjamin replied. 'But, if it so concerns you, do you have any theories to explain it?'
    Kemble shook his head. 'I don't know,' he murmured. 'God forgive me, Master Daunbey, but I don't. Forty years ago a young boy was imprisoned here. For a few weeks, Edward V was the rightful king, but then he and his younger brother disappeared. Now Edward has returned, almost as if he has been on some jaunt along the river and come back to find out what should have been his -' Kemble paused to choose his words carefully – 'has now been taken away.'
    'Sir Edward?' I asked. 'How long have you been constable of the Tower?' 'It's two years since I left Woodstock in Oxfordshire.'
    'And nothing untoward has ever happened? I mean, involving the long dead Princes?' 'No.'
    'And in the Tower, what rumours exist about their fate?' I smiled deprecatingly. ‘Every building, be it palace, fortress or church has its own history and legends. Fathers talk to sons…'
    There is nothing.' Vetch spoke up. 'Master Shallot, you tread on very thin ice: the two Princes were put here late in 1483. They were last seen with their bows shooting at the butts on the green below. This must have been in the spring of 1484. After that, all is silence. In the Tower there's no whisper or trace; it's as if these boys had never been born.'
    'But if they disappeared?' I insisted. There must be legends about their possible fate?'
    'Master Shallot, there are as many theories as there are hairs on your head.' Vetch began to tick the points off on his fingers. 'Some say their Uncle Richard murdered them. Others claim he sent his minions to smother them in their beds. A third theory alleges they died of some sickness, very similar to what has been raging lately in the city. Another claims one of the Princes died and one escaped. You may recall, Master Shallot, how during the present King's father's reign, two impostors came forward, each claiming to be one of the lost Princes. And…' He paused. 'And what?' Agrippa asked coolly.
    Vetch got to his feet, the legs of the chair scraping behind him. He walked over to the door and pushed it shut. He turned the key in the lock and walked back to his seat.
    ‘Dr Agrippa,' he said in a loud whisper, 'don't play games with us. The common tongue says the Princes were dead before Richard was killed at Bosworth. However, a few point out that it's possible that after Henry Tudor returned from his victory at Bosworth Field, these two Princes were still alive.' He spread his hands.
    'Let me finish for you, Master Vetch,' Agrippa intervened. There are those caitiffs and knaves who claim the Princes were alive and Henry Tudor did away with them.' Agrippa slipped the ring on and off his finger, turning it round so the precious stone caught the light and sparkled. (One of Agrippa's retainers told me that the magus had a demon trapped there, ready to do his bidding.) They say more,' Agrippa continued. 'How King Henry VII, of blessed memory, married the Princes' sister Elizabeth, mother of the present King, so why did he not search for his brothers-in-law?’
    Vetch just pulled a face. ‘I cannot answer that. Perhaps His Majesty the King, or His Excellency Cardinal Wolsey, may have knowledge of such a search.' 'Let's return to these proclamations,' I said. ‘Master Spurge, do you have maps describing the Tower?' ‘Yes, I do.' 'And do they reveal anything?' 'Such as what?' 'Secret passageways, galleries?'
    There are sewers,' Spurge replied, 'caverns built by the Romans which run under the royal menagerie.'
    'I will need those maps,' Benjamin demanded, rising to his feet. 'But now we must go.'
    We murmured our thanks, walked out of the chamber, along the gallery, down the stairs and out into the sun-filled green.
    ‘You perceive the mystery?' Agrippa's voice was half teasing.
    Why doesn't the King just seize these three precious officials, put them on the rack and get the truth?' I asked him.
    Agrippa laughed softly, rocking backwards and forwards on his heels. 'Oh, very good, Roger.' He