A Mortal Bane(79)

“Paulinus!” The prior got to his feet. “How can that be true? How could she steal the pyx out of a locked chest?”

“Who else could do it? Is she not a whore? Does not the foul sin she commits corrupt the whole being of those who engage in its evil practices? Is this not proof that the whores murdered the pope’s messenger?”

“Proof?” Magdalene cried. “What has a stolen pyx to do with Messer Baldassare’s death?”

“Who else but a whore and a murderess would dare steal from the church, from the storage closet beneath the very altar itself? Indeed that must be why you killed him. He must have seen you stealing the pyx.”

“Father Benin,” Magdalene protested, “this is madness. I never left my house the night Messer Baldassare was killed. My women and I were together after Vespers. My maid, who is not a whore, not excommunicate, and a faithful daughter of the church, will attest to that.”

Dulcie would not have to lie, she told herself. They had all been together after Vespers, and had remained so until Sabina went to bed with Baldassare, but he was certainly lively enough then. And she had not left the house after he did.

“And after Thursday morning,” Magdalene continued before either the sacristan or the prior could speak, “the gate between the church and the Old Guesthouse was locked, so I could not come into the priory grounds unseen. You may ask your porter if I passed the gate since then—”

“You did, you lying whore. You were here yesterday.”

Magdalene blinked, for a moment terrified by the notion that Brother Paulinus had suborned the porter or one of his assistants to say she had entered the monastery—and then she remembered and smiled. “Yes, I was. I came with Sir Bellamy of Itchen, the bishop’s knight, to look at the dead man to see if I recognized him, which I did, and so did Sir Bellamy. But Brother Paulinus, I was in his presence and that of Brother Porter the whole time. Are you trying to say that Sir Bellamy and Brother Godwine either ignored me or watched me break open the safe box and take out the pyx?”

[page]“You bemused them. You cast an evil glamour—”

“Hush, Brother Paulinus,” the prior said, coming around his desk and putting his hand on the distraught sacristan’s arm. “You are beside yourself with worry. I am sure it is not through any neglect of yours that the pyx is missing. Just calm yourself.” Then he turned to Magdalene. “Did you say you were with Sir Bellamy? How is he involved in this?”

“He was bidden by the bishop to discover, if he could, who had killed Messer Baldassare and what had happened to the pouch Messer Baldassare was carrying.”

“I was blamed for that, too,” the sacristan burst out. “Sir Bellamy accused me of not sending word to the bishop about the murder, but this priory owes no obedience to the bishop. I sent word to the abbot. Now the pyx is gone—”

The prior was looking desperately confused, and Magdalene said, “I told the bishop a man had been killed on the church porch when I went to speak to him on Friday morning. He was distressed by the news and by the fact that he had to hear it from me, particularly when he learned that the victim was Messer Baldassare, a papal messenger. He then ordered his knight, Sir Bellamy, to discover the identity of the killer.”

“He need not look very far if he will only look honestly,” the sacristan spat. “And I will insist a search for the pyx be made in your premises.”

“You may search and welcome,” Magdalene said, laughing. “Sir Bellamy all but scratched the dirt out between the boards of the floors when he searched on Friday.”