Free Shroud for the Archbishop by Peter Tremayne Page B

in prayer?’
    She stood staring thoughtfully at the spot as if seeking inspiration from it.
    ‘Either way, we must presume his back was to the door. His murderer enters, so quietly that Wighard does not even turn, is not even suspicious, and then, we must believe that this murderer is able to seize Wighard’s prayer cord and garrote him so swiftly that he does not struggle and is dead before he even realises it.’

    ‘That is according to the information so far,’ Eadulf grimaced. ‘Perhaps we should now see this Brother Ronan and see what light he has to shed on the matter.’
    ‘Brother Ronan can wait a moment more,’ Fidelma said, her intent gaze wandering around the room. ‘Bishop Gelasius said that the gifts that Wighard brought for the Holy Father were stolen. As Wighard’s secretary, Eadulf, you would know where they were kept.’
    Eadulf pointed into the other room.
    ‘They were kept in a trunk in Wighard’s reception room.’
    Fidelma turned back into the first room. It also reflected the affluence and elegance of the palace, with its furnishings and tapestries. As Eadulf had indicated, a large wooden trunk, bound with iron, stood in one corner. Its lid was already opened and she could see that there was nothing left inside.
    ‘What was kept in the trunk, Eadulf? Do you know?’
    Eadulf smiled a little vainly.
    ‘That was my duty as scriba, secretary to the archbishop. As soon as I arrived in Rome, I was called upon to take up my duties, so I know all about the matter. Every kingdom in the Saxon lands had sent gifts to His Holiness through Canterbury to show that they all submitted to the decision at Witebia; to demonstrate by those gifts that the rule of Rome was accepted among them and that Canterbury was to be the principal bishopric of the kingdoms. There was a tapestry woven by the ladies-in-waiting to the saintly Seaxburgh. She is wife to Eorcenberht of Kent and has endowed a great monastery on the Isle of Sheppey.’
    ‘So? A tapestry. What else?’
    ‘Oswy of Northumbria sent a book, a Gospel of Luke, illuminated by the monks of Lindisfarne. Eadulf of East Anglia sent a jewelled casket. Wulfhere of Mercia sent a
bell, worked in gold and silver, while Cenewealh of the West Saxons sent two silver chalices wrought by craftsmen of his kingdom. Then, of course, there was the gift of Canterbury itself.’
    ‘Which was?’
    ‘The sandals and staff of Canterbury’s first bishop, Augustine.’
    ‘I see. And all these objects were placed in this trunk?’
    ‘Exactly. Along with five gold and silver chalices to be blessed by His Holiness and distributed to the cathedrals of the five kingdoms of the Saxons together with a sack of gold and silver coins for votary offerings. And none of these precious objects is there now.’
    ‘Such a treasure,’ reflected Fidelma slowly, ‘such a treasure would take some moving.’
    ‘The objects taken were worth the ransom of a king,’ Eadulf said.
    ‘So, at this time,’ mused Fidelma, ‘we are asked to consider two motives for the murder of Wighard. The first motive, which Bishop Gelasius suspects on the evidence of the arrest of Brother Ronan, is that Wighard was slain by a malcontent of the Columban church angered by Canterbury’s victory at Witebia. The second motive is that Wighard was slain during the course of a robbery.’
    ‘The two motives might well be one,’ argued Eadulf. ‘The artifacts of Augustine were beyond price. If a malcontent of the Columban church killed Wighard then what a blow it would be to Canterbury to have the relics of Augustine go missing!’
    ‘An excellent point, Eadulf. Those artifacts were only beyond price to someone who knew what they were and of
the Faith. Other than that, they were worthless.’
    There was a discreet knock on the door of the apartment and Furius Licinius entered. Another member of the custodes followed him in. Fidelma had the impression of a rather pleasant-looking man. He was of medium height with