The House of Shadows

practical.
    ‘He’ll have to wait. Let his corpse sprawl there and his soul can hear our judgement.’
    ‘Are you sure?’ Athelstan asked.
    ‘Sit down, Brother,’ Cranston ordered.
    The friar returned reluctantly to his chair. Malachi was smiling to himself, as if savouring the moment.
    ‘You celebrated Mass in my church,’ Athelstan accused. ‘You condemned these men because they consorted with whores, yet you smile because an enemy lies dead a few paces in front of you.’
    Malachi’s response was to turn and spit at the corpse. ‘He was an assassin,’ the Benedictine replied. ‘You know that and so do I. He was lawfully executed by a King’s officer in pursuit of his duty. Rolles had a hand in the murder of my brother.’
    ‘Aye, and others.’
    Athelstan stared across at the two knights. Both men looked beaten, faces grey with fear.
    ‘And so we come to the night of the Great Ratting,’ Athelstan continued. ‘All of you, the knights, Master Rolles and Mother Veritable, had decided that the Misericord was too great a danger to ignore,- his friendship with Beatrice and Clarice posed a threat, whilst the knights, especially Chandler , had other grievances against him. Mother Veritable had heard rumours, and God knows what questions the Misericord may have been asking. The Misericord moved about in the twilight of the law; he could piece information together, reaching the conclusion that you, Malachi, were innocent but the rest were a coven of assassins. He would keep such knowledge close, fearful of reprisal, unable to approach the law but greedy for what wealth blackmail might bring. He wouldn’t have learned everything, but enough to feed suspicions. Once this were known, his death, and those of the two women, was decided upon. Beatrice and Clarice were easy prey; it was just a matter of time, of waiting for a suitable occasion. The Misericord was different; a man of keen wit, he would have to be hunted down, so the Judas Man was called in. He was, in fact, hired by all the assassins.
    ‘On the night of the Great Ratting, Beatrice and Clarice were lured here and sent to the hay barn. The Misericord was to be killed by the Judas Man, but he escaped and fled to the last man he should have approached, Master Rolles. The taverner sent him to the hay barn, either to be killed with Beatrice and Clarice or trapped and depicted as their assassin. The cunning man’s stomach saved him: he was desperate for the privy. He was fortunate, blessed by that luck which had always kept him one step ahead of the law. He wasn’t there when the assassin entered the hay barn.’
    ‘Who was it?’ Brother Malachi asked.
    ‘Oh, I suspect Master Rolles. He had sent both the girls and the Misericord to the hay barn. He must have known that the Judas Man had trapped the wrong felon, but he didn’t really care. He pretended to be busy in the kitchen to distract the likes of harassed Tobias, then slipped through a side door, out across the yard. Sir Stephen Chandler was waiting in the shadows. He would act as sentry, whilst Rolles committed the deed. Broomhill also came down to keep an eye on matters.’ Athelstan paused. ‘Rolles crept into the hay barn, killed those two women, but realised what Chandler may have told him, that the Misericord wasn’t there. He bars the hay barn door and returns to the kitchen. Chandler , drunk and maudlin, goes into the barn to view the corpses before staggering back to the tavern. If anything went wrong, Chandler and Rolles could vouch for each other. The Misericord had escaped, but he could wait for another day, and that day came sooner than he thought.
    ‘The Misericord is arrested and taken to Newgate. He now realises what the deaths of Beatrice and Clarice mean. Whilst locked in Newgate, he leaves further clues about what he suspects. He scratches on the wall “ Quem quaeritis “, “Whom do you seek?“ It comes from the Gospel at Easter,- when the women arrived at Christ’s tomb to anoint His Body they met angels who asked the same question. It’s a reference to the Crusaders, soldiers who vow to fight for the sepulchre of Christ. In a subtle way the Misericord was naming those knights who, twenty years earlier, had robbed the treasure intended for that crusading fleet. Such an allusion would appeal to the Misericord, with his knowledge of music and liturgy, as did the second clue, the reference to numbers — 1, 1, 2, 3, 5. He was actually numbering the assassins —