Brother's Blood (31 page)

Edwin looked on in sympathy. ‘I am sorry, Brother – sorry for your loss and also sorry that I'm hurting you. Just one more thing, please?'

Brother Richard nodded, wiping away a dribble from his mouth with his sleeve.

‘When you came back, Brother Alexander had a book with him, didn't he? A very precious book that he treasured.'

Brother Richard took a deep breath and made a huge effort to speak as clearly as he could. ‘I told him that would be trou-ble. It was a Bible – ill-um-in-a-ted – a Chri-stian book, and he said it should-n't be in hea-then hands, how-ever good their masters were.' He sat back on his pillows, exhausted.

‘So he stole it?'

A shake of the head.

‘He bought it?'

Nod.

‘How?' Edwin realised he wouldn't get any more words so he held up his hand. ‘No, wait. I will work it out. Before he travelled he had sold his lands and goods?' There was no shake of the head. ‘So he had money, gold, the gold which was meant to keep you both while you were away and then set you up when you got back?' Still no disagreement. ‘And he used every last penny to buy the book.'

Brother Richard nodded, but Edwin was talking to himself now. ‘Which is why he took a job when he got back and why you joined the Order. And it is also why he would not part with it even when he took the cowl, even when he was supposed to give up all his worldly possessions. And someone knew, and someone didn't like him breaking the Rule. And that person killed him.'

He looked at the man in the bed, but Brother Richard's eyes were closed; he had dozed off from the effort of trying to communicate. Edwin asked the Lord to guard him, and then stood. As he rounded the screen he exchanged a glance with Brother Durand and Prior Henry, who had been standing there the whole time to act as witnesses.

Edwin stood in the abbot's parlour, in exactly the same spot he had occupied on the day he arrived. The abbot sat in his chair, the manuscript of wonders spread open on the table before him. How Edwin wished he could take it away and look at it in solitude for the rest of his life. But that way madness would lie.

He stumbled over his words at first, too tired and unwilling to speak, but he gained fluency as he went along and eventually communicated to the abbot Brother Alexander's travels, his bringing back of the book, his reasons for joining Roche rather than another abbey, and his relationship with Brother Richard.

The abbot shook his head. ‘I never noticed. Of course, two men in middle age may well bear a slight resemblance without being related, but I never considered that they might be brothers. And they never spoke of it.'

‘Not all brothers are as close as Brothers Godfrey and Waldef, my lord.' As with Helias and Sir Philip, thought Edwin.

He continued. ‘And so, once I had worked out that the “treasure” was a book, that naturally threw suspicion on Brother Octavian. But how could anyone know how much he coveted it – that he would be willing to kill for it?'

The abbot sighed as he looked down at the manuscript. ‘It is beautiful, yes, and it contains the word of God, but how could anyone …? Evidently I do not know some of the brethren as well as I should. If I had been a better father to them all, this might not have happened.' He shook his head sadly.

The prior, who had been standing silently in the corner all the while, interjected. ‘May I speak, Father?' The abbot gestured his permission, still lost in his own thoughts.

Prior Henry turned to Edwin. ‘If, as you say, Brother Octavian did kill Brother Alexander – and everything does seem to point that way – what possible reason could he have for doing away with poor Brother Eugenius?'

Now it was Edwin's turn to sigh, weighed down as he was by guilt. ‘I think that he just said the wrong thing at the wrong time. Brother Octavian was no doubt scared that someone might find out what he'd done. By that stage he'd hidden the book – and where better to conceal it than among other volumes? Perhaps he meant at some point to bring it into the abbey library, but someone would notice it and ask where it came from, surely? And he'd have to share it. So he put it where nobody would think to look, and where he could access it in secret whenever he could.'

The prior was shaking his head. ‘But I still don't see what this has to do with Brother Eugenius.'

‘He probably mentioned wool ledgers in front of Brother Octavian. He was upset at what had happened at the lay brothers' grange, and he must have said something about confessing at Chapter. Brother Octavian, already in a heightened state, would have been terrified in case he was going to be unmasked. So after the service this morning he either found Brother Eugenius alone in the dormitory or lured him there, and stabbed him.'

‘Cold-bloodedly?' The abbot managed to sound both disbelieving and horrified.

‘Yes. For it is a sad fact that once a man has killed, he is more likely to kill again.'

The abbot and the prior looked at each other. ‘I have heard this,' admitted the prior.

‘But what actual proof do we have?' The abbot pointed to the book. ‘This, yes, but does it show that Brother Octavian committed murder? What you say sounds very plausible but I would not like to condemn one of the brethren unless we are sure.'

‘I thought you would say that, my lord, which is why I wanted to find Brother Octavian and the book together before I said anything. Although that ended up leading to the death of Brother Eugenius, an innocent.'

‘An innocent, as you say.
Requiescat in pace
.' They all crossed themselves.

‘But if …' He tailed off.

‘What is it?' The abbot had caught the tone of Edwin's voice.

Edwin swallowed. ‘You're not going to like this, my lord.'

‘Not going to like what?'

‘From what I have gathered so far, I think Brother Octavian may have thought that in some way he was justified in killing Brother Alexander. But even he will harbour doubts in his soul about Brother Eugenius. Could we … might you give your permission for Brother Eugenius's body to be brought to Chapter tomorrow morning when Brother Octavian comes before it? I think that might sting him into a confession.'

The abbot closed his eyes. ‘What you suggest is … distasteful.' He opened them again and looked directly at Edwin. ‘But do you truly believe that this will bring an end to all this? Everything? We can be sure that the killer is found and we can return to our normal lives?'

Edwin squared his shoulders. ‘Yes, my lord.' He hoped desperately that he was right.

‘Then so be it.'

The abbot looked down at Brother Octavian, prostrate on the floor. ‘You will endure your earthly punishment regardless of whether you tell us or not. But for the sake of your immortal soul, your peace with Almighty God, you must make a full and frank confession.'

Brother Octavian sobbed on to the flagstones. Edwin watched as the tears made darker patches on the floor as they dripped from his face.

The abbot was relentless. ‘Speak.'

The shivering monk mumbled something which Edwin didn't catch.

The abbot looked at the prior and nodded. ‘You may raise yourself to your knees while you confess.'

Brother Octavian pushed himself up into a kneeling position. He looked around at his audience, his face streaked with tears, and then lowered his head again before beginning his tale.

‘Brother Alexander was a learned man, a travelled man. I enjoyed speaking with him about our books and about others he had read while he was abroad. One day he told me of the most exquisite treasure he had ever seen – a holy Bible illuminated on every page with gold and coloured illustrations. He said that the mere sight of it made him want to drop to his knees and praise God for the beauty of His creation. He told me that while he was in the southern Moorish kingdoms he would spend hours every day studying it. I asked him to tell me of it again and again, until I felt that I knew it almost as well as he.'

He took in a great shuddering breath and looked directly at the abbot. ‘And then, Father Abbot, one day he told me something he said he had never told anyone. When he returned from his travels, he had brought the Bible with him.'

Edwin heard an intake of breath from the silent monks around him.

‘I asked him why he had not given it to the abbey, Father, for surely such a treasure should be shared, should be available for all to study? Such a book should be kept in safety in the library here, and I would have guarded it with my life. And when Brother Alexander took the cowl he swore to forsake his earthly goods. But he would not answer me, would not show me the book.' His voice rose into a howl of anguish. ‘He would not tell me where he had hidden it! Such a treasure almost within reach, one of the wonders of the world, and I could not see it for myself!'

He stopped as another huge sob overtook him, and buried his face in his hands. Edwin looked around the silent room at the tension on the face of the brothers. Some of them were leaning forward, others gripping their robes in clenched fists.

Brother Octavian managed to slow his breathing and choke out his next words. ‘I took to following him, Father. I knew he would not be able to hide the book anywhere without wanting to go and see it, so I followed him. And when I saw him disappear into the side of the cliff I knew that had to be it. By the time he came out it was too late to go in – someone would have missed me if I had not come to vespers – so I resolved to steal out in the night. Once compline had finished and the brethren were asleep I slipped away out of the abbey. I had no problem getting past Brother Thurstan, and I left the small gate unbarred. It took me a long while to find my way there in the moonlight and even longer to find the cave, but at last I was there.'

Edwin knew how this was going to end, but he found himself on the edge of his seat along with everyone else.

‘And there it was.'

All the monks gasped, as one.

‘I could not see it properly as it was dark, but I knew what it was. I took it out of the box and bag which held it, as I thought it would be easier that way: anyone who saw me carrying a bag would no doubt ask me what I was doing, but who would think to question me holding a book? I brought it back to the abbey. I was going to put it in the library, but that would not do. So I hid it: I went to the lay brothers' parlour, removed the pages from one of the wool ledgers, put the manuscript inside, and threw the ledger pages into the beck.'

There was a shocked silence in the room. What struck Edwin most was that Brother Octavian seemed to be feeling no guilt; such tears as he had shed were for himself.

The abbot looked down on him with no pity. ‘Continue, Brother Octavian. You have told us a tale but you have not yet confessed your greatest sin.'

Brother Octavian spread his arms wide. ‘The rest is simple, Father. Brother Alexander would soon find that his book was gone, and he would know who had taken it. He had to be silenced. So while the brethren were at
lectio divina
I took one of the knives from the scriptorium and stabbed him with it.'

The uproar that this produced in the room was all the more forceful for its lack of volume. Monks were raising their arms to the heavens and groaning, wailing, praying … all in contrast to the kneeling figure in the middle who remained immobile.

Brother Octavian was continuing, now in a flat, emotionless voice which was in contrast to his earlier passion. ‘I knew it was him as he had the work of Aelred of Rievaulx which he had been reading since Lent. I was careful to stab him in the heart through the back of his robe so that no blood would spill on to the text.'

He looked upwards before continuing. ‘But I had misjudged my punishment. I knew that I would burn for eternity in hellfire, but I thought it would be worth it for the study of the book. How was I to know that my punishment would be to live in constant fear that someone would find it and take it away?'

Edwin was jolted as an accusing finger emerged from the sleeve of the monk's robe and pointed straight at him. ‘Him. Who was he? Some upstart villager from somewhere who thought he was interested in learning. But he was cunning, and I knew he would find it eventually.'