'Mark!' I called. 'This side! He's escaping!'
Mark was some distance ahead and by the time he had run back to the top of the stairs on the far side the monk had descended. I heard footsteps pattering away; he ran beside the wall on my side, making it impossible to see him. I ran down the stairs and arrived at the bottom just as Mark appeared opposite. In the distance the church door slammed shut.
'He was standing on the rood screen, with the statues!' I shouted. 'Did you see who it was? He was gone in a flash.'
'No, sir, he was down on the stairs by the time I reached you.' He stared up at the screen. 'He must have climbed out on the screen as we were going up the stairs. God's wounds, he must have courage to stand up there with no rail or support.'
'Hoping reformers would instinctively avert their eyes from statuary. He's got away.' I looked at the dagger I had picked up from the walkway. A sharp, unornamented weapon of steel. No clue there. I banged my fist on the wall, sending a wave of pain shooting up my arm.
'But, sir, what about Gabriel? Did you not think him the killer after all? What did you find in the hidden passage?'
I hesitated. 'I was mistaken, completely mistaken. He had no secrets. And now someone else has died because of me. Despite my prayers,' I added, looking angrily up at the roof for a moment. 'But I swear he shall be the last.'
CHAPTER 26
I had ordered the four surviving senior obedentiaries to the church. Abbot Fabian, Prior Mortimus, Brother Edwig and Brother Guy stood with Mark and me in the nave as servants hauled lumps of stone from Gabriel's body. Strangely, I found I could bear the terrible sight, a shocked, numbed feeling had descended on me. I watched the obedentiaries' reactions: Brother Guy and Prior Mortimus stood impassive, Brother Edwig wrinkled his face with distaste, Abbot Fabian turned away and vomited into the aisle.
I ordered them to accompany me to Gabriel's little office, where stacks of books for copying sat on the floor, and the broken statue of the Virgin still leaned mournfully against the wall. I asked them where the monks had been an hour before, when the stone fell.
'All over the precinct,' Prior Mortimus replied. 'It's recreation hour. Not many would be out in this weather, most would be in their cells.'
'Jerome? Is he safe?'
'Locked in his cell since yesterday.'
'And you four. Where were you?'
Brother Guy said he had been studying alone in his dispensary; Prior Mortimus had been in his office, again alone. Brother Edwig told me his two assistants would verify he had been in the counting house, while Abbot Fabian had been giving his steward instructions. I sat looking at them; even those with alibis could not be trusted, those who served them could be persuaded or threatened to lie. The same would be true of any alibis the monks gave each other. I could question every single servant and monk in the place, but how long would that take and where would it get me? I suddenly felt helpless.
'So Gabriel saved you?' Prior Mortimus broke the silence.
'Yes, he did.'
'Why?' he asked. 'With respect, sir, why should he give his life for you?'
'Perhaps it is not so surprising. I think he had been led to believe his own life was of little worth.' I stared hard at the prior.
'Then I hope his act is helping him now at his judgement. He had many sins to weigh in the balance.'
'Perhaps not such great matters in God's eyes.'
There was a hesitant knock at the door, and the frightened face of a monk appeared.
'Pray pardon, there is a letter for the commissioner from Justice Copynger. The messenger says it is urgent.'
'Very well. Gentlemen, stay here for now. Mark, come with me.'