Chain of Evidence, page 23
‘Cumhal,’ she called from the window. ‘Saddle my horse, would you, and bring it around to my front gate. And Cumhal, could you accompany me and bring Eoin and a couple of the other men with you. We must go up to Carron. I have business at the castle.’
Mara remained alone with the woman; that was her choice. She had sent the reluctant Cumhal and his workers to accompany Tomás on his journey to see his king. There he would have to confess his involvement in the strange deeds at Creevagh and to await his judgement. It would be for Turlough to decide whether this man could now be deemed to be fit for such a high office as taoiseach of the MacNamara clan.
After they had left there was a long silence. Eventually Mara spoke, just making the simple accusation and then sitting back, curious to know what would be the response.
It came immediately. A resourceful woman! A hearty laugh and then the words followed fluently.
‘I’m surprised at you, Brehon. How could you go so far wrong? Surely you can see now that it was a plot – nothing to do with me. In fact, if you want to know the truth, you made a great mistake when you allowed Stephen Gardiner to slip through your fingers.’
‘Tell me about it,’ invited Mara. She took another sip from Nuala’s flask and sat back. Let the woman talk; the truth would prevail, sentence would be passed and justice would be done.
‘He knew that the cattle raid would take place; you guessed that, I suppose.’
Mara nodded and took another sip. ‘The murder is my concern at the moment,’ she said. ‘O’Donnell has been punished and I don’t think he will be coming this way soon again.’ She eyed the woman with interest. ‘But why should Stephen Gardiner kill Garrett MacNamara? And how did he do it? Tell me that,’ she asked.
There was a moment’s silence. ‘He had a weapon, a tool. He used the cowman, Brennan.’
‘That is unworthy of you,’ said Mara gently. ‘And not very clever. How could Stephen Gardiner communicate with Brennan? The man speaks no English and only imperfect Gaelic. It was true, however, that the murderer had an accomplice—’
‘Not Jarlath.’ The words spurted out.
‘Not Jarlath,’ agreed Mara. There had been a time when she had puzzled over Jarlath’s role. There was the affair of the sweets laced with cowbane – it had never really been established whether he had a hand in that. Mara had tried to see how there could have been a buried connection, a partnership of interests between him and Stephen Gardiner – after all, Jarlath had been the main beneficiary from Garrett’s death, but Fiona’s argument had prevailed. A man who threw away half of his inheritance was not a man who would murder for greed.
‘No, of course, not – you had fixed on Slaney, hadn’t you? But now that she may die, you are moving the guilt to my shoulders. You want to have your victim in court, don’t you? You needn’t tell me that you don’t enjoy standing up there at Poulnabrone and dictating to all those men.’ The voice was harsh now – a woman fighting for her future and her happiness – and for her son.
‘I considered Slaney, naturally. Garrett’s will has left her a rich woman and of course someone like Slaney would find it hard to suffer the insult of another woman being taken into the household and a son, not of her making, being set up as the heir.’ The denial of the existence of the chain had focussed the thoughts of the law school on Slaney, but in the end Mara saw it had probably just been a matter of stubbornness on Slaney’s part and frightened lies from the servants. The tale of the violent quarrel between Garrett and Slaney had come from one source only.
It had been a difficult case, acknowledged Mara. There had been a time when she had certainly considered whether there were international links to this murder, but, of course, in the end, it had come down to something far more simple: the overwhelming love of a mother for her son. Cait, of course, had been Stephen Gardiner’s willing tool in the matter of drugging the mead. The vision of her beautiful son with the title of Lord Mount Carron, and an estate to go with it, was a bribe that could not be resisted by her.
And mother love, also, in a very different woman, had resulted in a more serious crime: the secret and unlawful killing of Garrett MacNamara.
‘When I spoke of an accomplice,’ she said softly, ‘I did not mean a human one. You kept your own counsel and trusted no one. I’m sure that you have been in the habit of doing this. No, your accomplice was a dumb animal, a bull.’
Rhona froze. Her grey eyes widened and she sat very still.
‘You were used to cattle; you told me that. You were the only child of a cattle dealer.’ Mara looked up at the powerful woman. Large hands, heavy muscular arms, wide shoulders, she had probably done a man’s work from a young age. ‘I thought that there was a connection between the cattle racing out of the barn to join the herd, but originally I had not thought of the bull,’ she said. Her mind went to Setanta’s story about how her little villain, Cormac, had placed the cat on the sheep’s neck, set the whole field running and excited the sheep awaiting sheering to burst out from the cabin at the top of the field.
‘I’m used to bulls,’ said Rhona indifferently. ‘You have to show them who is in charge and they usually accept that. They are stupid animals.’
‘Takes a bit of courage, though, to do what you did,’ said Mara admiringly. ‘I presume that Garrett was dead when you dragged him into the bull’s cabin. You found the chain in there, of course. There would always be a few spare chains in places like that. You guessed that there was going to be a cattle raid; perhaps got the information from one of the men on the boat. They would not have guarded their tongues with a woman from Scotland.’
‘Do you know how I did it; how I attached Garrett to the bull?’ Rhona looked at her with a half smile.
‘I’ve had many hours trying to work that out,’ admitted Mara, ‘but eventually I thought that you must have used something like a piece of wood, or a piece of twine, something that would snap eventually as the bull crashed down onto the road. That cabin is not too far above the road, but the hillside is very steep there.’ She thought back and remembered the broken gorse bush. That was probably where the maddened creature shed its load.
‘It was easy, really. The farmers use a small bar of iron to thread through the chain to a hasp on the wall; I looped the chain around Garrett’s ankle and then attached it to the ring through the bull’s nose, but I just used a piece of wood, instead of iron. Then I released the first chain and when I went out I closed the door, but only slid the latch in less than an inch. They’re stupid creatures, bulls, and he probably thought he was still chained and locked inside the cabin – until he heard the noise of the herd and then, I knew, that he would make for the door, dragging the body with him.’
‘So Garrett was trampled underfoot while you were miles away on Mullaghmore Mountain. You pretended that you wanted to go back to Carron when I invited you to come home with me, but I suppose you were just bluffing. I thought afterwards that it was not within your character to bother about making friends with Slaney. In any case, I had already got the impression that you would not stay and become a second wife to Garrett once your son had been acknowledged and his rights established. And when I saw that you were already pregnant, well I knew that you never had any intention of doing that. Now,’ Mara’s voice sharpened, ‘tell me how, and why you killed Garrett.’
‘You tell me,’ said Rhona. She gave a glance around and deliberately got up, carried her chair and placed it close to the door. Mara eyed the powerful shoulders and the stony face, but she continued. The truth had to be known and then she would dictate what came next. Her throat was sore and her hand burned and throbbed but she allowed no weakness to appear. She knew what Rhona meant by having power over a bull if you believe in your own superiority. Her own life had shown Mara how to use this power.
‘When the maid servant spoke of seeing Garrett go up the stairs towards the main bedrooms in the middle of the day,’ she said in calm, unemotional tones, ‘we assumed that he was going to Slaney’s bedroom. You yourself reported hearing a fight between them, but of course that was not true. Garrett came to your bedroom. That is correct, isn’t it?’
Mara waited for a moment, but no answer came, so she continued, ‘I have to guess now, but I suspect that Garrett forced himself on you and when you refused his attempts at love-making he threatened to repudiate Peadar.’
‘He said that he would accuse Jarlath of being the father and then that would account for the likeness between himself and my son. After all, a boy can resemble an uncle almost as easily as a father,’ said Rhona dully. A heavy flush spread over her weather-beaten cheeks and Mara nodded understandingly. Peadar’s grin and remark about his mother came back to her. Rhona, she had thought, when she saw that sideways view of her on the edge of the hillside, was pregnant – probably with the child of a man back in Scotland. And, of course, the brehon in Scotland would have explained to her that her son’s inheritance would be safe once Garrett had acknowledged him in public.
‘You were not prepared to accept Garrett’s offer of a marriage in the second degree because you were already in another relationship,’ she said tolerantly.
‘But I wanted the boy to have his rights. He is Garrett’s son,’ said Rhona quickly. ‘My man, back in Scotland, he is just a poor fisherman. He could not give the boy the future that Peadar wanted.’ Her colour rose again. ‘I hit him over the head with a chair. I suppose that I could pretend that I didn’t want to kill him, but I did. I knew I would not be able to talk him around. He was a stupid and stubborn man and I was glad when I saw that there was no life left in him. I waited until everyone had gone into the hall for the midday meal. I was going to bury him, but then I thought of the cattle raid that would come in a few hours’ time. Garrett knew all about it and he told me that he was going to organise his own cattle to be shut up in the barn – he asked me to help him. He had to promise Stephen that he would not tell anyone, but he did not count me as anyone.’
‘I see,’ said Mara. ‘It was as I had thought. Now we come to the legal business—’
‘Now we come to the parting of our ways,’ interrupted Rhona. She rose to her feet and Mara saw that she had the key to the door in her hand. ‘I am going to lock you in; I won’t harm you. I respect you and I like you, but this bedroom is a long way from the kitchen and it will only be when you are missed from the law school that you will be found here. By that time, if I take the fastest horse in the stables, I will be in Galway. I have already arranged for one of the fishermen to give me a passage back to Scotland – paid for it with the silver that Garrett gave me to buy a gown worthy of one of his wives. I shouldn’t have come back today, but I wanted . . .’ Here her voice faltered a little, but she controlled it almost instantly. ‘I wanted to say goodbye to Peadar – perhaps you’ll do that for me,’ she finished.
‘No need for that,’ said Mara. ‘Stay and tell him yourself. This is not England. No one will burn you to death, or hang, draw and quarter you. Admit your guilt, pay your fine and then the scales of retribution are balanced and you are free to do what you wish.’
Rhona laughed harshly. ‘I have no silver, no cows. I know what the fine would be. I asked Fiona and she told me. A secret and unlawful killing of a taoiseach would bring a fine of forty-six ounces of silver or forty-six cows, that’s what she told me. I can’t pay it myself, but my son could pay it by selling his substantial farm and losing his status as a bóaire. And then what would become of all his dreams? I will not do that to him and you cannot make me. I may not have your brains and your education, Brehon, but I can look facts in the face and I can take care of my son.’
She rose to her feet, but Mara remained seated. Rhona was right. Physically she would be no match for this woman and she had no intention of trying.
‘No one can make your son sell his farm without the permission of his master,’ she said mildly as Rhona opened the door and inserted the large key in its lock.
‘Master?’ Rhona whirled around, but Mara waited until she had closed the door again.
‘Peadar was apprenticed yesterday according to our laws,’ she said mildly. ‘This means that his master, Nuala the physician, is now answerable for his actions in law, she will be required to authorise such business deals or marriage contracts as he, her pupil, might wish to make. Peadar cannot sell his farm unless Nuala gives permission and that she will not do as it would not be in his interests. Nuala,’ she ended with a smile, ‘was brought up amongst lawyers and she has a great respect for the law.’
Rhona sat down heavily.
‘But how do I pay the fine?’ she asked.
‘That,’ said Mara ‘is a matter for me to think about. It’s a complex and difficult point. You are here in this land as a stranger, but yet you did not come unasked or uninvited, but came in the company of a man who is the brother to the late taoiseach of the MacNamara clan. I’m inclined to think that Jarlath will have to pay your fine, and don’t worry, the fine is paid to the nearest male relations of the murdered man – that is to Jarlath and to your son Peadar. Jarlath can well afford to do this.’
The law, thought Mara as she watched relief flood into the woman’s grey eyes, always had the answer. A little good will on all sides would see a happy future for Rhona and her son, Peadar. What was it, she mused, that the great Fithail, had to say about an affair like this?
‘The law of the land makes smooth all the pathways of man.’
Cora Harrison, Chain of Evidence
