Whispers of the Dead

Brehon Tuama quickly shook his head.

“I cannot dismiss the matter yet. Odar is adamant that the boy has to go through due process. In fact. .” The Brehon hesitated. “The victim’s husband is his cousin.”

Fidelma sighed softly. She disliked nepotism.

“Perhaps you should explain to me the basic facts as you know them.”

Brehon Tuama stretched uneasily in his chair.

“Findach the Smith is reputed to be one of the most able craftsmen in this township. His work is apparently widely admired and has graced abbeys, chieftains’ raths, and kings’ fortresses. He has been able to refuse such mundane tasks as shoeing horses, making harnesses, plows, and weapons, to pursue more artistic work.”

“It sounds as though you do not share others’ appreciation of his work?” interposed Fidelma, catching the inflection in his tone.

“I don’t,” agreed the Brehon. “But that is by the way. Findach was commissioned to make a silver cross for the high altar of the Abbey of Cluain. He had completed the commission only a few days ago.

“The cross was extremely valuable. Findach had polished it and taken it to his house ready for collection by one of the religious from the abbey. Yesterday morning, Findach had gone to his workshop, which is a hundred yards beyond his house, to commence work. The silver cross was left in his house. His wife, Muirenn, was there.

“It was that morning that Brother Caisín had been sent by the Abbot of Cluain to collect the cross. I have questioned Brother Caisín who says that he arrived at Findach’s house early in the morning. He noticed that the door was open and he went in. Muirenn lay on the floor with blood on her head. He tried to render assistance but found that she was dead, apparently killed by a sharp blow to the head.

“Brother Caisín then said that he heard a noise from a side room and found the boy, Braon, hiding there. There was blood on his clothes.

“It was then that Findach arrived back at his house and found Brother Caisín and Braon standing by the body of his wife. His cry of anguish was heard by a passerby who, ascertaining the situation, came in search of me as Brehon of Droim Sorn.”

Fidelma was thoughtful.

“At what point was it discovered the silver cross was missing?” she asked.

Brehon Tuama looked surprised.

“How did you know that it was the silver cross that had been stolen? The object of the theft was not specified when I sent for you.”

Fidelma made an impatient gesture with her hand.

“I did not think that you would spend so much time and detail telling me about Findach’s commission from Cluain if it had no relevance to this matter.”

Brehon Tuama looked crestfallen.

“What did the boy have to say?” Fidelma continued. “I presume the boy’s father was sent for before you questioned him?”

Brehon Tuama looked pained.

“Of course. I know the law. As he was under the ‘Age of Choice,’ his father is deemed responsible for him in law.”

“So the father was summoned and the boy was questioned?” pressed Fidelma impatiently.

“The boy said that he had been asked to go to Findach’s house by Muirenn, who often used to employ him to look after a small herd of cattle they kept in the upper pastures behind the house. Braon said he found the door open. He saw the body and went inside in order to help, but Muirenn was already dead.”

“And bending by the body accounted for blood on his clothes?”

“Precisely. He said that he was about to go for help when he heard someone approaching. Fearing the return of the killer, he hid in the room where Brother Caisín discovered him.”

“And those are all the facts, so far as you know them?”

“Exactly. It is all circumstantial evidence. I would be inclined to dismiss the charge for lack of evidence. However, Odar insists that the boy should be prosecuted. A chieftain’s orders are sometimes difficult to disregard,” he added apologetically.

“What about the cross?”

Brehon Tuama was baffled for a moment.

“I mean,” went on Fidelma, “where was it found? You have not mentioned that fact.”

The Brehon shifted his weight.

“It has not been found,” he confessed.

Fidelma made her surprise apparent.

“We made a thorough search for the cross and found no sign of it,” confirmed Brehon Tuama.

“Surely, that further weakens the case against the boy? When could he have had the time to hide the cross before being discovered by Brother Caisín?”

“Odar argues that he must have had an accomplice. He favors the boy’s father. He suggests the boy passed the cross to his accomplice just as Brother Caisín arrived.”

“A rather weak argument.” Fidelma was dismissive. “What I find more interesting is the motivation for your chieftain’s apparent determination to pursue the boy and his father. You tell me that it is because the dead woman’s husband is his cousin? That does not seem sufficient justification. I would agree with your first conclusion, Tuama. The whole affair is based on circumstantial evidence. By the way, how big was this silver cross?”

“I do not know. We would have to ask Findach. Findach said it was valuable enough. The silver alone being worth. .”

“I am more interested in its size, not value. Presumably, a high altar cross would be of large size and therefore of great weight?”

“Presumably,” agreed the Brehon.

“Also too heavy, surely, for the boy, Braon, to have hidden it by himself?”

Brehon Tuama did not reply.

“You say that Findach’s forge was a hundred yards from his house. Isn’t it unusual for a smith to have a workshop at such a distance from his house?”

Brehon Tuama shook his head.

“Not in this case. Findach was a careful man. Do you know how often smiths’ forges burn down because a spark from the furnace ignites them?”

“I have known of some cases,” admitted Fidelma. “So Findach and his wife Muirenn lived in the house. Did they have children?”

“No. There were just the two of them. .”

There was a sudden noise outside and the door burst open.

A wild-looking, broad-shouldered man stood on the threshold. He was dressed in the manner of a man who worked long hours in the fields. His eyes were stormy.

Brehon Tuama sprang up from his seat in annoyance.

“What is the meaning of this, Brocc?” he demanded.

The man stood breathing heavily a moment.

“You know well enough, Brehon. I heard that the dálaigh had arrived. She’s been to see Odar and now you. Yet you told me that she was coming to defend my boy. Defend? How can she defend him when she consorts only with his persecutors?”

Fidelma examined the man coolly.

“Come forward! So you are the father of Braon?”

The burly man took a hesitant step toward her.

“My son is innocent! You must clear his name. They are trying to lay the blame on my son and on me because they hate us.”

“I am here to listen to the evidence and form my opinion. Why would people hate you and your son?”

“Because I am a bothach!”

In the social system of the five kingdoms of Éireann, the bothach was one