The Butchers Funeral: A Medieval Murder (8 page)

Tomson would deliver his wares as promised, both to his customer and the carniter, and then he would have nothing to do with this group of people again.  It was all very well getting paid a handsome sum, but he did not need the aggravation that clearly came with this customer.  There was plenty of other business he could pick up; he would not be a slave to his job when there were so few people doing this work.  He could pick and chose from all the consignments that needed delivery.

Tomson did not notice the four men hidden in the bushes at the edge of the road.  He therefore did not have the chance to spot the man who had stopped nearby when he was intercepted by Perry, not that it was likely that Tomson would have recognised the man due to the distraction provided by Perry.  The other three men had not been present while he was searched, but the tall blond man, with a gnarled travellers stick, had rushed into the city and brought them back to prepare this ambush.  A further four men were keeping watch half a mile each way along the road, prepared to stop any other travellers from interfering, the lack of traffic passing the cart was clearly not just down to the feast day.

The ambush sprang and a man jumped out from the bushes, running up behind Tomson he grabbing the driver from behind.  Tomson had no chance to react.  From the other side, two men took control of the oxen, while a fourth man approached the driver from the front.  Tomson could not place the man, but knew he had seen him before.

'We'll be taking this from you now then.'  It was the tall blond man and he waved his staff at the goods on the cart before pointing it menacingly at Tomson, 'It seems you've been a very naughty man.'  The tone was patronising.

Tomson was too shocked by the speed of the ambush to make any cogent reply, although the threatening staff did elicit a gasp from him.  He had never before been subject to a highway robbery.  Such things were not unusual, but they were still rare, especially if you paid protection to the right people, which he always did.

'I've paid my dues,' Tomson pleaded, 'Let me be on my way.'

'It's not your dues that be the problem,' The staff jabbed at him, punctuating the words, 'You've been talking to Perry.  We know some people who're not be happy with you for having spoken to him.  These people wanted us to have a little chat with you about it.'

'What?  I had no choice.'  How did his customers know?  Could he bluff these men as to the purpose of his time with Perry, 'He wanted to know about my goods, check them out.  He'd heard there was something dodgy about them, but as you can see, he didn't have any problems with what he found.'

'Other than that barrel that had you emptying your guts?' 

They had seen him?  Someone was there watching, maybe listening?  This would really limit his options.  Things were looking extremely serious, had they had him followed? 'Well, Perry wasn't happy with a couple of bits and he made me agree to destroy them when I got to the city.  He's planning on checking that I've done it as well.'

'So what else have you agreed with him then?' the man stood right in front of Tomson, clearly intent on intimidation.  He was not just tall, he also looked like he could really use the staff in a fight.

'What do you mean?'  Were they fishing, or did they know?

'Well, we can't take any chances.  We heard Perry was planning on sniffing around you, so had you followed.  This business is worth too much to our employer, your customers.  We overheard you coming to an agreement to help the Carniter catch us in the act.'

'I didn't have a choice,' Tomson spluttered, 'He would have confiscated the goods and then where would you be.'

'Aye, you have done us a favour there by keeping hold of the merchandise.'  The man leaned in and dropped his voice, 'But we can't take any risks with people giving us away and you've gone and given us away.'

The beating began, the man with the staff leading it, aided by two of his assistants, the fourth still holding the oxen.  It did not take long for Tomson to lose consciousness, yet the beating did not stop.  Before long, his ribs were smashed and his skull fractured.  Once the assailants were certain their victim was dead, the corpse was dragged into the bushes, well away from the road.  It was unlikely that it would be found but in case it was, his attackers knew it would look like a robbery gone wrong.  The four assailants checked for any obvious signs of the attack, so that the passers-by would not suspect an assault had occurred here.  Once they were satisfied, one man headed off to retrieve their accomplices from the roadblock furthest from the city, the others started the oxen cart, intent on completing the delivery.

'
What
do you mean, he's dead?'  Perry was cross and it was coming across.

'Tomson was found a little ways off the road.  All smashed up, looked like a robbery.' Eric Constable was used to dealing with Perry and was not in the least bit concerned that the carniter was cross.

'But I only spoke to him two days ago.'  Perry thought about it, 'He was doing a job for me.  It's that blasted gang again and I bet Col Butcher is at the centre of it all.'

'Col?  A gang you say?' Eric chewed his lip, 'He may be a bit of an unsavoury type, but involved in a gang, let alone a death?  I really doubt it.'

'It stands to reason.  I've been trying to nail this gang down for years.  They move spoiled meat from the countryside into the city, and other towns.  They don't care what harm it does anyone as long as they make their profits.'

'So what has that got to do with Col?' asked the constable.

'He's the local lynchpin.'  Perry said, 'He may even be more important than that.' The constable was shaking his head and Perry tried harder to persuade him, 'He's got access to money, he's well connected, knows everyone in his trade, and don't you try to tell me that he doesn't get caught red-handed selling dodgy meat from time to time.'

'Aye, I'll give you that.  I've known a few people get the galloping trots after they've eaten meat bought from him.'  Eric nodded his head, 'But isn't that pretty normal with any butcher?  Meat simply doesn't keep well unless you salt it, and even then...'  He trailed off.

'No, it's not that normal with any butcher.'  Perry put an emphasis on any, 'Most of them are perfectly reputable.  They wouldn't dare sell anything rotten to people for fear it would cause harm.  Most butchers don't want to go through life knowing their immortal soul is at risk from people they've despatched ahead of them.  Of course, you get the odd one who really doesn't care, but they're far and few between.'

'Ok, so Col is not the best behaved butcher in the kingdom.  So what?  That doesn't mean he's at the centre of some great big gang trying to separate people from their money.  Who ever heard of such a thing?'  Eric was not convinced.

'Look, I've been tracking them for a long time.' Perry snapped in angry frustration.  It was a moment before he calmed down.  He was not used to being questioned, his rank was usually enough to get compliance from constables and bailiffs.  However, Eric had always been a little odd and as constable of a city, had a high opinion of himself.  This constable only liked to deal with the obvious things in front of him, although he was damned persistent.  He was a bit like a hammer in the hands of a blacksmith, smash it against something hard until you get the finished item.  Perry smiled inside at the thought, Eric looked a bit like a blacksmith.  Perhaps he had been one before becoming a constable.

'I've spent months looking at the different connections in this area, years even.  Col Butcher is the lynchpin around here.  Every few weeks he gets a delivery of spoiling meat, some from other butchers, the rest from his agents in the countryside.  These agents go around buying up meat that's about to turn.  They buy up surpluses from other butchers at rock bottom prices, the butcher relieved to get something in return for something they considered a dead loss.  Likewise, they buy up meat from other butchers that is turning.  Again, the butcher gets some money rather than making a complete loss.'

'So he's getting leftovers from other butchers.  There ain't no law against that.' The constable said.

'No law about him buying the leftovers, but plenty against him selling unfit food.' Perry replied, 'It's not just the butchers his agents buy from.  They travel around the monasteries, castles and posh households.  Not usually after fresh produce, and these places are pretty self-sufficient and preserve what they don't use.  Instead the agents buy up stores that are spoiling due to vermin or bad storage.  A barrel of salted pork only keeps well when it is sealed and stored correctly, if not it rots.  Sometimes still perfectly edible, although you may want to boil it to nothing to kill the taste.  It's amazing how many of these stores go bad and most common people don't care about buying quality if the price is right.  Of course, Butcher pays next to nothing for this stuff, selling it on for a great deal more, so makes a vast profit.

'I thought salted meat kept forever?'  This was turning into a bit of an education for Eric, who left the purchase and preparation of foods to his wife.

'Far from it.  Problems with the meat before salting, not enough salting, too many of the wrong liquids, storing it in too damp a place, vermin.  The list goes on.  Dried meat is usually a bit better.'  Perry was warming to his favourite subject, 'The agents also go around the farms.  Now farmers don't usually kill an animal for food unless they have an immediate need for it. But sometimes their animals die at the wrong time, often of illness, sometimes due to wild animals and accidents.  They'll pass these on if they think they can get a price for them and Col Butcher will offer a price, even for the most diseased carcass.  He knows he can easily disguise the meat in pies or by mixing it in with other cuts.  It's easy to get away with it once you know how and again he gets the meat for next to nothing and then sells it on at a ridiculous profit.  Then there're the farmers who are desperate for cash, you can often have perfectly good meat at knockdown prices from them simply because they need every coin you can spare.  So sometimes Col picks up a bargain with good quality meat, but of course, that's not what I'm interested in.  Peasants are in an even worse situation, they usually only have a handful of animals and can't cope with any losses due to illness, so to them, one of the agents buying their diseased or dead livestock, well they think of it as a blessing.'

'So why are you interfering?  Sounds like he's doing a public good, helping out peasants and all the others.' Eric Constable did not have much of a reputation for thinking beyond the obvious and Perry smiled inwardly again at the thought of the blacksmith's hammer.

'If the meat is unfit for human consumption, it is my job to stop it being sold.  It's unsafe and it's thievery.  We have laws against both, and it's my job to enforce them, just as you enforce other laws.'

'So if Col is making so much money, where is it?'  Eric thought he had found a large hole in Perry's accusations.

'Excellent question.'  Perry had spent days working out the answer to this question, 'It's all over the place.  He lives well, but no better than you would expect from a successful tradesman.  He owes stakes in several businesses, not just in the city, but in several other towns.  I've also heard that he has agents in other trades, buying up surpluses in things like wool and then selling them on when the prices again rise.  There are even rumours that he is in the moneylending trade, although this is all through other people so that he does not dirty himself with usury.  His wealth is spread far and wide and I doubt that I've even uncovered a fraction of it.'

'If I had that sort of money, I'd live far better.  Think of the home you could build.'

'That's the thing.  He's not motivated by those sorts of worldly goods; he just seems to be motivated by collecting coin.  I can't find any other excesses, hidden mistresses, illegitimate children or anything else.'  Perry had been expecting to eventually uncover some sort of evidence of this as his investigation progressed, and he was always surprised when he thought of the absence, 'Of course, that doesn't mean they don't exist, but he can afford for them to openly exist.  Complete absence of ostentation.'

'So, can I see the body?'

'Don't think that'll be a good idea as we've already gone and buried him.  Suspect the priest may have something to say about it as well.'  Eric chuckled.

'I understand.  Was there anything unusual, or out of place?'  Perry asked.

'Some of his body parts were out of place, like broken, if that's what you mean?'  Eric continued when Perry shook his head, 'Nothing special, badly smashed up.  Probably hit with pieces of wood, certainly punched and kicked, then dragged off the road and hidden away.  Fits with what I've heard some thieves do elsewhere, although we don't have much robbery along the roads around here.'

'So nothing that could be of help to me then?  Where are his cart and oxen?'  Perry was annoyed at losing yet another way to catch the gang.

'Long gone, certainly not seen around here.  If it had been brought into the city I'm sure it would be hidden away, and if you're right about that butcher being involved, no-one will ever again see those oxen in one piece.'

'I should have travelled with him, hidden on the cart rather than arranging to meet up to catch the gang in the act.'  Perry was frustrated, but felt no remorse for the dead man.  Tomson had put his lot in with a criminal gang and despite the arrangement Perry had made with him, deserved any punishment he got.