Lamentation

Nicholas stood. There was indeed a self-satisfied expression on the boy’s freckled face. ‘Come through,’ I said. As Nicholas followed me to my office I saw Barak frown and Skelly smile quietly to himself. Barak indeed seemed jealous of my involving my pupil in a mission from which he himself was excluded. I felt a momentary annoyance. I was only protecting him; Tamasin would skin him alive if she suspected I had involved him in court politics again, as well he knew.

I closed the door. ‘What is it?’ I asked Nicholas. ‘News of that sleeve?’

‘It is, sir.’ He removed the silk carefully from his pocket and laid it on the desk with his long, slim hands. ‘The second embroiderer I visited today recognized it instantly. He sewed the shirt for a client. Mention of Master Gullym’s name did the trick; the embroiderer knows him. He looked at his records. The shirt was made for a gentleman called Charles Stice. He gave me an address, down by Smithfield.’

‘Well done,’ I said.

‘There’s more. I noticed he wrinkled his nose when he spoke of Stice, so I asked what he was like. He said Stice was one of those young men who come into money or position and put on haughty airs.’ Nicholas was finding it hard to keep the excitement from his voice. ‘But here’s the thing, sir. Charles Stice is a tall, brown-haired young man with half an ear missing. Looked like he got the injury from a knife or a sword in a fight, the man said.’

I looked again at the little, ragged piece of silk. Nicholas said, ‘So this was left not by the men who killed Greening, but by those who fled into the garden after young Elias discovered them trying to break in earlier. They escaped the same way.’

I thought, and this Charles Stice was the man who had tried to suborn the Queen’s page, young Garet. ‘You have done well, Nicholas. Very well.’ I looked at him seriously. ‘But leave the matter with me now. This man is dangerous.’

Nicholas looked disappointed. ‘Will you arrange for him to be found?’

‘This afternoon.’ I must get the news to Lord Parr.

There was a gentle knock on the door, and Skelly entered. He spoke apologetically. ‘A visitor, sir. Will not wait. Must see you immediately.’

I smiled wryly at Nicholas. ‘Mistress Slanning?’

‘No, sir. It is a man called Okedene. He says he is a printer, that he knows you, and that it is a matter of life and death.’

Chapter Twenty

Skelly showed Okedene in. He wore a light wool doublet and his face was red and sweating, as though he had been running. As Skelly closed the door behind him I saw Barak looking in at us curiously. I stood. ‘Master Okedene, what is it?’ I wondered with a thrill of horror whether, as I had feared might happen, he or his family had been attacked.

The printer slowly regained his composure. The constant physical activity of his trade meant he had to be fit, but he was not young any more. ‘Master Shardlake,’ he said quickly, ‘I’ve come to see you about that note you sent. To tell you I am leaving London. I am selling the business and putting the proceeds into my brother’s farm, out in Norfolk. I have feared for my wife and children since the night poor Armistead was murdered.’ He frowned at Nicholas, doubtless remembering his part in provoking Elias’s flight. He did not know his former apprentice was dead.

‘I am sorry,’ I said. I saw how the lines of strain and worry on his face had deepened since we last met.

He raised a hand. ‘Never mind that now,’ he said. ‘There is no time.’

‘No time for what?’ Nicholas asked.

‘I stopped on the way here to buy a glass of beer — I was thirsty, it is a warm day. At the sign of Bacchus near St Paul’s. It is a big inn — ’

‘I have been there,’ I said.

‘Inside, I saw two men sitting at a table by the window. I am sure it was the men who killed Armistead, even though they were wearing gentlemen’s clothes today; the Bacchus is a respectable place.’ He took another deep breath. ‘I have never been able to get my old assistant Huffkyn’s description of them out of my mind. Two young men, both big and tall, one fair and with a wart on his brow and the other near bald, young as he is. I have feared to see them ever since. Those murderers,’ he added bitterly, ‘sitting quietly supping beer in full view of everyone.’ He looked from me to Nicholas, then squared his shoulders. ‘I ran all the way here. The inn is less than fifteen minutes if we go fast.’

Nicholas said, ‘The authorities-’

‘There is no time, boy!’ Okedene snapped. ‘They must be taken before they leave. A citizen’s arrest!’ I saw he was eager to take the chance to capture Greening’s killers himself, and perhaps to lift the cloud of worry from his family. ‘Master Shardlake, have you any other people here who could help us?’ he asked. ‘Perhaps that bearded man in your outer office?’