‘So am I,’ said Bartholomew. ‘Udela and the servants might have agreed to stay silent if Robert was locked up, but not Pyk. They like him too much.’
Cynric clapped him on the shoulder. ‘I will ask her a few more questions when I go for my private consultation. But be careful with Aurifabro. I do not trust him.’
Apparently, Aurifabro did not trust the scholars either, because his henchmen were ranged behind him as he lounged in a chair near the hearth.
‘I have nothing to say to you,’ he was telling Michael, who was sitting opposite. ‘I want you to leave.’
‘Now, now,’ said Michael, stretching out his legs and looking so relaxed that Aurifabro might have been forgiven for thinking that he was settling down for a nap. ‘That is no way to address the man who might be Peterborough’s next Abbot.’
Aurifabro stared at him. ‘You? But how will you defeat Yvo and Ramseye? The monks will be too frightened of the retribution that will follow if they vote for you.’
‘You think it will be decided by election, do you?’ said Michael, smugly condescending. ‘The Bishop will make his own selection, and I am his favourite canon.’
‘I see.’ Aurifabro stared at the floor for a moment, and seemed to reach a decision. He indicated with a snap of his fingers that refreshments were to be served, and tried for a conciliatory smile, an expression that did not quite work on his dour features. ‘As I told your physician last night, I am tired of my dispute with the abbey. I want peace.’
‘I do not see why that cannot be arranged,’ said Michael, accepting a goblet of wine and nodding his appreciation at its quality. ‘Of course, it depends on your cooperation in answering questions about Robert.’
‘Ask then, but please be brief. I am a busy man.’
‘Business is good, then, is it?’ probed Michael. ‘Spalling is right to claim you are one of the wealthiest merchants in the region?’
‘Yes, but I am also generous, and I do not understand why he singles me out for censure. Most merchants never donate a penny to the poor.’
‘How many times did Robert visit you?’ asked Michael, abruptly changing the subject.
‘A lot,’ growled the goldsmith. ‘He was a nuisance, and I was beginning to wish he had commissioned someone else to make his paten. He wanted to inspect it every few days, to see how it was coming along. And now the abbey refuses to buy it. Of course, I imagine a discerning man like you will be keen to have it on his high altar.’
‘I might. Did he come here just to inspect your craftsmanship?’
‘No, he tried to foist his oily friendship on me as well, although I was having none of it and I told him so.’
‘How did Robert take your rejections?’
‘Badly – he told me I would rot in Hell. But I care nothing for his curses or his religion. I am a son of the older faith, which is why I keep a witch in my home.’
‘Do you indeed?’ murmured Michael.
‘Udela is a great seer, and your physician should be grateful that she has my respect, because otherwise I would have trounced him for distracting my entire household from their duties. No one has done a stroke of work in hours.’
‘Tell me what happened the day Robert was due to visit you.’ Michael refused to be intimidated by the man’s bluster.
‘What, again?’ groaned Aurifabro.
‘Yes, again,’ snapped Michael. ‘You may not care about Robert, but Pyk was with him, and he seemed a decent soul.’
‘Yes, he was,’ acknowledged Aurifabro. ‘Very well then. Robert approached me that morning and said he was coming to see the paten. I told him I was going to visit my mother, but he threatened to cancel the commission unless I stayed in. He said he planned to leave the abbey after his noonday meal – God forbid that he should miss that – and ride to me in the afternoon.’
‘And Pyk? Why did he come?’
‘To tend my servants. He often travelled with Robert, as he was one of few who could tolerate the fellow’s company.’ Aurifabro’s habitual glower softened. ‘Everyone liked Pyk, and the sight of his great domed head and scarlet cloak lifted the spirits of all who saw them.’
‘Why did Robert come here to inspect the paten? Surely you have a workshop in town?’
‘Of course, but I was making this particular piece at home. However, Robert’s visits were such a trial that I was on the verge of taking it to Peterborough, just to avoid them.’
‘What do you say to the people who lay Robert’s disappearance at your door?’
‘That they are wrong,’ snapped Aurifabro. ‘I had reasons to dislike the man – lots of them. But I am not in the habit of dispatching powerful churchmen. Or physicians.’
‘I am glad to hear it,’ said Michael dryly. ‘But are you sure you know nothing – even something which may seem unimportant – that might explain what happened?’
Aurifabro closed his eyes and sat still for so long that Michael exchanged a bemused glance with Bartholomew, both wondering whether he had fallen asleep.
‘Just one thing,’ said the goldsmith at last. ‘Robert always took his seals with him when he left the abbey. It suggests he distrusted his obedientiaries – that he was afraid they might use them fraudulently.’
‘Clearly. So what are you suggesting?’
‘That if he thought them capable of forgery, why not other crimes, too – such as killing him and Pyk on a lonely road?’
Unwilling to be blamed for the disappearance of a second important churchman, Aurifabro instructed some of his mercenaries to escort the scholars safely away from Torpe. Michael demurred but the goldsmith was insistent, and six burly warriors kept them close and rather menacing company for a while, then turned without a word and rode back the way they had come. Both scholars and defensores were relieved when they had gone.
‘What do you think?’ Michael allowed his horse to settle into a more comfortable pace. ‘Did Aurifabro do away with Robert and Pyk, as half the town, most monks and Spalling believe?’
‘Robert, maybe,’ said Bartholomew. ‘But not Pyk. Besides, Aurifabro had a point about the seals – it does suggest that Robert distrusted his own house.’
‘Yes, but who in particular? Henry?’
‘No.’ Bartholomew was tired of arguing the point. ‘He is a good man – Udela said so.’
‘You mean the witch?’ asked Michael archly. ‘That is meant to impress me, is it?’
‘There is nothing wrong with witches, Brother,’ put in Cynric. ‘But this one was wrong if she said Henry is good, because he is not. Nor are Ramseye and Yvo. They would certainly commit murder to become Abbot, and neither would hesitate to sacrifice Pyk in the process.’
‘Appletre admires Henry,’ Bartholomew pointed out. ‘He–’
‘Appletre is like you in that respect,’ interrupted Michael acidly. ‘Unable to tell the villains from the decent men.’
There was no point arguing with such rigidly held convictions, and Bartholomew did not try. Behind them, the defensores began muttering that they would not be in Peterborough until midnight if the men they were guarding insisted on ambling along at such a leisurely pace. Although Bartholomew did not see Michael do anything with reins or knees, the monk’s horse immediately slowed further still.
‘Could Aurifabro’s mercenaries have killed Robert and Pyk without their master’s knowledge?’ asked Cynric. ‘They are ruthless brutes. Moreover, I heard them speaking French, and the outlaws who kept ambushing us on our way here spoke French.’
‘It is possible.’ Michael sighed irritably. ‘Our visit to Torpe was a waste of time, and we must go home tomorrow. You being poisoned did not help, Matt. We lost a whole day over that.’