Free House of Shadows by The Medieval Murderers Page A

evening. Outside in the corridor, the lady who had attended upon Christina de Glanville was waiting, and John took advantage of the presence of the other two women to bring her in for questioning. She started off the proceedings by bursting into tears, distressed by the reminder of the death of her mistress, whom she had served for over two years. When she had composed herself, all she could offer was a similar lack of help to his investigation.
    â€˜My lady left the refectory some time after supper ended and we both went up to our chamber. I helpedher to dress for bed and then settled her for the night. She asked me to blow out the candle, so I knew she wished to sleep at once.’
    Her snivels began again. ‘That was the last time I ever saw her alive!’
    De Wolfe made his throat-clearing noises – he never could abide weeping women; they made him feel helpless.
    â€˜There was no disturbance in the night?’ he asked, for something to say. ‘She never called for you or left her room?’
    â€˜No, not that I knew of. I slept soundly until dawn. She had said she wished to go to the prior’s chapel to take the Sacrament, so I went to awaken her, but she was not there!’
    Her sobbing began anew and John looked helplessly at the other two women.
    â€˜If you have finished, sir, we will take her back to Sir Roger and his wife,’ offered Margaret Courtenay. ‘We should all seek our beds, for tomorrow will be a sad and stressful day.’
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    â€˜We are little the wiser for all that talking,’ growled de Wolfe later. He, Gwyn and Thomas were sitting in the warming room, the only habitable place unless one wore three layers of extra clothing. There were half a dozen monks in the chamber, some dozing, others in murmured conversations, giving the coroner’s party covert and often suspicious glances. However, the place was large enough for them to talk in low voices without the others hearing. John had given Gwyn the gist of the interviews, and his officer agreed that it took them no further forward in discovering the culprit.
    â€˜This Roger Beaumont is the obvious suspect,’ he grunted. ‘But he’s hardly likely to admit it, even if he’s the guilty one.’
    â€˜I wonder if he already has something to hide?’ mused de Wolfe. ‘What if he was embezzling some of the portion of the estate profits that were supposed to be going to the Exchequer? If he suddenly lost control after Christina’s marriage, might not Jordan’s new stewards and bailiffs discover the fraud and report it to the king? Beaumont could literally lose his head over that!’
    Gwyn looked dubious, not because he could not believe that a lord was capable of such greed, but because they had no means of proving it.
    Thomas ticked off the candidates on his spindly fingers.
    â€˜His wife has no obvious motive, other than what she gains by her husband becoming richer. The daughter Eleanor no doubt felt that she might have a chance with Jordan de Neville if Christina was out of the way, but would she kill for it?’
    Gwyn reached across and grabbed Thomas’s third finger. ‘This one’s for Jordan, for he wanted to marry the Courtenay woman, not Christina.’
    â€˜So that leaves only Margaret Courtenay, who also wanted an unmarried Jordan for herself,’ finished John. ‘But the dead girl was a good friend, for God’s sake!’
    They sat around the fire in silence, digesting the unpromising situation.
    â€˜Does it have to be one of the family guests?’ ruminated the coroner. ‘What about the people in this place? They’re a queer bunch, right enough.’
    â€˜There’s that chaplain, Ignatius, who thought Christina was a witch,’ agreed Thomas.
    â€˜I suppose the prior himself had no motive,’ said Gwyn in a hoarse whisper. ‘Maybe he was tired of the court using his priory as a lodging-house!’
    Thomas