‘Why did Geoffrey agree to that?’ Baldwin demanded. ‘Surely he could have simply added it to his existing lands and pleased his master …’
‘But not to his own profit,’ Odo said slyly, tapping his nose. ‘I appealed to his greed. So no, Ailward liked me and trusted me. As he should have. I always helped him.’
‘Do you think that he could have been capable of killing Lady Lucy and throwing her into the mire on his land just to lay the blame for the murder on Sir Geoffrey?’ Baldwin asked thoughtfully.
‘He would have been capable, I suppose. If he wanted to do that, though, wouldn’t he have picked a place where she would have been easier to discover? Why choose a bog? She might have stayed there for ever, just as so many sheep and horses do each year. And who would have killed him?’
‘Walter and he were there together. Could they have argued about the course of action they were about to take, perhaps come to blows, and Walter killed him?’
Simon took up the idea. ‘So Walter took her body on his own shoulder and walked along the waste lands, round the back of Sir Geoffrey’s lands, and then dropped her into the mire?’
‘It is scarcely likely, is it?’ Baldwin said reluctantly.
‘No. Not unless they had an ally in Sir Geoffrey’s camp,’ Simon mused. ‘Someone who would know the best way to avoid being seen so near to the house.’
‘Any of the peasants would know all the less frequented routes, surely?’ Sir Odo said.
‘Perhaps,’ Baldwin said. ‘Could you have Walter brought here so that I may question him, please?’
With a good grace Sir Odo nodded and left them, adjuring them to be comfortable while they waited.
‘You have had an idea?’ Simon asked.
Baldwin nodded. ‘The assumption we made originally was that Sir Geoffrey had intended to torture Lady Lucy to make her pass over her lands to him — but it now appears that Sir Geoffrey never pushed his master’s claim to the whole of Ailward’s inheritance too strenuously — Sir Odo still keeps a hand on some parts. I just wonder: if Sir Odo could have taken over Lady Lucy’s lands, it would have been as beneficial to him as it would have been for Sir Geoffrey, surely?’
‘I suppose so,’ Simon said. ‘What of the other men? Ailward could have allied himself with anyone, I reckon. He was bitter and vengeful after losing his entire estate. Walter was probably involved, since he was there on the moor with Ailward and, perhaps, Lady Lucy’s body, if Perkin was right. Nicholas le Poter could have been connected to them as well. Three men: Ailward, Walter and Nicholas, all of them working together.’
‘A fair hypothesis.’ Baldwin nodded.
They were no nearer the truth, he thought, and walked to the door, his mind whirling with possibilities. But even as he began to see another possible explanation — only dimly, but there, like a path that was glimpsed through the fog only to be concealed again in a moment — his attention was caught by the shouting from outside the manor.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Sir Odo stood at the gate and stared at the body. ‘When was this?’ he demanded, all geniality flown.
‘Sir, I did all I could to protect him. It was impossible, though. He just went for them, and Sir Geoffrey cut him down.’
Sir Odo had seen the injuries which a sword could make often enough, and this was clearly a blow intended to kill. It had sliced through the skull. He looked about him, estimating. ‘How many men were there with him?’
‘Six and twenty that I saw.’
‘Where are the others, then? All my men are scattered about the place — I can’t hope to throw him off the land with so few. It would be impossible …’
Baldwin and Simon were in time to hear his last words as they joined Sir Odo in the yard, Edgar standing nearby and gazing down at the body with interest. It was a fierce blow from a heavy sword; that much was clear. ‘What happened here?’ Baldwin demanded.
‘This man was my sergeant over the river,’ Sir Odo said heavily. ‘This man, Walter, whom you wanted to meet, saw him cut down by Sir Geoffrey himself, and carried the body all the way back here.’
‘You saw him killed?’
‘We were there this morning, him just quietly pottering about the place trying to make it liveable after their last attack, me sitting and enjoying the sun, when we heard the horses.’
‘You had warning? Why didn’t the messenger come to me in time?’ Sir Odo growled.
‘They came up the river, and then charged up the main trackway from the ford, Sir Odo. I expect the lad was scared off and won’t be found for some time,’ Walter said. ‘I was taken unawares because I expected the bastards to come from the east. We’d started a palisade facing that way to protect us, but they just came pelting up the track and overwhelmed us. There were too many for the two of us to achieve anything.’
‘And what then?’ Baldwin enquired, still staring at the man on the ground.
‘A man went inside the house, and he killed Robert’s bitch and her pups. That made him mad, and he just ran at the man with his dagger. Sir Geoffrey was still on his horse, and as Robert passed him, he took a chop with his sword. Then he told me to take the carcass away and never return.’
‘You look about done in,’ Sir Odo said. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘I can hold a sword, sir.’
‘Good. Go and find a mount.’
‘Sir Odo, I protest.’ Baldwin stood and stared at the older knight with serious eyes. ‘Attacking Sir Geoffrey can benefit no one. Least of all Lord de Courtenay.’
‘Those murdering swines have killed my sergeant, Sir Baldwin! Look at him! Dead because of that arse-wipe from Monkleigh. All he seeks is the expansion of his lands at all times, nothing else. I will not have him taking over all the de Courtenay lands without a fight!’
‘Good. But I should recommend that you consolidate the position you presently have, and that you pull some men back from other areas.’
‘Why? So he can invade any stretch without a battle? That hardly makes sense …’
‘As it stands, you have too few men, and they are dotted about in small packets. Any of them can be easily overwhelmed, just as these two were,’ Baldwin said bluntly. ‘If you wish to waste your men’s lives, that is your responsibility, but I’d prefer to save as many as possible.’
‘So would I!’ Sir Odo protested angrily. ‘But if I don’t respond to this provocation, what will he try next? He’ll slip a dagger between me and my lands at Iddesleigh, and take them too, or …’
Baldwin irritably held up a hand. ‘You say that he would try to shave away your holdings?’
‘It has happened elsewhere. The barons are too scared to control the king or his adviser now that they see the bodies rotting on the gibbets up and down the land. What is the point of fighting to save your lands if it loses you your life?’
‘But you would do that?’
Sir Odo set his jaw and looked away.
‘You had a pact with him over that last stretch of land. You say he agreed for his personal profit, but what would have happened to him if his lord had learned of the deal? He would have been at risk of his life. Why would he agree to that for short-term treasure?’
‘To calm local fears,’ Sir Odo said. ‘With Lady Lucy so worried about her position, and my master Sir John Sully nervous of further encroachment on his territories, it was clearly a good policy to calm any anxiety. I persuaded Sir Geoffrey that it would be to his master’s advantage too, if he kept a sizeable portion separate.’
‘What made the situation change?’ Baldwin wondered. ‘Now he threatens war.’
‘All was well until Ailward died. His death seems to have precipitated action. Or maybe it was Lady Lucy — she was taken not long before.’
‘Why should they have made Sir Geoffrey discard what had been a beneficial arrangement?’