An Unholy Alliance Read Online Free PDF Page B

‘Nicholas lies in the churchyard here. I will obtain the necessary permits from the Bishop and you will exhume the body this week.
    You will also report back to me regularly. I will speak with Master Kenyngham and ask that you be excused lectures if they interfere with your investigation.’
    Bartholomew felt a flash of anger at de Wetherset’s presumption, followed by a feeling of sick dread. He had no wish to investigate murders or delve into the University’s sordid affairs.
    ‘But my students have their disputations soon,’ he protested. “I cannot abandon them!’
    “I need a physician to examine the corpse,’ repeated the Chancellor. ‘You underestimate your abilities, Doctor.
    You are honest and discreet, and for these reasons alone I trust you more than most of my clerks. I think you both of you,’ he added, looking at Michael, ‘are perfectly equipped to get to the bottom of this matter. I know you would both rather teach than investigate University affairs, but I must ask you to indulge me for a day or so, and do my bidding. I know the Bishop will support me in this.’
    ‘But if your clerk has been dead for a month, I will be able to tell you nothing about his death,’ Bartholomew protested. ‘Even if there were once a small cut on his hand, like the one on the friar, the flesh will be corrupted, and I doubt I will be able to see it.’
    De Wetherset winced in distaste. ‘Perhaps. But you will not know until you look, and I require that you try.’
    He leaned towards Bartholomew, his expression earnest.
    ‘This is important. I must know whether Nicholas came to harm because of the book I ordered he write about the University.’
    Bartholomew held his gaze. ‘You must be aware of the stories that say the plague came from the graves of the dead,’ he said. ‘It is a risk
    ‘Nonsense,’ snapped de Wetherset. ‘You do not believe that story, Doctor, any more than I do. The plague is over.
    It will not come again.’
    ‘How do you know that?’ demanded Bartholomew,
    irritated at the man’s complacency. ‘How do you know someone at the Fair is not sickening from the plague at this very moment?’
    ‘It has passed us over,’ said de Wetherset, his voice rising in reply. ‘It has gone north.’
    ‘There are people at the Fair who have come from the north,’ countered Bartholomew, becoming exasperated.
    ‘How do you know they have not brought it back with them, in their clothes, or in the goods they hope to sell?’
    ‘Well, which is it, Doctor?’ said de Wetherset triumphantly, detecting a flaw in Bartholomew’s argument.
    ‘Is it carried by the living, or in the graves with the dead?
    You cannot have it both ways.’
    ‘My point is that I do not know,’ said Bartholomew, ignoring Michael’s warning looks for arguing with the Chancellor. ‘No one knows! How can we take such a risk by exhuming your clerk? Will you endanger the lives of the people of Cambridge, of England, over this?’
    De Wetherset snorted impatiently. ‘There is no risk!
    Nicholas died of a summer ague, not the plague. I saw his body in his coffin before he was buried. Your peculiar ideas about cleanliness are making you over-cautious.
    You will exhume the body in two or three days’ time when I have the necessary licences. Now, what do you plan to do about this friar?’
    Michael pulled thoughtfully at the thin whiskers on his flabby cheek, while Bartholomew threw up his hands in exasperation, and went to stand near the window to bring his anger under control.
    ‘Can you test the lock to make certain it is poisoned?’
    Michael asked Bartholomew.
    Bartholomew looked at him distastefully and stifled a sigh. ‘Will one of your clerks do that?’ he asked de Wetherset.
    ‘How?’ asked de Wetherset, looking at the lock in renewed revulsion.
    ‘Test it on a rat or a bird. If the poison killed the friar through that tiny cut, then the poor animal, being considerably smaller, should die fairly