“Devoted lover?” Ralf snorted. “Martin? He may have liked to swyve Ivetta from time to time, but he never would have let her keep the babe had she told him of it.”
The prioress remained silent, her gray eyes darkening.
“Surely you do not mean…” Anne pressed her hand against her waist.
“He hired her out. She let the cooper take whatever she earned, and he paid as little as possible for her keep in return. A pregnant whore brings little trade, Annie. He would never have tolerated the loss of income. Is this sweet love?”
“Perhaps he had gained affection for her after all this time,” Anne interjected.
“A bull would sooner grow wings. By all reports, Ivetta is skilled at her craft. That may satisfy a man’s hungry yard, leaving behind some short-lived taste for the food, but it rarely fills his heart with tenderness.”
“What of Hob and Will, the two men who were alone with Martin that night? They argued with the cooper. How quickly the number of your suspects has increased from one to three,” the sub-infirmarian concluded.
“A number enlarged by the very woman who may have poisoned him and wishes to point us in some other direction.”
“There is also the innkeeper’s niece,” Eleanor said. “She, too, was alone with him.”
Ralf shook his head. “Signy is innocent,” he mumbled.
“We cannot ignore her. After all, she delivered the food and drink and apparently had heated words with the cooper. At some point, Signy, Hob, and Will were all alone with Martin for a while. After that, when Ivetta entered the room the second time, Martin was drinking the wine. Any one could have poisoned the drink before she arrived.”
“So claims the harlot,” he replied. “Shall I mention that the goblet was empty, as was the jug that contained it, by the time I got up the stairs?” Who might have done that and for what purpose?”
“Who was in the room when you arrived?” Eleanor asked the crowner.
“The innkeeper and Signy were just in front of me as I climbed the stairs. They could not have destroyed evidence without my seeing the act. Only Ivetta was alone with the corpse and the method of killing him. For all her cleverly professed affection for Martin, she had the best opportunity to do the deed, then destroy the poisoned wine.”
“For just a moment, let us assume that one of the others killed him. What reason might either Hob or Will, perhaps both, have for doing such a thing?” Eleanor continued.
Ralf shrugged. “They have long been friends with the cooper and used to his ways. The brothers drank, and when they did, they got into fights—with Martin as well as others. The difference is that all was forgotten by the three men before the aching heads were healed. That has long been their pattern.”
“Ivetta said that Martin was mocking Will’s impotence. Was that a longtime jest?” Anne asked.
The crowner frowned. “That I had not heard. If true, would it be cause for murder? I wonder.”
“Would it be if he had said the same about you?” Anne snapped.
Ralf’s face turned scarlet.
“I have made my argument,” the sub-infirmarian replied.
“And Hob?” Eleanor added.
“As a boy, Hob always followed his elder brother in wickedness. Then he changed his ways but still works at the smithy with Will, and thus is not removed from that influence. Tostig claims Hob has grown more independent in the last several months, however. Of the two, the younger has long been the more restrained, but he is fiercely loyal to his brother. Of all their family, only they remain on this earth. So I could believe Hob might have struck out to protect his brother, but I doubt he is a murderer. Nay, I still think the whore had more reason to kill than either man.”
“Because she was with child?” Anne asked.
“Surely it is not the first time! Maybe she thought this quickening would change a bawd into a husband. Her value as a common woman is diminishing, and even she must have realized that Martin would have been contemplating the acquisition of a younger harlot. Perhaps she thought he owed her the security of marriage, and, when he laughed at the prospect, she killed him.”
“Slipping ground yew seeds into a man’s wine suggests some planning, Ralf.”
“Are you certain that was the case, Annie?”
“Before I heard what Ivetta had to say, I suspected yew or nightshade. Now I am fairly sure it was the seeds from a yew tree. There were tiny bits left where the wine had spilled. The symptoms described and what I noted about the corpse were consistent with that kind of poisoning.”
“Something easily slipped into a drink?” Eleanor asked.
“The taste of wine, especially a flavored one, hides many things. The poison can work quickly, and we do not know exactly when the cooper might have started to drink it. Of course, it could have been put into the stew, both food and drink were brought together, but little of the stew had been eaten. A potion slipped into wine is more likely to achieve the murderous effect than something scattered over food. Some men reach for the cup before the spoon.” Anne hesitated. “I fear that yew has also been used to abort unborn babes, usually with cruel consequences to mother and child.”
“Of course a prostitute would be familiar with it.” Ralf paused to let the comment sink in.
“Or an apothecary and many more women than we might commonly assume. Dangerous though it is, the method is well known, Ralf.”
“Which reminds me that we have yet to consider any motive Signy might have,” Eleanor said.
“None!” Ralf struck a fist into his other hand.
“Why are you so convinced?” Anne asked.
He threw up his hands. “Ivetta has committed sins that would make the Devil blush. Signy is a decent woman.”
“Very well, Ralf, but we will question her shortly.” Eleanor’s stern expression was enough to quell any potential argument.
“I am grateful.” Ralf lowered his eyes.
The sub-infirmarian tilted her head and studied the crowner in silence.
“She refuses to speak with me,” the crowner sputtered in response to Anne’s unspoken query.
“Why am I not surprised?”
Ralf threw up his hands. “Very well, I will not arrest Ivetta yet, but she is still my strongest suspect. Signy is innocent, but you may well learn something valuable from her. The innkeeper and other possible witnesses, I will question myself, including Will and Hob.”
“I praise the wisdom of your direction, Ralf,” Anne said wryly.
Eleanor laughed to lighten the mood. “Our priory is attracting the most interesting visitors these days. A prostitute and a serving wench? The Kingdom of Heaven must be nigh when such come to a priory and give up the secrets of their souls.”
Anne nodded. “Ivetta was quite blunt in telling her tales. I wonder what the innkeeper’s niece might have to say…” She hesitated, then gave the crowner a mischievous look. “…about many little things.”
Although Ralf’s muttered response was not completely clear, the two nuns later agreed that he had first complained about being a much maligned man with nothing small about him, and then had uttered a most impressive oath before stomping out the door.