The House of the Red Slayer

to ask.‘
    ‘So do I!’ Sir Fulke shouted. ‘I will answer for him.’
    ‘No, sir, you won’t!’ Cranston barked.
    Athelstan touched Rastani’s hand which was as cold as ice. The friar gazed into his liquid dark eyes. The man was terrified, but of what? Detection? Discovery?
    ‘Where were you, Rastani?’ Athelstan asked.
    Beside him, Philippa made strange gestures with her fingers and Rastani replied in the same sign language.
    ‘He says he was freezing cold,’ Philippa explained. ‘And stayed in my father’s old chamber in the White Tower.’
    ‘He’s silent-footed as a cat,’ Cranston observed. ‘He could creep round this fortress and no one would notice.’
    ‘What are you implying, Sir John?’ Philippa snapped. ‘Rastani could have rung the bell.’
    ‘How on earth could he have done that when there were no footprints?’ Geoffrey mocked, moving to stand beside Philippa.
    Cranston smiled. ‘A snowball?’
    Colebrooke snorted with laughter. ‘I have told you, Sir John, the area around the bell could be seen by sentries. They saw no one approach.‘
    Cranston sniffed loudly and looked longingly at his now empty wine goblet.
    ‘Before you continue, Sir John,’ Fitzormonde spoke up, ‘and you start speculating on where I was, all I can say is that I was in my own chamber but no one saw me there.‘ He glared fiercely at Cranston. ‘However, I am a priest, a knight and a gentleman. I am not a liar!
    ‘Why did you stay there, Sir Brian?’ Athelstan tactfully interrupted.
    Sir Brian shrugged. ‘I was frightened. I, too, have received a letter of death.’ He drew out a piece of parchment from beneath his cloak and Cranston almost snatched it from his hand.
    The hospitaller was right. The same sketch Sir Ralph Whitton and Mowbray had received: a crudely drawn ship in full sail and, in each corner, a small black cross.
    ‘I also had the seed cake,’ Fitzormonde murmured. ‘But I threw it away.’
    ‘When Mowbray fell,’ Cranston suddenly asked, ‘did anyone else inspect the parapet?’
    ‘I, Fitzormonde and Colebrooke did,’ Fulke replied. ‘When the tocsin sounded we all left this room. The hospitaller was with us when Mowbray’s body was found. Our young gallant here,’ he waved his hand contemptuously at Geoffrey, ‘was asked to accompany us to the parapet but it’s well known he’s terrified of heights.‘
    Geoffrey flushed with embarrassment and looked away. ‘Uncle!‘ Philippa murmured. ‘That’s not fair.‘
    ‘What’s not fair,’ Cranston interrupted, ‘is that we know so little about last night. Mistress Philippa, what time did your guests assemble?’
    ‘Oh, just after Vespers, about eight o’clock.’
    ‘And all except Rastani and the hospitaller came?’
    ‘Yes, yes, that’s correct.’
    Cranston turned to the hospitaller. ‘And where did you say you were?’
    ‘In my chamber.‘
    ‘And Mowbray?’
    ‘On the parapet walk.’
    ‘So,’ Cranston heaved a sigh, ‘as Mowbray brooded, the rest of you except Fitzormonde gathered here?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘And how long till the tocsin sounded?’
    ‘About two to three hours.‘
    ‘And no one left?’
    ‘Only Colebrooke on his round and others to the privy, but that’s along the passageway.’ The girl smiled wanly. ‘We all drank deep.’
    Athelstan raised a hand. ‘Never mind that.’ The friar, snatching the parchment from Cranston’s hand, went and stood over the hospitaller. Athelstan pushed the drawing under the knight’s face. ‘Sir Brian, what does this mean?’
    The knight looked away.
    ‘Sir Brian Fitzormonde,’ Athelstan repeated, ‘soon you will appear before God’s tribunal. I ask you, on your oath as a knight, what does this parchment signify?’
    The hospitaller glanced up with his red-rimmed eyes in a drawn, pale face. Athelstan felt he was looking at a man already under the shadow of Death’s soft, black wing. The friar leaned closer until he could see the small red veins in the knight’s eyes and the grey, dusty pallor of his cheeks. Fitzormonde was probably a brave man but Athelstan could almost taste the stench of fear which emanated from him.
    ‘On your oath to Christ,’ Athelstan whispered, ‘tell me the truth.’
    Sir Brian suddenly lifted his face and whispered in Athelstan’s ear. The Dominican stood back in surprise but then nodded.
    ‘What did he say?’ Cranston barked.
    ‘Later, Sir John.’ Athelstan turned to the rest of the group. ‘What did happen here