Lamentation

‘Serjeant Shardlake. You are on time,’ he said approvingly. ‘And this must be Goodman Barak, who knows about keys and locks.’

‘I will assist in any way I can, my Lord.’ Barak knew when to be deferential.

‘Good. The chest is inside. I had it brought across, saying it needed repair. But first, Master Shardlake, a word in confidence.’ He put his arm around my shoulder and led me a little away, leaving Barak looking put out.

‘I heard from William Cecil what happened to the apprentice boy.’ Lord Parr stroked his white beard, looking grave.

‘I thought Cecil might be here today.’

Lord Parr shook his head. ‘The fewer people seen to be making enquiries the better. Officially I am here to dine with my niece and nephew. So, what do you make of the apprentice’s death?’

I told him about my reflections in the garden. ‘Greening, Elias and the other three all had reason to fear danger. But I do not know whether any of them, other than Greening, had any connection with the Lamentation. I wonder, my Lord, whether Mistress Askew might have had any contact with the Queen, could have had knowledge of her book; whether she might not in fact have been tortured to try and find those things out.’

He shook his head. ‘The Queen and Anne Askew never met. Mistress Askew had contacts on the fringes of the court, yes, and would have loved to preach at the Queen, but my niece and I were too careful to permit that. I made sure Anne Askew never came near her household.’

‘Yet she must have been tortured for some reason. By the way, the news of that must have been leaked by someone inside the Tower. Is there any chance of finding out who that could have been?’

Lord Parr considered. ‘When it became obvious at the burning that the street gossip about Askew’s torture was true, I thought there would be a hue and cry in the Tower to find who set those rumours. Someone there, as you say, must have talked. But I have heard nothing.’ He furrowed his brow. ‘The Constable of the Tower, Sir Edmund Walsingham, was my predecessor as Queen’s Chancellor and is a friend. I shall make enquiries. In the meantime I want you to come to the palace tomorrow to question the guard who was on duty the night the manuscript was stolen and who Mary Odell said behaved oddly. He comes back on duty in the morning.’

‘Thank you, my Lord. And those three runaways: Curdy, McKendrick and the Dutchman. It is essential to interview them. I wonder whether they may even have taken the Queen’s book in connection with some hare-brained scheme of their own. Perhaps even fallen out over it, so that one killed Greening and made off with the book.’

Lord Parr’s face set hard. ‘Then we are dealing with wild fools rather than an enemy at court.’ He shook his head. ‘But how could such people get hold of the book in the first place?’

‘I do not know.’

‘But nevertheless they should be found.’

‘Yes.’ I added, ‘I was thinking about Okedene the printer, whether they might come after him now.’

‘He has already told us what he knows.’

‘Even so, his safety — ’

Lord Parr looked irritable. ‘I do not have a limitless supply of people I can employ on this matter; and none I would completely trust, apart from Cecil. I have no network of spies like your old Master Cromwell, or Secretary Paget,’ he added caustically. ‘I have asked Cecil to keep his ears and eyes open, which he will do. And I can arrange for him to bribe someone at the customs house. Cecil suggested that, to see whether anyone resembling these three men books passage on a ship. Perhaps he can bribe one of the dockers to keep a watch.’

I remembered Hugh’s letter. ‘Many radicals are going abroad these days,’ I said.

Lord Parr grunted. ‘And provided they are just little fish, the authorities wink at it. Glad to be rid of them.’

‘Then they may already be gone. But if they are seen, would it be possible to detain them? Perhaps on suspicion of involvement in the theft of a missing jewel?’

‘Yes, that may be a good idea. I will talk to Cecil.’ Lord Parr raised a monitory finger. ‘But remember, Master Shardlake, my powers are limited. And the Queen still has to watch every step.’ He sighed deeply. ‘For myself, I wish I were back in the country.’ He shook his head. ‘Nearly a fortnight since the Lamentation disappeared, and not a whisper of it.’

‘And two men murdered.’

‘I am hardly likely to forget. And I have still heard nothing about this man with half an ear sliced off, in the employ of someone at court.’ All at once, beneath his finery, I saw a puzzled, frightened old man. ‘We are in the midst of a deadly business. Surely the two attacks on Greening’s premises must be connected. Yet the Lamentation had not yet been stolen when the first attack took place. Pox on it!’ He spoke querulously, banging his stick on the cobbles. Then he collected himself, turned and looked at Barak. ‘Will he be acting as your right-hand man in this?’

‘No, my Lord. I’m sorry, but I fear his family commitments-’