‘All things are possible, Sir John, especially with that cruel harridan.’
The Misericord fell silent, as if listening to the faint sounds in the rest of the prison, the muted cries and groans, the slamming of doors, the ominous rattling of chains.
Athelstan stared round the cell. In the poor light he saw how the walls were encrusted with dirt and slime. Here and there some prisoner had carved his name or a prayer, other times just a sign, a star, a woman’s breasts or, more commonly, a gallows with a figure hanging from it.
‘Why do you think it was Mother Veritable who hired the Judas Man?’ Cranston asked. ‘Why choose her rather than Sir Stephen?’
‘I had interfered with her girls, mocked a powerful customer.’
‘But there’s something else. It involves your sister, doesn’t it? Last night, in the church, I heard Mother Veritable’s name mentioned.’
‘Brother, your ears are as sharp as your wits. Two years ago I was still friends with Mother Veritable, she allowed me to shelter in her house. She met Edith and was much taken with her. She wanted me to entrust my sister to her.’
‘To become a whore?’ Cranston asked.
‘I’ve heard of worse things happening,’ the Misericord declared bitterly. ‘Walk the streets of your city, Sir John, not every whore is plying for custom because she loves it. I, of course, refused. Mother Veritable offered me gold and silver. What she called pleasures beyond imagination. I still refused. I was banned from her house but, where possible, I would meet Beatrice and Clarice outside.’
‘Did you invite them to the Night in Jerusalem for the Great Ratting?’
‘No, Brother, I did not. It could have been Chandler. Remember, he did approach both girls. I think he was demanding satisfaction.’
‘You said you met the girls?’
‘Where possible, but I used their friend Donata as a messenger. One night, oh, it must have been about two months ago, they came to the Night in Jerusalem. Some customer had hired them and I met them out in the yard. They were both very excited. They claimed that they had some proof about what had happened to their mother and, perhaps, the truth behind the great robbery.’
‘What!’
‘Yes, my Lord Coroner. They didn’t tell me much. I asked them, but they refused. They were giggling, and claimed that if they kept their wits they would possess a great treasure and be able to leave Mother Veritable for ever. Of course, I didn’t believe them.’
‘They must have offered you some proof?’
‘They said my sister had it. She had it on her person. They were talking in riddles. They’d also confided in Donata. Donata said they didn’t know whether to be happy or sad at discovering something which could prove the fate of their mother. I begged Donata to try her best to find out, but Beatrice and Clarice had not forgotten the beating Mother Veritable had given them over Sir Stephen. They kept their own counsel.’
‘Do you think Chandler murdered them?’
‘It’s possible, Brother. On the night of the Great Ratting I was in the tap room. I wanted to be there, not only to lay my wager and collect my generous winnings, but to talk to Beatrice and Clarice. I knew the Judas Man was hunting me, following my tracks as carefully as any hound. I played that trick on poor Toadflax and kept in the shadows. When the fight broke out, Beatrice and Clarice had left the tap room for the hay barn. I was frightened. I knew the Judas Man would soon realise he had made a mistake and cast his net further. So I slipped into the kitchen, where Master Rolles was roaring at some poor cook who had made a mistake. I asked him for help as well as where the girls had gone. He replied that they were in the hay barn, that I should join them there and hide.’
‘Did Master Rolles always offer such help?’
‘Yes, I know him of old. He is very strict. I can only enter his tavern with his permission and only hide when he tells me. You know how it is, Sir John, I have similar arrangements with innkeepers, hostellers and taverners the length and breadth of England.’
‘Did you meet Beatrice and Clarice?’
‘Brother, I was terrified out of my wits. My belly was full of ale and roast pork. I was going to meet them. I glimpsed a chink of light through the hay barn door, but I had to relieve myself. I dared not go to the latrines at the far side of the wall. I was frightened of being trapped there. So I ran outside. I was accosted by other people, who had also been at the Great Ratting. Men who had fled at the approach of the Judas Man, telling me about the fight which had begun in the tap room. Now, on any other night I would have run, put as much distance between myself and that tavern as possible.’
‘But you wanted to meet Beatrice and Clarice?’
‘Sir John, I was determined to. I had been in the hay barn before – it’s a good place to hide. So I returned to the yard. I saw Sir Stephen, drunk as a sot, go staggering through the door. I waited awhile and then followed. I peered through.’
The Misericord’s fingers went to his face.
‘Both girls were dead. One of them may have been moaning a little, Beatrice with a dagger thrust in her. Clarice was certainly dead, a crossbow bolt high in her chest. She seemed to be awash with blood. Sir Stephen was kneeling beside the corpses. I’m sure I glimpsed an arbalest.’
‘Did he kill them?’
‘Brother, he could’ve done. In his drunken state he may have believed he had good cause. I ran back across the yard and hid in the shadows. Sir Stephen came out and closed the doors, replacing the bar.’
‘Replacing the bar?’ Athelstan asked. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, Brother, I’m sure that,