‘I thought that you said that you found the two pages on Torcan’s body?’ intervened Beccan.
‘So I did. How did they get there? Brother Febal gave them to Adnár …’
‘He said that he had found them in Torcan’s saddle bags,’ Adnár admitted.
‘Did he suggest that you should plant them on Torcan’s body?’
Adnár hung his head.
‘I really did think that he was going to kill you. I believed all that Febal had told me. But it was my idea to leave the pages on Torcan. When we went into the larger cave, I thought that you might not have all the evidence you needed to lay the blame on Torcan. Febal said he found the pages in Torcan’s saddle bags and so I decided to place them on his body for you to find.’
‘I know. You made an excuse to return to the body while I was nursing Brother Eadulf in order to place the pages on Torcan.’
Adnár was surprised.
‘How did you know?’
‘It is no mystery. You remember that I bent down to examine Torcán before we removed Brother Eadulf to the other cave. When I returned with Eadulf, after you had returned there, I saw the bulky pages under Torcan’s shirt. I knew that they had not been there when I checked to ensure that he was dead. It was obvious that you had placed them there.’
‘So,’ Beccan interrupted with a sigh, ‘are you saying that Adnár is not guilty of involvement in this matter? That he was misled and manipulated by Brother Febal?’
‘Adnár was not guilty of involvement with the murders of Almu and Síomha nor did he really know about the hunt for the gold calf. He is, however, guilty of complicity in the conspiracy of insurrection against Cashel.’
Adnár rose looking desperately about him.
‘But I warned you about it!’ he protested. ‘I warned you about the insurrection before it became generally known.’
‘This is so,’ whispered Brother Eadulf. ‘He did warn us.’ Fidelma ignored him.
‘Yes, Adnár,’ she said. ‘You warned me of it when it had already failed. Messengers arrived at your fortress in the early hours of that morning, the morning when you decided to arrest Olcán and follow Torcán to the cave. They came to inform you and Torcán that Gulban had been killed and theFrankish mercenaries and their weapons destroyed. I actually saw them arriving while I was making my way to meet with Brother Eadulf. Perhaps that was what compelled Torcán to come into the open and come to the abbey for one last desperate search for the gold calf.’
It was clear from the expression on Adnar’s face that Fidelma had scored a point.
‘You knew you would soon have to clear yourself of the charge of conspiracy. To show your loyalty, you first seized Gulban’s son Olcán, who, in fact, was innocent of any complicity in the plot for the insurrection. Then you followed Torcán here and were so able to warn me about the insurrection knowing that Gulban’s part in it had already failed.’
Beccan had a whispered exchange with his scribe before turning to Fidelma.
‘Let me get this straight, sister. Adnár is not guilty of killing Sisters Almu and Síomha. But what you are implying is that he slew Torcán believing it was justifiable?’
‘It is confusing,’ admitted Fidelma, ‘but the fact is, while he thought Torcán was guilty of murdering Almu and Síomha, he also killed him in premeditation in order to prevent him revealing that he, Adnár, was part of the insurrection. He is, therefore, still guilty of murder.’
There was a moment of silence before Adnár started to protest.
‘You can’t prove that I knew about the plot and what was happening at the copper mines.’
‘I think I can,’ Fidelma assured him. ‘You see, when you entered the cave and slew Torcan, you were able to recognise Brother Eadulf here by name. How would you know who he was if you did not know what was going on at the copper mines and that he had just escaped from them?’
Adnár made to speak but hesitated, his guilt written on his face. He sat down abruptly as if the strength had left him.
Beccan looked satisfied as he addressed Fidelma.
‘This leaves Brother Febal as the murderer of Almu and Siomha?’
‘That is so. He slew Almu and laid the false trail. When Torcan came close to him, he sacrificed Síomha. And Síomha was his lover.’ She looked across to Sister Lerben. ‘Síomha was not visiting Adnár at Dún Boí, as you thought, but Febal.’
Brother Febal had stood, hands bound, between the two warriors. He started to laugh, a slight hysterical note in his voice.
‘All very clever, dálaigh! Didn’t I tell you once that all you women stick together. Well, dálaigh, tell me this; where is the gold calf now? If I have done so much to find it, where is it now?’
The Brehon Beccan looked across to Fidelma.
‘Though we seem to have enough evidence and confession, Febal has raised an interesting point. Where is this fabulous gold calf that has cost so much blood?’
Fidelma shrugged eloquently.
‘Alas, that is a mystery that may never be solved.’
There were gasps of astonishment.
‘You mean my sacrifice was for nothing?’ Febal’s voice rose to a high pitch.
‘Your sacrifice?’ thundered Beccan. ‘You killed two members of this community and your scheming caused the death of Torcán.’ He gestured to the warriors. ‘Remove him from this place and take him aboard my vessel. Adnár also. They will be taken to Cashel.’
Adnár and Febal were hustled from the duirthech by Mail and his warriors.
Beccan gazed quizzically at Fidelma.
‘Are you saying that this gold calf never really existed?’ he asked.
Fidelma gave a wry grimace.
‘I think it probably did. Who are we to doubt the words of the ancient chronicles? But it is certainly no longer in thecave. It may be that it was removed from that cave many long years ago. And perhaps that may be the reason as to why the entrance had been blocked up. Perhaps, years ago, one could enter that cave complex from the inlet and that was how people originally went in and out.’
‘What makes you say this?’
‘Because of the casks. The two wooden casks floating on the underground pool, knocking into each other.’
‘I do not understand.’
‘Simple enough. How had the casks come into the cave? How could the statue have been placed in that cave or have been removed? The entrance through which Febal and Síomha gained their access was, as I and Eadulf know, only two feet wide. The logic is that the casks came by another entrance and through that same entrance the statue had been placed or removed. One thing more; the casks were less than a century old by the look of them. They were certainly no older for they were not rotten. They were still fairly dry inside and firm enough to create the hollow knocking when they banged together. I’d hazard a guess that when those casks were taken into the cave, the gold calf was taken out.’
‘So we may never know who removed the gold calf or its whereabouts now?’
Fidelma’s lips twitched slightly. Before answering she let her gaze wander slowly around from the large gold altar cross and the other gold icons hanging on the walls of the duirthech. Then she returned her mocking blue eyes to the figure of the Brehon.
‘I think, perhaps, when Necht the Pure drove the pagan Dedelchú and his people away from here and purified this place in the new Faith, the gold calf vanished with them.’
There was a pause and then the Brehon rose from his seat.
‘This hearing is now ended. We have seen here today much wisdom from you, Fidelma of Kildare,’ Beccan said approvingly.
Fidelma shrugged diffidently.
‘Vitam regit fortuna non sapientia,’ she responded in deprecation.