‘We should report this to the lord sheriff and have the lord Richard arraigned.’
‘On what charge?’
‘Attempted murder.’
‘Talk sense, man,’ said the other, grabbing his steward to shake him. ‘No murder was attempted here or you’d have found a dead body awaiting you. If everyone who had a servant whipped was reported to Roger Bigot, half the landowners in the county would be held to account. The lord Richard did no more than I’d have done in his place.’
‘But he cut out the man’s tongue!’
‘Can you prove that?’ Livarot pointed at the servant. ‘Can he?’
‘It’s self-evident, my lord.’
‘All that’s evident to me is that this idiot let himself be caught and got his just deserts. Knowing his master, I’d say that Clamahoc got off lightly.’
The servant groaned in agony on the ground. Drogo took pity on him. ‘He needs a doctor, my lord.’
‘Not at my expense!’
‘Those wounds need to be dressed.’
‘Don’t look to me for sympathy, Drogo. You may feel sorry for the wretch but he’s little short of a traitor to me. He betrayed us. Not only have we lost the advantage we had over the lord Richard, he’ll want his revenge. And there’ll be nobody to warn us when he’s coming next time.’ He kicked the servant hard and produced another cry of distress. ‘Get rid of him.’
‘Can’t he stay here until he recovers?’
‘No!’
‘But he’s in no fit state to travel.’
‘That’s not my problem,’ said Livarot coldly. ‘Get rid of him.’ After kicking the wounded man again, he marched out of the stable.
Anxious to hear their news, Gervase Bret was waiting for them in the bailey when they returned late that afternoon. Ralph Delchard and Eustace Coureton dismounted from their horses and removed their iron helms. Both were perspiring freely and their tunics were covered in dust. Their horses were led away by ostlers.
‘Well?’ asked Gervase. ‘Did you find Jocelyn Vavasour?’
‘Unfortunately, no,’ said Ralph.
‘Oh.’
‘What we found instead was Jocelyn the Anchorite. He’s turned his back on everything he stood for and vowed to pass a contemplative life among the birds. He lives in the remotest part of the marshes.’
‘I admire the man,’ said Coureton. ‘What he’s done shows rare courage.’
‘Courage or stupidity?’
‘A little of both, perhaps, but there’s a fine line to be drawn between the two. Be honest, Ralph. Both of us have done impulsive things in battle that were afterwards viewed as acts of bravery. Had they failed, we’d have been condemned for our stupidity.’
‘The lord Jocelyn’s case is surely different,’ said Gervase. ‘What he’s done is no sudden or impulsive move. He must have brooded on it for a long time.’
‘Months, by the sound of it, Gervase.’
‘Then he’s shown the courage of his convictions. There’s no folly involved. Did he seem unhappy or rueful?’
‘Quite the opposite. He was at ease with himself.’
Ralph scratched an itch on his neck. ‘That’s more than I am,’ he complained. ‘This is no weather for a hauberk. I was almost roasted alive. Come with us, Gervase. I need to change. We’ll talk on the way.’
The three of them walked in the direction of the keep, Gervase between his two colleagues. Holding back his own news, he poured out a steady stream of questions.
‘Was the journey worthwhile?’ he said.
‘Yes,’ said Ralph. ‘It opened our eyes.’
‘In what way?’
‘Jocelyn the Anchorite told us all sorts of interesting things.’
‘About whom?’
‘Almost everyone involved in this inquiry,’ said Coureton. ‘But principally about the lady Adelaide. She’s an intriguing woman.’
‘Alys and Golde discovered a few things about her themselves.’
‘I was hoping they would,’ said Ralph. ‘We must compare our findings.’
‘Was the lord Jocelyn upset to hear about the theft from the abbey?’ said Gervase.
‘Horrified, but glad to be made aware of the crime.’
‘I had a feeling that he might be.’
‘It was the one thing that could have got him out of there, Gervase.’
‘Out of where?’
‘His lonely hut in the marshes,’ explained Ralph, as they ascended the rough timber steps to the keep. ‘He wants to join in the hunt. He came with us.’
‘Then where is he?’
‘We dropped him off on the way back at the house of some friends.’
‘Yes,’ added Coureton. ‘We offered to wait for him but he insisted on travelling alone. He was hoping to borrow a horse from his friends.’
‘Only a horse?’
‘What do you mean, Gervase?’
‘Well, I know that he’s an anchorite who yearns for solitude, but it’s dangerous to ride alone through open country. Might he not also want to borrow some weapons?’
Jocelyn Vavasour made good speed. Unencumbered by armour and riding a fresh horse, he rode south by a different route taken by the two commissioners who had visited him, eager to act on his own without help or supervision. The theft of the holy elephants had stung him badly and spurred him to leave the hut on the marshes where he led his life of self-denial. Since he had brought the gift from Rome in the first place, he felt it his duty to reclaim it on behalf of the abbey and, though he had given Ralph Delchard and Eustace Coureton some guidance, he had not told them everything that might help them. There were lines of inquiry that he wanted to reserve for himself. Riding at a canter throughout the afternoon, he reflected on the details of the theft again, mortified that the treasure he had bestowed on the abbey of St Benet had led to a cruel murder.
His mind had been eased by his penitent existence but the instincts of a soldier had not entirely deserted him. When he saw a stand of oak trees ahead of him, he knew that it would be an inviting place for an ambush and remained vigilant. His alertness saved him. Three men awaited the traveller, lurking in the shadows and seeing a lone rider as easy prey. Though the unkempt stranger did not look as if he would be carrying much money, he sat astride a fine horse that would fetch a good price. They took up their positions. As the anchorite plunged in under the overhanging branches, he found his way blocked by a fallen tree that had been dragged across the track. He slowed his horse to a trot. The robbers pounced at once. One man grabbed the reins of the horse, the second threatened the rider with a dagger and the third tried to haul him from the saddle.
Vavasour reacted violently. Kicking away the man who tried to pull him off, he swung his horse sharply round so that its rump knocked the man with the dagger hard and sent him rolling into the undergrowth. When he saw his confederates lying dazed on the ground, the man holding the reins let go and took flight. Vavasour went after him, overhauling him quickly and delivering a kick to the back of his neck that sent him somersaulting over the grass. He brought his horse to a halt and leaped down from the saddle to run back to the man. Shaken by his fall, the latter hauled himself up and pulled out his dagger to thrust at Vavasour, but the weapon was instantly twisted from his grasp and tossed harmlessly into a ditch. When the man tried to escape, he was held by the shoulders. The anchorite pulled him close and spoke with controlled anger.
‘You’ve committed a sin, my friend,’ he said. ‘Ask for forgiveness.’
‘Who are you?’
‘Someone who bears his own burden of sin.’
The other was aghast. ‘But you’ve no weapon to defend yourself.’
Vavasour took him by the scruff of his neck and pitched him back down the track. ‘I don’t need one when I have God to do that for me,’ he said.
A combination of cold water on his face and a warm welcome from his wife helped to revive Ralph Delchard after his long ride. When he joined Gervase Bret in the hall for some refreshment, he was we
aring a clean tunic and a bright smile. The two men settled down opposite each other at the table and picked at the food set out for them.
‘Golde has just told me about her visit this morning,’ said Ralph. ‘She felt that the lady Adelaide only wanted them there as a means of checking up on us.’
‘Alys was of the same mind.’
‘Perhaps it’s time that one of us went calling, Gervase.’
‘I think that you’re the more suited to that task,’ said the other with light irony. ‘You and the lady Adelaide are already acquainted to some degree. Besides,’ he went on, reaching for his mug of ale, ‘I want to pay my respects elsewhere.’
‘To whom?’
‘Olova.’
‘But you’ve already spoken to her.’
‘I know, Ralph, but the circumstances were wrong. A second visit will yield much more, I’m certain. Did Golde mention it to you?’
‘No. Why should she?’
‘Because I’d like to take her with me.’
When he explained his reasons for wanting to do so, Ralph gave his approval at once. Ordinarily, he tried not to involve his wife in work that befell him in the course of an assignment, but he felt that this was a special case.
‘Golde’s father was a Saxon thegn,’ he said. ‘She’ll be able to talk to this woman on her own terms. In fact, she may get more out of her than you could, Gervase.’
‘No question of that.’
‘Then it’s settled. As long as you take a sizeable escort.’
‘I will, Ralph, though I won’t ride up to Olova’s house with them this time. But tell me more about your encounter with the anchorite. What sort of man is he?’
‘A holy fool.’
‘Did he explain why he had renounced all his possessions?’
‘Yes,’ said Ralph, munching a piece of bread. ‘Eustace pressed him on that point. I think that the solitary life has a sneaking attraction for our colleague. He could quote Horace at the birds all day long. Though I doubt that he’d have the same skill as a woodcarver.’
‘Woodcarver?’
Ralph explained that they had seen wooden replicas of the two elephants that had been stolen from the abbey. He also gave a fuller account of his conversation with the anchorite and speculated on where the man would begin his own search for the stolen property. Gervase waited until he had heard every detail.
‘Now I can tell you what I found out,’ he said with quiet excitement.
‘How was the lord Richard?’
‘Less than welcoming until I introduced Brother Daniel. When he realised that I’d brought the man who actually discovered the corpse of his steward, he showed much more interest. He even managed to display a muted affection for Hermer.’
‘That’s more than anyone else seems to do, Gervase.’
‘I know.’
‘Did you challenge the lord Richard about the theft from the abbey?’ ‘I was more tactful than that. He denied that his gold elephants were the same ones that had been taken but he obviously knew that they were. He was even obliging enough to tell us who stole them for him.’
‘Starculf.’
‘That was a false name, given to mislead them at the abbey. When he gave us a description of Starculf, I knew that it couldn’t possibly have been him.
‘Then who was it?’
‘Who else?’ said the other. ‘Hermer.’
Ralph was astonished. ‘Are you sure?’
‘More or less. The description you got from the sacristan certainly fits him. And what better guise for Hermer to take on than that of a man he disliked enough to have dismissed? When the theft was uncovered, suspicion naturally fell on Starculf.’
‘A clever ruse, Gervase.’
‘But an expensive one. It cost Hermer his life.’
‘You think that was the motive for his murder?’
‘I believe that the theft of those elephants was instrumental in bringing it about,’ said Gervase, piecing it together in his mind. ‘Someone wanted them enough to kill for them. Who knew that they’d gone astray?’
‘Only the monks in the abbey. The crime wasn’t reported.’
‘I can’t believe that a Benedictine would commit a murder. In any case, the only reason that a monk would reclaim those elephants would be in order to restore them to the abbey. What we’re looking for is someone who’s outraged enough by the theft to take revenge on the thief, even to the extent of cutting off the hands that actually stole those holy objects. And yet,’ he continued, drinking some ale, ‘greedy enough to hold on to the booty himself. In short, we’re looking for a human contradiction, Ralph.’
‘A monk with a streak of wickedness in him?’
‘A killer with a keen moral sense.’
‘Where’s the morality in murder?’
‘He may have seen it as an act of divine retribution.’
‘Are you saying that God instructed him to kill and mutilate Hermer?’
‘No, Ralph. I’m just wondering if the man we’re after confuses good and evil so much that he’s unable to tell the difference between them. In meting out punishment for one crime, he doesn’t accept that he’s committing an even more heinous one. By all accounts,’ added Gervase, ‘Hermer wasn’t a weak man. In order to overpower him, his attacker would have had to be strong and trained to fight.’
‘A soldier?’
‘With a warped sense of right and wrong.’
Ralph sighed. ‘There are plenty of those to choose from, Gervase. God knows, I’ve met enough of them in my time and so have you. Where do we begin?’
‘Let’s consult with the lord sheriff first. This is, after all, his investigation.’
‘But it has such a direct bearing on the work that brought us here.’
‘We still need his permission before we take independent action,’ said Gervase. ‘I can’t see any reason why he’ll object to my speaking with Olova once more and he can hardly stop you from paying a visit to the lord Richard.’
‘I’m looking forward to that encounter. I’ve a complaint to make.’
‘About what?’
‘The way he barged into the hall the other night when I was in the middle of eating. It gave me indigestion, Gervase. And it upset the ladies. Yes,’ he said with feeling. ‘A meeting between Ralph Delchard and Richard de Fontenel is long overdue.’
Judicael the Goldsmith was scrutinising a gold ring when the customer came into his shop. As soon as he saw who his visitor was, he jumped to his feet and gave an obedient smile, flapping his hands about and emitting a mirthless laugh.
‘Good day, my lord.’
‘Good day to you,’ grunted the other.
‘What can I do for you?’
‘First of all, you can tell me exactly what you told him.’
‘Who, my lord?’
‘The man who came asking after a pair of gold elephants.’
Judicael took a step backwards and ran his tongue slowly over dry lips. Richard de Fontenel was glowering at him with cold hostility and he needed to appease him at once. The man was pulsing with impatience.
‘His name is Ralph Delchard, my lord,’ he said, ‘and he’s a royal commissioner, lately arrived in Norwich in connection with the Great Survey that’s been set in motion.’
‘I know all about that,’ said the other irritably. ‘Just tell me what happened, man. And don’t you dare leave anything out, or you’ll soon regret it.’
Judicael cringed in fear. ‘Yes, my lord.’
In a quavering voice, he recounted all that had passed between himself and Ralph Delchard, hoping to mollify his companion but only succeeding in deepening the man’s frown. Richard de Fontenel did not like what he heard. When the goldsmith finished, his visitor leaned in close to him.
‘Nobody else must know what I’m about to say to you, Judicael.’
‘I understand, my lord.’
‘As far as you’re concerned, I never even came into your shop.’
‘No, my lord.’
&nbs
p; ‘If one word of this conversation ever gets out,’ said the other, darkly, ‘I’ll come looking for you in person. Do you hear? Ralph Delchard and the other commissioners are only in Norwich for a short while. When they leave, I’ll still be here.’
Mouth agape, Judicael nodded obligingly. ‘Yes, my lord.’
‘Who was the man who first told you of those elephants?’
‘His name is Heinfrid. He’s a goldsmith from Thetford.’
‘And he actually visited the abbey of St Benet?’
‘Yes, my lord. Heinfrid was invited to take on a commission by the abbot. He has a good reputation. Bishop William has employed him before now.’
‘So this Heinfrid was able to give you a good description of those elephants?’
‘As exact as only a craftsman could give.’
‘What was your reaction?’
‘Curiosity, my lord. Followed by a natural envy.’
‘Did you wish that you’d created such beautiful objects?’
‘Yes, I did. Very much so.’
‘Then you may have your opportunity,’ said de Fontenel. ‘How long would it take you to make something very similar to the elephants described by your friend?’
‘It’s not a question of time but of ability, my lord. I’d be unequal to the task.’
‘Nonsense!’
‘I would. I have great skills but they’re no match for a Venetian goldsmith. The only man who could even begin to design what you want is Heinfrid. After all, he’s seen and held the objects. Why not approach Heinfrid, my lord?’
‘Because I want you to have the commission.’
‘Heinfrid is the better man.’
‘He’s also worked for Bishop William and been employed by the abbey. I want nobody with those connections,’ said the other, firmly. ‘I need someone I can trust, Judicael. Someone who’ll work in secret and do exactly what I want.’ He gave him a conciliatory smile. ‘Set your price. It’ll be paid in advance.’
The goldsmith was tempted. Rubbing his hands together, he took a moment to examine the implications. Refusal of the commission would be dangerous, yet acceptance also brought hazards. He feared his customer’s reaction if the work were not exactly to his taste and specification. Greed, however, slowly got the better of apprehension.
The Elephants of Norwich Page 19
