Dissolution

I nodded. 'I think I know why Brother Edwig has been giving young Athelstan a hard time. There was something he did not tell us earlier. We will have another talk with our bursar, this could be important-' I broke off as Brother Guy came in. His face was drawn and pale. Under his arm was a stained apron which he threw into a basket in the corner.

'Commissioner, might we have a private word?'

'Of course.'

I rose and followed him. I feared he would take me to poor Whelplay's body, but to my relief he led me outside. The sun was beginning to set, casting a pink glow over the white herb garden. Brother Guy picked his way among the plants until he came to a large, snow-covered bush.

'I know now what killed poor Simon, and it was not possession by a demon. I also noticed him twisting his body over and waving his hands. But it was nothing to do with you. The spasms are characteristic. And the loss of voice, the visions.'

'Characteristic of what?'

'Poison from the berries of this bush.' He shook the branches, to which a few black dead leaves still clung. 'Belladonna. The deadly nightshade, as it is called in this country.'

'He was poisoned?'

'Belladonna has a faint but distinctive smell. I have worked with it for years, I know it. It was in poor Simon's guts. And in the dregs of the cup of warm mead by his bed.'

'How was it done? When?'

'This morning, without doubt. The onset of symptoms is rapid. I blame myself, if only Alice or I had stayed with him all the time-' He passed a hand over his brow.

'You could not have known this would happen. Who else spent time alone with him?'

'Brother Gabriel visited him last night late, after you retired, and again this morning. He was most upset, I gave him permission to pray over the boy. And the abbot and bursar came to see him later.'

'Yes. I knew they were coming.'

'And also this morning, when I went in to check on him, I found Prior Mortimus there.'

'The prior?'

'He was standing by the bed, looking down at him, a worried look on his face. I thought he was worried about the consequences of his harsh treatment.' He set his lips. 'Belladonna juice is sweet-tasting, the smell too faint to be noticed in mead.'

'It is used as a remedy for some ailments, is it not?'

'In small doses it relieves constipation, and has other uses. There is some in my infirmary, I often prescribe it. Many of the monks will have some. Its properties are well known.'

I thought a moment. 'Last night Simon began to tell me something. He said Commissioner Singleton's death was not the first. I intended to question him again today when he woke.' I gave him a sharp look. 'Did you or Alice tell anyone what he had said?'

'I did not, and nor would Alice. But he might have rambled deliriously to his other visitors.'

'One of whom decided his mouth must be stopped.'

He bit his lip and nodded heavily.

'Poor child,' I said. 'And all I could think of was that he was mocking me.'

'Things are seldom what they seem.'

'Here least of all. Tell me, Brother, why have you told me this rather than going straight to the abbot?'

He gave me a bleak look. 'Because the abbot was among his visitors. You have authority, Master Shardlake, and I believe you seek the truth, however much I suspect we might disagree on matters of religion.'

I nodded. 'For the moment I instruct you to keep secret what you have told me. I must think carefully how to proceed.' I looked at Brother Guy to see how he would take orders from me, but he only nodded wearily. He looked down at my mud-caked leg.

'Have you had an accident?' he asked.

'I fell in the bog. I managed to get myself out.'

'The ground is very unsafe out there.'

'I think there is no safe ground under my feet anywhere here. Come inside, or we'll catch an ague.' I led the way indoors. 'Strange that my misplaced fear he was mocking me should lead to this discovery.'

'At least now Prior Mortimus cannot say that Simon is surely in hell.'

'Yes. I think that may disappoint him.' Unless he is the killer, I thought, in which case he knows already. I gritted my teeth. If I had not allowed Alice and Brother Guy to dissuade me from talking to Simon last night, not only might I have had his full story, not only might I have been led to the killer, but Simon would still be alive. Now I had two murders to investigate. And if what the poor novice had muttered in his delirium about Singleton not being the first was true, then there were three.

CHAPTER 14