Eleanor and Thomas knelt by the corpse and begged God’s mercy for Tobye’s soul. Yesterday, the man might have been handsome enough to entice any woman to tumble with him in the stable straw. Today, his mutilated body proved inspiration only to hungry maggots and priests seeking an image for a sermon on mortal decay.
“Might your guard join us here?” the monk asked in Latin, with no change in intonation from that of prayer.
Without hesitation, the prioress answered in Latin as if replying to a priest’s call for a congregational response. “He waits outside and gladly enough. I told him we wished to pray alone for the groom’s unshriven soul. The guard must be new at this work because his face turned green at the sight of this poor man’s slit throat, then paled at the thought that his spirit might still be hovering. Fortunately,” she added with evident amusement, “you do not fear ghosts, as I learned at Amesbury.”
After all this time, Prioress Eleanor’s Latin proficiency should not surprise him, but Thomas knew that most women of religious vocation, even those holding high rank, had little knowledge of it. Now that she had reminded him of the events at Amesbury, however, he remembered Sister Beatrice, a woman possessed of a most formidable mind and education, who had taught Prioress Eleanor and just happened to be her aunt.
“How I wish Sister Anne were here,” he replied, hoping his hesitation did not suggest he had changed his mind about wandering spirits.
“She has tutored you well enough, and I have long trusted your ability to note significant details. Please be quick in your examination of that body, however, lest my guard grow suspicious or someone else joins us in this small chapel. Convey in Latin what this sad corpse tells you.”
Rising quickly, Thomas walked over to the body and stood where he could keep the chapel door in view. He pulled the rough sheet down just far enough to expose Tobye’s naked chest, then began touching his cheeks and neck.
Eleanor continued intoning prayers.
“He has not yet fully stiffened.” He checked the hands, arms, chest, and shoulders. “I cannot be sure, since I did not see the body where it lay, but I see no evidence of a struggle. No blood on the fingers nor obvious flesh under the nails, only the usual mud and dirt. No unusual cuts, bruises or scratches.”
The prioress gave a short answer to suggest they were continuing the call and response of a set prayer.
The monk now bent to study the throat cut. “If the groom was asleep when he was attacked, either a man or a woman might have slit his throat. It was cleanly done, which suggests little or no hesitation about committing the deed. That points to a man, one who hunts or has experience in battle. The killer must be skilled with a knife to cut so efficiently and quickly, nor was it deeper than required to send the soul to judgement. Thus I might conclude the deed was not done in the heat of anger.” Fearing he had heard a sound, he glanced up.
Eleanor looked over her shoulder as she continued her prayers, then gestured for the monk to continue.
Thomas examined the head before quickly pulling the sheet over the body. “That is all my poor skills tell me.” Quietly returning to his prioress’ side, he knelt and whispered, “The lord of this manor could surely have killed the man who had put horns on his head.”
“Or else a woman, skilled with cutlery, who became enraged when another supplanted her in the bedding straw. We must look further into this crime,” she continued to chant.
Puzzled, Thomas looked at his prioress. “I am your servant in all things, my lady, but will you give me leave to ask a question?”
“Granted, Brother.”
“How far will we pursue this? I understand that the king’s man has a certain reputation, but reason also argues that those who live here know the nature and relationships of their fellows better than we. Surely they will provide good evidence and force the king’s man to render a proper justice. As strangers, I question our efficiency in this matter. As guests, do we have the right to interfere?”
Eleanor glanced at the door behind them. It remained shut. “Were this king’s man as conscientious as our crowner, we would reveal all we know and let him find the killer. Based on my brief conversation with him, however, I think he lacks a certain integrity. Yet his high position in this county may cause many to be anxious about retaliation if they present evidence which does not suit his purpose. Fear of retaliation may shatter their honorable intentions and render them silent.”
Thomas still looked troubled.
“Yet you would be right to question me further, Brother. My ardor for probing deeper into the matter is partly born of my own sinful craving for retribution. This king’s man showed disrespect for my vocation before he knew my rank. If he has so little regard for the sanctity of a simple nun, he will show equal contempt for justice if it interferes with his ambition. The courtesy demanded by our position as guests may be affected by that.”
Thomas’ face flushed. “What did he do?”
“You had stepped away on my command,” she continued, answering his unspoken concern, “and thus could not have seen him grasp my arm, an indignity no man commits against a woman dedicated to God.” Her Latin now fell again into the cadence of chant. “But feel no anger on my behalf. Honor shall be assuaged if he is forced to look beyond his self-interest to find the murderer. As we had decided before, we need not solve the crime, but we must set him irrevocably on the path he should take, whatever direction he may prefer. The difference between our original intent and the current one is only the force with which we shall push him. That purpose can only succeed if we produce proof which he cannot hide and of sufficient strength that he cannot dispute it.”
“What do you wish of me, my lady?”
“First, examine the stable for any evidence since no one seems to have done that. Next, learn what gossip is about, for you are sleeping in the kitchen and have access to many of the servants here. Take care not to arouse suspicion in this and remember that someone wields a knife with stealth and efficiency. You must not fall victim to the killer.”
“And you, my lady? Will you also take care? I fear that you will not remain apart from these troubles.”
“Do I not have yon lout outside the door in constant attendance?” Eleanor sighed. “Yet he bears no blame for the duty he was commanded to perform. Perhaps he may even prove more useful in protecting me than stopping me from doing what this king’s man feared I might. You and I shall meet for prayer before breaking fast tomorrow, and we shall chant the Office as well as our findings in this matter of justice.”
As one they loudly sang, “Amen!”
Thomas carefully opened the chapel door, and the pair stepped outside. There was no sign that anyone had lingered outside to overhear, but Eleanor’s confidence in her assigned protection diminished when she looked at her guard.
All their caution to speak in a tongue he would not understand was unneeded.
The man was sound asleep.