The Lark's Lament: A Fools' Guild Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page B

and his blood drained into a bucket.”
    “A bucket?” squeaked Helga. “Why?”
    “He used the blood to paint a message for our former colleague here,” said Theo. He turned back to the abbot. “Are you satisfied that it wasn’t me?”
    “Satisfaction is hardly the word for the occasion,” said the abbot.
    “The librarium faces the cloister from under a covered gallery,” said Theo. “And the dormitorium is directly above it?”
    “Yes.”
    “And does everyone in the abbey share the dormitorium?”
    “The lay brothers sleep in the barn and the workshops.”
    “Which are also out of view of the cloister?”
    “Yes,” said the abbot.
    “So, a lit candle in the librarium in the middle of the night would not be visible to anyone,” mused Theo. “Do you maintain a regular watch at night?”
    “We never felt it necessary,” said the abbot. “It would have been easy enough for you to slip in unseen.”
    “Me, or anyone else,” said Theo. “Why would I do something to annoy you when I want you to do something for me?”
    “That’s an excellent point,” I said to Helga, who nodded furiously.
    “When have you and logic ever shared company?” asked the abbot.
    “Also an excellent point,” I said to Helga, who nodded even more furiously.
    The two men looked at us, and the abbot smiled slightly. “Unsettling, I believe you said,” he remarked.
    “Very,” replied Theo. “But I have grown attached to them in my dotage. Look, if it wasn’t me, and it wasn’t, then there are two other possibilities. Either it came from an enemy from without—”
    “Or one from within,” finished the abbot. “Do you really expect me to believe one of my own did this?”
    “There are dozens of men living in close quarters here,” said Theo. “Brother Pelfort may have had some enemy among them unbeknownst to you. Much more likely than me showing up out of the blue after so many years just to kill him.”
    “Unless you were leaving that message, and he stumbled in on you,” said the abbot.
    “And you think that I would find it necessary to kill under those circumstances?” protested Theo. “I’m more resourceful than that.”
    The abbot looked at him, then sighed wearily. “My heart, if not my reason, says that it wasn’t you,” he said. “But reason must prevail if the Guild wants any help from me. Prove to me that you didn’t do this.”
    “How could I possibly do that?” asked Theo.
    “Father Gerald didn’t choose you because he thought this was going to be easy,” said the abbot. “Find whoever is responsible, and I will consider Father Gerald’s request. If you do not, then the Guild can burn in Hell for all I care. I might even send a letter to my good friend, the Pope, to expedite the process.”
    He turned to leave. Theo suddenly swung his fist at him. The wraith moved more quickly than I would have thought possible and managed to block it. The two stood frozen, glaring at each other.
    “If the killer is inside the abbey, then I would do better to stay here,” said Theo. “You’re in danger. All of you.”
    “No,” said the abbot. “I can take care of things here. Seek elsewhere for your prey.”
    “You might want to consider resuming your Guild exercises,” said Theo. “You’ve slowed down.”
    “I blocked you, didn’t I?”
    “Yes, but I’ve slowed down, too,” retorted Theo. “I recommend, my holy shepherd, that you start watching your flocks by night.”
    “Go with God,” said the abbot. “Go with God now.” He walked back to the abbey without a single glance back.
    “You’re not that slow, normally,” said Helga.
    “I didn’t want to hit him, child,” said Theo in exasperation. “I just wanted to put the fear of God back in him. Let’s go.”
    “Where?” I asked.
    “To the past,” he said, putting Portia’s cradle in the wain.
    “Which way is that?”
    “South.”
    We rode on until we were out of sight of the abbey.
    “So that was Folquet of