Free Falconer and the Death of Kings by Ian Morson

was.’
    ‘And yet your mind is not affected. Sir John tells me you have solved many intractable cases of murder in and around Oxford. Please sit.’
    Falconer had the presence of mind to allow the king to sit before taking up the invitation to be seated himself. Sir John snapped his fingers, and a servant materialized with a jug of the best Rhenish, which he proceeded to pour into two goblets. Falconer thought of Saphira Le Veske, and her task in Honfleur of sorting out the family wine business. But his distracted thought was only fleeting, as the king was already embarking on a story of strange and terrible deaths that drew Falconer in. As he drank the red wine, Falconer listened closely to the tale. Then he had some questions to ask.
    ‘You say the attempt on your life was in June of 1272?’
    ‘Yes, by a servant called Anzazim, who was a local man but one who had proved himself loyal to me until that moment.’
    ‘And your uncle Richard, King of Germany, died in the April of the same year.’ Edward nodded, and Falconer continued. ‘But it could not have been the same person involved, as the two incidents were thousands of miles apart.’
    ‘I understand that. But I was not thinking of the person carrying out the deed when I asked you to investigate. Anzazim and whoever else it was were merely weapons wielded by someone in the shadows.’
    ‘But was Richard’s death murder? He had had a stroke and had been suffering from the half-dead disease for months. Could his demise not have been entirely natural?’
    ‘Yet all the reports I had later said he was recovering. Why did he suddenly die at that particular time, and so close to the attempt on my life? And as both were only a year since the outrage in Viterbo that involved the de Montforts, it leaves me deeply suspicious.’
    ‘Yes. I agree that the death of Henry of Almain, Richard’s son, was clearly a case of murder, and one where the perpetrators are known. Everyone in the Church of St Silvester witnessed it. Guy and Simon de Montfort are known to be the killers. So what can I add to that case?’
    Edward sighed.
    ‘Nothing more, I suppose. But isn’t it an indication of who might have been involved in the other murders? Including that of my eldest son?’
    ‘Ah, yes. John, who died in Berkhamsted in the August of the same year, 1271.’
    Falconer detected a wavering in Edward’s voice as he mentioned his one-time son and heir, John. Though he had no children of his own, Falconer could guess how cruel the death of a child could be. Even in a time when death was the natural bedfellow of birth. It was known that Edward and Eleanor had lost three daughters before John had been born. But they had all died either stillborn or as tiny infants. Life was precarious in the first years of any child’s existence. John had lived to a robust five years before his untimely death. And while in the care of his uncle Richard too. Could all these cases have a common thread? Falconer chose his next words carefully.
    ‘Majesty, I know this is hard for you, but you must realize in each of these cases the corpse is a long time cold in the ground.’ He heard Sir John wince at his apparent harshness, but he pressed on. ‘And the threads of truth that will need to be picked out are equally cold and buried deep. Where do you think I could possibly start?’
    Edward sat upright in his chair, drawing on a mantle of majesty.
    ‘You can dig wherever you wish, Master Falconer. Sir John has a letter signed by me that gives you authority to question who you will from the highest to the lowest. Many of the men who surround me will have been present during at least one of these… incidents. And you may have as long as it takes to uncover the truth. Do it for John’s sake, if no one else’s.’
    The king clicked his fingers, and Appleby gave Falconer a folded parchment that was to be his pass to all areas of the king’s life. Edward then rose from his chair and held out his hand.