A Mortal Bane(61)

Chapter Eight



21 April 1139





St. Mary Overy Priory



Meal finished, Bell set off for the priory again. He had wanted to go directly to the Old Priory Guesthouse, but had curbed that impulse because he knew it was bred more of his desire to see Magdalene once more than of any immediate need to learn the names of her clients. Having suppressed personal desire, he considered those he needed to speak to in the priory. Of the two who had dealt with the body—the sacristan’s assistant, Knud, and the infirmarian—he decided to deal with Knud first so he could confirm the lay brother’s observations of the body with those made by the infirmarian.

That intention, he thought as he rang the bell at the priory gate, might be more readily sought than accomplished. He had had some experience with Brother Paulinus and suspected he would not be allowed to question any of the monks without the sacristan’s interference. Bell grimaced, then hurriedly straightened his face as he heard the bar of the gate lifted. Anyone questioned in Paulinus’s presence was unlikely to say more than “yes” or “no.” But how to rid himself…of course! So beatific a smile bloomed on Bell’s face that Brother Godwine, who had opened the gate, was startled.

“Yes?” he asked, stepping back.

Bell promptly walked in. Still smiling, he said, “I must speak to Brother Paulinus.”

The porter blinked; few smiled so happily at the prospect of speaking to Brother Paulinus. That tempted Bell to grin more broadly, but he controlled himself. He was not, after all, certain of the outcome, but the questions he had to ask Paulinus could be highly embarrassing, and he hoped that the sacristan would not be inclined for more of his company after answering them. Thus Bell might be able to speak to Knud and the infirmarian alone.

[page]After a longer wait than he thought necessary, he was ushered into a small visitor’s cell adjoining the lay brothers’ building. He had thought those cells had fallen out of use when the nuns gave up St. Mary Overy, but then he realized that a cell would be kept in case one of the novices or postulants had a female visitor. Shaking his head, he sat down on the stone ledge provided, undecided as to whether to laugh or be annoyed. He was amusing himself by wondering what sort of contamination Brother Paulinus thought he carried, when the monk entered through the opposite door and sat down behind the grille that separated the cell into two parts.

Bell immediately lost all sense of amusement; he would be able to hear well enough through the stone fretwork, but not be able to make out the sacristan’s expressions. To save an aspiring brother from the unhealthy excitement that might be engendered by seeing a woman’s face, the pierced stone was perfect. For examining the expression of someone answering questions about a murder, it was highly inappropriate. Bell stood up.

“I have been sent by the Bishop of Winchester to ask some questions about the death of the papal messenger, Baldassare de Firenze,” he said. “It is necessary that I speak to you face-to-face, Brother Sacristan.”

“Since I know nothing whatever about the death of Messer Baldassare, and I prefer not to come into contact with men of such worldly—

“Worldly? But you thought nothing of visiting a whorehouse on Thursday morning,” Bell snapped.

“Whorehouse!” Paulinus gasped, jumping up. “Never! I have never in my life visited a whorehouse.”

“I did not say you sought carnal satisfaction there, but I offer less threat of corruption by speaking to you in your own monastery than you suffered from your visit to a whorehouse on the morning after Baldassare was killed. You seemed then to be very certain how he came to die, so you must have some knowledge of his death. Now will you tell me where to meet you so I can see to whom I am speaking—or do I need to tell the bishop that you refused to answer questions about the death of the pope’s messenger?”