Murder in the Monastery (Libby Sarjeant Murder Mystery series) by Lesley Cookman Read Free Book Online Page B

didn’t say anything.’ Alastair smiled. ‘We do know who it was sold to, but the family lost sight of it after that.’
    ‘So who was it?’ asked Peter.
    ‘A man rejoicing in the name of Bartholomew Tollybar, who I’ve always thought must have been a bit of a crook.’
    ‘And who was he?’ asked Libby.
    ‘We don’t know. We simply have the deed of sale –’ he reached across to pull another document forward ‘– here.’
    ‘Bartholomew Tollybar – is that esquire?’ Libby pointed to a squiggle.
    ‘Yes, and that’s all we know about him.’ Alastair sat back in his chair and smiled at the other three. ‘I can’t see that it helps at all.’
    ‘I can,’ said Libby. ‘We can look into Bartholomew’s family tree. Find out about him. You know, censuses and things.’
    ‘They didn’t start until the next century,’ said Ben. ‘You found that out before, didn’t you?’
    ‘Oh, yes. Well, let’s see.’ Libby thought for a moment. ‘Street directories?’
    ‘Possibly,’ said Alastair, ‘but I’m not sure why you want to trace him.’
    ‘It’s a link,’ said Libby. ‘We need to trace the progress of the reliquary until it reaches where it is now. It might help find out who killed Bernard Evans,’ said Libby.
    ‘We haven’t looked at the family tree yet,’ Peter pointed out, ‘and I’m still holding the other end.’
    ‘Sorry.’ Libby bent towards it. ‘This is you, is it, Alastair?’
    Alastair pointed the way through the generations of Beaumonts, past the impecunious member who had sold the reliquary, and back into far more sparse accounts. Brother Thomas appeared, but as a secondary branch of the family, and then, in the early fifteenth century, the line seemed to peter out.
    ‘And do we know who the black sheep were who pinched it before it was sold?’ asked Ben.
    ‘Not definitively. That tends to be passed down orally, but as far as we can tell it’s never been anyone of the direct line.’
    ‘Son of a younger son?’ suggested Libby.
    ‘Something like that. You can see we’ve got many offshoots now, not all of them followed up.’
    ‘So all we’ve really got to follow up is old Bartholomew Tollybar,’ said Libby, as Peter and Alastair carefully rolled up the family tree.
    ‘If it helps.’ Alastair put the documents back inside a cupboard. ‘I was wondering, if the reliquary was up for sale, if the family might buy it.’
    There was a surprised silence.
    ‘You said the nuns don’t want it?’
    ‘Well, not really.’ Libby looked at Peter. ‘They don’t, do they?’
    ‘They regard it as idolatrous,’ said Peter. ‘They’re an Anglican order. They were just interested.’ He looked at Alastair. ‘Do you regard it as rightfully belonging to your family, then?’
    ‘No, because we sold it, but it did once belong to this family,’ said Alastair reasonably.
    ‘Not really,’ said Libby. ‘It belonged to the monastery where St Eldreda came from.’
    ‘But that’s here in our grounds,’ said Alastair, ‘and she came from here.’
    ‘Yes.’ Libby nodded. ‘So, do you want it back?’
    ‘Legitimately, if we could. Don’t you think it would be fitting?’
    The other three looked at each other.
    ‘It would,’ said Peter,’ but I’ve got a feeling our Chief Inspector Connell won’t let it go anywhere just yet.’
    The Maidenhaye Arms was comfortable, old-fashioned and quiet. After a wash and brush-up, Libby met the two men in the bar.
    ‘So what do we think of all that, then?’ asked Peter, while Ben went to fetch drinks. ‘Nice bloke?’
    ‘Yes, very nice,’ said Libby. ‘I was a bit bothered by him wanting to buy the relic, though.’
    ‘I think it’s quite natural,’ said Peter.
    ‘But whatever that old document said, we can’t be sure that St Eldreda came from his family, can we?’
    ‘No, because it looks to me as if the Beaumonts are descended from a Norman line who wouldn’t even have been here then.’
    ‘And what about the