The Twisted Root

murdered."
    Tobias made a sound of derision, halfway between a cough and a snort.
    The judge leaned forward enquiringly. "Sir Oliver, is this really relevant at this stage?"
    "Yes, my lord, most relevant," Rathbone answered with satisfaction. At last there was a warmth inside him, a sense that he could offer a battle. Assuredly, he could startle the equanimity from Tobias’s face.
    "Then please make that apparent," the judge directed.
    "Yes, my lord. Mrs. Monk, did you find a body?"
    The court was silent, but not in anticipation. He barely had the jurors’ attention.
    "Yes, Sir Oliver, I did."
    Tobias started forward, jerking upright from the seat where he had been all but sprawled.
    There was a wave of sound and movement from the gallery, a hiss of indrawn breath.
    The judge leaned across to Hester. "Do I hear you correctly, madam? You say you found a body?"
    "Yes, my lord. Of course, I was not alone. I took Sergeant Michael Robb with me from the beginning. It was actually he who found it."
    "This is very serious indeed." He frowned at her, his face pinched and earnest. "Where is the body now and what can you tell me of it?"
    "It is in the police morgue in Hampstead, my lord, and my knowledge of it is closely observed, but only as a nurse, not a doctor."
    "You are a nurse?" He was astounded.
    "Yes, my lord. I served in the Crimea."
    "Good gracious." He sat back. "Sir Oliver, you had better proceed. But before you do so, I will have order in this court. The next man or woman to make an unwarranted noise will be removed! Continue."
    "Thank you, my lord." Rathbone turned to Hester. "Where did you find the body, Mrs. Monk, precisely?"
    "In a hollow tree on Hampstead Heath," she replied. "We started walking from Mrs. Anderson’s house on Green Man Hill, looking for the sort of place where a body might be concealed, assuming that Mrs. Gardiner’s story was true."
    "What led you to look in a hollow tree?"
    There was total silence in the court. Not a soul moved.
    "A bird’s nest with a lot of human hair woven into it, caught in one of the lower branches of a tree near it," Hester answered. "We searched all around until we found the hollow one. Sergeant Robb climbed up and found the hole. Of course, the area will have grown over a great deal in twenty-two years. It could have been easier to see, to get to, then."
    "And the body?" Rathbone pursued. "What can you tell us of it?"
    She looked distressed; the memory was obviously painful. Her hands tightened on the railing, and she took a deep breath before she began.
    "There was only skeleton. Her clothes had largely rotted away, only buttons were left of her dress, and the bones of her... undergarments. Her boots were badly damaged, but there was still more than enough to be recognizable. All the buttons to them were whole and attached to what was left of the leather. They were unusual, and rather good."
    She stood motionless, steadying herself before she continued. "To judge by what hair we found, she would have been a woman in her forties or fifties. She had a terrible hole in her skull, as if she had been beaten with some heavy object so hard it killed her."
    "Thank you," Rathbone said quietly. "You must be tired and extremely harrowed by the experience."
    She nodded.
    Rathbone turned to Tobias.
    Tobias strode forward, shaking his head a little. When he spoke his voice was soft. He was far too wily to be less than courteous to her. She had the court’s sympathy and he knew it.
    "Mrs. Monk, may I commend your courage and your single-minded dedication to seeking the truth. It is a very noble cause, and you appear to be tireless in it." There was not a shred of sarcasm in him.
    "Thank you," she said guardedly.
    "Tell me, Mrs. Monk, was there anything on the body of this unfortunate woman to indicate who she was?"
    "Not so far as I know. Sergeant Robb is trying to learn that now."
    "Using what? The remnants of cloth and leather that were still upon the bone?"
    "You will have to ask him," she replied.
    "If he feels that this tragedy has any relevance to this present case, and therefore gives us that opportunity, then I shall," Tobias agreed. "But you seem to feel it has, or you would not now be telling me of it. Why is that, Mrs. Monk, other than that you desire to protect one of your colleagues?"
    Spots of color warmed Hester’s cheeks. If she had ever imagined he would be gentle with her, she now knew better.
    "Because we found her where Miriam Gardiner said she was