‘It was Aelfeva who ended up in the stream, Ralph. He found her.’
‘Who?’
‘The man we’re going to see. Olova told me how heartbroken he was when he saw her dead body floating on the water. That kind of experience would embitter anyone. I can see why Skalp was fired up to attack the steward.’
‘Skalp?’ said Vavasour.
‘Olova’s grandson. You must have noticed him when you called there yourself. A big, strong, surly young man who was very protective towards the old woman.’
‘I saw no sign of him.’
‘Then he must have been hiding somewhere.’
‘With cause, by the sound of it,’ said Ralph, trusting in his friend’s judgement. ‘Are you saying that Skalp was guilty of both crimes, Gervase? Theft and murder?’
‘I believe so.’
‘On his own?’
‘Probably. One man would attract less attention.’
‘But he didn’t know his way around the lord Richard’s estate.’
‘Starculf did,’ said Gervase, ‘and he would have told his accomplice all that he needed to know. He even gave him the duplicate keys to look after until the appointed time. Skalp couldn’t wait. He wanted Hermer too badly.’
‘How can you be so sure?’ asked Vavasour.
Gervase raised a finger. ‘Remember what Starculf told us. He wanted to kill Hermer in the lord Richard’s manor house and leave the body there to shock his old master. The last thing he would’ve done is to drag it across country at night and deposit the corpse so close to the castle. Skalp wasn’t content with upsetting the lord Richard,’ he went on. ‘He wanted to outrage the entire city. That’s why he left the stench of death right there in the middle of it.’
‘What about the severed hands?’ said Ralph.
‘Did Starculf look like the sort of person to do that?’
‘I suppose not.’
‘He had no reason. Skalp did. Those were the hands that had defiled Aelfeva.’
Ralph grimaced. ‘I’m surprised he didn’t cut off the man’s pizzle as well.’
‘Skalp made his point strongly enough.’
‘Why did he return the hands to the lord Richard?’
‘To give him a jolt, Ralph.’
‘Just hearing about it jolted me,’ confessed the other.
‘Thank heaven I turned away from that world!’ said Vavasour with an upsurge of remorse. ‘I hacked off limbs in my time. I blinded and maimed. In the name of duty, I fought and killed my way right round this country.’
‘So did I, my friend. We had no choice.’
‘But we did, my lord. We could’ve refused to go on with the slaughter. We could’ve renounced the violence as I’ve now done and tried to atone for it by leading a more spiritual life. We could’ve walked away.’
‘Speak for yourself,’ said Ralph. ‘I have a wife to look after and I don’t think she’d appreciate living in a pile of brushwood out on the marshes.’
‘Can’t you hear what I’m saying?’ Vavasour reached out to grab his arm. ‘We revile this man Skalp for committing a foul murder yet you and I are just as bad in some ways. We’ve shed blood as well. We’ve sinned.’
Ralph removed his hand. ‘I’ll make amends for my sins in my own way.’
‘And what way is that, my lord?’
‘Dispensing justice and rooting out crime.’
Gervase had gone off into a meditative silence. He came out of it with a smile. ‘Starculf had another accomplice,’ he declared.
‘There were three of them?’ said Ralph.
‘Only two were party to the murder. The third was an unwitting confederate.’
‘Who was he?’
‘The person who told Starculf when the lord Richard and his steward would be away from the house. That’s what made possible the theft of the keys and everything turned on that. I can see why Starculf refused to tell us who it was! He wanted to protect her at all costs.’
‘Her?’
‘Of course,’ said Gervase. ‘It was the lady Adelaide.’
Mauger Livarot was mortified when he saw the sheriff and his officers approaching with a prisoner. It looked as if his hopes had run aground. If the killer had been caught, the elephants would have been recovered and there was no way that he could wrest them from Roger Bigot and his substantial escort. Livarot and his men waited until the other column reached them.
‘Good day, my lord!’ Bigot hailed him. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Helping in the search,’ said Livarot, looking at Starculf. ‘But it seems that we came too late. You’ve caught him without us.’
‘It was the lord Ralph who arrested him. We’ve taken charge of him now.’
‘Has the villain confessed?’
‘No,’ said Bigot, irritably. ‘Starculf claims that he’s innocent of the murder. And the wonder of it is that the lord Ralph and Gervase Bret accept his word. The man is involved somehow and I mean to find out exactly how, but he may not actually have struck down Hermer.’
‘What of the other crime?’ said Livarot. ‘The theft of the gold elephants?’
‘I stole nothing,’ asserted Starculf.
Bigot was astringent. ‘Apart from the keys to the lord Richard’s manor house.’
‘I’ve never set eyes on these gold elephants.’
‘Then where are they?’ prodded Livarot.
‘The lord Ralph has gone in search of them,’ said Bigot.
‘He knows their whereabouts?’
‘Gervase Bret does. He was acting as guide.’
‘Which way did they go?’
‘They took the road to the Henstead hundred,’ said Bigot, swivelling round to point a finger. ‘A mile or so back.’
Livarot’s hopes revived. ‘We’ll catch them up and offer our assistance.’
‘I think they can manage well enough without you, my lord.’
‘We’ve come this far,’ said the other, eager to be off. ‘We might as well ride on a little further. Who knows? We might arrive in time to be of real use.’
Giving the sheriff no time to reply, he led his men swiftly off down the track.
Skalp saw them coming. They were half a mile away when he first heard the noise of their harness and the sound of their voices carried on the light wind. One glimpse of them was all that he needed. When he recognised Gervase and saw the men-at-arms with him, he was off at once. Dropping the axe with which he had been splitting a log, he ran to his hut and disappeared inside. The old man who had been helping him to rebuild the other dwelling looked on in dismay as Skalp grabbed his dagger, thrust it into his belt, then reached up into the thatch for something that was wrapped in a piece of animal skin. He darted out of the hut and ran across to his grandmother who had come out to see what was happening.
‘Don’t tell them where I am!’ he said.
‘Who?’ asked Olova.
‘Say that I’ve gone far away.’
‘Why?’
‘Goodbye, Grandmother.’
‘Skalp!’
‘I must go.’
It was an unceremonious departure. Sprinting down the slight incline, he made for the bushes near the stream and dived behind them. Olova lost sight of him, wondering why he had gone so abruptly and in such a state of fear. Minutes later, Gervase Bret came into view with his companions. Olova folded her arms defiantly.
‘You promised that you’d leave me alone!’ she said.
‘We’ve not come to see you, Olova,’ he explained, courteously.
‘Then why have you brought soldiers with you?’
‘We need to speak to Skalp.’
‘He’s not here.’
‘Then where is he?’
‘I don’t know.’
Her eyes betrayed her. Before she could stop herself, she glanced in the direction that Skalp had taken. It was enough of a clue for Ralph Delchard to seize on. ‘He’s making a run for it!’ he cried, kicking his horse into action.
Jocelyn Vavasour was the first to respond. He gave pursuit with Ralph’s men close behind him. Gervase shot a look of apology at Olova, then joined in the hectic chase.
Ralph was not going to surrender the pleasure of overhauling a fugitive this time. As soon as he reached the stream, he caught sight of Skalp’s head, bobbing up and down in the distance. Swinging his horse round, Ralph galloped along the bank and ducked beneath the overhanging branches of a tree. Skalp vanished into some bushes and reappeared again, running at full pelt. It was all the admission of guilt that Ralph needed. He remembered the mutilated corpse that was brought into the castle. A man responsible for that crime deserved no mercy. As his destrier began to gain on his quarry, Ralph drew his sword.