Almost as though he had read my thoughts, he smiled. ‘It’s all right, you’re not talking to one of those cowards who ran away and left his comrades in the lurch.’ He drained his beaker and called for another. ‘By Our Lady, that walk made me dry! I only hope that Ethelreda’s recovered enough for the climb tomorrow. I don’t think I can tackle it again. But at least I was able to have a word with my sister-in-law.’
‘Of course,’ I said. ‘I’d forgotten for the moment that she’s now one of the nuns. Adela and I will probably see her tomorrow evening, at Vespers. Mistress Ford has invited us to be her guests. It’s the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalen,’ I added by way of explanation.
‘So Marion — Sister Jerome, rather — mentioned. But she didn’t suggest that Jane and I go. I suppose because she knows how easily bored and restless her sister becomes when she has to stand still for any length of time.’ He downed the contents of his second beaker in almost one gulp and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. ‘Well, I must be off. I’ve left Jane too long already. Burl Hodge’s wife is keeping her company, but she doesn’t like it if I’m absent for more than an hour or so.’
He rose to his feet, but I gripped his wrist, detaining him.
‘Master Overbecks, do you intend letting Jasper’s old living quarters above the bakery?’
He looked down at me, pursing his lips. ‘I haven’t really had time to think about it, lad. It’s all been such a shock. The murder, I mean. I can guess what’s in your mind, though.’ He grimaced sympathetically. ‘But to be honest with you, I think I want to be rid of the entire building. I’ve enough to do with my present business, without taking on another. One of my fellow bakers might like to buy it from me. Or it would make a fine town dwelling if the shop and bakehouse were used as living space, as well.’ He sighed and shook his head. ‘It would be more than you could afford, Roger, I’m afraid.’
Sadly, I agreed. Even with my two gold pieces added to every spare penny I had earned so far this summer, it would be beyond my pocket. But just the thought of such a house made me sick with longing; two rooms downstairs and four up would be paradise. But a moment’s reflection sufficed to remind me that a lowly chapman, such as myself, would incur resentment living in such surroundings. I echoed the baker’s sigh.
‘Just a midsummer’s dream,’ I said, and released his arm.
John Overbecks patted my shoulder and took his leave. I stayed where I was for a few moments longer, then bade the landlord good day and went in search of Richard Manifold.
I found him in the Councillors’ Meeting Hall, next to the Tolzey, where the sheriff, as well as the mayor, city bailiffs and councillors, had rooms; rooms, I noted sourly, that were spacious and well appointed. (Those in authority always make themselves comfortable.)
Richard was in one of the ante-rooms, waiting, I presumed, to make a report, either to the sheriff himself, or to one of his deputies. I sat down on the bench beside him and was greeted with a surly frown.
‘What do you want?’
This was not the welcome I had hoped for, but I ignored the frosty atmosphere and smiled benignly. I put my first question: ‘Was the stranger who had called on Jasper Fairbrother an agent of Henry Tudor?’
He jumped. ‘Who told you that?’ he barked.
‘No one. I put two and two together and thought I’d made four. But I suppose,’ I added, pretending to doubt my own ability, ‘I might have made five instead.’
Richard lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘No. There’s nothing wrong with your addition, unfortunately. I have reason to believe that the man’s a Lancastrian spy. But don’t go blabbing it all over the place, mind! I know that big mouth of yours!’
I felt this was most unjust and said so. ‘Have you caught him yet?’ I added nastily. ‘You said you were sending a posse in pursuit.’
‘And so I did, an hour or more ago. Twenty men from around the town, with Jack Gload and Pete Littleman in charge.’ I snorted. He ignored it. ‘But this fellow had at least four hours start of them, if he left the city at dawn, as soon as the gates were open.’
‘But he’s on foot. They’re mounted,’ I objected. After a moment, I asked, ‘In which direction are they searching?’
He laughed shortly.
‘Well, of course, our man could be anywhere. But as you claimed to have seen him on Saint Michael’s Hill yesterday evening, I instructed Pete and Jack to try that road first. That doesn’t mean to say,’ he added, ‘that our fugitive hasn’t gone in some entirely different direction.’
That might be the case if he returned to Bristol after I saw him. But I don’t believe he did. Richard, my guess is that he’s a great deal more than a mere few hours ahead of your posse. I think he’s been travelling all night.’
The sergeant’s frown became a scowl. ‘You don’t believe the Breton killed Jasper Fairbrother, then?’
‘I’m not convinced. Moreover, I don’t think you are, either. You just want an excuse to lay him by the heels. And a charge of murder is as good as — in fact, better than — any other.’
‘You’re wrong. I believe he is the man we’re after. These agents are ruthless. They dare not risk betrayal. If Jasper was threatening to make trouble of some kind-’
I interrupted, trying desperately hard to suppress the note of triumph in my voice. ‘He wasn’t. Our stranger was attempting to blackmail him. Ask Walter Godsmark.’
Richard turned on me savagely. ‘You’ve been talking to Walter Godsmark?’
‘Why not? There’s no law against it that I know of. What’s more, I persuaded him to remember some conversation he’d overheard between Jasper and his guest. The Breton was, it seems, trying to force Jasper to give him money. “For the cause”, according to Walter. Jasper was reluctant to oblige. Said he was being “bled dry”, again according to Walter. There was further wrangling, after which the two men apparently went upstairs and out of earshot. But it was the stranger who was threatening Jasper, not the other way around.’
‘If-if W-Walter wasn’t just making this up in order to g-get rid of you and your infernal poking and p-prying!’ Richard, his face like thunder, could barely stammer out the words, he was so angry. He gripped my wrist with such ferocity, I thought he would crush the bone. ‘I’ve told you, keep out of this, Roger! If I discover you’ve interfered again, I shall lodge a formal complaint against you. I’ll have you locked up, if necessary. Is that understood?’
I ignored the question and posed another of my own.
‘What about those two oafs I drew to your attention yesterday? I’ve just seen them drinking in the Green Lattis. Why aren’t they suspected of the murder? Has it occurred to you that it might have been Jasper’s house they were watching, and not John Overbecks’s? The two shops are almost opposite one another.’
‘By God’s blood!’ Richard’s hold on my wrist tightened still further. ‘Those two men had nothing to do with Jasper’s death! I’m warning you, Chapman! Keep your nose out of my enquiry or I’ll see you clapped in gaol!’
He was furious that I had obtained information from Walter Godsmark that he should have found out for himself. I could appreciate his chagrin and bore him no ill will. I would have felt the same in his shoes.
I freed my arm from his clasp just as a rheumy-eyed clerk came to summon him into the next-door chamber.
‘Adela and I will expect you at four o’clock then, for supper,’ I said magnanimously, and, hoisting my pack on to my back, left him still seething with wrath.
He did not come. I was not surprised, and neither was Adela, who seemed more relieved than otherwise when I had regaled her with the events of my day. I was in her good books again, having had a successful afternoon, selling nearly everything that was in my pack. Tomorrow, I should have to set about restocking it.
I did not mention the fact that I had followed the steep and stony track up Saint Michael’s Hill, beyond the gallows and the windmill, to the steadily rising countryside that led to Durdham Down. There was a scattering of farms and larger dwellings on these slopes, where money was more plentiful than in the town, and where a travelling pedlar was always welcome. Refreshment, too, was plentiful, and on a sweltering day like today that was a serious consideration. A greater one, however, was the chance to make a few discreet enquiries — such as, had a stranger, a foreigner, passed that way within the last twenty-four hours? Had anyone called, begging a night’s lodging in some kitchen corner, where he could shelter and be warm?