The Dove of Death

‘Why would he do so?’

‘To prevent me examining the interior of the hut or challenging Iarnbud.’

‘You say that the door was closed. He could have simply asked you to leave, without knocking you out.’

‘Perhaps.’

Fidelma hesitated a moment or two and then said: ‘Well, let us both go and examine this place to satisfy our curiosity.’

‘Heraclius might now be on his guard against me returning to the hut,’ Eadulf said doubtfully.

‘Or perhaps, having dealt with you — if it was he who knocked you out — he might be complacent that you would never return so quickly. Anyway, you say that the building is outside the villa on the eastern side of the wall?’

Eadulf nodded.

‘Then if we leave the villa in some other spot and follow the walls round, we might approach it unseen rather than attempt to go through the kitchen area and the herb garden.’

They left the room and went down to the lower floor. It seemed deserted, but it was no use going through the main door, for there were bound to be guards outside. Fidelma strode determinedly along the lower corridor until she found a door that opened onto a veranda overlooking a garden with a surrounding high wall. The couple stood for a moment examining what must be the outer wall of the villa complex.

Eadulf touched her arm and silently pointed.

There was a small door in the wall.

She nodded and they forced themselves to stroll casually across the garden towards it, pretending to be deep in conversation. If they were seen, then they would not arouse immediate suspicion. The door proved to be so small, they had to bend to it. It was barred on the inner side and Eadulf found it easy to slide the wooden bar back and push the door outward. They slipped through it without trouble and Eadulf pushed the door back into place again.

For a moment or two they stood breathing quickly, waiting for some shout which would have announced they had been observed.

Keeping close to the wall, they moved within its shadow to the corner that marked the north-eastern end. There was still no one in sight and no one to challenge them. The sea before them was empty, apart from a few distant sails, faint outlines on the sparkling waters.

Once more they hurried along, towards the stone cabin that Eadulf had identified.

‘This is it.’ Eadulf felt relief as they came to the mysterious building. At least no one had spotted them so far.

The stone building seemed isolated.

The odour reached their nostrils at the same time.

‘It seems like sulphur, but there is something different about it,’ Fidelma mused thoughtfully.

Eadulf went forward and tried the handle.

‘It’s locked,’ he announced, glancing downwards and finding an iron lock on the wooden door.

‘Why are you surprised?’ Fidelma muttered in vexation. ‘If there is something in here which no one is permitted to see, then it would scarcely be left open.’

There was no sign of a key anywhere. Then Eadulf suddenly remembered the key hanging inside the door where Heraclius had his dispensary. An idea occurred to him.

‘There was a key hanging in the apothecary’s room. That might be the one to this door.’

Fidelma gestured impatiently. ‘Then go and get it. You’ll have to chance being seen in the kitchen area, after all.’

Eadulf hurried to the door of the walled herb garden. He was surprised to find that it had been left unsecured. He crossed the garden swiftly and slowly tried the handle of the inner door. Glancing into the courtyard beyond, he found it just as deserted as it was before. He shrugged at his luck. So he and Fidelma had made their circumnavigation of the villa for nothing. They could have come this quicker way.

It seemed that luck was with him all the way, for the kitchen area was devoid of movement and the apothecary’s room was still open.

He almost grabbed the key that hung from the hook inside and, clutching it tightly, he broke into a trot as he hurried back and breathlessly rejoined Fidelma. She had taken the opportunity to rest and was sitting with her back against the stone hut, looking moodily out over the waters.

‘Well?’ she enquired.

‘I have it,’ muttered Eadulf, and quickly inserted the key into the lock. It fitted. In his nervousness it took him a few attempts to turn it but finally it clicked and he pushed the door open.

Fidelma had risen and was at his shoulder as he moved into the noxious-smelling single room of the building. Two windows let in a bright light from the sea and there was no need for an artificial light. Perhaps it was just as well, for the smell of sulphur was overpowering and Eadulf knew that it could be flammable. The place was similar to an apothecary’s shop, for there were various jars of strange-looking concoctions on shelves around the room and a workbench. And in one corner was a potter’s wheel,

‘Pottery? And why the sulphur, I wonder?’ Eadulf mused.

Fidelma had picked up some branches of an evergreen from a workbench and peered at it curiously.

‘It looks as if someone has been extracting the resin from this. What do you make of it, Eadulf?’

He shook his head. ‘This is beyond me,’ he admitted. ‘And — look!’

Near the potter’s wheel, standing along the wall, was a line of newly made pots. Except on closer inspection they were not pots at all. They were round balls the size of a man’s head. There was neither hole nor means of ingress into them. Eadulf bent down to pick one up and found that it was not very heavy. The balls were obviously hollow, but there was a strange imbalance to the one he was holding. He raised it and jerked it from side to side.

‘It is hollow but I think there is liquid inside,’ he announced.

‘Break one open and let us see,’ advised Fidelma. ‘Whoever is mixing strange potions here, I wonder why he keeps it so secret.’

Eadulf raised the ball in both hands, ready to smash it on the ground.

‘Stop!’ cried a sharp voice. ‘Stay absolutely still, if you value your lives!’

Chapter Thirteen

The young apothecary, Heraclius, stood in the doorway. There was an expression akin to horror on his face.

Eadulf froze, the clay ball in his hands, staring at him in wonder. There was no doubting the intensity of fear in the young man’s tone.

‘What…?’ began Eadulf.

‘Put it down on the floor and do it gently!’ ordered Heraclius.

Eadulf slowly replaced the ball on the ground.

‘Now step away from it,’ instructed the young man, still tense.

As Eadulf did so, the young man exhaled in relief and seemed to relax his body. It lasted no more than a moment before a look of anger crossed his features.

‘How dare you break into this hut!’

‘We did not break in,’ Fidelma corrected him pedantically. ‘You will see that we opened the door and entered.’

‘Having stolen the key from my dispensary,’ Heraclius replied, not misled by semantics. ‘This is my personal domain and no one comes here but me.’

‘You seem to have something to hide,’ she replied, looking towards the clay balls.

‘Only from prying eyes and idiots,’ came the uncompromising response. ‘You are not idiots so you must be spies. Spies of the Koulm ar Maro! Now you will come out — but make no attempt to escape. There are guards within call. We will go to see the lady Trifina.’