‘I cannot go with you now,’ said Durand, holding both hands to his forehead. ‘I am injured, and unable to fight.’
Geoffrey had not wanted him there anyway, just as he did not want Olivier. He tossed the doll up and down in his hand, and saw his medicinal wine had leaked all over it: it was heavy with dampness. He hoped it was not ruined, and decided to rid himself of it before it suffered any more damage.
‘Then take this to Beiminstre and give it to the priest,’ he said, shoving it into Durand’s unwilling hands. ‘You can look at my horse at the same time, too, and see if he is getting better.’
The day was becoming lighter, and it was almost time to go. Joan came to report that two storerooms would be cleared by the time he returned, and he was startled when she kissed his cheek.
‘I know why you told Olivier to look after Peter,’ she whispered. ‘You are keeping him out of danger, because you know he is dear to me. I am grateful.’
‘Right,’ said Geoffrey uncomfortably, hoping she never learnt the truth.
‘But you must take care, too,’ she added. ‘I do not want to lose either of you.’
Before he could reply, she had turned away and was striding to where Peter was arguing furiously with the little knight. Peter’s objections faltered when Joan materialized at her husband’s shoulder, and he slouched unwillingly towards the chamber where Olivier had decided they would wait. Geoffrey watched with a twinge of anxiety, knowing the investigation was spiralling to its conclusion, and that soon the King’s traitors or fools would be exposed to judgement. He had the sickening sense that Olivier’s unwitting revelation had just pushed Joan firmly into the former category, and was not sure Henry would be ready to spare her, regardless of what other ‘truth’ Geoffrey discovered.
He tried to push the matter from his mind while he told the soldiers how to surround Sendi’s premises, but it kept coming back to haunt him. He hoped it would not distract him if there was a fight, or make him lose concentration and miss some vital clue. He glanced up at the sky. The first rays of sun were beginning to turn the town from grey to gold. It was going to be a fine day.
‘What is wrong?’ asked Roger, as he marched next to Geoffrey through the wakening town. The sound of boots and the clank of weapons was loud, and all along the street people pulled open window shutters and doors to see what was happening. ‘Your mind is not with us.’
‘Joan,’ said Geoffrey heavily. ‘She is not as innocent as I thought.’
‘I am sorry,’ said Roger quietly. ‘I was beginning to like her, too. She is a fine, strong lass, and one who stands up for what is right.’
‘Unfortunately, her idea of what is right amounts to treason, and everything we have done to help her will have been for nothing. Henry will not spare her, and we should never have come here.’
‘Think about it later,’ advised Roger practically. ‘Do not dwell on it now, when we are about to fight. Sendi will not go quietly, and you will need your wits about you. Idonea picked us a poor lot, and you should not rely on them too heavily.’
When they reached the mint, they found Sendi’s apprentices already busy. Fires were lit, tools were cleaned and laid out ready for use, and floors were swept clean. The workmen were finishing a breakfast of glutinous oatmeal and salted herrings, and the moneyer, his wife and his cambium were in the office inspecting documents. The men jumped up in alarm when Geoffrey forced his way inside with his sword drawn, and several bolted for a back door, where they were met by Helbye. Adelise was furious at the intrusion and came storming towards Geoffrey, Sendi hurrying in her wake.
‘What do you mean by bursting into our property?’ she demanded.
‘I mean to bring an end to your dishonesty,’ said Geoffrey, throwing the two altered dies on to a workbench, so everyone could see them. ‘These were delivered to me last night. Someone here is in the process of defacing them, so they can be used to produce illegal coins.’
Sendi’s face was white. ‘Who?’ he asked hoarsely. ‘Who gave them to you?’
‘That is irrelevant. The King will be angry when he learns what you have done. You deceived him on two counts: making bad coins and accusing another moneyer of doing the same.’
‘But we were right!’ objected Adelise. ‘Barcwit has not issued a coin of the correct weight for years. He deserves to be reported to the King.’
Geoffrey shook his head in disbelief. ‘Even now, with the evidence of your guilt lying in front of you, you can see no further than your hatred. You should let such feelings go, and concentrate on what you will tell the King instead.’
‘Does this mean it is over?’ asked Sendi in a low voice. ‘Barcwit has won, after all we have been through? I have heard rumours this last week that he plans to murder the King; all I have done is made a little extra money. I may be dishonest, but I am not a traitor.’
‘Shut up!’ screamed Adelise. ‘Geoffrey can prove nothing. The King believed us once; he will do so again.’
‘But he did not believe us,’ said Sendi. ‘Why do you think he sent an agent to investigate? It was a stupid idea to try to expose Barcwit. I should never have listened to you.’
‘Where is Lifwine?’ asked Geoffrey, looking around.
‘He escaped through the window,’ said Adelise, smirking nastily. ‘He will fetch other coiners to speak on our behalf, and will work day and night to see the case against us dismissed. You will not succeed with this travesty of justice.’
‘Take them to the castle,’ said Geoffrey to Ulfrith. He was disgusted that the cambium had been allowed to slip away, and realized he should have paid more attention to Roger’s advice as they had walked to the mint: forget Joan and concentrate on what he was doing. It was obvious windows should be guarded as well as doors, but the soldiers had needed to be told and he had neglected to do it.
‘No!’ Adelise cried, alarmed for the first time. ‘You cannot put me in a dungeon.’
‘Do not forget to look in the cellar,’ whispered Roger, when he saw Geoffrey ready to leave with his prisoners. ‘Maude’s letter said there was more evidence of Sendi’s guilt down there – perhaps forged silver coins.’ His eyes gleamed; he intended to help himself to a few.
Geoffrey had forgotten about the letter, because his mind was full of Joan. He rubbed a hand over his face, grateful that at least someone was concentrating on the task at hand.
‘Wait!’ cried Sendi, sounding desperate. ‘I have something to show you. It will prove Barcwit is a far more serious threat than us. We are simple people, who have made silly mistakes, but Barcwit is guilty of far worse. Look in the barrel under the window.’
‘Yes,’ agreed Adelise triumphantly. ‘It will condemn Barcwit once and for all.’
‘It is locked,’ said Helbye at the same time, rattling the latch on the vault door. ‘Shall I force it?’
‘I will,’ said Geoffrey. He raised his eyebrows. ‘Unless someone wants to give us the key?’
‘Go to Hell,’ snarled Adelise. ‘Those chambers are private, and you will never break into them. Our locks are the most expensive money can buy, and …’
She trailed off when Geoffrey took his dagger not to the lock, but to the door’s leather hinges. When he had hacked through them, it was easy to slide a blade between door and frame and lever it open. Adelise watched the operation in disgust.
‘I might have known a Holy Land lout would know how to plunder the houses of innocent people,’ she spat. ‘It is not the first time you have done this.’
‘And hopefully not the last, either,’ agreed Roger with a grin.
‘Bring them,’ said Geoffrey to Helbye and Ulfrith, indicating Sendi and his wife. ‘I want them to see what we find, so they cannot later claim to be surprised by it.’
He took the torch Roger had kindled, and led the way down the steps that led to the underground storage rooms, trying to ignore the unpleasant churning in his stomach that always accompanied visits to such places. Ulfrith and Helbye followed with their prisoners, whi
le Roger brought up the rear with a second torch. Geoffrey had not paid much attention when he had last been there, more keen on getting out than exploring, and saw the complex was larger than he had thought. Several doors led off a central chamber, all secured. Adelise’s face registered outrage when Geoffrey produced the key Maude had left and began testing it. It slipped easily inside the third lock he tried, turning smoothly.
‘Where did you get that?’ she demanded.
‘Mine is here,’ said Sendi, indicating the keys that dangled from his belt. He glared at Geoffrey. ‘You made a copy! Was it when I showed you around my mint on Monday?’
Roger pushed past Geoffrey, eager to see what was inside. ‘Just as we predicted! Poorly minted coins! They are new and shiny, but the letters are already worn.’
Geoffrey picked up one of the pennies, which sat in piles on a table. A lamp stood next to them, along with ink, pens and parchment, and he had the impression the cambium had been in the process of inspecting them, to ensure they were good enough to pass into circulation.
‘You think we make a habit of this,’ said Sendi in a subdued voice, knowing he was well and truly trapped. ‘But what you see there is the sum total of all our attempts, and we were only seeing whether it would work. We started yesterday, and it is the only time we have ever done anything like it, I swear. We were forced into it by Barcwit, because we can no longer compete with him honestly.’
‘He is right,’ said Adelise, who knew a good defence when she heard one. ‘But we thought better of using the coins when we saw the poor results, and planned to over-stamp them today.’
Helbye took the keys from Sendi’s belt and opened the other rooms. Besides the boxes of silver in the chamber where Geoffrey had been locked, he found barrels of spices, bales of cloth, and exquisitely tooled leather: Sendi and Adelise supplemented their income by smuggling. Living near the quiet wharves of the Frome, away from the eyes of the more honest merchants on the Avon, dealing in contraband was a good way to make use of cellars that were otherwise empty.
Geoffrey poked around in a half-hearted fashion, suspecting Sendi was telling the truth about the length of time he had been experimenting with those particular forgeries. The dies would have been missed had they been gone too long before he had collected them from St John’s Church. He did not expect to discover more counterfeit coins, but neither did he expect to find a body, which had been rolled into a blanket in one of the cellar’s dustiest and darkest corners.
‘Who is this?’ he asked.
Sendi gasped in apparent horror when Geoffrey pulled away the cloth to reveal the corpse’s face, while Adelise was startled into blessed silence. The body was fresh and Geoffrey thought the man may even have been alive the previous day. The face was lined and worn, with a network of veins across the cheeks and a purple nose, all indicating a fondness for wine.
‘That is Barcwit’s cambium,’ said Sendi in an appalled whisper. ‘What is he doing here?’
‘Do not look at me,’ said Adelise, when Geoffrey turned to her. ‘I did not put him there.’
‘Well, someone did,’ said Geoffrey. ‘You claimed earlier that these cellars are private, indicating you are the only ones with access to them. And here is your rival’s cambium.’
‘No!’ cried Sendi. ‘This is Barcwit’s doing. He stole our worn dies, along with that key. Therefore, it stands to reason that he murdered his cambium and left him here.’
Such a solution was not out of the question. Maude’s note had said ‘conclusive evidence of Sendi’s guilt’ was in the cellar, which implied she knew not only about the forging room, but about the cambium, too. Could she and her friends have killed him and put him there to incriminate Sendi? Geoffrey knew for a fact that Tasso was quite happy to execute people.
‘How do you know the cambium has been murdered?’ he asked Sendi curiously.
‘I was making an assumption,’ said Sendi, agitated. ‘He would hardly come here, roll himself in a blanket and die, would he? Not even for Barcwit.’
‘He was a drunkard,’ said Adelise. ‘Perhaps he was fed more wine than was safe, and he died from a surfeit. Is there a wound?’
Geoffrey pulled the corpse this way and that as he looked for some sign of violence. ‘No, but it is possible he was poisoned.’ He regarded her coolly. ‘I know someone who is not averse to slipping toxic substances into ale and giving it to people to drink.’
Adelise’s anger gave way to desperation. ‘We have killed no one! Look in the barrel by the window upstairs before you jump to any more wrong conclusions. It will explain everything.’
‘That is what Maude said about what we would find here,’ muttered Geoffrey.
‘You should have let me kill him,’ snarled Adelise to her husband. ‘You were stupid to be merciful. Now look where it has landed us.’
‘It was not mercy that stayed my hand,’ snapped Sendi. ‘It was common sense. I did not want Giffard to accuse us of murdering the King’s agent, and I needed time to think of a rational solution. It was wild accusations by the River Thames that made Geoffrey our enemy in the first place, and I learnt my lesson. We are in a mire, and hasty, ill-considered decisions will only make it worse.’
‘How can it be worse?’ shrieked Adelise. ‘You never listen to me, and yet I am always right. We should have killed Geoffrey, grabbed all we could carry, and escaped before Giffard arrives.’
They continued to bicker as Ulfrith and Helbye shoved them out of the vault. Geoffrey followed, bounding up the stairs and thankful to be away from the clammy dampness. He left Roger to make a brief inventory of the forged coins, knowing he would slip a few into his own purse as he did so, but not really caring – as long as he had the sense not to spend them in Bristol.
‘The barrel,’ insisted Sendi, trying to struggle away from Ulfrith. ‘Look in the barrel.’
‘We were saving it to show Giffard,’ said Adelise sullenly. ‘He will be more impartial than you. But now you have arrested us, we have no choice but to give it to you.’
‘Giffard will not listen to your excuses,’ said Roger, surreptitiously fastening his bulging purse as he emerged from the cellars. ‘Nor will he care about guilt or innocence – only about fining and arresting as many people as possible.’
‘Then you must help us,’ begged Sendi. ‘Look in the barrel.’
Curiosity aroused, Geoffrey walked to the window and saw the cask underneath. It was small, like the kind used to transport expensive wines or valuable spices. He lifted the lid and stared inside.
‘Well?’ asked Roger. ‘Is all explained? Are this pair exonerated from their crimes, and the blame put on Barcwit instead?’
‘Not exactly. I do not see how part of Edric’s head pickled in brine proves anything.’
‘It proves Barcwit murdered him,’ insisted Sendi. ‘We found his body in the river yesterday – and we lied to you about him. You see, we said we had dismissed him because he had been seduced to Barcwit’s side. But he had not. Quite the reverse, in fact.’
‘He pretended to spy for Barcwit, but he really remained loyal to you?’ asked Geoffrey.
Adelise nodded. ‘He sold false secrets, to confuse Barcwit and help our cause. He was a very loyal man. We never genuinely suspected him of stealing our die.’
Sendi’s voice was unsteady. ‘Edric will serve us in death, just as he did in life. We will use his murder to prove that Barcwit is a killer who should not be permitted to walk Bristol’s streets.’
‘There are a number of folk who should not be allowed to do that,’ agreed Roger. ‘And I am looking at some of them right now.’
Joan was as good as her word, and had a vault cleared of siege supplies by the time Geoffrey returned to the castle with Sendi, Adelise and their senior workmen. His captives protested vigorously all the way, and Sendi was astonished that Geoffrey did not consider Edric’s head sufficient evidence that Barcwit was a cruel tyrant who left him no choice but to commit forgery, smuggling and various other crimes. Their o
utraged voices followed him as he ensured the cellar doors were locked and guards placed outside, cursing him and swearing vengeance. Then he and Roger returned to the mint.
The remaining labourers were bemused and frightened, but Geoffrey had no quarrel with them. He took their names, then dismissed them with a warning to choose a more honest master next time. When the last one had gone, he locked the doors, nailed the window shutters closed and instructed one of Peter’s captains to ensure it was guarded day and night. He wanted Giffard to see the forging chamber, Edric’s pickled head and the mint exactly as it had been found.
However, he took two things with him. The first was Barcwit’s cambium, because he did not want to present the bishop with a maggoty, rat-eaten corpse in the event of any delay in his arrival. The second was a letter that had been fastened under the lid of the barrel. He slipped it inside his surcoat when no one was looking, while the cambium went to Feoc at St John’s Church.
‘Surely, it cannot be over?’ asked Feoc unhappily, fetching two planks and a sheet for his charge. ‘I thought you would find Barcwit guilty, and have him removed from our town.’
‘It is not over yet,’ said Geoffrey. ‘Sendi made a stupid mistake: he should not have forged coins while I was investigating him. He claims he has only manufactured a few – which I suspect is true, as far as these dies are concerned – but the arrangements in his cellar indicate he has done it before.’
The clank of the door opening made them turn uneasily, and the knights’ hands moved quickly to the hilts of their swords. It was Warelwast, pale and anxious, and gripping a reluctant Clarembald by the arm. Bloet and Bishop John were behind them, curious to see where the bishop-elect was hauling the physician with such urgency.
‘There you are, Geoffrey,’ said Warelwast, relieved. ‘When I awoke, the whole castle was buzzing with the news that you have arrested Sendi.’
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