‘No luck at all?’ said Firethorn.
‘None so far,’ admitted Nicholas. ‘I’ll do a wider sweep this afternoon and I’d value your company on the ride, Owen.’
‘Gladly,’ said the Welshman.
‘But we can’t spare Owen,’ said Firethorn. ‘Why do you need him, Nick?’
‘Because I’d prefer to stay alive.’
Nicholas told them about the attempt on his life in the forest. Both men were outraged. Elias wanted to ride off immediately in search of the would-be assassin but Firethorn took a more cautious view.
‘I think that both of you should stay here,’ he said anxiously.
‘When someone has tried to kill Nick?’ asked Elias. ‘We need to catch the villain and string him up from the nearest tree.’
‘But we don’t know who the man is.’
‘I think we do, Lawrence. A name is easily put to him.’
‘Perhaps too easily,’ observed Nicholas.
Elias was adamant. ‘It simply has to be Reginald Orr.’
‘Does it, Owen?’
‘That would be my fear,’ said Lawrence, ‘and it’s the reason I’d prefer the pair of you to remain at Silvermere where it’s safe.’
‘There was no safety here for Robert Partridge,’ Nicholas reminded him. ‘If my guess is right, he was murdered under this roof. And we can’t just wash our hands of Davy. The search for him must continue.’
‘That lunatic Puritan is the man we should be searching for,’ said Elias, waving a fist. ‘Heavens, Nick, the man tried to shoot a hole through your head.’
‘Did he?’
‘Why else was he lurking in the forest?’
‘To give me a fright, Owen. Yes,’ he said, holding his hands up to stifle the protest he saw coming, ‘I know that you disagree but I’ve had time to reflect on it during the ride back. Reginald Orr is an enemy who’s vowed to chase us out of Essex. And, as it happens, he and I exchanged hot words when we met at the church earlier.’
‘That’s all the evidence you need, Nick!’ urged Elias. ‘You provoked him.’
‘Into a rage, perhaps, but that does not mean he became an assassin. I’ve met the man twice now and seen him breathe fire at us. Master Orr may be an awkward Christian but he’s a Christian nevertheless and that might stay his hand.’
‘It didn’t stay his hand during that ambush,’ noted Firethorn.
‘We’ve yet to prove his involvement in that.’
‘What about the attempt to burn our stables? You caught Orr’s confederate in the act. Thanks to you, Isaac Upchard is rotting in a cell.’
‘Rightly so, Lawrence,’ said Elias. ‘Reginald Orr should join him there.’
Nicholas was patient. ‘Let me make my point. The ambush and the fire were both attempts to scare us off. No attempt was made to kill any of us. Look at me,’ he said, indicating the bandage on his head. ‘When I was cudgeled to the ground, I couldn’t defend myself. If they’d wanted to kill me, they had the chance there and then.’
‘They were too eager to get away, Nick.’
‘Yes,’ said Firethorn. ‘Since then, you’ve given Reginald Orr a stronger motive to want you dead. You not only arrested his friend, Isaac Upchard, you’ll be the principle witness against him. What are the chances of guilty verdict against him if there’s no Nicholas Bracewell to speak against him in court?’
‘Whoever fired that musket was trying to kill you,’ asserted Elias. ‘I think that we should lay violent hands upon him before he tries again.’
‘What of Davy?’ asked Nicholas.
Firethorn was blunt. ‘Better a missing apprentice than a dead book holder.’
‘We can’t just abandon the lad.’
‘Davy is the one who abandoned us, Nick.’
The argument continued for a long while until Nicholas finally persuaded them to accept his advice. He and Elias were to continue the search. Before doing that, however, Nicholas had someone else to see.
‘Saddle your horse, Owen,’ he instructed, ‘I’ll join you in a while.’
‘Where are you going?’
‘To see a man about a musket ball.’
Sir Michael Greenleaf was standing on the top of the tower, cleaning the lens of his telescope with a cloth. The breeze made the wisps of hair on his uncovered head dance in all directions. He was too absorbed in his work even to notice the arrival of two people. Romball Taylard cleared his throat to attract his master’s attention. Sir Michael looked up and gave Nicholas a warm greeting.
‘Have you come to take a peep through my telescope?’ he said, patting it gently.
‘No, Sir Michael. I need your advice.’
‘Then my advice is to come up here at night when the stars are out. I’ll show you how to read them. The portents for Westfield’s Men are excellent.’
Nicholas had doubts on that score but he suppressed them. Instead, he glanced at Taylard who was hovering meaningfully in the background. He did not wish to have a private discussion with Sir Michael while the steward was present.
‘I’d value a word alone with you, Sir Michael,’ he said pointedly.
‘Feel free to speak in front of Romball. I’ve no secrets from him.’
Nicholas was firm. ‘But I have, I’m afraid.’
‘Then I won’t intrude,’ said Taylard politely. ‘I’ve more than enough work to keep me occupied elsewhere. The visit of Westfield’s Men has placed extra burdens on us all.’ He gave a faint nod. ‘Please excuse me.’
Nicholas waited until the steward had shut the door behind him before he spoke.
‘What I have to say is strictly confidential, Sir Michael,’ he warned.
‘Of course, dear fellow, of course.’
‘There are two things I need to raise with you, neither particularly pleasant.’
‘Dear me!’ said Sir Michael. ‘I hope you have no complaints.’
‘None at all.’
‘I told Romball that Westfield’s Men were to have everything they wanted.’
‘And we have done,’ said Nicholas gratefully.
‘The one thing we could not legislate for was that unfortunate business during The Insatiate Duke. I know that it ruined the final moments of the play and I offer my apologies. We had no idea that Robert Partridge would be struck down by a heart attack.’
‘I’m not certain that he was, Sir Michael.’
‘No?’
‘It’s the first matter I wanted to discuss,’ said Nicholas. ‘You may remember telling us that your first impression was that the victim had not died from natural causes at all. You spoke of poison.’
‘Too hastily. Doctor Winche overruled me.’
‘Then perhaps he spoke too hastily as well.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘The case interested us, Sir Michael. It’s not every day that someone drops down dead during one of our performances. Master Firethorn and I decided to pay our respects to the victim. I hope that you don’t think it presumptuous of us,’ said Nicholas, ‘but we entered your chapel without asking permission.’
‘It’s always open to my guests.’
Nicholas told him what they had found in the mortuary, explaining his own familiarity with death by poisoning and calling into question the doctor’s diagnosis.
Sir Michael was shocked. ‘Doctor Winche is an experienced physician.’
‘Everyone makes mistakes.’
‘Well, yes, I know. It’s what I did when I first saw the body.’
‘Your opinion is supported by my own, Sir Michael.’
‘Then why do we differ from Doctor Winche?’
‘Who knows?’ replied Nicholas. ‘Perhaps we are both in error. All I ask is that you take a closer look at the victim with me now.’
‘But that’s impossible, my friend.’
‘I merely wish to point out the signs that I detected.’
‘You’re too late,’ said Sir Michael. ‘The body of Robert Partridge was removed from here first thing this morning. He lives in the parish of St Margaret’s. Since the church is big enough to have its own mortuary, that’s where he’s been taken. Doctor Winche was here to supervise the transfer of the cadaver.’
‘I see.’
‘He takes his duties very seriously, Master Bracewell.’