Dissolution

our life to be hard and cruel as can be.'

I let a moment's silence fall between us. 'Be careful what you say before witnesses, Brother.'

'Yes. It is a world full of new marvels, where the king of England will hang a man for speaking words.' He made an effort to collect himself. 'I am sorry. But Master Shardlake, for all that yesterday we had a scholarly discussion about the new ways, there is a weight of fear and anxiety on everyone here. I only want to live in peace, Commissioner. We all do.'

'Not all, Brother. Someone could have come through this passage to the kitchen to kill Commissioner Singleton. It means they would not have needed a key to get to the kitchen. Yes, of course – that makes the kitchen the ideal place for someone to arrange to meet him, lie in wait and murder him.'

'Alice and I were up all that night tending old Brother James. No one could have come past us without being seen.'

I took his candle and held it up to his face. 'But you could have done it, Brother.'

'I swear by Our Lord's holy blood I did not,' he said passionately. 'I am a physician, my oath is to preserve life, not take it.'

'Who else knew of the passage? You said the prior spoke of it. When?'

He put a hand to his brow. 'He raised it at an obedentiaries' meeting. I was there, the abbot, Prior Mortimus, Brother Edwig and Brother Gabriel. Brother Jude the pittancer was there too and Brother Hugh the chamberlain. Prior Mortimus was talking as usual of how discipline needed to be stronger. He said he'd heard tell of an old monk's cell somewhere behind the infirmary. He was half-joking, I think.'

'Who else in the monastery might know of it?'

'New novices are told there is an old cell hidden in the precinct, to scare them, but I don't think anyone quite knew where it was. And I had forgotten till you mentioned it the day you came. I told you, I thought it locked up for years!'

'So people knew it existed. What about your friend, Brother Jerome?'

He spread his hands. 'What do you mean? He is not my friend.'

'I saw you helping him yesterday with his book, in service.'

Brother Guy shook his head. 'He is a brother in Christ, and a poor cripple. Has it come to such a pass that to aid a cripple turn the pages of his book becomes the basis of accusations? I had not thought you such a man, Master Shardlake.'

'I seek a murderer, Brother,' I said curtly. 'All the obedentiaries are under my watch, including you. So, anyone at that meeting could have had his memory stirred and decided to go ferreting for this passage.'

'I suppose so.'

I looked round the dank cell again. 'Let us go. This place makes my bones ache.'

We returned up the passage in silence. Brother Guy went out first, and I bent to retrieve my handkerchief. As I did so I saw something glimmering faintly in the candlelight. I scraped the stone flag carefully with a fingernail.

'What's that?' Mark asked.

I held my finger close. 'God's death, so that's what he was about,' I whispered. 'Yes, of course, the library.'

'What is it?'

'Later.' I wiped my hand carefully on my robe. 'Come on, my bones will freeze before I get to sit by a fire today.'

When we regained our room I dismissed Brother Guy, then stood warming my hands at the grate.

'God's nails, that place was cold.'

'It surprised me to hear Brother Guy speak against the vicar general.'

'He spoke against the king's policy, but he would have had to speak against his headship of the Church to commit treason. In the heat of the moment he just said what they all think.' I blew out my cheeks. 'No, I found a trail in there, but it leads to someone else.'

'To whom?'

I looked at him, pleased his sulks seemed to be forgotten.

'Later. Come, we must go to the pond before they start emptying it themselves. We need to see if anything else is in there.' We left the room, my mind racing.

***

We retraced our way through the orchard, to where a little crowd of servants stood by the fish pond, holding long poles. Prior Mortimus was with them. He turned to us.

'The stream's been diverted, Commissioner, and the water drained out. But we'll have to let it through again soon or it'll flood the land by the sump.'

I nodded. The pond was now a deep empty bowl, shards of ice embedded in the thick greyish-brown silt at the bottom. I called over to the servants.

'A shilling for the man who finds anything in there!'

Two servants came forward and hesitantly climbed down into the silt, probing with their poles. At length one of them called out and held something up. Two gold chalices.

'Orphan was supposed to have taken those,' the prior breathed.

I had hoped we might find the relic, but another ten minutes of searching revealed nothing beyond an old sandal. The servants climbed out again, and the man who had found the chalices passed them to me. I gave him his shilling and turned to find the prior looking at them.

'They're the ones, no doubt.' He let out a long breath. 'Commissioner, remember, if you find the man who killed that poor girl, give me some time alone with him.' He turned and walked off. I raised an eyebrow at Mark.

'Does he really feel for her death?' he asked.

'There is no end to the strange depths of the human heart. Come, we must go to the church.'

CHAPTER 25

My legs were tired and my back hurt as yet again we plodded back to the monastery. I envied Mark as he ploughed on energetically, sturdy legs kicking up the snow. When we reached the courtyard I stopped to catch my breath.

'The trail in that room leads us back to Brother Gabriel. It seems he was concealing things after all. Let us go and find him. We'll look for him in the church first. When I talk to him I want you to stand just out of earshot. Don't ask, there is a reason.'

'As you wish, sir.' I could tell he was annoyed by my secrecy, but it was part of the plan I had made. I had been surprised by what I had found in that passage, but I could not help a feeling of satisfaction that my earlier suspicions of Gabriel had not, after all, been groundless. Truly the human heart holds strange and unaccountable depths.

The day was still cloudy and the church interior was dim as we walked down the nave. There was no susurration of prayers from the side chapels; it must have been the monks' recreation time. I made out the figure of Brother Gabriel halfway down the nave. He was supervising a servant polishing a large metal plaque set into the wall.

'The verdigris is coming off.' His deep voice echoed around as we approached. 'Guy's formula works.'

'Brother Gabriel,' I said, 'I fear I am always sending away your servants. But I must talk with you again.'

He sighed and bade the man depart. I read the Latin engraved into the plaque above the figure of a monk lying on a bier.

'So the first abbot is buried there in the wall?'

'Yes. That metalwork is exceptional.' He glanced at Mark, who stood a little way off as I had bid him, then turned back to me. 'Unfortunately it is a copper alloy, but Brother Guy came up with a formula for cleaning it.' He spoke rapidly, his manner nervous.