from that point.
“Now repeat your actions when you came to check on the readiness of the fish,” she called.
Brother Dian appeared around an obstruction at the top of the kitchen, hesitated, and then came toward her.
“What made you take the trouble to do this?” she enquired.
“The server who was to take the fish to the table had entered from the refectory. The door as you know is at the top end of the chamber near where I was working. He told me that the
“How many entrances are there to the kitchen?”
“Three.”
“And these are. .?”
“The garden entrance, the door from the refectory and the one which leads into a small anteroom in which the servers prepare their trays and plates to go into the refectory.”
“So if anyone left the kitchen they would have to go directly into the refectory or into the servers’ room?”
“In which case,” Brother Dian pointed out, “they would have been observed. The only way in and out without going through one of those rooms is through the kitchen garden. That is why I agree it was the itinerants who slunk in-”
Fidelma held up a hand. “The garden is surrounded by a high wall. There is a wooden door which gives the only exit or entrance. That door is bolted from the inside.”
Brother Dian pursed his lips. “The reason it is locked Sister, is because I locked it. When I noticed the fish had gone, I went out to see if the culprit was still in the garden.”
Fidelma gestured in exasperation. “And was the door shut or opened at that time?” she demanded.
“It was open. That was very unusual. Indeed, I clearly remember that when we arrived to start the meal this evening the gate was shut and locked. That’s why I threw the bolt on it, to make sure no one else came through that way.”
“I am glad that you have told me.” She was reflective. “It could have led to a wrong conclusion.” She did not explain further but turned to the others.
“Will everyone now go to the positions that they occupied?”
She saw that Brother Enda and Brother Cett immediately went into the area beyond the angle of the L at the far end of the kitchen. It was obvious that they could not see around the corner.
She called them out into her line of vision again. “How long were you in that area, Brothers?”
The two young religieux exchanged glances. Brother Cett spoke for them both, for the red-eyed Brother Enda was clearly still upset.
“This is where we prepare the fruit. We were washing and cutting pieces for the dessert course. That is our only task and so we were here most of the time. There was no reason for us to be anywhere else.”
“When did you last see Brother Roilt?”
“When we arrived in the kitchen to start to prepare our dishes. As he was head cook we had to report to him.”
“Stay there then.” She walked back to her original position. “Now the rest of you. .”
Brother Gebhus still remained out of sight at Brother Dian’s original position. Brother Torolb stood on the far side of the kitchen in front of another big range supporting meat spits, while Brother Manchán took a position at the center table next to some clay ovens where he had obviously been preparing bread.
Fidelma regarded their positions carefully. If Torolb and Manchán had been glancing in Roilt’s direction, then they would have seen him, although with various obstructions depending on what they were doing. For example, if Brother Torolb had been bending to his cooking range he would have been facing the opposite wall, and even when he turned there would have been a central table with a low central beam from which a number of metal pots and pans hung which would have obstructed his view. He could only have seen the midsection of Brother Roilt.
She checked each of their views carefully before sighing in exasperation.
If everyone had been totally engrossed with their work, it might just have been possible for someone to enter from the herb garden, stab Roilt, drag his frail body to the storeroom and then steal the fish. Yet she was sure that the murderer had not come in from the garden. It made no sense. Why kill Roilt for a fish? The plate was by the window. If they were so desperate, they could have waited until Roilt’s attention was distracted, leaned forward across the windowsill and grabbed the fish. Why take such an extraordinary risk of discovery and resort to murder? And there was the matter of the gate.
Perhaps she was looking at this from the wrong viewpoint?
“I shall speak to each of you individually, starting with Brother Dian,” she announced. “The rest of you will continue about your duties until you are called.”
With the exception of Brother Dian, the others, reluctantly it seemed, resumed their tasks in other parts of the kitchen.
“How long have you been second cook here?” Fidelma began.
Brother Dian reflected. “Five years.”
“How long had Roilt been cook here?”
“Is this relevant? We should be searching for the itinerants,” he began, and then caught the glint in her eye. “Roilt had been here for a year longer than I. That was why he was head cook.”
“Did you and the others get on with him?”
“Roilt? No one liked him. He was a weasel of a man.” He stopped, flushed and genuflected.
Brother Dian glanced around. “Very well. It is known that Roilt liked the company of the young novitiates, if you know what I mean. Male novitiates,” he added with emphasis.
“There was hatred toward him because of this?”
Dian nodded. “Many brothers disliked his abuse of the young.”
“Abuse? Do you mean that he forced his attentions on them against their will?”
Dian gave an expressive shrug by way of reply.
“Did Roilt have affairs with any of the kitchen staff?” she demanded.
Dian blinked at the directness of the question. “I must protest, Sister. . you are here to find out who stole the fish. .”
“I am here to find out who murdered Brother Roilt,” snapped Fidelma, causing Brother Dian to start.
“It is clear that he was killed for the fish,” Dian said doggedly after a moment to recover.
“Is it?” Fidelma glanced to the far end of the kitchen. “Ask Brother Enda to come to me.”
Brother Dian looked surprised at being summarily dismissed. A moment later the youthful, red-eyed Brother Enda arrived at her side.
“Are you feeling better now?” Fidelma asked him.
The young man nodded slowly. “It was a shock, you see. .” he began hesitantly.
“Of course. You were close to Brother Roilt, weren’t you?”
Brother Enda flushed and pressed his lips firmly together, saying nothing.
“Were you currently in a relationship with him?” demanded Fidelma.
“I was not.”
“He preferred someone younger?”
“He was the only person who was kind to me in this abbey. I shall not speak ill of him.”
“I do not ask you to say anything that is not the truth and will not help us find out who killed him.”
The young man seemed bewildered for a moment. “I thought he was killed for. .”
“For the fish?” Fidelma’s expression did not change. “Did he have a current lover?”
“I think there was a young novitiate that he had just taken a liking to.”
“When did he end his relationship with you?”
