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Gormán was to hear the case and it was known that Gormán was no lover of the religious. The Bishop of Cashel was concerned for the abbot, who was, by all accounts, a man with a reputation for kindliness and largess, whose good works had distinguished him among the brethren. However, the abbot was also known to be a man of strict obedience to the Rule of Rome which brought him into conflict with many of his fellow religious.
    The community of the Abbey of Fota was a small exclusive brotherhood of leather workers and a few scholars. They were a self-sufficient community. As protocol requested, Fidelma had introduced herself to the worried looking steward, Brother Cass, who had then introduced her to Brehon Gormán who had ensconced himself in the steward’s chamber. She had asked to be informed of all the facts of the case.
    The facts seemed simple, according to the Brehon. Brother Eolang, a member of the community, had been found by the lakeunder a wooden landing pier. He had evidently been drowned but there was bruising and cuts to his head. The community’s apothecary, Brother Cruinn, had expressed suspicion about the death. Brother Eolang had not been an elderly man. He was in the prime of his life and the bruising seemed to indicate that he had been struck on the forehead and pushed into the lake where he had drowned.
    Brother Gormán had been sent for. After some initial inquiries he had placed Abbot Rígán in custody pending a full trial.
    For a moment or two Fidelma sat gazing at Brehon Gormán in astonishment.
    “My understanding of what I have been told is that Brother Eolang was dead when he was discovered in the lake? Is this not so? But you say he was able to name the abbot as his killer. How was this miracle accomplished?”
    “He was certainly dead when his body was found,” agreed the Brehon.
    “Then explain this riddle which you have set me.”
    “It is quite simple. Brother Eolang told several of his brethren a week ago that he would be murdered on a particular day and that the abbot would be responsible.”
    Fidelma found herself in the unusual position of being unable to comment for a moment or so. Then she shook her head in bewilderment, trying to control the growing sarcasm in her tone.
    “This is the evidence? He predicted he would be murdered by the abbot?”
    Brehon Gormán smiled again, even more coldly.
    “Brother Eolang also foretold the exact manner of his death,” he added.
    “I think you need to explain more precisely, Brehon Gormán,” Fidelma said. “Was Brother Eolang a prophet?”
    “It would appear so, for we have the accusation and prediction written in Brother Eolang’s own hand.”
    Sister Fidelma sat back and folded her hands in her lap.
    “I am listening attentively to your explanation,” she said quietly.
    “Please tell me the facts so that I do not make any assumptions.”
    “There was no love lost between Abbot Rígán and Brother Eolang,” replied the Brehon. “There are witnesses to several arguments between them. They arose because the abbot did not agree with some of Brother Eolang’s beliefs and activities… .”
    Fidelma frowned, still feeling lost.
    “Activities? What activities?”
    “Brother Eolang was the assistant to the apothecary of the abbey and an adept at making speculations from the patterns of the stars.”
    “Medicine and astrology were often twins in the practice of the physician’s art,” conceded Fidelma. “Its use is widespread throughout the five kingdoms of Éireann. Why was the abbot so condemning of the practice?”
    Fidelma herself had studied the art of star charts and their interpretation under Brother Conchobar of Cashel, who had once told her that she would have made an excellent interpreter of the portents. However, Fidelma placed no great reliance on astrologers, for it was a science which seemed to rely solely on the interpretive ability of the individual. However, she did accept that much might be learnt from the