Suffer Little Children

Rumann raised an eyebrow in surprise at the question.

'Why would I refill it?'

'No matter.' Fidelma smiled quickly. 'What then? How did you make your investigation?'

Rumann rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

'Sister Necht and myself were sleeping in the hostel that night and we slept soundly until the morning bell summoned us. There was only one other guest and he neither heard nor saw anything.'

'Who was the guest? Is he still at the monastery?'

'No. He was no one really… Just a traveler. His name was Assid of the Ui Dego.'

'Ah yes.' She recalled that Brocc had mentioned the name. 'Assid of the Ui Dego. Tell me if I am wrong, Rumann, but the Ui Dego dwell just north of Fearna in Laigin, do they not?'

Rumann stirred uncomfortably.

'I believe so,' he admitted. 'Perhaps Brother Midach could tell you more on that subject.'

'Why Brother Midach?' Fidelma thought the point curious.

'Well, he has traveled in those lands,' Rumann said a trifle defensively. 'I think he was born in or near that territory.'

Fidelma gave an exasperated sigh. Laigin seemed to loom down every gloomy path in this investigation.

'Tell me more about this traveler, Assid.'

'Little to tell. He came off a coastal barca. I think he was a merchant, perhaps trading along the coast. He left with the afternoon tide on the day Dacan was killed. But only after I had questioned him thoroughly.'

Fidelma smiled cynically.

'And after he had assured you that he had heard and seen nothing?'

'Just so.'

'The fact that Assid was from Laigin, and that Laigin now plays a prominent role in this matter, surely is enough to suggest that he should have been detained here for questioning further?'

Rumann shook his head.

'How were we to know this then? On what grounds could we keep that man here? Are you suggesting that he is the murderer of his fellow countryman? Besides, like Midach, there are several brothers and sisters in this abbey whose birthplace was in Laigin.'

'I am not here to suggest things, Rumann,' snapped Fidelma, irritated by the steward's complacency. 'I am here to investigate.'

The portly religieux sat back abruptly and swallowed. He was unused to being snapped at.

Fidelma, for her part, immediately regretted her irritation and secretly admitted that the steward could hardly have acted otherwise. What grounds were there to have held Assid of the Ui Dego? None. However, the identity of the person who had taken the news of Dacan's murder to Fearna was now obvious.

'This Assid,' began Fidelma again, speaking in a more amicable tone, 'what makes you so sure that he was a merchant?'

Rumann screwed up his features in a meaningless grimace.

'Who else but merchants travel our coastline in barca and seek hospitality in our hostels? He was not unusual. We often get merchants like him.'

'Presumably his crew stayed on board the barc?'

'I believe they did. They certainly did not stay here.'

'One wonders, therefore, why he did not also stay on board but sought a night's lodging here?' mused Fidelma. 'Which chamber did he occupy?'

'The one currently occupied by Sister Eisten.'

'Did he know Dacan?'

'I think so. Yes, I do recall that they greeted one another in friendly fashion. That was on the evening that Assi'd arrived. That was natural, I suppose, both men being from Laigin.'

Fidelma suppressed her annoyance. How could she solve this mystery when her principal witness had left the scene? Already she felt an overwhelming sense of frustration.

'Did you not question Assid later about his relationship with Dacan?'

Rumann looked pained and shook his head.

'Why should his relationship to Dacan be of interest to me?'

'But you said they greeted one another in friendship, implying that they knew one another and not by reputation.'

'I saw no reason to ask whether Assi'd was a friend of Dacan.'

'How else would you find the killer than by asking such questions?' Fidelma demanded sourly.

'I am not a dalaigh' retorted Rumann, indignantly. 'I was asked to make an inquiry how Dacan came to be killed in our hostel, not to conduct a legal investigation.'

There was some truth to this. Rumann was not trained to investigate. Fidelma was contrite.

'I am sorry,' she apologized. 'Just tell me as much as you know with regard to this man, Assi'd.'

'He arrived on the day before Dacan was killed and left as I have told you, on that day. He sought lodging for the night. His barc anchored in the inlet and was presumably engaged in trading. This is all I know.'

'Very well. And there was no one else in the hostel at the time?'

'No.'

'Is access to the hostel easy from any part of the abbey buildings?'

'As you have seen, sister, there are no restrictions within the abbey walls.'

'So any one of the many hundreds of students as well as the religious here could have entered and killed Dacan?'

'They could,' Rumann admitted without hesitation.

'Was anyone particularly close to Dacan during his stay here? Did he have particular friends either among the religious or students?'

'No one was really friendly to him. Not even the abbot. The Venerable Dacan was a man who kept everyone at a distance. Not friendly, at all. Ascetic and indifferent to worldly values. I like to relax some evenings with a board game, brandubh or fidchell. I invited him to engage in a game or two and was dismissed as if I had suggested indulgence in a blasphemous thing.'

This, at least, Fidelma thought, was a common point of agreement among those she had questioned about the Venerable Dacan. He was not a friendly soul.

'There was no one at all with whom he spoke more than any other person in the abbey?'

Rumann shrugged eloquently.

'Unless you count our librarian, Sister Grella. That, I presume, was because he did much research in the library.'

Fidelma nodded thoughtfully.

'Ah yes, I have heard that he was at Ros Ailithir to study certain texts. I will see this Sister Grella later.'

'Of course, he also taught,' Rumann added. 'He taught history.'

'Can you tell me who were his students?'

'No. You would have to speak to our fer-leginn, our chief professor, Brother Segan. Brother Segan has control of all matters pertaining to the studies here. That is, under Abbot Brocc, of course.'

'Presumably, in pursuit of his studies, the Venerable Dacan must have written considerably?'

'I would presume so,' Rumann replied diffidently. 'I often saw him carrying manuscripts and, of course, his wax writing tablets. He was never without the latter.'

'Then.' Fidelma paused to lend emphasis to her question, 'why are there no manuscripts nor used tablets in his chamber?'

Brother Rumann gazed blankly at her.