The Tarnished Chalice

‘No,’ said de Wetherset sharply. ‘I refer to the trial. Shirlok told the truth when he named those ten people as his accomplices, and everyone knew it. Why do you think they left Cambridge immediately after? Not because they were shamed by the accusations, but because an arrangement was made.’

‘What sort of arrangement?’ asked Michael icily, angry that there was still information that had been kept from him.

‘One whereby they would leave Cambridgeshire if they were acquitted.’

‘How?’ asked Bartholomew. ‘The trial was in front of a jury, and-’

‘And juries are made up of men,’ interrupted de Wetherset. ‘Men can be bribed. The first jury comprised Miller’s friends and relations, but Shirlok recognised them and exercised his right to object. So, Langar was obliged to find replacements. They had to be folk who could be bribed, which is more difficult than you might imagine – people are afraid of being caught.’

‘And you think Lincoln has problems!’ breathed Bresley.

‘Not all the jurors were tainted,’ de Wetherset went on. He addressed Bartholomew. ‘Your brother-in-law’s ethics are somewhat fluid, but they do not stretch to corruption on that scale. However, eight of the twelve – including Morice and Deschalers the grocer – agreed to return a verdict of not guilty.’

‘I thought so,’ said Bartholomew. ‘Miller paid them, just as he has been offering “tokens of his affection” to Sheriff Lungspee here.’

‘It was not Miller,’ said de Wetherset. ‘It was his brother, Simon.’

‘Are you sure?’ asked Bartholomew, startled.

De Wetherset nodded. ‘Yes I am. I even know why. You have already ascertained that Aylmer sold the Hugh Chalice to Geddynge for twenty shillings. However, it was not Shirlok who stole it from Geddynge and gave it to Lora to sell again: it was Simon. Miller had commissioned Shirlok to do it, but Simon did not trust him, so he did it himself.’

‘No,’ said Michael, shaking his head. ‘Simon wanted the Hugh Chalice to be in Lincoln so much that he carved one on his body. He would never have passed it to Lora to sell a second time. Besides, he would have told us as he lay on his deathbed.’

‘Not necessarily,’ said Bartholomew thoughtfully. ‘He admitted his involvement in various plots, but not once did he acknowledge doing anything felonious. His “confession” only went so far.’

‘He did want the cup in Lincoln,’ agreed de Wetherset.

‘However, do not forget that he hailed from a criminal family, and was more than happy to make a profit along the way. He confessed it all one night, when we were drunk together in his Holy Cross house. I doubt he remembered our têteà-tête the next morning. In fact, I doubt he remembered his crime when he was sober at all – I think he probably pushed it into the deepest recesses of his mind.’

‘I suppose his suppression of these memories might explain why he was such a convincing liar,’ said Michael doubtfully. ‘Why did you not mention this sooner?’

‘And have Miller come after me?’ asked de Wetherset scornfully. ‘Do not be an ass! But to return to our drunken heart-to-heart, Simon described how he gave the chalice to Lora to sell, and then he bragged about how he had expected to steal it back again.’

Bartholomew understood what had happened. ‘Unfortunately for him, Shirlok was arrested on a different set of charges and named Lora as a regular handler of his stolen goods. Even more unfortunately, Lora happened to have the Hugh Chalice in her possession at the time. Simon’s simple plan to make a few shillings had gone disastrously wrong. So, of course he needed to hire a corrupt jury to acquit him.’

‘Why did he arrange for all ten appellees to be released?’ asked Suttone. ‘Why not just himself?’

‘Now that would have looked suspicious,’ said de Wetherset. ‘And he could not leave his brother to hang, anyway. Langar obliged him by appointing malleable jurors, but added a proviso: they would have to leave the county afterwards. That was self-interest on Langar’s part – he was afraid that if any of the felons bragged about evading justice, then he would hang, too. And besides, he had plans of his own – to leave his clerking post and rise to power on the backs of loutish men.’

Michael sighed irritably. ‘You should have told me this before, regardless of the risk to yourself. I might have solved the case in half the time – and perhaps even saved some of the lives lost.’

‘Well, it is over now,’ said Gynewell, before de Wetherset could object to the reproof. ‘And virtually all these wicked men are dead. I expect the Devil is devouring their souls as we speak.’

He did a curious jigging dance, banging his crosier on the ground. Cynric watched expectantly, and Bartholomew recalled that the book-bearer had predicted the bishop would explode in a puff of red smoke that morning. He edged away, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire.