The Gallows Murders

his head. Benjamin cut any discussion short and we all accompanied him down to Tower Green. After a great deal of searching, we found the water-gate carefully concealed by long grass and bushes which sprouted along the wall on either side of Flint Tower. The gate, or small portal, was no more than three foot high, built in the base of the wall. Nevertheless, despite it being hidden, Benjamin could lift the latch easily, open it, and look down to where the green slime of the moat gently swirled backwards and forwards.
    "The gate's been used,' Benjamin said. The hinges and lock are all greased and oiled to make no sound.' He crouched down and peered across the moat. 'Somewhere, in the reeds i on the far side, I am sure we will find a small, flat boat which could be poled across in the darkness’
    That could be done very easily,' Vetch interrupted. There are few guards on the ramparts above; we did not believe there was any gate or entrance here to guard’
    ‘Nor can it be seen from the other side,' Snakeroot spoke up.
    We all looked at him expectantly. Well’ he stammered, 'across the moat is a good place to take a doxy. I have never seen the gate.'
    The others chorused their agreement. Benjamin listened, then opening the gates, slipped through. We waited a while, then heard a knock on the gate. We reopened it and Benjamin, his coat all covered with mud and slime, stood there grinning from ear to ear.
    'If you go out,' he said, 'you'll find gorse and bushes growing along the muddy bank, on this side of the Tower. It's quite simple: when the person left or entered, they pulled the vegetation across, so from the far side of the moat, all you saw were bushes and gorse growing at the base of the wall. Whilst this side was hidden by the same device.' He straightened up, shaking the mud from his gown. Philip Allardyce was clerk to the stores?' he inquired. His question was directed to the constable, who nodded quickly. 'And who hired him?' Benjamin continued. Why?’ Kemble replied.
    'Master Constable, the Allardyce who came here was really Robert Sakker!'
    Well, Master Daunbey, I did.' Kemble stuttered. ‘I thought he was who he claimed to be.' 'But why him?'
    Kemble's face broke into a grin. 'Because no less a person than your beloved uncle, Cardinal Wolsey, recommended him’

Chapter 13
    Now it was not often in my life I saw Benjamin lost for words, but he was as dumbstruck as myself. For a while he stood and gaped at Kemble before walking back on to the green. I followed, and Kemble caught up with us.
    'It's true what I say,' he declared. 'Master Daunbey -' he stared round at the rest – 'come with me.'
    We returned to his chamber. Benjamin slumped on to a stool at the huge oval table, whilst Kemble went to rummage amongst coffers and chests. Vetch, Spurge, Mallow and the other hangmen came in; they were fascinated by Benjamin's revelation.
    'I would never have guessed,' Vetch whispered to me. He was an amiable soul but rather quiet, kept to himself
    'He hardly spoke to us,' Mallow trumpeted. 'Really, Master Daunbey, are you saying this Philip Allardyce was really Robert Sakker?’ Benjamin nodded, his eyes never leaving Kemble.
    At last the constable gave a cry and came back to the table, a small scroll in his hand. He tossed this to Benjamin who unrolled it. The seal and signature were immediately recognisable:
    Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal, Archbishop, Chancellor, to his faithful servant Sir Edward Kemble, Constable of the Tower, etc'
    The letter then went on to recommend Philip Allardyce, clerk of the stores of Dover Castle, to the vacant clerkship at the Tower. The letter described the fees, robes, etc, which would be his due: it had been sealed eight months earlier by Wolsey's own chancellor. 'It's no forgery,' Benjamin said.
    "But if this Sakker could forge letters supposedly from Edward V, why not from Our Lord Cardinal?' Vetch cried.
    Benjamin shook his head and tapped the letter. 'I know my own uncle's signature.' He looked up at Kemble, who sat down at the top of the table. 'So this Allardyce arrived eight months ago?'
    ‘Yes, just after the Epiphany. I wasn't here when he arrived. I was away in my manor house, still celebrating Yuletide.'
    'So to whom did he present this letter?' Benjamin asked.
    ‘Why to me, sir,' Vetch replied. 'I am the constable's deputy, but I saw nothing amiss.' His smooth face became more worried. 'How was I to know?' His voice rose. 'A young man comes into the Tower armed with a