The King's Riddle

by Maureen Ash

  “And you think she might have murdered Alfreda for payment to give to her brother for his marriage?” Estrid asked with a hint of scepticism in her voice. “Surely she could have asked her husband to help with the handgeld, or even Siward. It is not a very great sum and either can well afford it.”

  “But neither would do so,” Tilde said. “When Edith married Harold about seven years ago—and it is believed by all of the village that she only did so to provide security for herself and her brother, not from affection—Beorn was only ten years old and Harold agreed that he could come and live with them, expecting that the boy, as he grew older, would help in the mill to pay for his upkeep. But Beorn proved, as I said, slothful—he would either leave undone the tasks Harold had given him, or carry them out in such a shoddy fashion that Harold would have to redo them himself. Finally, when Edith had her first child, and Beorn continued in his usual manner, refusing to help with the chores she would normally have done were it not for her new babby, Harold told him to leave and go back to the dilapidated cot that he had lived in with Edith while they were growing up.”

  “Edith was very upset, but could not go against her husband’s decision, and so she helped Beorn the only way she could, taking food to him every day or two and making clothes for him from Harold’s castoff garments,” Merwenna said, taking up the tale. “I am sure she would be desperate to grant anything else he needs, or desires, including money to wed. And my suspicion that she has done so by committing murder is not without good cause,” she added, “for only yesterday I heard in the village that the father of the girl Beorn wishes to marry has received a part payment—twenty shillings—of the handgeld he asked Beorn for, with a promise of the rest on the marriage day.”

  Estrid paced back and forth, digesting this information, as the rest of the company broke into animated conversation about how it appeared that Edith was the woman for whom they were searching; she had often been in Abetot’s company when he came with fitzRanulf to visit Alfreda so it could have been during one of those times that the plot between them had been arranged, and it would have been easy for her to convince Alfreda that the potion was a fertility one—she could even claim she had used it herself to bear Harold their two sons—and the incentive of her much-loved brother’s desire to get married would have provided the spur for her to kill to obtain the silver she wanted for him.

  As their voices buzzed around her, Estrid still felt there was something they were missing, something that did not fit smoothly with all the other pieces in the riddle. She, like the rest, was convinced that Edith had given Alfreda the poison, but she could not understand why she had not given it to her earlier, before she was married to the Norman and thereby escaped the danger of the murdrum fine being laid on the village. For if, as was to be expected—and it was only by the king’s good grace that it had not—the fine had been levied, her brother would have had to pay his share along with all of the others who lived there. And the fine would have been a hefty one, most likely taking a goodly portion of the money she had given him. Or why did she not give the poison to Alfreda with instructions to take it after she had consummated her marriage at Ashford, and therefore been well away from Maidstone…

  She stopped suddenly as into her mind came fitzHaimo’s addition in his letter of a phrase that had been overheard in the conversation between Abetot and Evrecy and not been understood. The words, she remembered, had been that ‘the deed was clumsily done’. Now she knew what had been meant by that phrase.

  She spun around and spoke to her companions. “Alfreda was not meant to take the poison at the wedding feast; she was meant to take it after she had gone with her new husband to Ashford.”

  CHAPTER 31

  “What makes you think that?” Leofwine asked in puzzlement.

  “Because if she had swallowed it at Ashford, no one in the village would have been suspected of poisoning her. Also Abetot would presumably have left the newlywed couple under the pretence of giving them privacy, thereby ensuring he was gone when she died so that his part in this murder plot would never have been suspected.”

  “You are right, maistresse,” Humbert declared. “Valerie told us that the bottle was in a coffer along with clothing that her niece intended to take to her new home after she had married—and that is where it would have stayed until she reached Ashford had she not taken it earlier than these villains expected. And except for the happenstance that she put the empty bottle back in the coffer, we might never have known of its existence.”

  “But, if we assume that Edith instructed her to drink the poison after her arrival at fitzRanulf’s manor house, what could have prompted her to take it earlier?” Judith said.

  “I fear we may never learn the answer to that,” Estrid replied, “for it has died with her. There could be half-dozen reasons she took it beforetime. It might have been that she thought the efficiency of the potion would be increased if she took it a few hours before she bedded fitzRanulf, or mayhap believed it would increase her allure to him at the hour of their wedding. It might even have been only that she was curious to see what it tasted like. Any of these causes, or some other we may not be aware of, could have driven her to drink it beforetime but, for whatever reason she did, I am certain she was instructed by Edith not to take it until she was at Ashford. And, once there, and dead…”

  “The outcome the murderers desired would have been accomplished,” Humbert finished for her, “leaving none of the conspirators in jeopardy.”

  “But, even so, surely fitzRanulf would have realised she had been poisoned,” Leofwine said.

  “Would he?” Estrid responded. “Their lovemaking was bound to have been ardent—is it not more likely that when he woke up in the morning and found her dead beside him that he would have blamed himself for pressing her virgin strength too hardly? Or believe that some unknown malady had overtaken her? No, I do not think he would have suspected poison and, even if he had, he would never have envisioned that it had been a member of Alfreda’s family who had given it to her.”

  Just then, Merwenna’s neighbour could be heard arriving with his cart to take her home and so she struggled to her feet with the help of her stick to go outside and join him. But before she left, she asked Estrid one question.

  “What about Edith? Will you have her taken into custody for her part in the crime?”

  “Not yet,” Estrid replied, “for we have no proof of her culpability. FitzHaimo must, of course, be told her identity, but the day grows late and there will be time enough to send him a message in the morning. Between now and then, I will try to devise a way in which she can be trapped into revealing that it was she who gave the poison to Alfreda.”

  *************

  After Merwenna left, and had given her willing promise to keep privily all that had been discussed that day, they tried to find a scheme to prove Edith’s guilt. “The only way it can be done, that I can see, is by getting her to admit she was the one who bought the bottle in which the poison was placed,” Estrid declared.

  “But how can we do that when Harold still has the one she bought?” Judith objected. “I do not recall that the potter said she bought two.”

  “Redwald only told us of those customers that purchased one of his bottles from the batch he made this year,” Estrid replied. “It may be that she bought one the year before, and that is the one Harold has for, as I said, we have not yet inspected it to see if it contains the flaw. To confirm that assumption I must go back to the potter and ask if he can remember if he sold one to Edith from the first batch he made. If he can tell us that she did, then we can be certain that the one Harold has will be without the flaw and will leave her to prove the whereabouts of the one she bought a short time ago—and she has none.”

  They all pondered how it would be best to confront Edith, and without coming to any conclusion, until the time for the evening meal arrived. After they had finished eating, Humbert went back to Holy Cross church to attend the evening office and then to wri
te up a report of all that had been learned to send to fitzHaimo in the morning. While Godser and Tilde went to attend their evening chores, and Leofwine and Ugg sat at the table with cups of ale, Estrid asked Judith to come with her to sit for a time outside in the cool evening air in the hope they would be able to arrange their thoughts in a more useful fashion.

  The two women sat down on the riverbank beside the mill. Dusk was approaching and through the gloaming ripples on the river could be seen wending their way past them. Rustles from small birds settling down for the night in the trees behind them could be heard and, in the distance, an owl hooted.

  Once they were settled, Judith expressed her horror at Edith’s terrible crimes. “She is so evil,” she exclaimed with a shudder. “How could she have murdered not only Alfreda, but her own father? If she had killed him with the knife she was brandishing that day when she chased him, it would perhaps have been understandable as an accident due to her anger, but to secretly contrive his death without any compassion … her heart must be made of stone.”

  “So it would seem,” Estrid said to her gently, “but we will see her brought to justice, I promise you. Now come, help me contrive a plan to ensure that is done.”

  Judith rallied at her mistress’ words and they spent some time considering the various ways in which their aim might be accomplished

  “Even if Redwald confirms her purchase of a second bottle, we cannot immediately challenge her to produce it,” Estrid said. “It would be far too easy for her to claim that it had been broken or lost, and without proof she is lying, we would have to accept her word.”

  “Could you not involve her brother in some way, perhaps ask him to explain where he got the money to pay the handgeld? He is sure to say that Edith gave it to him and then she will have to admit how she came by the silver,” Judith said.

  Estrid mulled over Judith’s suggestion. “Perhaps, but she could simply claim that she had saved it up over the years from the household allowance she must receive from Harold, and so would be of no avail.”

  “If only we could find a way to gather all of Redwald’s bottles together,” Judith said, “and prove that the one she bought is the only one missing, then she would be unable to deny it.”

  “An impossible task, I fear,” Estrid replied, with a shake of her head.

  They spent another hour turning the situation about one way and another until finally it was time to go to bed. As they went back into the mill, Estrid patted Judith on the shoulder and told her not to lose heart. “If it is God’s will,” she added, “the answer to our dilemma will be made known to us before it is too late to take advantage of it.”

  And so it was. After a night spent by Estrid tossing and turning on her pallet, Judith’s remark about gathering all the bottles together led to the solution just as dawn was breaking,

  CHAPTER 32

  She rose from her bed immediately and walked the short distance to Holy Cross church. She knew Humbert would have risen before daybreak to observe Matins with the priest and, as she had hoped, arrived to find the service just finished.

  Taking the monk aside, she explained the plan she had devised. When she was done, he praised her ingenuity, but did, nonetheless, express one doubt. “If your intention does not work, Edith will be forewarned of your suspicion and leave you no other recourse with which to prove her guilt.”

  “That is why it must not fail, brother,” she said.

  “I will send up an earnest prayer for your success,” he assured her, “and, after that, I will, as you requested, add the details of your scheme to the report that Leofwine is taking to Lord fitzHaimo.”

  On her return to Godser’s mill, she found the others in the household breaking their fast. “Make haste,” she told Judith. “We must leave at once.”

  “Where are we going?” Judith asked as she got up from her seat.

  “To arrange a folkmote,” Estrid said to her.

  **************

  While Leofwine waited for Humbert to finish his report, the two women left, in Ugg’s company, to visit Redwald. Not only was it necessary to have the potter confirm that Edith had bought a bottle from the first batch he had made as well as the second—which he did—Estrid also needed his assistance in order to bring her scheme to fruition. When he was told of her plan and that Edith was the one she hoped to trap by carrying it out, his face grew dark with fury.

  “If you are to be of any help to me, potter, you must hide the outrage you feel,” Estrid warned him. “If you do not, she will realise she is being enticed into a snare and might well escape it.”

  Redwald nodded and promised he would do as she asked. “Although it will be difficult to keep from strangling that evil bitch, I will manage it for Alfreda’s sake.”

  **************

  Satisfied Redwald would adhere to his pledge, Estrid and her companions left the pottery and went into the village to call on Osric. Once inside the reeve’s house, Estrid did not reveal the full extent of her plan to him, but simply said that since she had not, as yet, had any success in discovering Alfreda’s poisoner, she was going to make one last effort to do so by having him call a folkmote of everyone in the village.

  “When you do so, ask all of those who purchased a bottle from Redwald that is similar to this one to bring it to the meeting,” she added, handing him the duplicate bottle.

  “May I ask why?” Osric said.

  “The potter has told me that he cannot entirely recall the names of all of the customers who bought one of these bottles, so we will have to rely on the hope that any who fail to produce theirs is one of those he will remember as having purchased one.”

  The reeve took the bottle from her. “That hope will surely be a slim one,” he said.

  “Yes, I agree, but it is a risk worth taking for, if the scheme fails—and, as you point out, it very well might—I will have to tell the king that I must give up the enquiry and, as a consequence, he may decide to fine the village.”

  The reeve gave her no argument. The threat of the fine being levied was enough to ensure that all of the villagers would do as she asked in the hope that the search would be successful and relieve them of the need to pay it.

  “And you wish the folkmote to be held in two days’ time?” Osric asked to confirm that he had correctly interpreted her instructions.

  “Yes. The day after tomorrow. The villagers are to assemble in the forenoon of that day at the mote place near Bearsted. Ensure you tell any who claim to have lost or broken the bottle they purchased to bring a witness to the act of it happening, if they can. Redwald has promised to examine each bottle and certify that it is one of those he made and not one that has been purchased from a potter outside Maidstone.”

  The reeve shook his head at the uncertainty of the arrangements, but had no other choice except to do as she asked.

  ************

  Estrid, in the company of Judith and Ugg, then went to Siward’s mill and she explained her scheme to the miller and his family just as she had to Osric and again, without the added details she had shared with Redwald.

  “As I told the reeve, I do not have much hope this questioning will be successful, but I am at an impasse and can think of no other option that might lead me to the outcome we hoped for—that of finding the poisoner.”

  “And if this gambit fails, as it is sure to do, does that mean the king will appoint no one else to search for my daughter’s killer?” Siward asked with outrage.

  “I cannot say for certain,” Estrid replied, “but I think it likely.”

  “Then all I can say, Estrid Thunorsdohter, is that your father would not have given up so easily.”

  Estrid flinched inwardly at the undeserved slight, but steeled herself to hold her temper and appear contrite, for it was imperative she seem so in order that Edith believed her admission of expected failure was a true one.

  “For that, I am sorry, Siward,” she said regretfully, and was gratified to see a fleeting expression of relief cross
Edith’s face for the apology. “But there is still a slight chance that this strategy will prove fruitful and, if it does, I know you will be pleased to witness the naming of the guilty person.”

  “And so I shall,” the miller said, and then added caustically, “if you succeed, which I very much doubt.”

  Estrid gave him an understanding nod and then spoke to his eldest son. “The bottle you have, Harold—I must tell you that even though I have already seen it, if Edith does not bring it for examination, there may be those in the village who will accuse me of partiality by not demanding that yours is produced as well, especially as the one that contained the poison was found here in Alfreda’s coffer.”

  “She will do as you ask,” Harold promised.

  *************

  When Leofwine arrived back at the mill later that day, he told Estrid of fitzHaimo’s reception of her message. “He has agreed to all of the arrangements you intend to make to trap Edith, and said to tell you he will ensure the part you have asked him to play will be carried out as requested.”

  CHAPTER 33

  The next morning Osric left his house early to obey Estrid’s instruction to arrange the folkmote. It was market day, so many of the villagers were collected near the stone cross in the middle of the street and, after mounting the slab at its base, he summoned all to come forward and hear what he had to say. Brandishing the bottle that Estrid had given him, he told them they were all to come to the mote place near Bearsted the next day and that anyone who had bought a similar bottle from Redwald was to bring it with them and then explained the reason why they were to do so.

  As exclamations of protest began to swell at the disruption of their work day by attending the assembly, he raised his hand for silence. “Any who do not come will leave themselves open to a charge of defying the king’s authority and paying a hefty fine, and you would also do well to remember that if Alfreda’s killer is not caught, it is more than likely a murdrum penalty will be laid upon us.”