Free The Canterbury Murders by Maureen Ash Page B

beneath the thin cloth that covered her she appeared to be of medium height and well-fleshed, with brawny arms and shoulders. A strong woman, Gianni thought, and one who would not be easily overcome in a struggle, especially with another woman. Her attacker must have been a man, he decided, and a powerful one.
    Gianni returned his attention to Maud Cooper as Miles explained the reason they had come. “The injury that took your sister’s life and any other wounds on her body must be examined, in the hope that by doing so we may discover the identity of the person who killed her.”
    His words were met with a look of shock from both of the women. “Neither I nor the lad will be present while the inspection is carried out,” he hastily assured them, motioning to Clare. “Our companion will, for decency’s sake, perform the commission.”
    Maud looked at him with a dazed expression. She was a little younger than her dead sister, perhaps approaching forty years of age, and with a frame that, although plump, was not as muscular as her sibling’s. Her countenance had a rather vacuous quality and she dithered for a moment until, finally realizing that Miles had been sent by the king, she overcame her confusion and agreed to the request. “King John has been most kind,” she said in a tremulous voice, “and is, I think, truly grieved for Molly’s death. It is my duty to obey his command.”
    Edith Bottler now spoke. She was older than Maud and possessed of far more self-assurance. “We have just finished washing and laying out the body ready for wrapping in its shroud, lord,” she said to Miles, “and I can tell you for certain that apart from the terrible wound that took Molly’s life, the only other marks on her flesh are a deep bruise on her spine and a few smaller ones on her shoulder. The rest of her poor body has not been despoiled, thanks be to God.”
    “Then there will be no need for a full disrobing,” Miles said thankfully. Speaking once again to Maud, he added, “But even so, it will still be necessary to view the injuries, and also to examine her clothing.”
    Maud, stifling a sob, gave a brief nod and Miles and Gianni left the room with the priest as Clare, misgiving written large on her face, came forward. As the knight passed her, he whispered softly, “Take courage and remember that Lady Nicolaa is depending on you.”
    Maud, still sobbing, remained seated on the bench, but Edith rose and went to stand on the other side of the bier. She had taken notice of the sempstress’s aversion and gave her a kindly look as she said, “I have laid out many a body in my time and, if you wish, will disrobe Molly for you.”
    Clare accepted the offer gratefully and, as Edith removed the strip of cloth that had been laid across the murdered woman’s neck, felt her gorge rise. The slash across the throat had been a vicious one; it had gone so deep that it had cut through cartilage and muscle, almost severing the spine. Edith, supporting the corpse’s head, gently removed the loose linen headdress that had been placed over Molly’s hair and then, with a hand under the dead woman’s chin to keep the head steady, turned the body on its side. A single braid of thick dark hair fell aside as she did so and Edith pointed to a huge bruise just below the nape of the corpse’s neck. The mark was about the width of a hand wide, and just as long.
    “See there, mistress,” Edith said. “It’s as though someone hit her with a club afore they cut her throat.” She moved her finger to point at some fainter marks on the corpse’s left shoulder. There were only a few of them, round and evenly spaced, as though made by the fingers and thumb of a hand.
    “Maud was told that her sister was found with her head hanging in a tub of water she had been making ready for the king to bathe in,” Edith remarked. “I reckon someone came up behind her as she was going about her duties, hit her on the back with a club of some sort