When they had exhausted their questions, she had some of her own for them.
‘Will I be called before you again?’ she asked.
‘It is possible,’ said Gervase.
‘What more can I tell you?’
‘We may need to test your reaction to evidence which is given by the other claimants. They, too, may be examined again.’
‘To what end?’
‘The pursuit of the truth,’ said Hubert.
‘But it lies in the documents I have already shown you,’ she said, indicating the satchel carried by Eldred. ‘Study them again if you are not convinced. I have waited a long time to regain this property and my patience is not unlimited. Why waste your time listening to claims that are patently fraudulent?’
‘There is nothing fraudulent about the lady Catherine’s claim,’
said Gervase. ‘Her husband’s will bequeaths those holdings to her. And the others involved in this dispute must also be heard.’
‘Heard then dismissed as impudent.’
Hubert bridled. ‘That is for us to decide.’
‘Can you take the claim of Engelric seriously?’ she said with a muted contempt. ‘Or that of the abbot? They fight a battle whose outcome was settled long ago. As for the other extraordinary claimant …’
‘We cannot discuss any of the contestants with you, my lady,’
said Gervase firmly. ‘None of them have sought to pour scorn on you. It will not help your cause to be critical of them.’
‘I apologise, Master Bret,’ she said quickly. ‘You are right. I am letting my impatience get the better of me. You are the judges here and I am a mere supplicant. I bow to your authority.’
‘You have no choice but to do so,’ warned Hubert.
‘I accept that.’ She rose to leave. ‘I bid you farewell.’
‘One last thing, my lady,’ said Gervase.
‘Yes?’
‘How do you come to know so much about the rival claimants?’
‘It is in my interests to do so,’ she said with a quiet smile.
Ralph Delchard’s concern served to deepen his irritation. He rode beside the sheriff and helped to supervise an exhaustive search of the city. It produced no results. Premises were searched and people questioned endlessly, but Hervey de Marigny’s whereabouts were not revealed. As the afternoon shaded into evening, Ralph slapped his thigh in exasperation.
‘God’s tits!’ he exclaimed. ‘He must be somewhere!’
‘Not in the city,’ said Baldwin.
‘We have not searched hard enough.’
‘Over sixty men have combed every street and building in Exeter, my lord. They even went into the crypt of the cathedral. The lord Hervey is nowhere to be found. Is there not a chance that he may have ridden out of the city without telling you?’
‘No,’ said Ralph. ‘Besides, his horse is in the stable.’
‘He may have procured another.’
‘For what purpose? Hervey de Marigny came here on royal business and he would not willingly have left until it was discharged. There is only one explanation here, my lord sheriff,’
he said grimly. ‘Foul play.’
‘Let us not fear the worst.’
‘We have to face the facts.’
‘He may yet be found in good health.’
‘I do not share your optimism. Search more thoroughly.’
‘My men have left no stone unturned,’ said Baldwin, ‘and your own men have been equally diligent. If the lord Hervey was in Exeter, we would surely have tracked him down by now. I will widen the search outside the city. It is the only thing left to do.’
‘Not quite, my lord sheriff.’
‘What is your advice?’
‘Arrest the abbot of Tavistock.’
Baldwin blinked in amazement. ‘On what possible grounds?’
‘Concealment of evidence.’
‘Can you be serious, my lord? Do you really imagine that the abbot is involved in the disappearance of the lord Hervey?’
‘Indirectly, yes.’
‘What evidence do you have?’
‘That of my own eyes and ears. The lord Hervey told us that he would speak to Walter Baderon again when he came on duty at the North Gate.’
‘None of the sentries remembers seeing them together.’
‘None of the sentries admits to it,’ corrected Ralph, ‘but only because their master has told them to keep silent. Why did the abbot send this Baderon back to Tavistock if not to evade our enquiries? He is the key to this whole business, I feel sure.’ He became peremptory. ‘Put the abbot under lock and key while I ride to Tavistock to arrest Walter Baderon.’
‘I will do nothing of the kind, my lord.’
‘Then you are slack in your duties.’
‘Do you dare to insult me?’
‘No, my lord sheriff,’ said Ralph with a note of apology. ‘You have acted promptly and put your men at our disposal. I am grateful for that. But I would be even more grateful if you would at least interrogate the abbot. I am certain that he is hiding something.’
‘I do not share that certainty.’
‘Why was the captain of his guard sent home?’
‘It might just be a coincidence, my lord.’
‘I beg to differ.’
‘The abbot is not responsible.’
‘He knows something,’ insisted Ralph. ‘I saw it in his eyes.’
Baldwin was unmoved. ‘I have no cause to interrogate him, still less to issue a warrant of arrest. Have you any idea what complications would follow? I’d have the Church itself around my ears.’
‘An abbot is not above the law.’
‘The law requires proof of guilt, my lord, and you have none.’
‘Very well,’ said Ralph. ‘I’ll tackle the abbot myself.’
‘No,’ ordered the sheriff. ‘I will lead this search. The lord Hervey told you that he would talk to this Walter Baderon but it is far from certain that he did so. The last reports we have of him come from my own sentries who saw him leave the castle. Something may have happened to him before he got anywhere near the North Gate.
Be ruled by me, my lord. I will not condone intemperate action.’
Ralph looked around him, his howl a mixture of anger and despair. ‘Where is he?’
Gervase was troubled by severe misgivings. He walked up and down the street three times before he dared to approach the house. In answer to his tentative knock, Goda opened the door.
She eyed him with suspicion. He stammered an enquiry but the servant did not have time to answer. Hearing his voice, Asa came swiftly out of the parlour.
‘Master Bret!’ she said with delight.
‘I was hoping to find you at home.’
‘You have brought me good news? My claim has been upheld?’
‘We have not yet reached a decision,’ he said, ‘and your claim may be in jeopardy. That is why I came.’
She invited him in and closed the door of the parlour after them. ‘What is wrong?’ she asked.
‘You have not been telling me the truth, Asa.’
‘Yes, I have!’
‘You deliberately misled me.’
‘What makes you think that?’
‘These letters,’ he said, taking the packet from his satchel and handing it to her. ‘Do you recognise them?’
She winced visibly. ‘No, I do not,’ she said.
‘They bear your name.’
‘Then someone forged my signature.’
‘They could not have forged the contents, Asa,’ he said. ‘I have read the letters through and I know that only you could have written them.’
A long pause. ‘Where did you get them?’ she asked finally.
‘They were delivered to me at the shire hall.’
‘By whom?’
‘I have no idea.’
‘By her!’ she sneered. ‘By the precious lady Catherine! Except that she would not deign to bring them herself. That creeping Tetbald would have been given the office.’
He fixed her with a stare. ‘Did you write those letters, Asa?’
‘Yes,’ she confessed. ‘But only under duress.’
‘Duress?’
‘The lord Nicholas made me write them.’
‘Why?’
‘He said that he wanted proof of my love,’ she sighed, ‘though he had ample proof of that in my bedchamber. He told me that he needed some token from me to help him endure the pain of being apart. These were private letters, Master Bret,’ she chided, ‘and you had no business to read them. I am disappointed in you.’