Page 27 of The Chapel of Bones

‘But we left it last night. We can’t get any more before—’

The caller spoke over her. ‘Make sure it’s there, or you won’t see Bella again.’

Aleric Donnal’s notebook

29 April 2011

I find Brother Anselm’s writing as compelling as any thriller. The man is fanatically loyal to the Lancastrian cause, and yet how his activities fitted with his calling as a monk, I can’t imagine. His writings do not reveal how he feels about the monastic life or its demands of celibacy. He does mention the fact that Henry Tudor kept a mistress during his long exile in Brittany and had a son by a Breton girl. But this is reported with no hint of envy.

I wonder how he felt about the contrast between his role as secret messenger and the calm, routine setting of the cloister. He says in his journal in 1483:I have returned from France, where I found Henry Tudor – or as I should call him, our good Prince Henry, the Earl of Richmond – preparing for invasion. I met with Lord Courtenay’s man, who carried word from Henry’s lady mother saying she is gathering support for his cause whilst maintaining the pretence of being a loyal subject of the usurper king. Henry’s triumph will come, but patience is required. We must bide our time and hope for better days.

I heard last night that my sinner’s neighbour’s cattle are sick, and rumours of witchcraft fly about like wanton birds. I fear this might be the beginning of the punishment that must surely come upon him for his evil thoughts.

18

At 4.30, while the re-enactors were packing away after a lively day of medieval fun and games, a team of officers descended on Fontescue Hall to take statements from Sue Potter’s fellow society members. Miles Fontescue had offered the use of the main hall and drawing room, and everyone was asked to stay behind once the clearing-up was done.

It was an unusual sight as every stratum of medieval society queued up to give their testimony. Nobles, jesters, honest tradesmen and women, wealthy merchants, monks, nuns and scrofulous peasants were all asked how well they knew Sue Potter and when was the last time they’d seen her. Did she mention whether anything was worrying her? Where were they the previous night?

All the statements were written down and duly signed, ready to be sifted through back at the station.

Wesley and Gerry were particularly interested in what Tom and Cathy Bellow had to tell them. They said Sue Potter had received a strange note before her death, and as a matter of urgency Wesley asked the team who were still searching her house to look out for it. They needed to know exactly what it said.

At six o’clock, Gerry received a call to say that the note mentioned by Cathy Bellow had been found screwed up in the kitchen waste bin. The officer helpfully sent through a photograph. The note depicted a creature that seemed to be a cross between a big cat and possibly a hyena, pursuing a terrifiedlion. Beneath the illustration was printed the wordsThe lanzani is a cruel beast who attacks any animal not of its own kind.Not even the bold lion is safe from its implacable hatred.

‘What do you think it means, Wes?’

‘Your guess is as good as mine. Anything else in the bin?’

‘Only a leaflet for a local zoo. Gadson’s in East Burrington. She might just have been planning a day out, so it probably isn’t relevant. I told the officer to keep an eye out for anything else unusual. Oh, and there was a photo album on the kitchen worktop.’

Wesley had noticed it earlier but hadn’t touched it, leaving any further investigation to the search team. ‘What about it?’

‘There were several photos missing. Looked as though they’d been torn out. Of course Mrs Potter could have removed them herself, but they weren’t found in the bin.’

‘So perhaps the killer took them out.’ Wesley thought for a moment. ‘I’m going to do some research about that note.’

Gerry nodded his approval and Wesley hurried to his desk to look up the word ‘lanzani’ on his computer. As well as discovering that it was an Italian surname, he came across the intriguing fact that the lanzani appeared in medieval bestiaries as ‘an animal from whose cruelty no animal can be safe, even the lion’. The illustrations he found online exactly matched the one in the note sent to Sue Potter.

He called Gerry over to his desk, and the DCI sat down gratefully before reading the page with a puzzled frown. ‘Nobody who knew Sue Potter ever described her as cruel. Everything we know about her background suggests she was nothing but a blameless retired teacher who helped out in her local church and had the innocent hobby of flouncing about in medieval costumes with her mates. If only everyone was like her, we’d be out of a job.’

‘We know Aleric Donnal was into medieval bestiaries. This lanzani seems just the sort of thing that might interest him.’

‘I’ll take your word for it. Any ideas?’

Wesley shook his head. He was as perplexed as Gerry. ‘Unless it has something to do with her medieval re-enactments.’

‘But what?’

‘No idea. We need to find out more about her past. Perhaps GMP will be able to help us. Maybe they can speak to her former colleagues and find out whether there was any hidden scandal from her teaching years. They’ve notified her sister and she’s coming down here. When she arrives, she might be able to tell us more.’

‘Putting everything together, it looks as though this wasn’t a random murder in the course of a break-in. Sue Potter was targeted deliberately. Someone hated her enough to kill her.’

‘Could her death be connected with Aleric Donnal’s in some way?’

Gerry frowned. ‘Go on.’

But before Wesley could say any more, Ellie approached his desk holding something black and dusty at arm’s length. A briefcase that had seen better days. ‘Someone dropped this off at reception, sir. A Darren Wolsey. Said it’s from his grandad and you’d know what it was about.’