Read Online Badger's Moon by Peter Tremayne - Free Book Online Page B

it.’
    ‘So you were the last person to see her alive?’ intervened Eadulf, who had been silent for some time.
    Adag sniffed contemptuously. ‘Her killer would be the last person to do so, Brother Saxon.’
    Fidelma decided to let the insult to Eadulf go unchallenged for the moment.
    ‘How long was it between Ballgel’s leaving and when the abbot left?’ she pressed. ‘Moments later or a longer period?’
    ‘It was some time later…perhaps half an hour or so.’
    ‘And the path to the abbey lies in the same direction as the woods where she was found?’
    ‘At the bottom of the hill you would have to turn right to the abbey, while the place where Ballgel was found was to the left, away from the abbey. The abbot could not have caught up with her.’
    Fidelma regarded him with some amusement.
    ‘Why do you think that extra information is of importance?’ she asked softly.
    Adag’s mouth thinned in annoyance. ‘I thought that you were accusing—’
    ‘When I accuse anyone,’ interrupted Fidelma, still speaking softly, ‘I shall say so directly. At the moment, I am still looking for information. I am asking questions and I expect answers and not opinions or prevarication. Questions must be answered with courtesy and respect. Brother Eadulf of Seaxmund’s Ham, who is my fer comtha , is also worthy of a respectful response, for he was a lawyer among his own people.’
    Adag hung his head in mortification. His cheeks were crimson.
    ‘I only meant that—’
    ‘I know perfectly well what you meant,’ Fidelma replied shortly. ‘Now, as to that last exchange of words that you had with Ballgel…’
    Adag looked startled for a moment. ‘Last exchange?’
    ‘Your conversation at the gates of the fortress when she went home that night. I presume you did exchange some words?’
    ‘As I said, I merely bade her good night,’ acknowledged Adag hurriedly. ‘She responded. She left and that was the last I saw of her.’
    Fidelma paused in reflection for a moment.
    ‘The moon was full that night. It was bright. Was Ballgel nervous of going home alone? She was aware that two other young girls had been killed in those woods, wasn’t she?’
    Adag sighed and nodded. ‘Ballgel was a very stubborn and self-willed girl. Nothing seemed to make her nervous. But I suppose that it was not until after her death that most of us generally realised the significance of the full moon.’
    ‘Significance?’ Eadulf interposed.
    ‘That the three killings had happened on the night of the full moon.’ The steward spoke to him with a little more courtesy than before. ‘I think it was young Gabrán, the woodsman, who first realised this and told our late Brehon Aolú…’
    ‘He did,’ intervened Becc in confirmation. ‘But he was not taken seriously until Liag pointed it out. That was after the second body was discovered. But the fact that he felt it was significant was no secret. Liag knows about these things. He teaches our young about the stars and the moon. Though what Adag says is true. In spite of young Gabrán, and then Liag, the fact that the killer struck at the full of the moon only became generally realised after the body of Ballgel was found.’
    Fidelma considered for a moment before resuming her questions.
    ‘So Ballgel left for home and some time later the abbot also left?’
    ‘That is so,’ agreed the steward. ‘Then I went to bed, for I knew my lord Becc’s other guests would be staying the night.’
    ‘That will be all for the moment, Adag,’ Fidelma said with finality.
    Adag glanced to his chieftain and Becc made a quick gesture of dismissal with his hand.
    Fidelma waited until he had gone and then turned to Becc.
    ‘We will see the families of the other two victims tomorrow, but perhaps we should start with the reclusive apothecary. As he examined all three bodies, he might be able to tell us something of significance. Remind me of his name. Liag?’
    ‘Indeed. It is Liag,’ Becc confirmed.