For the first time he looked afraid. ‘I haven’t, I swear. It was all as I told you.’
‘Was it? It had better be.’ I stood away from him. He brushed himself down, recovering himself, and gave me a look of pure venom.
‘I will have my costs for this case, Brother,’ he said, a momentary tremble in his voice. ‘I will send the Common Council a fee note—’
‘Ay, do that.’ I turned my back on him and rejoined Barak and an uncomfortable-looking Vervey. Bealknap slunk away.
‘He promises us a fee note,’ I said, forcing a smile. ‘Master Vervey, I will let the council have my recommendations. Once again, I am sorry for this outcome. I suspect the judge may have been bribed.’
‘It would not surprise me,’ Vervey replied. ‘I know of Bealknap. Will you write to us with your views as soon as may be? I know the Common Council will be worried by the implications.’
‘Ay.’
Vervey bowed and disappeared into the throng. ‘What did you say to Bealknap?’ Barak asked. ‘I thought you were going to rough him up.’
‘I warned him I still had my eye on him. Told him I’d been looking into his connections with the French.’
‘Bealknap was definitely the arsehole who came to my—my stepfather.’ He spoke the word bitterly.
I set my lips. ‘Do you think you could find more about his running fake compurgators? Find an adult who could give evidence. It would be something to threaten him with—’
I was interrupted. There was a stir in the crowd around us, and I turned to see Rich bearing down on me, a smile on his face but his eyes holding me with the same cold stare as they had in court.
‘Brother Shardlake again and his ruffled-headed assistant.’ He smiled at Barak. ‘You should have a care to comb your hair, sir, before coming to court.’
Barak returned his stare evenly.
Rich smiled and turned to me. ‘That’s an impertinent fellow you keep, Brother Shardlake. You need to teach him manners. And perhaps learn some yourself.’
Rich’s stare was unnerving, but I held my ground. ‘I am sorry, Sir Richard, I do not know what you mean.’
‘You involve yourself in matters beyond your station. You should stick to helping country farmers with their land disputes.’
‘What matters do you mean, Sir Richard?’
‘You know,’ he said. ‘Don’t play innocent with me. Take care or you’ll suffer for it.’ And with that he turned round and was gone. There was a moment’s silence.
‘He knows,’ Barak said, his voice low and intense. ‘He knows about Greek Fire.’
‘How? How could he?’
‘I don’t know, but he does. What else could he have meant? Perhaps Gristwood did go to see him after all during those missing six months.’
I frowned. ‘But—if he threatens me, he threatens Cromwell.’
‘Perhaps he doesn’t know the earl’s involved.’
I looked after Rich thoughtfully. ‘Bealknap scurries away and a second later Rich appears. And he was doing something that involved Rich that day at Augmentations.’
‘Perhaps he has Rich’s protection.’ Barak set his lips. ‘The earl must know of this.’
I nodded reluctantly. ‘God’s death, Rich involved too.’ I exclaimed crossly as someone jostled me. ‘Come, let’s get out of here. We’re due at Lothbury.’
Chapter Twenty
THE RIVER WAS CROWDED again and we had to wait at the steps for a boat. Barak leaned on the parapet.
‘Do you think Bealknap bribed that judge?’ he asked.
‘I wouldn’t be surprised. Heslop has a poor reputation for honesty.’
‘Will you win if you take the case to Chancery?’
‘We should do. They’ll look at the merits of the matter. But God knows when we’ll get on. Bealknap’s right about their delays - I named my horse for their slow ways.’ I looked at Barak seriously. ‘Find one of these compurgators. We can offer a reward and perhaps immunity from prosecution if Cromwell will agree. We need a lever over Bealknap, especially if he’s got Rich behind him.’
‘Ay, I’ll do it.’ He turned to face me. ‘I’ll not go to my stepfather, though, even if I knew where he and my mother lived. Not even for the earl.’
‘No? I thought there were no limits to your loyalty.’
His eyes flashed. ‘I loved my father, for all he smelt of shit. My mother would have nothing to do with him; he took up his trade after I was born or I’d not be here at all. I was twelve when he died.’ I nodded, interested. For the first time my difficult companion was showing me something of himself.
‘We’d had this cheating attorney as a lodger for years, Kenney his name was. He had the best part of the house while we had two rooms. He was good with words and my mother liked him, he was—’ Barak almost bit off the words - ‘a step up the social chain. She married him a week after father died: the poor old arsehole wasn’t even cold in the ground. D’you know what she said to me? Same as you did coming from that house in Wolf’s Lane. “A poor widow must look after herself.”’