When it came to the king’s money, Hubert Walter became very short of Christian forgiveness, for all that he was head of the Church in England.
‘As the new Coroner of the Verge, Sir John de Wolfe is charged with investigating all serious crimes within the royal precincts. As he was also in charge of the transfer of this chest, it makes it all the more appropriate that he seeks out the perpetrators of this daring and outrageous act. I therefore give him a Royal Commission to enquire with all speed and diligence into the matter, and command that every one of the king’s subjects, from the highest to the lowest, offer him all assistance.’
Rising to show that the session was finished, he turned to speak to the nearest members of the Curia, but before doing so, gave John a slight gesture, telling him to come to him in his chambers.
The line of highly relieved ‘suspects’ also broke up and filed silently out into the Palace Yard, where they mopped sweating brows and began congratulating themselves and each other that their heads were still on their shoulders.
‘Thank Christ Almighty that you insisted on a check of that bloody box before we left the Tower, John!’ said Ranulf. ‘Otherwise we would have all been back in another small chamber there, until we all danced at the end of a rope at Smithfield or Tyburn!’
CHAPTER EIGHT
At supper in the Lesser Hall that evening, even the coming visit of Queen Eleanor was eclipsed as a topic of conversation. Apart from the usual clique around de Wolfe, other diners gravitated as best they could to be within earshot of the coroner, trying glean any titbits of gossip about the notorious theft of the king’s treasure. After vegetable potage and several fish dishes, including grayling, gudgeon and dace, for it was Friday, the eager questioning began. Relaxed after a stressful day by a few cups of wine, de Wolfe saw no reason not to respond, especially as he had very little to tell them.
‘There is no secret about this, for every man-at-arms and kitchen scullion knows as much as I concerning the matter,’ he said in answer to Archdeacon Bernard’s demand.
Ranulf nodded in gloomy agreement. ‘Almost everyone in London will know by now, though the king has yet to learn about it. There’ll be hell to pay if it’s not found before the news gets to him.’
‘We heard only that a fabulous golden treasure had vanished from the Tower!’ said Hawise in a suitably breathless voice.
‘Valuable, but hardly fabulous,’ grunted John. ‘It was part of treasure trove collected from the West Country.’
‘I understand that you had a private audience with the Justiciar after that meeting in the Exchequer,’ said Renaud de Seigneur. De Wolfe wondered how he knew that — the palace grapevine must have been working overtime.
‘It was only to give me a parchment carrying his seal with instructions for all men to give me every assistance in the name of the king,’ replied John. ‘He has commissioned me as Coroner of the Verge to make enquiries as to how this crime was committed and to retrieve the stolen property.’
Hubert Walter had in fact said a great deal more than this, but John was not going to share such confidences with this nosey crowd.
‘It is said that the golden objects vanished from a doubly locked chest, one whose keys were shared between two senior officials,’ persisted Bernard de Montfort. ‘But how could that possibly happen?’
De Wolfe shrugged. ‘That’s what I’m deputed to discover, God help me!’
Hawise d’Ayncourt, who was sitting opposite him, stretched her shapely leg to touch his calf, almost as if by accident.
‘It seems like a miracle, Sir John,’ she said, her big eyes opening even wider in pretended awe. ‘Do you believe in the supernatural?’
He grinned crookedly. ‘Not when nine hundred pound’s worth of treasure is missing, my lady! Miracles may still occur in the religious world and if a statue of Our Lady begins to weep tears of milk, then I am prepared to accept a bishop’s assurances that it is genuine. But where solid gold is concerned, I remain a confirmed unbeliever!’
Her ankle caressed his leg again and he pulled it back sharply, causing a flicker of annoyance to cloud her face. Then Ranulf, who seemed aware of what was going on beneath the table, intervened with a question.
‘Do you wish for William Aubrey and myself to assist you in this venture, John? We feel as responsible as you, as we were part of the same escort that brought those damned chests to London.’
De Wolfe shook his head. ‘The Justiciar instructed me to carry out this task personally, with only my officer and clerk. He wishes for everyone else to remain outside the investigation, to demonstrate that there can be no partiality, as everyone is both potentially innocent or guilty — even the Constable of the Tower, though he seems highly incensed at being included.’
‘How will you go about this?’ asked Ranulf.
‘I must question everyone involved in the custody of the treasure in the Tower — from the Constable down to each of the guards. Even the Exchequer men like Simon Basset and Treasury clerks cannot be exempt. Anyone who seems to be suspect will be subject to arduous interrogation — even put to the torture if that seems necessary.’
His listeners heard his words in silence, impressed by the sternness of his manner. John de Wolfe was well known for his unswerving devotion to the king and it sounded as if he meant to pursue this quest with ruthless determination.
When he escaped from the inquisitive residents, John waited outside for Ranulf and William and they walked in the cooling evening across the yard at the rear of the palace towards the Marshalsea stables and accommodation where the two men lived.
‘Those people from France seem to have more knowledge of this place than ourselves,’ complained Ranulf. ‘If this rumour about spies is true, then surely they must be the obvious candidates, always wanting to know every detail of what’s going on!’
The younger marshal, William Aubrey, leaned in from the other side of Ranulf to join the debate.
‘Even that priest from the Auvergne seems more concerned with palace politics and scandal than he is with the curing of souls,’ he observed. ‘These days, you never know who to trust.’
De Wolfe shrugged off their concerns. ‘I think they are just bored and ready to feast on any bit of tittle-tattle they can find. The sooner the old queen comes, the better — then we can get this circus on the road and stop staring at our own navels!’
He said much the same thing to Gwyn and Thomas a little later, when they were sitting in the main room of the house in Long Ditch Lane. His main purpose was to discuss how they were to carry out this unwelcome commission that the Justiciar had thrust upon him.
‘We have only a week or so before the court moves off, if Queen Eleanor arrives when they forecast,’ he said. ‘Hubert Walter will not be pleased if nothing is achieved before then.’
‘We can’t be blamed for that,’ complained Gwyn indignantly. ‘The bloody theft was nothing to do with us. We’ve already been cleared of any involvement, thank God.’
‘I’m not so sure,’ said John grimly. ‘In spite of Hubert Walter extolling our good behaviour, if nothing is found before the king gets to hear of it, no one will escape his wrath — not even us.’
‘But we’ve got a cast-iron defence against any accusations,’ protested Gwyn.
‘That’s as may be, but I’ve been saddled with solving the crime, so what are we going to do about it?’ grunted John, reaching for his pot of Aedwulf’s ale.
‘I suppose we had better visit the scene of the crime,’ offered Thomas, hesitantly. ‘I presume the two chests are still there.’
‘The pox-ridden guards may be at the bottom of this,’ growled Gwyn. ‘Surely no one could get into that chamber without a sentry seeing them? It was at the end of a passage and behind a couple of locked doors, with a sentinel outside the outer one.’