‘What on earth is happening?’ he exclaimed. ‘Why is the bell ringing?’
He glimpsed the bell rope and its weight in the window recess. He opened his mouth and stepped back.
‘What are you doing, Sir Hugh?’
‘I wondered,’ Corbett replied, ‘how the church bells could be rung when no one was up here? Last night when Curate Robert died, nobody was in this church. Do you remember? We all were sitting at the Guildhall feeding our faces, revelling in the civic wealth of Melford. Then the church bell rang. Up you jumped, Master Burghesh, like a hare in spring, and off you ran to discover what caused it. Some time later you come hastening back, all a-bother: Curate Robert has hanged himself for all to see. No sign of violence, no evidence that someone had hanged him. Moreover, up the cuff of his sleeve was a scrap of parchment, a quotation from the Psalms about his sin always being before him. To all intents and purposes, Curate Robert must have been the slayer of those young women. Unable to confront his guilt, or fearful of being caught, he seized the opportunity, when the church was deserted, to come into this belfry and hang himself.’
‘That’s what happened,’ Burghesh stammered.
Corbett leant his elbows on his knees and smiled back.
‘That’s not true, Master Burghesh. First, why did you leave the Guildhall? Because a bell tolled? Couldn’t Curate Robert deal with that and, if there was anything wrong, travel the short distance to the Guildhall to inform Parson Grimstone or yourself?’
‘Curate Robert liked his wine,’ Burghesh declared sourly. ‘It was one thing or the other: whipping himself for his sins, praying prostrate on the cold flagstones or drowning his woes in copious wine.’
‘No doubt he did, Master Burghesh. Last night, however, he came here to pray and think whilst you and Parson Grimstone prepared for the banquet. You joined him, all solicitous, bearing a big bowled cup of wine mingled with a very strong sleeping potion. You grow such herbs in your garden. Curate Robert wasn’t invited to the celebrations and he probably would have avoided them. He wanted to sit here in the dark feeling sorry for himself. If the wine didn’t put him to sleep, the potion certainly did. Whilst he drank, you busied yourself around the church like you always do. You came into the belfry, took one of the ropes and placed it very, very high, as far as you could into a window recess: something you learnt as a boy or noticed over the years. The recess has a slight slope. Eventually, the rope, pulled by its weight, slides off just like a man being hanged. The weight falls and the tremor sets the bells ringing. I’ve just proved it myself. I suspect it would take,’ Corbett pulled a face, ‘if pulled right back into the recess, a considerable time before the weight actually fell.’
‘Nonsense!’ Burghesh exclaimed.
‘I can prove it,’ Corbett murmured. ‘I didn’t study the mechanical sciences in Oxford but I know a little bit about weights and measures. Anyway, you had your signal to come hurrying back to the church. The house was all locked up. Poor Curate Robert had drunk the wine and was fast asleep. You then took him into the belfry, up the steps, tied the rope round his neck and released his body. Curate Robert never regained consciousness. Perhaps you tugged on his feet to hasten his death? That’s what caused the second peal of bells that night. You hid the cup, an easy thing in a place like this. You wiped poor Robert’s mouth with a cloth and gazed around: all was well so you hastened back to the Guildhall to proclaim the sad news.’
‘What about the letter?’
‘What letter?’
‘The piece of parchment found hidden in Robert’s cuff?’
‘Oh, you put that there. You brought the wine down to Curate Robert. Before you left the priest’s house with Parson Grimstone, you searched Bellen’s chamber, while he was in the church, and took away anything which might provoke suspicion. You were also looking for such a scrap of parchment. I wager Curate Robert was well known for writing out verses, quotations from the Bible on which to meditate. The one you took suited your purpose though any of them would have done. You put it into your wallet and went along to the Guildhall.’
Burghesh had now recovered his poise. He crossed his arms as if to show Corbett his hand was nowhere near his dagger.
‘But what if the weight hadn’t fallen? What if something had happened?’
‘In which case Curate Robert would have woken up with a sore head, feeling guilty as usual. You would have enjoyed a splendid banquet at the Guildhall and waited for another opportunity. True, you had been through Curate Robert’s chamber. Perhaps he would notice a few papers missing, some disturbance. But, there again, he might blame himself. He wouldn’t be able to remember very clearly, would he? Or he might blame Parson Grimstone who, in his cups, is forgetful and wanders where he shouldn’t.’
‘And why should I kill Curate Robert?’
‘Because you are an assassin, Master Burghesh. You like killing. You particularly like to watch some young woman’s terror as you rape, then garrotte her.’
Burghesh swallowed hard. ‘I don’t have to listen to this web of lies!’
‘Where can you go?’ Corbett lied. ‘My men are outside the church. They’ll arrest you as soon as you leave. Do you want to know why you killed Curate Robert?’
‘You have your theories,’ Burghesh scoffed. ‘Why should I kill a man whom I have lived with for so many years? He was my friend.’
‘He was also curate of this church,’ Corbett retorted, ‘and you were growing very concerned. Parson Grimstone drank a lot, he was becoming forgetful. What really concerned Curate Robert — and I admit I have no real evidence for this — was that someone told him, God knows who, why or how, that sins confessed in the shriving pew were known to others.’
‘So, you have no proof?’
‘I have proof of sorts. Curate Robert would be mystified by this, deeply alarmed. Did he discuss it with Parson Grimstone who, of course, would tell you? Or, did you go through the curate’s chamber and discover that he might be writing to his bishop? Bellen was becoming dangerous, that’s why you killed him! At the same time, he could be cast as a possible assassin. In truth, Curate Robert knew little about the murders. However, any priest with a spark of conscience would grow concerned if the seal of the confessional was being violated. I’ll wonder to my dying day and so will you,’ Corbett added, ‘just who this person was. Loud-mouthed Molkyn? His daughter? Or Deverell, our furtive carpenter? Even Blidscote?’
‘Are you also going to accuse me of Molkyn’s and Deverell’s deaths?’
‘Of course not,’ Corbett replied. ‘They were executed, or murdered, by Sir Louis Tressilyian, who realised that, due to their false testimony, an innocent man had been hanged.’
Burghesh started, his agitation obvious.
‘Oh yes, Sir Roger was innocent! You killed, Burghesh, and, because of you, others lied, perjured themselves and were finally murdered to protect your sin.’
Corbett got to his feet and moved further up the steps, lengthening the gap between himself and this bloody-handed assassin.
‘You’ve always been an assassin, Burghesh: you will stand there and hear the truth. You became a soldier to kill. You revel in hot, splashing blood, the stink of death, have done ever since you were a young man on a farm near Melford. How many years ago would that be? Forty? Going back to the reign of our King’s father? I have studied the Book of the Dead. It makes mention of two, three young women being murdered decades ago, as well as elliptical references to the corpses of “Unknown”. Who were these Unknowns? Poor travellers? Whores? Prostitutes? Runaways with the misfortune to come to Melford? You preyed along those country lanes like a weasel hunting rabbits. No one was ever caught for these murders, perhaps no one even cared. You were safe. To all appearances you were the honest, bluff Burghesh, half-brother to young Grimstone, who was destined for the Church. I wonder if you ever opened that book and looked at your victims’ names? Do you ever feel a pang of guilt?’