To Wear The White Cloak: A Catherine LeVendeur Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page A

place him in the care of his own people. Immediately.”
    She stopped. Her voice had begun to tremble again.
    Edgar took her hand and led her back down the stairs.
    “We’ll go back to Willa’s, wash, eat if we can and then hunt for someone in authority to report this to,” he decided.
    “Do you think we’ll be suspected?” Catherine asked.
    Edgar paused mid-stair and gaped at her. “You are upset!” he exclaimed. “How could we have killed a man in Paris when we’ve been gone for nearly a year?”
    “Of course.” Catherine was surprised at herself. “That was stupid of me.”
    Then she realized that she hadn’t been thinking about herself and Edgar but about her father, who had come and gone, and Solomon, who might have been in Paris, after all. With all the fervor of the preparations for the king’s expedition, there were many who felt it only right to attack the Jews at home first before the Saracens abroad. Neither Solomon nor Hubert ever announced his faith to strangers. But neither would deny it if challenged. And she doubted they would allow a challenge to go unanswered.
    Yes, it was all too possible that her father or her cousin might have had a reason to be compelled to kill a soldier of Christ.
     
    Willa was surprised to see them so soon. She had all of the children in the trough helping her stomp down the felt. When she looked up and saw their faces, she stumbled and nearly fell out into the street.
    “I need to wash before I touch anyone,” Catherine greeted her. “Is there a basin I can use?”
    Willa stepped out at once and ran in to get water and a cloth to dry their hands with.
    “In a minute, James,” Edgar said, as his wet son tried to climb up his leg. “Just as soon as Mama finishes washing my hand.”
    Catherine dampened the cloth and rubbed it over the edges of their sleeves, as well. She had images of tiny vermin hiding in the robes of the knight’s body and leaping onto her.
    When Catherine had finished, she picked up Edana and let the child rub her soapy hands where she liked. Willa waited patiently for them to tell her what had upset them, but Margaret had no servile scruples.
    “What’s wrong?” she demanded. “Has something happened to Solomon?”
    Edgar reached out to her, letting James slide back down to the ground.
    “No, deorling ,” he assured her. “There’s still no word from him. But we had a nasty surprise. It seems that someone has decided to use our house to dispose of a body.”
    “Again?” Margaret shook her head.
    “Margaret!” Catherine was shocked. “No one has ever died in our house before.”
    “Well, from what I’ve heard, bodies seem to fall on you a lot,” Margaret said.
    “Not in years,” Catherine insisted. “And your brother found this one first. Anyway, it’s no one we know. What we need to do now is find someone in charge of the Knights of the Temple. It’s their body we think; they can come and fetch it. Is your mother here, yet, Willa?”
    “No, Mistress Catherine,” Willa said. “Should I send her to the house when she arrives?”
    “Goodness, no.” Catherine thought a moment. “Edgar, it will be days before the house will be livable. I think that, once we’ve reported this, we should go back to Guillaume at Vielleteneuse. We can have Samonie arrange to have the house cleaned and aired, just as it should have been all along.”
    Edgar gave her an incredulous glance. “You want to go away without finding out who that man was and why he was left in our home?”
    “Don’t you think that the care and safety of the family is more important than some stranger who was simply dumped on us?” Catherine glared back at him.
    Looking at her, Edgar realized suddenly what the real problem was. Catherine was terrified. Not for the children or themselves. There was no reason to feel that they were in danger.
    But Edgar saw it in her eyes. Catherine believed that the knight had been left in their house for a purpose, not just