Suffer Little Children by Peter Tremayne Page B

before Dacán’s death, the abbot called me to him
and told me to have a special care for Dacán. That was why I went to his chamber after he had missed his meal.’
    It was Fidelma’s turn to be surprised.
    â€˜Did the abbot explain why you should have this special care for Dacán?’ she demanded. ‘Was he afraid that something might happen to the Venerable Dacán?’
    Conghus gestured with indifference.
    â€˜I am merely the aistreóir here, sister. I am doorkeeper and bellringer. When my abbot tells me to do something, I will do it, so long as it is not contrary to the laws of God and the Brehons. I will not question my abbot on his motives so long as those motives do not compass harm to his fellow men. It is my duty to obey and not to question.’
    Fidelma gazed at him thoughtfully for a moment.
    â€˜That is an interesting philosophy, Conghus. It is one we might discuss at leisure. But let me get this clearly fixed in my mind. It was only a week before Dacán’s murder that the abbot specifically asked you to keep a special watch over Dacan? He did not say why? He did not say whether he might have some reason to be fearful for Dacán’s safety?’
    â€˜It is as I have already said, sister.’
    Fidelma stood up with an abruptness that surprised everyone.
    â€˜Very well. Let us go downstairs so that you may show me the chamber that Dacán occupied.’
    Conghus came to his feet, blinking a little at the rapid change.
    He conducted them out of the room, along the corridor and down the stairs.
    Cass and Sister Necht followed closely behind Fidelma. Necht’s face still shone with enthusiastic excitement while Cass merely looked bewildered.
    Conghus paused before a door on the ground floor of the hostel, at the far end of the corridor in which Sister Eisten and the children had their rooms.

    â€˜Does any one currently occupy the chamber?’ Fidelma asked as Conghus bent to the handle in order to open the door.
    Conghus hesitated and straightened up again.
    â€˜No, sister. It has been left unoccupied since the death of Dacán. In fact, his possessions have also been left untouched in the room by the order of the abbot. I believe that the representatives of Dacán’s brother, Abbot Noé of Fearna, have demanded the return of these personal effects.’
    â€˜So why have they been kept?’ interposed Cass, speaking for the first time since the questioning of Conghus began.
    Conghus glanced at him, somewhat startled at his unexpected interruption.
    â€˜I presume that the abbot decided that nothing should be touched until the arrival of the dálaigh and the conclusion of the investigation.’
    Conghus bent again, fumbled with the latch and then flung open the door. He was about to enter the dark room when Fidelma laid a hand on his arm and held him back.
    â€˜Get me a lantern.’
    â€˜There is an oil lamp beside the bed which I can light.’
    â€˜No,’ Fidelma insisted. ‘I want nothing touched or moved, if nothing has been moved so far. Sister Necht, hand me down that oil lamp behind you.’
    The young novice moved with alacrity to take down the lamp from its wall fixture.
    Fidelma took the lamp, holding it high, and stood on the threshold peering round.
    The chamber was almost as she had envisaged it would be.
    There was a bed, a wooden cot with a straw palliasse and blankets in one corner. By it was a small table on which stood an oil lamp. On the floor, just below this, was a pair of worn sandals. From a row of pegs hung three large leather satchels. There was another table at the end of the bed on which were spread some wooden writing tablets covered with a wax
surface and nearby a graib, a stylus of pointed metal, for writing. Next to this was a small pile of vellum sheets and a cow’s horn which was obviously an adircín used for containing dubh or ink made from carbon. A selection of quills taken