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mentioned a chapman called Roger. So, like I said, I started asking questions and from the replies I received, I came to the conclusion that you were the man. My half-brother, I mean. Even so, I don’t suppose I’d have claimed kinship if this hadn’t happened.’
    â€˜Or if I hadn’t had a reputation for solving mysteries. Why not?’
    He shrugged his thin shoulders. ‘Why would you want to be saddled with an unknown younger half-brother?’ He gave the ghost of a grin. ‘They can be a damn nuisance, as I know only too well.’
    That made me laugh. I found my initial, instinctive hostility turning to liking as I saw in him traits of character that I recognized in myself. I had always known that my cynical view of the world must have come from my father: my mother had been far too simple and devout a soul to see life with a jaundiced eye.
    I settled my buttocks more comfortably – or as comfortably as possible – on the stone bench. ‘Tell me all you can about this Dame Bellknapp,’ I invited.
    â€˜That’s just the point.’ He threw out his hands in despair. ‘I can’t tell you anything about her. I don’t know her. I’ve never seen her before in my life.’
    â€˜Then tell me what happened yesterday.’
    â€˜What can I say …? Well, to begin with, I’d realized it was useless hanging around Bristol any longer. I could wait for days … weeks … and there might be no more news of John Jay and his crew than there is today. Which is to say, nothing. And if I stayed away too long, my poor mother would also begin to worry about me. So, I decided to go home. There was an Irish ship tied up at Welsh Back that was sailing for Waterford this morning, on the early tide.’ His voice caught momentarily in his throat and I could see that he was near to tears. ‘It’s gone now,’ he went on gamely, mastering his emotion.
    â€˜So?’ I prompted.
    â€˜So I arranged my passage with the captain and then I went to the fair to find a present for my mother. I knew most of the traders and stallholders had packed up and gone by that time, but there were still enough of them left to make a visit worthwhile.’ He drew a deep breath. ‘I was just haggling over the cost of a gilt chain – the rogue who was trying to sell it to me wanted twice what it was worth – when I heard this woman shouting, “Stop that man! That’s John Jericho!” Of course, I looked around like everyone else, to see who it was that she was talking about. Then to my utter astonishment, I realized she was pointing straight at me. The next thing I knew, one of the two men with her – her servants I guessed them to be – was holding me with one of my arms up my back and one of his arms clamped round my neck. The second man had gone haring off, and returned a few minutes later with a sheriff’s officer, this Sergeant Manifold. Meanwhile, the woman was ranting on about how I was a robber and a murderer and should be arrested immediately. I think if she’d had her way, I’d have been strung up there and then on the nearest gallows.’
    â€˜What about her two household officers?’ I asked, although, thanks to Margaret Walker, I already knew the answer. ‘Did they recognize you?’
    â€˜They both agreed there was a likeness. The man who was holding me said there was a great likeness, but the other man, the one she called George and introduced to Sergeant Manifold as her steward, wasn’t nearly so sure. Something of a likeness was what he said, and reminded his mistress that the murder and robbery took place six years ago. A long time, as he pointed out.’
    â€˜But it didn’t satisfy this Dame Bellknapp. Is that her name?’
    â€˜I think so. I wasn’t paying close attention. I think, though, it would have been enough for the sergeant – after all, it was just her word