‘You are following the right path,’ she declared. ‘You may announce what we are doing at evening prayers. Tomorrow morning we will start in earnest upon this quest and begin by speaking with Brother Sigeric. I presume the chamber where it happened is now empty?’
Bishop Leodegar nodded. ‘As I said, we removed Ordgar to a more secure room.’
‘Then we will visit the original chamber after we have seen Brother Sigeric.’
‘I will ensure that all is ready for you.’ Bishop Leodegar became more assertive. ‘I only hope that you are both as clever at solving conundrums as Abbot Ségdae has assured me that you are.’
‘That will be for you to judge, Leodegar of Autun,’ Fidelma replied quietly. ‘Eadulf and I can only do what is in our power to do, and trust the riddle is one that can be solved.’
Chapter Four
Fidelma and Eadulf were awakened just before dawn by the sound of singing. Eadulf lay for a while trying to adjust to the unfamiliar music. It was Fidelma who recognised it.
‘It must be the matutinae laude–the gathering for morning praise. I have heard that in Rome. It seems some of these abbeys sing Psalms to greet the dawn.’
Eadulf groaned. ‘I hope we are not expected to adopt these ways while we are staying here. I am often told that I am tone deaf.’
‘You will recall that our arrival, after so long a journey, has excused us from attending this morning’s prayers,’ Fidelma replied cheerfully. ‘Nonetheless, it is dawn and perhaps we should wash and be ready for the day.’
It was wise advice, for no sooner had they finished than Brother Chilperic knocked at their door carrying a tray of fruit, bread and cheese with which to break their fast. He seemed to read the question in Fidelma’s eyes as he set the tray on the small table.
‘The bishop thought it might save some embarrassment on this first day to allow you to break your fast here in the hospitia. Abbot Ségdae will speak with you about meals in the refectory. You will appreciate that our refectory is not used to the presence of women.’
‘You do not have to explain,’ Eadulf said, helping himself to a piece of fruit. ‘But I wonder who would be embarrassed if Fidelma walked in?’ he added mischievously as he bit into the fruit with relish. His eyes widened appreciatively as he munched on the juicy pulpy mass. ‘I have not tasted the like of this for a while. What is it?’
‘Malum Persica, Brother Eadulf,’ replied Brother Chilperic. Then he added: ‘The bishop thought I could wait and, after you have breakfasted, conduct you to the chamber where the killing took place.’
‘We are ready to commence the day’s task once we have done so,’ Fidelma replied, as she took a similar piece of fruit to that which Eadulf was enjoying. ‘What was it that you called this–a Persian apple?’ she asked, as she tasted it gingerly.
‘Yes, that is correct,’ confirmed the steward.
‘It is very soft and sweet. Do you buy them from Persian merchants?’
Brother Chilperic shook his head. ‘Some centuries ago, when the Romans conquered this land, they brought with them seeds of this fruit and planted them. The abbey gardens grow a fine crop. Thank you, but I have eaten,’ he added when Eadulf pushed the bowl of fruit in his direction.
‘Well,’ Eadulf smiled as he finished and wiped his mouth, ‘the earth did not tremble last night when Bishop Leodegar announced that a woman would be stalking the corridor and halls of this abbey?’
Brother Chilperic was uncertain how to take his humour.
‘The Rule of the bishop has only been in force a year,’ he explained. ‘We were not always segregated from women but, like many another religious community, this was a mixed house. Many here still have wives and even children in the adjoining Domus Femini–wives we had to put from us if we wished to continue as religious here.’
Fidelma raised an eyebrow. ‘Put from you?’ she queried.
‘Declare before God and the bishop that we no longer recognised our marriage vows because God had the greater calling on us,’ confirmed Brother Chilperic.
‘And what would have happened had you not done so?’
‘We would have had to leave and seek another place. But many communities in Burgundia…in Austrasia and Neustria are rejecting mixed houses, so where could we go? This is our land.’
‘Would going further west have been so bad?’
Brother Chilperic seemed suddenly gloomy. ‘Many of us, men and women, are of this city. This is where we have been born, brought up and belong. Many of us in this community, that is. We are the sons and daughters of former brothers and sisters of the community. There is no option but to obey this order.’
Fidelma was shocked. ‘No option? How is that?’
‘Bishops are all-powerful. Many are temporal princes, not just men of God. They have to be obeyed.’
‘Bishops such as Leodegar?’
Brother Chilperic seemed reluctant to admit it.
‘Has this been reported to Rome?’ asked Eadulf, aghast.
‘I fear that Rome would care little about it. Rome now sees itself as a temporal power set up to govern not just the morality of the princes of the former empire but to demand tribute from them. That is why Rome does not like the western churches. The constant arguments between your own churches and Rome have gone on for some time now.’
Fidelma regarded him with interest. ‘And did you put your own wife away from you?’ she asked unexpectedly, using his phraseology.
The young man flushed. ‘I…I have no wife,’ he muttered. He rose. ‘Perhaps it is time to start the examination?’
Eadulf glanced at Fidelma with an expression that indicated he felt it best to avoid further conversation in that area.
‘Before we start, I think we should like to be shown something of the abbey,’ Fidelma said. ‘It would help us.’
Brother Chilperic looked uneasy. ‘I do not know,’ he said hesitantly.
Fidelma’s brows came together. ‘Come, come, Brother Chilperic. It is useless our being here if we do not know where we are exactly.’
The tour was a cursory one, but at least it helped Fidelma and Eadulf to orientate themselves. The abbey was larger than they had expected and was bounded on two sides by the tall city walls. There appeared to be one main building, then a large chapel and several smaller structures interspersed with little courtyards and gardens. From the anticum, in the main building, they exited into a large courtyard with its entrance to the great chapel on the opposite side. To the south side of the courtyard was a small building entirely on its own which housed the apartments of Bishop Leodegar. Trees of apple, pear, plum and quince surrounded it. Separate to this was the house of the physician, with an infirmary and the physician’s garden for herbs and healing plants.
The main building contained the work rooms of the community–the bakehouse, brewery and kitchens next to the refectory–and beyond that, the latrina were housed at ground level. There was also a common room for the brethren called the calefactorium which, in winter, was heated by flues under the floor fed from the kitchen fires, and next to this was a scriptorium or library. There was also a vestiarium for the storing of clothes, because the warmth of the calefactorium helped preserve them and also kept the manuscript books of the scriptorium at a reasonable temperature.
Above this main building were the dormitoria for the brethren. The individual chambers were for the more senior members of the community. Then there was a second storey with other chambers and the hospitia, which were more ostentatiously furnished for guests of importance.
Brother Chilperic had paused in the main courtyard to point out some of the focal points of the abbey. He spoke with some enthusiasm.
‘We are in a corner of the old city, bounded on two sides by the ancient walls. The western wall runs behind the chapel and the southern wall is beyond the bishop’s house. Beyond the southern wall, through which we have access by means of a gateway into a tunnel made though the wall, we have our farmstead. There are cow sheds, goat sheds, pig
sties, sheep, hen and duck houses and another garden for our vegetables–such as garlic, onions, cabbages, lettuce and celery.’
‘And do the brethren take turns in looking after the animals and produce?’ Fidelma asked.
Brother Chilperic shook his head. ‘The farmwork is done by the slaves and supervised by the brethren.’
‘Slaves?’ Her eyes widened.
‘We don’t allow slaves in the abbey,’ went on Brother Chilperic, as if he had not noticed her shocked expression. ‘They only work on the farm. We have twenty field slaves who belong to the abbey.’
‘The chapel is quite spectacular,’ Eadulf remarked, trying to give Fidelma a warning glance not to pursue the matter of slaves again.
Brother Chilperic turned to him with pride and said, ‘It was once a temple of the Romans before being consecrated to the use of the true Faith.’
Attending prayers on the previous evening, they had already observed its large interior. It was a tall building, with a semicircular apse at the southern end in which stood a high altar. It was unlike the churches that Fidelma and Eadulf were used to. To the west of the altar was a smaller one dedicated to Apostle Peter and, on the opposite side, another dedicated to Apostle Paul. The congregation stood before the altar while the officiating priest performed the rituals. There were wooden screens, which they had noticed separated the women from the men. The women from the Domus Femini entered the chapel, apparently by some underground route through the vaults that stretched as far as the Domus Femini, and took their places unseen behind these screens.
Brother Chilperic told them that the Domus Femini stood to the east side of the abbey, separated by a large courtyard and a wagonway. It was up that wagonway that Brother Budnouen had taken his cart to unload his goods when they had arrived on the previous day. These women’s quarters had once been part of the main abbey buildings, but now all other entrances had apparently been blocked off so they were isolated from the brethren of the abbey, apart from the underground passage to the chapel.
Fidelma and Eadulf were certainly impressed by the size of the complex of the abbey. It was like a small town in itself and almost self-sufficient. One could lose oneself quite easily in the numerous halls, chambers and corridors.
A bell started to toll and Brother Chilperic started nervously.
‘I think we should begin your work, for the day is passing rapidly,’ he ventured.
‘We have already begun our work,’ Fidelma said mildly. ‘But let us now see where Abbot Dabhóc met his death.’
Looking relieved, Brother Chilperic set off up the stairs of the main building to the hospitia, but led them to chambers on the far side of the building from where their own were situated. Their guide paused before a door and announced: ‘This was the chamber where Abbot Dabhóc was killed.’
‘And it was Bishop Ordgar’s chamber?’ queried Eadulf.
‘It was,’ replied the steward. He opened the door. There was a single window facing them that lit the room well in spite of the fact that it was facing north across the sprawl of the city. It was not a bright day but the light was enough to reveal a scene that caused them to halt in surprise on the threshold.
‘This room has been ransacked.’ Eadulf stated the obvious.
Bedding was strewn on the floor, blankets and bits of broken furniture were scattered here and there, two cupboard doors hung off their hinges while loose bricks had even been prised out of the wall.
‘Destructive but thorough,’ muttered Fidelma. ‘Someone appears to have been looking for something.’
Brother Chilperic was in a state of shock.
‘It was not done last evening,’ he said.
Fidelma turned to him with a frown. ‘So you looked in this room last evening?’
The steward appeared suddenly awkward.
‘I just…I wanted…wanted to see if it was ready for your inspection.’
Fidelma replied patiently, ‘My inspection was to see if anything had been previously missed. I did not want the room made ready or tidied before it.’
‘Well, you certainly got your wish,’ Eadulf said ruefully, indicating the mess.
A thought struck Fidelma.
‘When exactly did you come here and observe that there was nothing amiss?’
‘When?’
‘You said that this had not happened last evening. What time were you here?’
‘After the evening prayers.’
‘After Bishop Leodegar announced in the chapel that we would be investigating the matter of Dabhóc’s killing?’
‘After that,’ agreed the steward.
Eadulf was nodding thoughtfully. ‘So someone was scared that something might be found…’ he began.
Fidelma silenced him with a sharp look.
‘There is nothing to be gained here,’ she said. ‘If you would be good enough to indicate Brother Sigeric’s chamber or tell us where we might find him? Then I think, as steward, your duty would be to inform the bishop about this matter.’
The young man replied, ‘At this hour Brother Sigeric will be in the scriptorium, Sister. I will take you there.’
‘One moment.’ Fidelma was looking at the doors to the individual chambers in the corridor. ‘If this was Bishop Ordgar’s original chamber, tell me who occupied the rooms on either side.’
‘His steward, Brother Benevolentia, is in the chamber to your left,’ Brother Chilperic indicated. ‘Bishop Ordgar has now been moved to the chamber on his left.’
‘Whose chamber is that, on the other side to Ordgar’s original chamber–to the right?’
‘That is now unoccupied,’ replied Brother Chilperic.
‘And unoccupied on the night of the murder?’
The man shook his head. ‘No, that was occupied by Lord Guntram.’
‘Lord Guntram? The local governor?’
‘He had come to the abbey to see the bishop and stayed late so that he was in no condition to ride back to his fortress.’
‘Ah, he was the visiting nobleman of whom Bishop Leodegar spoke. How do you mean–he was in no condition?’
Brother Chilperic looked uncomfortable. ‘He is a rather profligate young man, I am afraid, and the bishop keeps a good wine cellar.’
Fidelma was quiet as they followed the steward to the scriptorium. Leaving them at the door, he hurried off to convey the latest development to the bishop, his leather sandals slapping on the flags of the corridor.
Fidelma and Eadulf watched him go. Then Eadulf said in a whisper, ‘You think that someone in the chapel, on hearing we were investigating the matter, hurried to the chamber to search it?’
‘And why would that be?’ countered Fidelma. ‘If there was something incriminating in that chamber, why not retrieve it during the week that has passed since the killing of Dabhóc?’
Eadulf looked disappointed. ‘It is a mystery,’ he admitted.
Fidelma chuckled. ‘We are here to solve such mysteries,’ she reminded him, before reaching forward to turn the handle of the door into the scriptorium.
There was only one person inside–a young man poring over a scroll that was spread on the wooden table before him. He looked up as they entered and nervously started to rise in his seat. When Fidelma began to introduce herself, the young man made a motion of his hand.
‘I know who you both are. I saw you in the chapel last night.’
‘Be at ease, Brother Sigeric,’ invited Fidelma. ‘I understand that you were first on the scene in Bishop Ordgar’s chamber. You are a scribe in this abbey, I believe?’
The young man sank back into his chair and carefully laid his quill down on the desk before him.
‘I write a fair hand,’ he said, almost defensively. ‘I have good Latin, passable Greek and some Hebrew. Therefore, in kindness, I am scribe to the bishop.’
‘And are you a Frank?’
‘I am a Burgund. I was born and raised in this city.’
‘Have you served long in this abbey?’
‘Since I
was fifteen years old.’
‘So that would be…?’
‘I have seen four and twenty summers.’
‘Nine years,’ reflected Fidelma. ‘You must know this abbey well.’
The young man shrugged but said nothing.
‘I would imagine that there has never been a mysterious death at the abbey before,’ she continued.
‘None that I am aware of.’
‘And now you have played a central role in the matter.’
Brother Sigeric looked alarmed. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘You are a key witness.’
‘I saw nothing,’ replied the young man.
‘On the contrary, you saw a great deal by discovering the scene of the murder.’
The young man’s jaw came up. ‘I was not there when the Hibernian abbot was killed.’
‘We did not say that you were. But we would like to find out exactly how you came to Bishop Ordgar’s chamber that night. It was in the hour before dawn, I am told.’
Brother Sigeric sniffed slightly. ‘I explained everything to Bishop Leodegar.’
‘And now you will explain to me.’
‘I was just passing…’
‘In the middle of the night?’ intervened Fidelma. ‘Tell me, where is your chamber in relationship to Bishop Ordgar’s?’
The young man seemed unwilling to speak for a moment.
‘The rooms of the hospitia are on the second floor of this building,’ Fidelma prompted him. ‘Surely the dormitoria are on the first floor?’
‘As scribe I have my own chamber. It is on the second floor…’
‘Where exactly?’ she pressed.
‘It is on the eastern side of the building overlooking the courtyard between this building and the Domus Femini.’
‘Then it still does not explain why you were just passing Bishop Ordgar’s chamber in the middle of the night.’
The young man sighed deeply as if suddenly resigned. ‘The women here live separately to the men,’ he muttered.
The sentence surprised Fidelma. ‘I do not see the connection.’
The Council of the Cursed Page 7