Nicholas was not sure that the man’s duties involved the removal of a dead body from one mortuary to another but he said nothing. Sir Michael’s faith in Doctor Winche was clearly unshaken. The whole subject needed to be postponed.
‘What’s the other matter you have to raise with me?’ asked Sir Michael.
‘It concerns this,’ said Nicholas, opening the palm of his hand to disclose the musket ball. ‘It was fired at me earlier today.’
Sir Michael was startled. ‘By whom?’
‘I wish I knew.’
‘Where did the shot occur?’
‘A few miles away. In the middle of the forest.’
‘May I see it?’
‘Please do, Sir Michael,’ said Nicholas, passing it to him. ‘There can’t be too many people in this part of the county who possess a musket. You have several in your arsenal and are clearly an expert on firearms.’
‘They’ve always fascinated me.’
‘When I was at sea, I was trained in the use of a musket so I know how unreliable they are. Even over short distances, aim is sometimes difficult.’
‘That fact may have been your salvation, sir,’ said Sir Michael, holding the musket ball to his eye to study it. ‘This would have killed you outright.’ He looked across at Nicholas. ‘What were you doing in the forest?’
‘Returning from Oakwood House.’
‘You had business with Clement Enderby?’
‘Yes,’ said Nicholas, careful not to divulge the full details. ‘Davy Stratton went across there this morning to visit Master Enderby’s children who are old friends of his. When the lad was late returning, I went in search of him but Davy had already come back to Silvermere by another route so my journey was in vain.’
‘And almost fatal.’
‘So it seems.’
‘How did you find Clement Enderby?’
‘In good spirits, Sir Michael, and looking forward to the performance of Henry the Fifth tomorrow. He was delighted that you invited him to Silvermere. He spoke very well of someone who used to be in service here.’
‘Oh? Who was that?’
‘A young woman called Kate, I believe.’
‘Ah, yes,’ said Sir Michael. ‘Katherine Gowan. We were sorry to lose her. My wife, especially. But the girl upset Romball in some way and she had to go. I never interfere in disputes between my steward and his staff. That would be foolish.’ He handed the musket ball back to Nicholas. ‘My eyes are not what they were, Master Bracewell. Look closely. Do you see any marks upon it?’
‘What sort of marks, Sir Michael?’
‘Three dots in the form of a triangle.’
‘I can see one, I think,’ said Nicholas, peering at the ball. ‘And there’s a trace of a second. If there was a third, it was scraped away when the ball hit the tree.’ He licked a finger and rubbed. ‘There are certainly two dots. I can see the second clearly now.’
‘As I suspected.’
‘Do you know what sort of musket fired it?’
‘Only too well,’ admitted Sir Michael, tugging nervously at his beard. ‘That musket ball was made here in one of my own moulds. We mark all ammunition with three dots when the molten iron starts to harden.’ He took a deep breath. ‘I regret to tell you that you came close to being killed by one of my own muskets.’
‘Who has access to them?’
‘Nobody but myself. As you saw, they’re kept under lock and key.’
‘Somebody must have got into your arsenal.’
Sir Michael paled. ‘They didn’t need to, Master Bracewell. I’ve just remembered. I lent a musket and some ammunition to a friend when he was overrun with rabbits. He borrowed the weapon to control their numbers.’
‘And who was this friend, Sir Michael?’
‘I hesitate to say his name.’
‘Why?’ pressed Nicholas. ‘Who was it?’
‘Jerome Stratton.’
Chapter Twelve
Nicholas Bracewell used the journey to Holly Lodge to discuss the implications of his discovery. His nagging suspicion about Jerome Stratton had been confirmed. Riding beside him, Owen Elias was difficult to shift from his original opinion.
‘I still think that Reginald Orr is involved somehow,’ he asserted.
‘No, Owen. I can’t accept that.’
‘Can you accept that he might have attacked you with a cudgel the other night?’
‘Easily.’
‘The difference between a cudgel and a musket is not that great.’
‘It is,’ said Nicholas.
‘Both can be used to kill.’
‘Only in the wrong hands. If it was Master Orr who hit me — and we’ve yet to unmask him as the culprit — then he did so simply to set Isaac Upchard free rather than to knock out my brains. I absolve him completely of the charge of shooting at me.’
‘Well, I don’t, Nick.’
‘How would he get hold of a musket?’
‘Sir Michael is not the only man in Essex who possesses them.’
‘He’s the only one with distinctive markings on his ammunition,’ said Nicholas. ‘He took me to the arsenal again and showed me his supply of musket balls. Each one had the same triangle of dots.’
Elias was scornful. ‘I’m not interested in Sir Michael’s little triangles. All that I’m concerned with is the single round hole that someone tried to put in your head. And my guess is that it was Reginald Orr who pulled the trigger himself or who set someone else on to do it.’
‘I disagree, Owen.’
‘What if he and Jerome Stratton are confederates?’
‘That’s unthinkable. They’d loathe the sight of each other. Can you imagine someone like Orr approving of the way that Master Stratton makes his money? And I hardly think that Davy’s father would consort with a Puritan. No,’ said Nicholas, ‘they live in different worlds.’
‘Different worlds, maybe, but they share the same code.’
‘Code?’
‘If something stands in your way, remove it.’
‘That’s certainly what Master Orr tried to do to us,’ conceded Nicholas.
‘And what better way to do it than to take our book holder away?’ said Elias. ‘Remove you and Westfield’s Men totter. From the moment you caught Isaac Upchard, you were a marked man, Nick. Orr is thirsting for your blood. There’s a sequence here,’ he argued. ‘The ambush, the attack on the stables and that shot in the forest.’
‘You’ve missed out the death of Robert Partridge.’
‘It was murder. We both know that.’
‘Do you lay that at Reginald’s Orr feet as well?’
‘Of course. He’ll do anything to disrupt our performances. I believe that that lawyer was deliberately poisoned so that he’d die during the play. We were fortunate that it happened when it did and not earlier in the action. Orr is to blame,’ he said, smacking his pommel with the flat of his hand. ‘I’d stake my fortune on it.’
‘You don’t have a fortune, Owen.’
The Welshman chuckled. ‘I’d forgotten that.’
‘You also forgot to explain how the poison was administered,’ said Nicholas. ‘Reginald Orr is not allowed anywhere near Silvermere. How did he sneak in there to give the fatal draught to Robert Partridge and why select a harmless lawyer as his victim?’
‘Lawyers are never harmless. Look at Pye.’
‘You’ve not answered me. Master Orr would get into the Palace of Westminster more easily than into Silvermere.’
‘He must have a friend in the house.’
‘I doubt if he has a friend in the whole county apart from Isaac Upchard. You’ve met him, Owen. He’s more skilled at making enemies than friends.’
The Welshman was unconvinced. He still believed that their trail would lead eventually to the inhospitable Puritan on whom they had called before. The two friends agreed to differ and rode on. It was a fairly short journey to Holly Lodge. As they trotted up the drive, Nicholas issued a caution.
‘Say nothing about Davy running away from us.’
‘If that’s what actually happened, Nick.’
‘We know that it was.’
‘Do we? Suppose that he’s been kidnapped by Reginald Orr?’
‘Davy went of his own accord. You can’t blame everything on Master Orr.’