The House of Shadows

frighten the children.’
    The Misericord refilled his goblet.
    ‘And what ghosts do you harbour?’ Athelstan asked. ‘I know you are a scholar and a singer, so what brings you here?’
    ‘I was a member of the Society of Pui. The name comes from the French town Puy-en-Vale. It is a society dedicated to music. Its purpose...’ The Misericord screwed up his eyes. ‘Oh yes, that’s what its charter says: “For the increasing of joy and love and, to that end, the spreading of mirth, peace, harmony and joyousness, that they all be maintained.“‘ The Misericord opened his eyes. ‘I hail from the Halls of Cambridge. I was a good singer, a poet... The society used to meet in St Martin’s in the City. You had to pay sixpence for admission, and every year you had to compose a new song. A contest was held, and the winner would be crowned with a gilded chaplet.’
    ‘And what happened?’
    ‘Well, when we met, one of us was given money, to buy a fifty-pound candle of pure beeswax. On one occasion I was given the money, but I had fallen on hard times so I bought a cheap candle and filled the centre with fat, turpentine, cobbler’s wax and resin.’
    ‘Oh no!’ Athelstan groaned.
    ‘Oh yes!’ the Misericord declared. ‘I brought the candle back and gave it to our leader. When he was halfway down the nave of the church, the candle... well, the flame reached the turpentine and fat, and it all disappeared in a shower of flame. I was expelled from the society.’ He shrugged. ‘And one thing led to another: thievery, trickery, filching, clipping coins. At first I was successful, until the sheriff’s men discovered who I was. I was proclaimed a wolfshead and went into hiding.’
    ‘Why?’ Athelstan asked. ‘You have a keen mind and nimble wits.’
    The Misericord put his face into his hands. He muttered something inaudible.
    ‘Why are you hiding now?’ Athelstan asked.
    ‘I don’t know.’ The Misericord took his hands away. ‘I’m a cunning man. I have deceived many. It’s happened before. Some powerful official whose wife I have bedded, or a merchant I have tricked. It’s not the first time that I have had the hunters of men tracking me as if I am a deer.’
    ‘And this time?’
    The Misericord shook his head.
    ‘Whoever it is,’ he confessed, ‘the malice runs deep. The Judas Man has pursued me all over Southwark. I know him by reputation. He had two of my friends hanged.’
    ‘And last night?’ Athelstan asked. ‘At the Great Ratting?’
    ‘I had to be there. I know all about your parish, Brother Athelstan. Amongst those who live in the twilight world, Ranulf the rat-catcher has a fearsome reputation. I decided to wager on him and won a good purse.’
    ‘But you suspected the Judas Man would follow?’
    ‘Oh yes, that bastard is worse than a hunting mastiff. So I decided to play a trick. I looked around the tap room and glimpsed poor Toadflax, with his red hair and pale face. He had more than a passing resemblance to me, so I paid him a coin and gave him one of my misericord daggers. I didn’t intend the poor man to be killed. I thought he would delay the Judas Man.’
    ‘Did you see the Judas Man enter the tavern?’
    ‘I knew he was there but I hid in the shadows. I was determined about my wager.’
    ‘Did you see him speak to anybody?’ Athelstan asked. ‘You must have wondered who had hired him.’
    ‘I don’t care who hired him. Whoever it is cannot catch me. It’s the dog he’s hired which worries me.’
    ‘And you saw the fight?’
    ‘I saw it begin, but then fled.’
    ‘Do you know Master Rolles?’
    ‘Know him? He is a distant kinsman. He often shelters me. He told me to be careful.’
    ‘So you often stay at the Night in Jerusalem ?’
    ‘Yes, out in the stables or the hay barn.’
    ‘And the two girls who were killed?’ Athelstan pressed on with his questioning. ‘Beatrice and Clarice?’
    The Misericord glanced away and shrugged.
    ‘I know them by sight. Rumour has it that they were garrotted.’
    ‘No, they were killed by crossbow and dagger.’
    ‘I did see them talk to that fat knight.’ The Misericord glanced at Athelstan out of the corner of his eye. ‘Pike’s a good source of knowledge — there’s been another killing at the tavern, hasn’t there? Anyway,’ he continued, ‘that pricked my memory. The fat knight was talking to the two girls. They were teasing him how they had enough custom for the night, and he would have to wait.’ The