The Canterbury Murders by Maureen Ash Read Free Book Online Page B

boy. He was more than willing to allow such an attitude to serve his purpose once again.
    The chamber that Inglis led them to had, by the king’s command, been left as it was when Molly’s corpse was discovered. It was moderate in size and without casements. Using a small taper that had been left burning, the steward lit a few of the candles that stood in holders about the room. The heightened brightness revealed the outlines of a sturdy wooden tub in the middle of the floor. It was still full of water—long since cold—and tinged red with blood. On its surface, small beads of scented oil were floating. A painted board that must have been laid across the tub to hold bathing implements had been knocked from its place and lay askew, one end immersed in the bathwater. On the side of the tub that was facing them, blood was encrusted on the rim and had run in rivulets down the side and onto the sheepskin rug on the floor. Amidst the gory spatters lay a round ball of soap, its pale yellow colour marred by drops of red. The air held a zesty aroma of citrus that, despite its pungency, did not quite overcome the metallic scent of blood.
    Miles knelt and felt the woolly material of the rug. “There are damp patches here,” he said to Inglis. “Is this the spot where the victim was discovered?”
    â€œYes,” the steward replied. “It was Aquarius, the king’s bath attendant, who found her. When he came in, she was lying draped over the side of the tub, her throat cut and her head in the water.”
    Miles stood up and gestured to a door on the other side of the chamber. “Does that lead to the royal bedchamber?”
    â€œIt does,” Inglis confirmed.
    With a curt nod, Miles dismissed the steward, telling him to make the household staff ready for questioning. “I wish to interview Aquarius first of all,” he added before Inglis left the room. “Ensure that he is present.”
    The order in which the servants were to be questioned was one of the points the knight had raised as they had ridden to the townhouse, and Gianni had indicated that the person who found the body should be at the top of the list. Miles had agreed that this was a logical premise.
    After the steward shut the door behind him, the knight gave a great guffaw of laughter. “What a pompous ass,” he exclaimed. “I hope you did not mind, youngster, that I allowed the steward to believe it is I who am leading this enquiry. It seemed to me that he would respond with more alacrity to my direction than yours.”
    For answer, Gianni shook his head and parodied Inglis by placing his arms akimbo and taking a few mincing steps with his nose stuck up in the air. “A perfect imitation,” Miles said, chuckling, and then looked around the room. “Now, where do we start?’
    The lad surveyed their surroundings, trying to view the chamber as the Templar would have done, attempting to envision it at the moment the washerwoman had been attacked. Apart from the area around the tub, all was neat and orderly, with no sign of disturbance. In a corner was a small table on which stood a flagon of wine. To one side was a clothes chest with the lid thrown back, revealing a pile of garments within. Above the chest were hooks. An open-fronted gown of soft yellow velvet depended from one of them, no doubt for the king to don after he had finished bathing. Beside the far end of the tub was a padded chair, laid with a pile of smallclothes. There was no indication that any struggle had taken place.
    Gianni walked all around the tub, examining it from every angle and searching with the tips of his fingers behind each of the heavy wooden struts on which it rested. Finally, he came to the sheepskin rug. The surface was scuffed and, as Miles had noticed, damp and stained with spots of blood. Kneeling down, he ran his hand lightly over the inner edge of the mat. There were two