A Deadly Brew

by Susanna GREGORY

  The door creaked as the first of the scholars arrived for the morning service. Bartholomew hastily brushed the remaining wax onto the floor and joined Michael at the altar rail. Master Kenyngham knelt next to him, followed as ever by the fawning Alcote. Singly, and in pairs, the other scholars joined them, the Fellows in a row to the right and the students ranged behind them.

  ‘I hope you were pleasantly warm last night,’ whispered Alcote to Bartholomew. ‘Walter tells me you stole three of my logs to make a fire.’

  ‘Not here, gentlemen,’ said Kenyngham softly. ‘There is a time and a place for a discussion of logs, and at the altar during mass is not one of them.’

  ‘Theft is theft, Master,’ said Alcote sulkily. ‘I would not wish Matthew to begin the day with a crime on his conscience.’

  ‘Then I absolve him,’ whispered Kenyngham, waving a vague benediction in Bartholomew’s direction. ‘And now we will never mention the matter again.’

  Alcote’s bitter indignation was lost on the other-worldly Kenyngham, whose head was already bowed as he began to pray. Next to Bartholomew, Michael’s shoulders quaked with mirth and even the dour Franciscan Father William seemed amused at Alcote’s discomfiture.

  Another clatter of the door heralded the arrival of the scholars of Physwick Hostel, who were obliged to use St Michael’s Church for their offices – and to pay Michaelhouse handsomely for the privilege. At their head was Harling, who was their Principal as well as the University’s Vice-Chancellor. He was immaculately dressed and his greased hair shone in the candlelight. As a physician, however, Bartholomew detected a darkness under Harling’s eyes and noted that he looked grey and tired. He wondered whether the weight of responsibility thrust on him in the Chancellor’s prolonged absence at Ely was too much for him when combined with running his hostel.

  While Bartholomew intoned the reading of the day in his precise Latin, Michael rounded up his choir. The choir was something Michael regarded with a good deal of ambiguity. It was by far the largest in Cambridge, comprising men and children from the parish as well as scholars from the College, and was considered, by gentle souls such as Kenyngham, as proof that not all townsfolk wanted to kill scholars and vice versa – although the fact that choir practices usually ended with bread and ale explained why the parishioners were prepared to overlook a good many insults hurled at them by the student-choristers. However, Michael’s choir was also one of the least musically inclined, making up in volume for what it lacked in tone.

  Among the membership were several small children, and it was Michael’s hope that one or two of them might have some hitherto undiscovered talent that he could hone and encourage. Bartholomew was always surprised that the fat monk had the patience to deal with children, but he was remarkably good with them, and they certainly did not hold him in fear, as did the unfortunate undergraduates who came within reach of his proctorial arm.

  The anthem for the day was a difficult Gloria by Gherardello da Firenze, which, sung by them, bore more resemblance to the bawdy songs bellowed by students on illicit visits to taverns than a religious piece. It gradually increased in speed, too, despite Michael’s frantic arm-waving to slow it down. The piece ended somewhat abruptly, although two elderly tenors in the back row had been left behind and found themselves singing a duet after everyone else had finished. As always, their Sunday morning efforts were greeted by a stunned silence, and it took several moments for Kenyngham to collect himself sufficiently to continue.

  Eventually, the long service was over and the scholars lined up to process back to Michaelhouse for breakfast. Bartholomew saw Vice-Chancellor Harling reach out and grab Michael’s arm, whispering something in his ear to which Michael nodded. Then both men turned and regarded Bartholomew speculatively. The physician felt his heart sink. He could decline Michael’s request for help – the monk understood his reluctance to become involved, even if he did not approve – but if the demand came from the Vice-Chancellor he would have no alternative but to comply. As Harling nodded coolly in his direction, Bartholomew knew he was going to be dragged into the affair of the poisoned wine whether he liked it or not.

  Kenyngham led the way down St Michael’s Lane – at a healthy pace, for the rain had started again – and the scholars hurried across the yard, eager for their breakfast. Bartholomew took his place at the high table, with Michael on one side and Father Paul on the other. As usual, he reached out to grab some of the best bread for Paul, who could not see, before Michael could take it all.

  ‘What did Harling want?’ said Bartholomew in a low voice, scraping egg-mash onto Paul’s trencher before taking some himself. Sunday’s breakfast, being later than during the week, was always better and Agatha’s egg-mash flavoured with bacon fat was the highlight of a day in which much was forbidden. To escape the College and its dull restrictions, Bartholomew often walked to the nearby village of Trumpington on Sundays to visit his sister.

  ‘He wants me to appraise him of Grene’s death,’ muttered Michael, smiling sweetly at Alcote, who was glowering at him for breaking the rule of silence at mealtimes.

  ‘Is he enjoying all this unexpected power?’ whispered Bartholomew. ‘I thought he looked ill this morning. When is Chancellor Tynkell back from Ely?’

  ‘He was due back yesterday for the installation, apparently,’ Michael replied, holding a lump of bread near his mouth in a vain attempt to fool Alcote into believing he was not talking. ‘Harling thinks he decided not to make the journey because of the bad weather.’

  ‘Then Harling might enjoy his power for a good while yet,’ said Bartholomew. ‘This rain shows no sign of relenting.’

  ‘You do Harling an injustice,’ remonstrated Michael. ‘Any other man who lost the post that should have been his would have been bitter. Harling accepted his defeat with a graciousness I find honourable, and he has continued to serve the University with the utmost integrity. Anyway, he clearly thinks highly of you, because he said your duties in treating the poor are more important than helping me solve the affair of the poisoned wine.’

  ‘Really?’ asked Bartholomew, startled into speaking loudly. Several heads turned towards him, and Michael pretended to be absorbed in eating his eggs.

  Master Kenyngham looked at them with raised eyebrows. ‘Since you two clearly have something to discuss, perhaps I should allow conversation at meals today,’ he said wryly. ‘Then you will not set a poor example to the students.’

  ‘That would be a mistake, Master,’ said the dour Father William promptly. ‘It is only a small step from ill-discipline to heresy.’

  ‘I hardly think erudite disputation at breakfast will lead to heresy, William,’ said gentle Father Paul with a smile. ‘And the students are restless because the rain is keeping them in. I think the time has come to make concessions before we really do have a discipline problem.’

  ‘Nonsense!’ said William. ‘You are far too soft with them. If anything, they need a reduction of concessions, not an easier life. If I were appointed Junior Proctor, I would show the University how to keep order among the students.’

  He shot Michael a baleful look that Michael pretended not to notice. Father William had put himself forward for the post of Junior Proctor when the previous incumbent had left to serve the King. Not surprisingly, given the Franciscan friar’s uncompromising and inflexible views of the world and everyone in it, his application had not been successful. Bartholomew did not know whether Michael had played a role in William’s rejection or whether the friar’s reputation had spoken for itself, but Michael was, nevertheless, invariably uncomfortable when the issue was raised.

  ‘Have some eggs,’ said Bartholomew, before William could begin a tirade on how he would personally reform the University by burning half its scholars in the Market Square for heresy.

  ‘Eggs!’ said William in disgust, gesturing at the bowl Bartholomew held out to him. ‘I was never so coddled when I was an undergraduate!’

  ‘But you have eaten them, nevertheless,’ Alc
ote observed, eyeing William’s empty trencher. ‘Anyway,’ he continued hastily when he saw William preparing himself for a row, ‘I see no harm in conversation, so long as it is kept to religious matters and is in Latin.’

  While Father William shook his head in fervent disapproval, Kenyngham announced that conversation would be permitted during meals that day, provided the topic were theological and the language Latin. There was an immediate buzz of chatter from the students, although the little core of Franciscans followed William’s example and maintained their silence.

  ‘Good,’ said Michael. ‘Now we can discuss last night’s events before I meet Harling.’

  ‘Hardly a religious matter, Brother,’ said Bartholomew, turning his attention back to his breakfast.

  ‘But we are speaking Latin,’ said Michael comfortably, ‘so we are half-way there.’

  ‘I do not want to become involved in this,’ said Bartholomew. ‘I am sick of murder.’

  ‘So are we all, Matt,’ replied Michael. ‘I told Harling as much this morning, and that was when he said you need not assist me in this if you feel you do not want to, and that your work among the people with winter fever was more valuable to the University than assisting me.’

  ‘Harling said that?’

  Michael nodded, genuinely puzzled. ‘I admit I was surprised. I thought he would have commandeered anyone’s assistance in order to solve this as quickly as possible. He said you should not be forced to do anything that would interfere with your other duties.’

  Bartholomew’s opinion of Harling rose several degrees. It was certainly unexpected – the University’s officials seldom considered people’s preferences when their beloved institution was at risk – and Harling’s sympathetic response came as a pleasant change from orders and demands.

  ‘There is a curious thing about Tynkell’s election as Chancellor,’ mused Bartholomew, his mind wandering back to the ballot that Harling lost. ‘I have never met anyone who voted for him. Everyone I know says they voted for Harling, but Harling still did not win.’

  Michael shrugged. ‘That is because Tynkell is an unknown quantity. No one would be foolish enough to admit voting for him when he might prove … inappropriate.’

  ‘Not everyone I know is so dishonest,’ objected Bartholomew. ‘I voted for Harling myself.’

  ‘So did I,’ said Michael fervently. ‘Although you know that – you took my voting slip to St Mary’s Church because I was ill.’

  ‘You had indigestion because you ate three apple pies one after the other and shared them with no one,’ corrected Bartholomew.

  ‘So?’ asked Michael. ‘Indigestion is being ill. I was confined to my bed, was I not? Anyway, by eating those pies myself, I saved you from a similar fate.’

  ‘Most thoughtful of you, Brother.’

  ‘But let us go back to Harling. He has his faults, but better the Devil you know. He works well with the Proctors, has the respect of the beadles and is a cunning negotiator.’

  ‘I had never heard William Tynkell’s name before the election,’ reflected Bartholomew. ‘Yet everyone knew Harling, and he is not unpopular. I do not understand why so many masters voted for such a nonentity as Tynkell.’

  Michael stared at him. ‘Are you suggesting the election was falsified?’

  Bartholomew shrugged. ‘I confess the notion has crossed my mind. Who counted the votes?’

  Michael grabbed the egg bowl and began to dig out the bits left at the bottom with his knife. ‘Each master signs his own name and that of his favoured candidate on a slip of parchment, and hands it to the Senior Proctor. The Senior Proctor and the Vice-Chancellor then count the votes.’

  ‘Yes, yes,’ said Bartholomew impatiently. ‘I know what is supposed to happen. But when Tynkell was elected that procedure was not followed: Harling, as Vice-Chancellor, could not count the votes of an election in which he was a candidate; and you did not count them, as Senior Proctor, because you were brought low by three apple pies.’

  Michael crammed a loaded knife of egg scraps into his mouth. ‘In our absence, two men were selected whose integrity was beyond question.’ He ignored Bartholomew’s snort of derision and continued. ‘Namely Father Eligius from Valence Marie and our own Master Kenyngham.’

  Bartholomew reconsidered. He did not know Eligius particularly well, but Kenyngham’s honesty was beyond question. He watched Michael’s face grow sweaty with the exertion of reclaiming the last of the egg from the bowl and tried to put the matter from his mind. Michael was doubtless right, and most scholars would be waiting to see what kind of chancellor Tynkell made before admitting that they had helped him into power.

  ‘We digress,’ said Michael, pushing the empty bowl away from him and leaning back in his seat. ‘I know you do not want to become involved – and that you have Harling’s sanction to let me struggle against evil killers alone – but you will not refuse me a discussion of the facts, will you?’

  Bartholomew shook his head, although his instinct was to decline. Michael steepled his fingers and rested his elbows on the table.

  ‘Then let us review the events leading to these deaths. Yesterday morning, a man in the Brazen George sells three bottles of poisoned wine to a group of students, one of whom later dies. At some point, a similar bottle of wine found its way to James Grene, who perished horribly, but highly conveniently, before a goodly part of the town. Valence Marie’s most eminent scholar, Father Eligius, believes Grene’s rival, the newly installed Master Bingham, murdered him.’

  ‘And Bingham’s motive is either that Grene was proving to be a bad loser, or Grene’s misguided, but fanatical, belief that a handful of boiled bones was a sacred relic was proving awkward,’ said Bartholomew.

  ‘Meanwhile,’ continued Michael, ‘we can surmise, from what Philius told us, that a fifth bottle came into the possession of your brother-in-law a month ago and killed one of his apprentices, after which it was appropriated by the light-fingered Isaac. Isaac eventually used the stolen wine to make Philius’s weekly purge – obviously not knowing it was poisoned – whereby he brought Philius to death’s door and burned his own hand in the process. Isaac was murdered as he went to fetch the bottle for you to inspect, probably by the three people who knocked me over in their haste to leave Gonville Hall. We have already established that they were unarmed – they hanged, not stabbed, Isaac and did no real harm to you or Philius – and I conclude that they came only to steal the bottle before we could inspect it properly.’

  ‘No, not steal,’ said Bartholomew, thinking. ‘Retrieve.’

  Michael looked blankly at him and waited for an explanation.

  ‘This is a strange poison – I have never seen anything quite like it before. Isaac’s killers seem to be going to some lengths to find the bottles, which suggests to me that they know exactly what is in them, and that, in turn, means that they must have had them in their possession at some point – so they came to retrieve, not steal them.

  ‘I see,’ said Michael, nodding.

  Bartholomew continued. ‘At some point between the time Isaac used the wine to make Philius’s purge and Isaac’s death, the bottle rolled under the bench and was smashed: Isaac’s killer could not find it. When Cynric called me to look at Isaac’s body, the killers then slipped across the yard into Philius’s room to look for the bottle there. I came back sooner than they anticipated and we struggled in the dark. They threw the lamp against the wall to start a fire to distract me long enough to allow them to return to the storeroom for a second search.’

  Michael shook his head. ‘Too risky. I agree that they started the fire to distract you, but it was to prevent you from chasing them not to give them time to search again.’ He pulled at the straggling whiskers on his chin. ‘You said you saw two people running away from Philius’s room, whereas Cynric and I encountered three. I suspect one person was left in the storeroom to continue the search there, while the other two went to Philius’s room. There were enough sacks and barrels in the room to make h
iding easy.’

  ‘You mean one of the people who killed Isaac watched me while I examined his body?’ said Bartholomew in horror.

  Michael nodded. ‘There is no other rational explanation. You said you saw the bottle under the bench – thus revealing its whereabouts to the watching person who later removed all traces of it. But I think you were in no danger.’

  ‘Isaac was!’ said Bartholomew, unconvinced.

  ‘I have no explanation for Isaac’s demise,’ said Michael pompously, ‘but that third person could have killed you in the storeroom when you found the bottle: he did not. The other two might have killed you when you struggled with them in Philius’s room: again, they did not. And they could have killed Walter when they came to “retrieve” the bottles from your room: but they did not. I think your theory is correct, and that the sole intention of these people was to regain possession of the bottles. We had five of them – three from Bernard’s, one from Valence Marie and the smashed one from Gonville – and now we have none. In the bottles, and thus in the nature of this strange poison, lies the answer to this mystery.’

  ‘So, have you abandoned the notion that this is a dire plot by the town to kill scholars?’ asked Bartholomew, putting a wizened apple into Paul’s hand before passing the bowl to Michael, who took three.

  ‘Not at all,’ said Michael, his mouth full. ‘Such a plot is still the most plausible explanation for all this.’