Chain of Evidence (11 page)

‘What would that have meant for the kingdom, Brehon?’ asked Moylan after a minute of stunned silence when the scholars looked at each other with horror. It was one thing to hear that the O’Donnell of Donegal had bent the knee to the king of England, but another that one of the four chieftains in the kingdom of the Burren was proposing to do the same thing.

‘It’s a very good question, Moylan, and I’m not sure of the answer,’ she said honestly. ‘However,’ she went on slowly and with a feeling of pain in her heart, ‘it may have caused war and many deaths. I don’t think that the MacNamara clan would have been happy to give up all their ancient rights and to become mere peasants and slaves to their overlord.’ As she spoke, Mara was aware of the many tangled threads that might have led to the possible killing of Garrett MacNamara, the man who was willing to betray his clan for the position of earl and for the heritage of his recently acknowledged heir.

‘It was, perhaps, a sad thing for Peadar, that he was killed before Garrett had formally recognised him at Poulnabrone—’ began Moylan and then he was interrupted by Fiona.

‘But a good thing for Jarlath,’ she said quickly. ‘If Garrett had lived, and had surrendered his birthright to Henry VIII, then Jarlath would have had no place on the Burren and would have had to go back to his life as a merchant.’

‘Stephen Gardiner told me that under the English system the position of
tánaiste
does not exist – the inheritance goes purely by primogeniture,’ said Moylan. ‘That means that the eldest son inherits,’ he added to the two younger boys with a trace of condescension.

‘We know that,’ said Shane impatiently. ‘We know Latin, you know, Moylan – first born . . . And that’s interesting, isn’t it, Brehon? Jarlath’s position as
tánaiste
would have had no relevance, whereas now—’

‘Whereas now, and as I was about to say before I was rudely interrupted, he is the heir and will, I suppose, definitely be elected as
taoiseach.
’ Fiona looked sternly at Moylan and he threw up his hand in apology.

The scholars looked at each other and heads were nodded in acknowledgement of Fiona’s assessment.

‘Perhaps,’ said Mara with a look of approbation at Fiona, ‘we should now speculate on whether Garrett could, somehow or other, have been placed in the path of the marauding cattle, without danger to the murderer. In other words, was Garrett murdered by someone—’

‘OM,’ reminded Hugh.

‘OM,’ corrected Mara. This was a good approach for the scholars to take to a murder. There was no point in trying to put a name to the criminal too early. The facts had to be gathered and the motives explored before they moved forward in this investigation.

‘No way could it have been seen from the castle,’ said Aidan, looking back up the hill.

It was true. There was a sharp, small hill in front of them and nothing to be seen there, except a small cattle cabin and the remains of an old mill. They would have to go about another five hundred yards, decided Mara, before they reached a spot which would have been visible from the castle. Was this spot chosen for that reason? Did the murderer – OM, amended Mara – drag the unconscious Garrett to this spot because it was shielded from the view of the castle by the intervening hill, or was this just a fortunate occurrence, an accident? Would, she speculated, Jarlath have had time to do something like this before the cattle arrived at Carron? Perhaps it was the impulse of a moment, a crime born of impatience. Perhaps he struck his brother and then left the body in the path of the marauders?

But that did not explain the chain.

‘There’s no sign of the other end of the chain, Brehon,’ said Aidan. While busy with her thoughts, Mara had been conscious that he and Moylan had walked the length of the road, checking each roadside rock.

‘You’ve checked thoroughly, haven’t you?’ she asked. It was strange, she thought, not to find the other end of the chain. Or was it, as Ardal had surmised, just a short chain for leading a bull in safety? In which case it would not have been long enough to be tied to a rock.

‘There are no fence posts on this stretch of the road, Brehon,’ said Hugh breaking into her thoughts.

‘Perhaps the O’Lochlainn made a mistake,’ said Shane, scanning the roadside.

‘I doubt it,’ said Moylan fervently.

‘Is it important?’ asked Fiona and Mara was not sure how to answer her.

It was a good question. What role had the chain around Garrett’s leg played? Or was it possible that Ardal O’Lochlainn had made a mistake? Mara looked up the hill and then began to walk up the steep road until she was far up enough to see the tall, grey limestone tower house. ‘We saw the cows running down the road from the south of the kingdom,’ she said, recollecting the scene. ‘They had a few steep hills to scale which would have slowed them down after that . . .’

‘There would still have been an unbelievable amount of noise, though, and Garrett’s own cattle would have been running to join – cows do that,’ said Moylan, a farmer’s son.

‘And Garrett came running out to stop them,’ supplemented Hugh with a note of doubt in his voice.

‘Doesn’t sound like him,’ said Moylan dismissively.

‘I’ve got it,’ said Aidan triumphantly. ‘Slaney beat him up and told him he was a lunatic and tied him by the leg to a post . . .’ His voice tailed away as Mara eyed him severely. Her scholars had to be trained to take law business seriously, however much they could joke and laugh in their own private time.

‘Aidan is right, though,’ said Fiona, rather unexpectedly taking his part. ‘I think there is something very strange about this death and we can’t just shut our eyes and say that it is a great mystery. We have to speculate on what might have happened – and even if some of the guesses are wide of the mark –’ she smiled sweetly at Aidan – ‘they might lead some more intelligent member of the school into hitting on the truth.’

‘Well, make the case, then,’ said Mara. Fiona had a clear mind and a confidence in her judgement which would serve her well when she became Brehon. Scotland would be proud of their first woman Brehon. She remembered her thoughts about Ardal and decided that it would be a shame for Fiona to throw up her future and become a wife and mother too early in her life. She would play no part in furthering that romance, she decided.

Fiona took a cautious look around and then said decisively, ‘We have a death – a death which looks like a terrible accident and would have undoubtedly been considered as an accident if it were not for the evidence that a chain had been around the dead man’s leg when his body was first discovered – by the O’Lochlainn. Unfortunately by the time that we reach the castle then there might be no sign of the chain – they’ll have cleaned him up . . .’

That was probably true, thought Mara. Brigid had mentioned nothing about a chain. Her informant, the woman with the goat’s cheese, would have undoubtedly mentioned that strange fact if she had been aware of it. She stared across at the valley still flooded from the heavy and unseasonal rains. Ardal was right. This was going to be a difficult time for the farmers. The grass still had a bleached appearance, though the thrushes were trilling as melodiously as ever.

‘We’ll have to question the maidservants who burned the clothing,’ Moylan’s eager voice interrupted Mara’s thoughts. ‘I’ll do that, Brehon, if you wish.’ He flicked back his hair with careless fingers, his expression showing his belief in his ability to get the truth from impressionable young girls.

‘If I may continue . . .’ said Fiona amiably but with a warning glint in her eye, ‘I was just about to say, Brehon, that I don’t think that we should concentrate so heavily on this affair of the chain, because it is too puzzling, but we should investigate the case as though it is an ordinary secret and unlawful killing and find out who had motive and opportunity.’

‘That makes very good sense,’ said Mara with a nod of approbation. At the same time, she thought, there is something so puzzling about the idea of a short chain, probably a narrow bull chain, tied to a man’s leg and probably, according to Ardal, not broken in any way. It was like a chess puzzle, she thought and turned her eyes towards Shane, the best chess player in her school. His dark blue eyes were inward looking and thoughtful. She would not question him now, but allow him to reflect.

‘We’d better go up to the castle,’ she said. No doubt she and her scholars had been spotted by now and all would be wondering about the purpose of her search.

The hall was full of members of the MacNamara clan and the noise of voices was high as a servant escorted them up the stairs. There was a sudden silence when Mara came through the door and all heads turned towards her. Jarlath was there, standing by the window talking to Stephen Gardiner and to the man Tomás and it was Tomás who came across to her instantly.

‘Brehon,’ he said courteously. ‘Let me get you a goblet of mead.’

‘No, thank you,’ said Mara instantly. She hated mead, that intoxicating drink, made from honey. It always tasted unpleasantly sweet to her. She sent a warning glance at her scholars and relied on Moylan to make sure that they refused also. This was not a social occasion, although the clan seemed to be treating it as such. This was official business about the death of their
taoiseach
who even if he were not particularly mourned still had to have justice granted to him and his terrible death investigated.

‘Where is Slaney?’ she asked and saw an expression of satisfaction pass over his face. He was a handsome man in the dark-skinned, brown-eyed manner of the MacNamara clan and he had an air of command about him. He had been a cousin of Garrett and Jarlath and was probably, apart from young Peadar, their nearest male relative. She wondered whether he would be elected as
tánaiste
of the MacNamara clan when Jarlath was confirmed in the office of
taoiseach
. Behind him was what looked like his son, a boy whom he introduced briefly as Adair and seemed to think that she must know who he was.

‘She is available for your questioning, Brehon,’ he said promptly. ‘My own wife and several of the other women are with her in her bedroom.’

‘I should wish to pay my respects and to explain to her my plans for the investigation of the untimely and terrible death of her husband,’ said Mara blandly. She did not like his manner. It was for her to investigate – it almost sounded as though Slaney were being watched and kept immured. ‘But first I had better have a word with Jarlath
.
’

‘There’s just one thing, Brehon,’ he said weightily. ‘We, as a clan, wonder what is the position now of the two people from Scotland.’ He indicated with a nod of his head, Rhona and her son. ‘We should, of course, wish to treat them with all courtesy and make sure that they have a safe passage back to their home.’

So the clan wanted to be rid of this newly discovered son of Garrett; that was interesting. Mara pursed her lips and examined Tomás and his handsome young son, Adair.

‘This, I suppose, is a matter for Peadar to decide,’ she said firmly. ‘As the only son of his father, there will be a considerable property for him to inherit and, I should imagine, that he will want to see to that.’

‘But, I understand that the case was never heard at Poulnabrone.’ Tomás fixed his dark eyes on her and widened his shoulders as he gazed down at her. Mara looked severely at him, conscious that Moylan had taken a step forward and was now by her side.

‘My eldest scholar will perhaps enlighten you on that subject,’ she said and listened with satisfaction as Moylan explained clearly and tactfully about the rights to an inheritance of any son, no matter who was his mother, if he had been recognised by his father.

‘Yes, yes, I know all that,’ said Tomás impatiently. ‘And I do know that Garrett had the intention of recognising him, but it didn’t happen, did it? Obviously Garrett had second thoughts about the matter as he did not turn up at Poulnabrone.’

‘That’s an interesting point,’ said Stephen Gardiner from behind Mara. ‘Certainly under English law an intention to bequeath can never be taken as the deed itself. And the man did not meet his death until several hours at least after the court was held. He could indeed be deemed to have changed his intentions. That’s how my teachers of law would have seen it, in any case . . .’ He tailed off rather apologetically as Mara raised her eyebrows. She gazed at him stonily.

‘But we are not talking about English law,’ she reminded him. ‘Under Brehon law if a man makes public his acceptance of a son, then that son has inheritance rights. And, Garrett did speak in public on this matter. I heard him myself. Shane, you have a good memory. Can you quote to us the words of Garrett MacNamara on the subject of his son Peadar when we attended the wake of his
tánaiste
? God have mercy on his soul,’ she added hastily.

Shane shut his eyes for a second and then opened them. A crowd had now gathered around them, listening intently, but Shane was unperturbed and his dark blue eyes gazed steadily at Mara.

‘He said, Brehon: “This is my choice for
tánaiste
. My son, Peadar, bred of my bone
and acknowledged by me.” These were his words.’

‘That is my memory, also,’ said Mara, but there was no confirming murmur from the MacNamara clan. They would prefer that Rhona and her son would go back to Scotland; that Slaney would retreat to her family in Galway. Then the clan could start again with a young and popular leader, in the form of Jarlath and perhaps a steady, experienced man like Tomás as his
tánaiste
and assistant in clan matters. Peadar, she noticed, as though he felt the atmosphere, was staying at a distance, but Rhona had approached and Mara saw a gleam of gratitude and relief in the woman’s grey eyes. There was something else to be said, though, and Mara decided that it should be said in public. There was a slightly unpleasant atmosphere here in the hall and there was no doubt that the pair from Scotland was unwelcome amongst the MacNamara clan.

‘Peadar was acknowledged in my presence, and in the presence of the clan as his father’s son, and is, unless any other sons appear, the inheritor of his personal lands and property, other than that wealth accumulated personally by Garrett which he was allowed, under the law, to bequeath as he wished.’ Mara paused and then went on: ‘The position of Rhona, his mother is different. Although Garrett did declare his intention of taking Rhona as a wife of the second degree, this should have been brought before the court and the words of the chief wife, Slaney, should have had the opportunity of being heard. But for some reason, neither Garrett, nor Slaney, attended the hearing at Poulnabrone on the eve of Bealtaine, therefore Rhona was not declared a wife of the second degree and so has no rights over his property.’