‘Then there is no entrance to this sepulchre from the walled garden at the back of the church?’ she demanded abruptly.
Rumann stared down at her in bewilderment.
‘No. Whatever makes you ask such a question?’
‘So the only entrance to the sepulchre is by the removal of this sandstone slab. It seems too strong and heavy.’
‘That it is, sister. And no one has been able to remove it in over a century.’
Cass began asking Rumann about other burial places for he could see that Fidelma wanted to be left to her own devices for a few moments. The plump-faced house steward’s attention was distracted.
Fidelma went down on one knee by the great slab. She reached out a hand to touch that which had attracted her attention. It was slippery and cold. Cold candle grease spilt into a crevice by the old stone.
Someone entered the church with a noisy clatter of the great doors. Fidelma rose swiftly and saw that it was Brother Conghus who had entered and was beckoning frantically to Rumann.
The steward excused himself and hurried off down the aisle of the nave.
When he had gone Fidelma turned to Cass with lowered voice.
‘There is a way into that sepulchre, I swear it.’
Cass raised an eyebrow.
‘What makes you say that? And what has it to do with the investigation?’
‘Look at that candle grease and tell me what you observe.’ Cass looked down.
‘It’s just candle grease. There are plenty of such spots in the church. You can break a leg by slipping on them unless you watch where you tread.’
She sighed impatiently.
‘Yes. But they are all where they should be. Under candle holders. This spot is in a place where no candles hang. And see the way it has fallen.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Really, Cass. Look. Observe. Deduce. Do you see that the edge of the stone slab is a straight line where it rests on the floor? Around it are splashes of candle grease which have grown cold. Look closer. Look at the join. It is as if the grease had been dropped before the slab was put in place, that the slab was slung back over the top of it.’
Cass rubbed the back of his neck in his bewilderment.
‘I still don’t understand.’
She groaned and lowered herself to both knees, pushing at the slab, trying to compel it to move, first in one direction and then another. Her efforts were without success.
Finally, and reluctantly, she rose to her feet.
‘That sepulchre holds a valuable key to this business,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘Someone has opened it and just recently. I think I am finally beginning to see the path through the darkness of this mystery …’
Brother Rumann came padding swiftly back to where theystood. They could see from his face that he was bursting with some important news.
‘Sister Grella has been seen,’ he blurted.
‘Has she returned to the abbey?’ asked Fidelma in excitement.
Rumann shook his head.
‘Someone saw her riding with Salbach in the woods of Dór. It would seem that the chieftain of the Corco Loígde has found her. Excuse me, I must take this news to the abbot.’
Fidelma watched him hurry away. Cass was doing his best to conceal his excitement.
‘Well.’ He smiled with satisfaction. ‘I think our mystery is near its end, eh?’
‘How so, Cass?’ she asked wearily.
‘If Salbach has found Sister Grella, then we have found the culprit. You gave orders yourself to detain her. She was the person who was most implicated by the evidence,’ he pointed out. ‘Doubtless she stole that evidence from the abbot’s chamber.’
‘Yet Sister Grella has not been seen in the abbey since she disappeared.’
‘Well, maybe she returned without being noticed. I say, there is your thief and if she is the thief, she is also Dacán’s killer. She would surely know that the evidence in that marsupium proves as much. It is logical that she would wish to destroy it. She probably heard from someone in the abbey that Brocc had the evidence.’
Fidelma suddenly gazed thoughtfully at him. She had neglected to tell him that the evidence that had been left behind implicated Grella rather than the reverse. She decided to keep this information to herself for the time being.
‘It is a possible explanation,’ she conceded. ‘Where are the woods of Dór?’
‘Cuan D6ir is Salbach’s fortress which is situated between the woods and the sea. It is less than a quarter of an hour’sjourney across the headland,’ Cass replied. ‘We may meet Salbach escorting Grella along the road, that is if he is bringing her back to the abbey.’
‘Much power in that word “if”,’ muttered Fidelma but did not explain herself further. ‘I think we shall discover something else about Grella and Salbach as a result of this journey. Let’s get our horses from the stables.’
Cass suppressed a sigh of irritation. He found Fidelma a most exasperating woman.
Chapter Fifteen
Cuan Dóir, Dór’s harbour, was a short ride across the headland from Ros Ailithir. In fact, it was little more than three miles from the gates of the abbey. The track ran within sight of the stormy sea through wild scenery of granite rocks, gorse and heather, a landscape devoid of trees because of the nearness of the expanse of ocean with its prevailing coastal winds. Almost halfway along this path they crossed the remains of an ancient stone circle. Tall, grey granite sentinels stood as silent testimony to the beliefs and practices of the ancients, forming a circle some thirty feet in diameter, while just beyond was a small stone cabin. It seemed to fit so naturally into the wild, windswept landscape and conjure images of times past.
A little further on, the path descended into an inlet which seemed as natural a harbour as the one offered by Ros Ailithir. It was an area replete in fuchsia-strewn hedgerows which laced a breathtaking scenery. There were a few ships anchored in the small harbour. Several buildings comprised the township but dominating them was the fortress of Salbach: a round, stone-walled stronghold, well appointed to control the sea approaches as well as the road to the harbour. Fidelma saw that, like many of the fortresses she had seen, its walls, which rose some twenty feet high, were of dry stone. She estimated the circular fortification was probably some hundred feet in diameter with only one entrance, a large gateway with sloping jambsbig enough for only one horse and rider to pass through at a time.
Armed warriors lounged at this gate watching with ill-concealed curiosity as Fidelma and Cass rode up.
‘Is Sister Grella of Ros Ailithir within the gates?’ called Fidelma as they halted. She had not bothered to dismount.
‘This is the fortress of Salbach, chieftain of the Corco Loígde,’ came the uncompromising reply from one of the guardians of the portal. He did not bother to change his lounging posture as he leant against the wall staring at them.
Fidelma decided to change tack.
‘Then we should like to see Salbach.’
‘He is not here,’ came the wooden response.
‘Then where is he, man?’ demanded Cass, moving forward so that the warrior could see his golden collar emblem and know him for one of the élite warriors of Cashel.
The man made no sign that he had observed the emblem. He gazed insolently back at Cass.
‘He went riding a while ago.’ As Cass was about to make a sharp retort, the warrior relented and pointed with his spear. ‘He will probably be hunting in the wood of Dór, which is in that direction.’
‘Was anyone with him?’ demanded Fidelma.
‘Salbach likes to hunt alone.’
This statement brought forth a low chuckle from the other guard as if it were some witticism.
Fidelma motioned Cass to follow and they turned in the direction of the distant woodland which the warrior had indicated.
‘If Grella is not with Salbach, what need to go in search of him?’ inquired Cass as he realised her intent.