I sat down on the bed again; my back was stiff and sore that morning. 'You are imagining things. This place is unsettling you. And don't stand there half-bare. The world doesn't want to see your belly, flat as it may be.'
'Sir, I did hear something. I thought it was outside.' He thought a moment, then crossed to the cupboard, which served as a storage space for clothes. He threw open the door, but it contained only dust and mouse-droppings. I looked down at him, envying the play of smooth, symmetrical muscles down his back.
'Only mice,' I said. 'Come on.'
===OO=OOO=OO===
As we sat at breakfast we had a visit from the abbot, ruddy-cheeked and swathed in furs against the cold. He was accompanied by Dr Goodhaps, who cast nervous, rheumy eyes about the infirmary, a dewdrop on the end of his nose.
'I have sad news,' Abbot Fabian began in his pompous way. 'We must postpone the late commissioner's interment.'
'How so?'
'The servants have not been able to dig deep enough. The ground is hard as iron and now they have poor Simon's grave to dig as well in the monks' cemetery. Today will be needed to finish the task. Then we could have both funerals tomorrow.'
'It cannot be helped. Will the funerals be held together?'
He hesitated. 'As Simon was a religious that must be a separate ceremony. That is allowed in the injunctions…'
'I have no objection.'
'I wondered, sir, how your enquiries are going. The bursar really needs his books back as soon as possible, I fear—'
'He will have to wait, I am not finished yet. And this morning I am going into town to see the Justice.'
He nodded portentously. 'Good. I am positive, Commissioner, that poor Commissioner Singleton's murderer is to be found in the town, among the smugglers and ill-doers there.'
'When I return I would like to interview Brother Jerome. Where is he? I have not seen his smiling face.'
'In solitude, as a penance for his behaviour. I must warn you, Commissioner, if you talk to him you will only have fresh insults. He is beyond control.'
'I can make allowance for the mad. I will see him when I return from Scarnsea.'
'Your horses may have difficulty getting there. Last night's wind has blown the snow into great drifts. One of our carts has had to turn back, the horses could not manage.'
'Then we will walk.'
'That too may be difficult. I have been trying to tell Dr Goodhaps—'
The old man spoke up. 'Sir, I have come to ask, may I not go home tomorrow, after the funeral? Surely I can be of no more use? If I were to get to the town I could find a place in a coach, or I wouldn't mind staying at an inn till the snow melts.'
I nodded. 'Very well, Master Goodhaps. Though I fear you may have a wait in Scarnsea before this weather changes.'
'I don't mind, sir, thank you!' The old man beamed, nodding his head so that the dewdrop fell on his chin.
'Go back to Cambridge. Say nothing of what has happened here.'
'I want only to forget about it.'
'And now, Mark, we must go. My lord Abbot, while we are in town I would like you to sort out more papers for me. The deeds of conveyance on all land sales for the last five years.'
'All of them? They will have to be fetched—'
'Yes, all of them. I want you to be able to swear you have given me the deeds of every sale—'
'I will arrange it, of course, if you wish.'
'Good.' I got up. 'And now we must be on our way.'
The abbot bowed and left, old Goodhaps scuttling after him.
'That worried him,' I said.
'The land sales?'
'Yes. It strikes me that if there is any fraudulent accounting going on, it would most likely be the concealment of income from land sales. That is the only way they could raise large amounts of capital. Let's see what he comes up with.'
We left the kitchen. As we passed Brother Guy's dispensary we glanced in, and Mark suddenly grasped my arm.