The intense black eyes focused on Bernard. “How do you plead?”
In a clear, steady voice that betrayed none of the weakness of his illness, Bernard replied, “I am innocent of these charges, my lord.”
“Do you stand ready to prove your innocence?”
“Aye, my lord, I do.”
The chief justiciar’s eyes flicked to Hugh, then back again to Bernard. “And have you an advocate to assist in your defense?”
“Aye, my lord, I do,” Bernard replied. “Lord Hugh de Leon will act as my advocate.”
There was absolutely no expression on the chief justiciar’s face as he nodded his acceptance.
All Alan could see of Hugh was the back of his head.
Next the justiciar turned to the sheriff, who was seated on his right. “Are you ready to prove this charge, Sir Gervase?”
“Aye, my lord,” Gervase replied. He looked as if he had not slept for a week, but his voice was firm. “I am ready to prove this charge.”
“Very well,” the justiciar said. “You may call your first witness.”
Alan’s hands clenched into fists as he heard the sheriff call his name. Richard gave him an encouraging look, and Alan stood up on trembling legs and walked forward to take his place in front of the justiciar.
“My lord,” the sheriff informed Richard Basset, “this is Alan Stanham, the boy who found the body of the earl.”
Alan looked into the penetrating black eyes of the justiciar and tried not to show his nervousness.
“Tell us, please, how this discovery came about,” the justiciar said.
“My lord, I went to the Minster on an errand for Sir Richard Canville, to whom I am squire,” Alan replied in a steady voice. “Sir Richard had left his knife in the vestibule earlier in the day and he asked me to retrieve it for him. I found the knife and then I decided that, since I was right there in the Minster, I would go inside and say a quick prayer. So I opened the door to the church.”
Here Alan stopped, certain he could feel Hugh’s eyes on his back.
After a moment, the justiciar said, “You may continue.”
“Aye, my lord.” Alan swallowed. “Well, as I came into the church, I noticed a light about halfway down the center aisle. I was surprised, as you can imagine, and I looked to see who could be there at such an hour. That is when I saw Bernard Radvers bending over the body of the Earl of Lincoln.” Alan paused with unconscious drama. “In his hand he was holding a knife that was covered in blood.”
There was a little stir among those assembled in the hall.
“What happened then?” the justiciar asked in a level voice.
“Bernard saw me standing there and said that the earl was dead and that I should go for the sheriff.”
“Let me be clear about this. Did you or did you not see Bernard Radvers in the act of stabbing the earl?”
“I did not, my lord.”
The justiciar nodded. “Did you then go for the sheriff?”
“First I ran up the aisle to see for myself what had happened,” Alan said.
“And what did you see?”
Alan swallowed again. “I saw that it was indeed the earl lying there, my lord, and I saw that he had been stabbed in the heart, most probably by the knife that Bernard was holding.”
Lady Elizabeth buried her face in her hands.
The justiciar looked at Bernard. “Is this information accurate?” he asked.
Bernard stood. “Aye, my lord. But it was not as it seemed to Alan.”
“How was it then?” the justiciar asked.
“I found the earl lying there, my lord, and I knelt beside him to ascertain his condition. When I saw that he was dead, I noticed the knife lying by his side. Unthinkingly, I picked it up to look at it. That is the explanation for my position when Alan came in and found me. I did not stab the earl, my lord. I swear it.”
“What were you doing in the Minster at such an hour?”
“I had received a message from the sheriff, my lord. At least, I was told it was from the sheriff. It said I was to meet him in the Minster two hours after evening services.”
“Didn’t you think this message rather odd?”
“I thought it was very odd, my lord, but I obeyed it.”
“Who brought you this message?”
“William Cobbett, one of the castle grooms, my lord.”
The chief justiciar turned to Gervase. “This is the groom who was killed?”
“Aye, my lord,” the sheriff replied grimly. “He was stabbed in the heart.”
One of the assembled witnesses exclaimed out loud, and Lord Richard frowned at him before turning back to Bernard. “So you have no proof that you did indeed receive this message?”
“My only proof would be the word of the groom, my lord, and he is dead.”
Once again the chief justiciar turned to Gervase. “Is it known what brought the earl to the Minster at such an unlikely time?”
“My lord, we presume that Bernard sent him a message by the dead groom that asked him to come to the Minster at that hour. Our contention is that Bernard killed the groom in order to conceal this information.”
“My lord.” The quiet yet perfectly audible voice belonged to Hugh.
The chief justiciar’s face was unreadable as he regarded Bernard’s advocate. “Do you have something to say, Lord Hugh?”
At the sound of Hugh’s voice, Alan turned so that he was half facing the justiciar and half facing the witnesses. For the first time that day, he saw more than the back of Hugh’s head.
Hugh was soberly dressed in a plain blue wool tunic and darker blue hose. In this chill, unheated hall, he wore no cloak. Alan noticed that his uncovered black hair had been newly cut.
Hugh said mildly, “I just wondered, my lord, if Bernard were so desperate a character that he murdered the earl and this groom, why did he not murder the young squire who found him in such a compromising situation? It would not have been difficult for him to overpower a youngster like Alan Stanham. Instead, however, he sent Alan for the sheriff. Surely that is not the behavior of a guilty man.”
“A good point, Lord Hugh,” the chief justiciar conceded. He turned his gaze to Alan. “Did Bernard Radvers make any threatening gestures toward you?”
“Nay, my lord,” Alan replied.
The chief justiciar nodded.
Hugh said, “My lord, I would be interested to know what brought Alan Stanham to the Minster at the exact time that Bernard was discovering the earl’s dead body.”
The chief justiciar looked annoyed. “We have already had that question answered, I believe. The boy was on an errand for Sir Richard Canville.”
“I realize that, my lord,” Hugh replied. “What I do not understand is how such an errand came to be timed so exactly.”
The chief justiciar’s black eyes hooded themselves. “Just what are you implying, Lord Hugh?”
“I am implying nothing, my lord,” Hugh replied. “I am only wondering if the timing of Alan’s errand was merely chance.”
Alan, who understood exactly what Hugh was trying to do, stood taller. “I can answer that question, my lord,” he said in a clear ringing voice. “Sir Richard noticed that he didn’t have his knife when he went to cut a piece of meat that I had served him. The timing was pure chance.”
“It was rather a late hour to be eating supper,” Hugh commented.
“Sir Richard is a large man,” Alan said defiantly. “He gets hungry more often than the rest of us.”
A light breath of laughter ran through the hall.
“Did Richard himself say he was hungry and ask you for food?” Hugh said.
“Sir Richard is the only one capable of knowing whether or not he is hungry, my lord,” Alan retorted.
Once again there came a ripple of laughter.
Careful, lad, Bernard thought worriedly.
Hugh went on, “So Sir Richard asked for food, discovered that his knife was missing, and sent you to the Minster to recover it just in time for you to find Bernard kneeling over the earl’s dead body.”