The Hand of Justice

‘I am more inclined to look elsewhere for our culprits — towards two men who we know have a liking for violent death.’

‘Thorpe and Edward,’ said Michael. ‘They arrive in the town, and within days two men are dead in odd circumstances. It is suspicious. But neither is stupid. Why would they indulge in a killing spree as soon as they return to the place that has charged them with such crimes before?’

‘Because Edward has gained a good deal from Deschalers’s death? He is now a wealthy man.’

‘But he will not reap the benefits of what has been a thriving business,’ said Michael, chewing thoughtfully. ‘He dismissed the trained apprentices, and it is only a matter of time before the enterprise Deschalers crafted so lovingly withers away.’

‘Do you think Edward is damaging it intentionally, to spite the town? Deschalers was a good grocer, and the loss of his services will be a serious blow to his customers.’

‘Possibly. Where else will we purchase fruit, onions, cheese and dried beans? But perhaps he just does not care about what might happen tomorrow. He is a young man, and they are often prone to live for the moment, with no thought for the future.’

‘But why kill Bottisham? Bottisham had never harmed either him or Thorpe.’

‘Perhaps Bottisham was in the wrong place at the wrong time,’ suggested Michael. ‘Or perhaps Thorpe and Edward did the killing together. It would make sense. It could not have been easy to murder two men one after the other — one would have tried to escape. If Edward and Thorpe acted together, they could have dispatched both victims simultaneously. However, this assumes Bernarde and his boy are lying: that there were other people in the mill when they say it was empty.’

‘We must not forget Rougham, either,’ said Bartholomew. ‘There was henbane in the Water of Snails he is alleged to have sent one man. Gonville wants to make a great deal of money from the Mortimers, so we can conclude that Rougham did not care for their enemy Deschalers, despite the fact that he was a patient. He may well have poisoned Deschalers.’

‘You may be right about that, but he liked Bottisham — who was going to defend Mortimer’s Mill to the Commission, and who was a respected member of his own College. I doubt very much whether Rougham killed him.’

But Bartholomew was not so sure. ‘This chapel is important to Rougham, and I believe he will do virtually anything to see it built. Do you recall why Deschalers hated Bottisham? Because Bottisham refused to resort to bribery to win a case. It is possible that Rougham prefers his lawyers corruptible, too, so he can be certain Gonville will win for the Mortimers — and secure a handsome donation for the chapel into the bargain.’

Michael’s eyes were bright. ‘You argue this very strongly. It was not many hours ago that you were telling me the evidence against Rougham was thin.’

‘That was before we knew for a fact that Warde was murdered,’ replied Bartholomew tersely. Paxtone flashed into his mind, but he kept the thought to himself. ‘Also, we must not neglect Lavenham. He mixed Warde’s potion.’

Michael rubbed his chin. ‘And he might have added a fatal dose of henbane to it.’

Bartholomew nodded. ‘Either because he made a terrible and careless mistake. Or because Warde intended to represent the Mortimers’ arguments to the Commission.’

Michael was thoughtful. ‘The Water of Snails arrived with the note, and Bingham took both to Warde. But who knows what happened to the phial while it was in Warde’s room? Any of his colleagues might have got to it. Last time I mentioned this, you told me they have no motive, but it may be that we just have not discovered one yet.’

Bartholomew sighed. ‘So, our suspects for Deschalers’s murder are the Mortimers, Thorpe, Rougham and Bottisham. Our suspects for Bottisham’s death are the Mortimers, Thorpe, Rougham, Deschalers and the Millers’ Society. And our suspects for Warde’s death include Rougham, Lavenham and the scholars of Valence Marie.’

‘And the Millers’ Society. Do not forget who else bought Water of Snails, besides Rougham — Cheney, Morice and Bernarde.’

Bartholomew was disheartened. ‘So, we have a wealth of potential culprits, a few patchy motives, but not much else. We do not know what Deschalers and Bottisham were doing in the mill together. Nor do we know whether we can believe Bernarde’s testimony that they were alone when they died.’

‘But there is a common thread: Bernarde’s name crops up more often than it should. However, I have pushed him as far as I can without actually accusing him of lying. We shall just have to wait.’

‘Wait for what?’

‘To see if our felon leaves us any better clues the next time he claims a victim.’

CHAPTER 10