Free The Butcher of Smithfield by Susanna Gregory

statement coaxed a reluctant smile from the surveyor. ‘Well, your confidence is justified, because I did not kill Newburne.
     However, I might stick a dagger in L’Estrange if the occasion arises, so do not be too ready to see me as a feeble fellow
     who cowers away from bullies.’
    ‘Let us hope your paths never cross, then,’ said Thurloe mildly.
    Leybourn glared. ‘Let us hope they
do
! Mary says my good nature allows unscrupulous men to take advantage of me, so I have decided to be a bit more ruthless in
     future. The soft-hearted, gullible Leybourn will be no more, and I shall be a new man.’
    ‘But I like the soft-hearted, gullible Leybourn,’ objected Chaloner. ‘And I am not so sure about the new man – the one who
     wants me to burgle instrument-makers and set fire to St Paul’s Cathedral.’
    ‘Mary likes me a tad disreputable,’ said Leybourn with a lopsided grin. ‘And I aim to please her.’
    ‘I am sure she does,’ muttered Thurloe disparagingly. He turned to Chaloner before Leybourn could respond. ‘I wish the Earl
     had not given you this particular assignment, Tom. It is too dangerous for a man working alone, and it is Williamson’s business,
     anyway. He will not appreciate you meddling.’
    ‘Especially you,’ added Leybourn. ‘You have earned his dislike on several occasions.’
    ‘When I first sent you to the Earl, he promised to use you wisely,’ Thurloe went on. ‘He knows we are friends, and that I
     will be vexed if anything happens to you. Andhe did not want me vexed, not when – as Cromwell’s spymaster – I know so many secrets about prominent Royalists. Unfortunately,
     times have changed. It is the gardens, you see. They showed me to be weak.’
    ‘I do not understand,’ said Chaloner. ‘What do the gardens have to do with anything?’
    ‘I did not want them remodelled, but was unable to stop it – in essence, I lost a very public battle, which allowed everyone
     to see how my power has waned. People are no longer wary of me.’
    Chaloner was alarmed. ‘You mean you are not safe? Then you should retire to your estates in Oxfordshire, and—’
    Thurloe raised his hand. ‘There are plenty of men who want me dead for my faithful service to Cromwell, and nothing has changed
     there. The current danger is to
you
, Tom. The Earl is no longer afraid of me, which means he may be careless in his use of you.’
    ‘Leave him,’ advised Leybourn, ‘while you can.’
    ‘And do what?’ asked Chaloner. ‘I cannot foist myself on my family, because they cannot afford to keep me, and I am not qualified
     for any other work.’
    ‘I am sure they would prefer a living scavenger to a dead workhorse,’ said Leybourn. ‘Go home to Buckinghamshire before the
     Earl’s commission lands you in danger. Newburne’s killer will not give himself up easily, and you have no idea what you are
     facing.’
    When a bell began to chime, Thurloe said he was due to attend a benchers’ meeting in the chapel. Chaloner and Leybourn escorted
     him across the courtyard, but he was early, so they lingered together in the undercroft – an open crypt that had been designed
     to allow studentsto congregate and discuss complex cases, and where lawyers could confer with their clients. It was empty that day, because
     a rainswept cloister was not a place most men wanted to linger, and the lawyers were keeping to their rooms until the last
     possible moment.
    ‘Do you know a man called William Smegergill?’ Chaloner asked the ex-Spymaster.
    Thurloe’s expression became thoughtful. ‘Smegergill was Maylord’s friend. Maylord died of cucumbers, and so did Newburne,
     so I suspect you are looking for a connection. Am I right?’
    ‘Newburne might have died from ingesting cucumbers, but Maylord certainly did not. He was smothered, and the cucumber left
     to disguise the fact. It seems to have worked, because no one else seems to be suspicious about his death.’
    Leybourn gazed angrily at the