Read Online Deed of Murder by Cora Harrison - Free Book Online Page B

and she began to explain to the boys about Eamon going north and how she turned back and left him.
    ‘And the deed had definitely been signed by then?’ asked Aidan.
    ‘Definitely,’ said Fiona. ‘I asked him and he took it out and showed it to me.’
    ‘Did he unroll it?’ asked Shane sharply and then before Fiona could reply, he said quickly, ‘Think, Fiona, do it step by step. He opened his satchel . . .’
    ‘He opened his satchel,’ repeated Fiona obediently, ‘and he unrolled it and—’
    ‘But wasn’t it tied?’ interrupted Shane. ‘Did he untie it, or did he slide it out of the loop?’
    ‘Yes, you’re right; it was tied.’ Fiona shut her eyes and sucked in her lips with concentration. ‘He slid the tape off it,’ she said suddenly and opened her eyes and blinked at Shane’s air of triumph. ‘Is that important?’ she asked in a puzzled way.
    ‘Shane found the linen ribbon,’ said Hugh. ‘It was on the path above the flax garden.’
    ‘The path coming from the north,’ supplemented Aidan.
    ‘Still tied in a loop,’ said Shane.
    ‘So,’ said Moylan slowly, ‘the murderer, be it a he, or a she . . .’
    ‘You needn’t look at me,’ said Fiona tartly. ‘I was nowhere near the flax garden today. In any case, if I went around murdering everyone who tried to kiss me, the place would be littered with dead bodies.’ She looked meaningfully at Moylan, who blushed a bright scarlet.
    ‘Never mind all that, now,’ said Mara taking pity on him. ‘Shane has uncovered an interesting point. If Eamon definitely had the deed in his satchel when Fiona parted from him, then the deed was either lost or stolen.’
    ‘Why steal the deed?’ asked Hugh in a puzzled voice.
    ‘Because now there is no deed! The auction has to be held again.’ Shane sounded triumphant and Mara looked at him with respect. He was only twelve, but with his sharp brain and excellent memory he might be one of her top scholars by the time that he was seventeen or eighteen. ‘This puts Cathal the flax manager as a prime suspect, doesn’t it, Brehon?’
    ‘May I write on the board, Brehon?’ Hugh looked pleading and Mara nodded. Hugh had excellent handwriting, was a hard-working, well-behaved boy, but he was a problem, nevertheless. His mother had died two years ago of the sweating sickness, and for a while she had thought this might be the problem with his work. But now she was beginning to worry as to whether he had the brains to qualify in five years’ time. And if not, would it be kinder to inform his father, the silversmith, at the end of this year and allow the boy to follow his father’s trade? However, that was a matter which could wait. In the meantime, this murder had to be solved, so she turned her mind back to the problem of Eamon and the missing deed.
    ‘Put up the headings, Hugh,’ called out Aidan. ‘Reasons to murder . . .’
    ‘Fear, anger, gain, revenge,’ said Shane.
    ‘Remember Heptad forty-seven,’ murmured Moylan.
    ‘That would be covered by “anger”,’ said Shane placidly and Fiona laughed.
    ‘Or revenge,’ said Hugh wisely. ‘That’s if he managed . . .’
    ‘Can’t think of anyone for “fear”. That’s usually when someone is being blackmailed. Did Eamon know any terrible secrets?’ asked Aidan.
    ‘Doubt it,’ said Moylan. ‘He was such a . . . well, I think if he did know any secrets he would not have been able to stop himself from hinting at it. Anyway he hasn’t been here for very long.’
    ‘But if the deed is missing and the auction has to be held again, then Cathal’s name will have to go next to “gain”. Does everyone agree?’ Shane looked around at his fellow scholars.
    ‘I think that if you are being fair you should put my name beside “anger”,’ said Fiona. ‘I was very angry with him.’ Her eyes filled with tears for a moment and the others looked away.
    ‘And Fachtnan,’ said Hugh innocently. ‘He might have been very angry if he