The Prophecy of Death: (Knights Templar 25) by Michael Jecks Page A

take your job so seriously as to come here this late
     to investigate, Sir Robert.’
    ‘We are not so populous that we can afford to lose three men without noticing,’ Sir Robert said sharply.
    ‘I would not have thought so,’ Baldwin said with a smile. ‘I respect you for your diligence, though.’
    ‘Thank you. Now, these two who killed them. They are here in the priory?’
    ‘They will go nowhere.’
    The Bishop of Orange’s words were the first the coroner had heard him speak, and he was startled for a moment. Then he bowed
     stiffly and thanked him. ‘I am glad to hear it.’
    ‘But I will have them with me in the morning when I leave.’
    ‘My Lord Bishop, that is difficult. I have a duty to investigate the deaths of the three outside the city gate, and—’
    ‘They are my guards. They must leave with me. I am on an urgent embassy to your King, and the guards fall under theprotection of your King. They were set upon and attacked by a small mob. They defended themselves. That is all you need to
     know.’
    ‘With respect, my Lord Bishop, the law of
my
country says that I have to investigate and record the facts. And if I discover that the men were guilty of murder, I have
     a duty to have them held until the next court is held to hear their case.’
    ‘That is not possible. My men answer to me, and I will not have them left behind.’
    The coroner’s hackles were rising. ‘My Lord, they must be kept here until my inquest. After that you may –
may
– be permitted to take them with you.’
    Baldwin interjected. ‘Coroner, I think that the only issue here is the urgency of our mission to the King. If there is any
     means of speeding the inquest, so that it could be held in the morning, would that satisfy your need for justice and the Bishop’s
     need for haste? After all, it is to be hoped that the two will not be found guilty of deliberate murder. There was clearly
     no premeditation here, nor was it some secretive assault under cover of darkness. It was two nervous men who were assaulted,
     just because they were riding to the gate on the orders of the Bishop. The locals deprecated their temerity at hurrying past,
     and they tried to defend themselves against apparent attack.’
    ‘So you say. I do not know until the jury meets.’
    ‘But it would be possible to hurry the matter along?’
    ‘Not if there is any risk of an injustice.’
    ‘If there were,’ Baldwin said gravely, ‘I assure you, I would take a dim view of it.’
    Of course you would! Coroner Robert thought to himself. Aloud, he said silkily, ‘And, naturally, you would want to see them
     punished if they were found guilty?’
    ‘Yes. I am Keeper of the King’s Peace in Devon, and I spend my life seeking the fair punishment of those who deserve it.’
    Coroner Robert nodded, but he was not persuaded. Sir Baldwin was clearly a man who enjoyed power and the trappings of power.
     ‘You have been keeper for long?’
    ‘It will be ten years next year, I think. Is that right, Simon?’
    The bailiff nodded.
    To the coroner’s eye, the bailiff looked the grimmer, less trustworthy of the two. He had a bleak expression in his sunburned
     face, like a man who was constantly waiting to hear an insult so that he may avenge it. There was a bleakness about him that
     made the coroner feel wary.
    Ten years. There were few keepers who had held their positions for that length of time. Usually their corruption was discovered
     much sooner.
    ‘And you, Coroner? How long have you been in post?’
    ‘I’ve been here for some six years now.’
    Baldwin’s eyebrows rose a little. Then he nodded slowly.
    To the coroner’s acute annoyance, it felt as though Sir Baldwin was having the same kind of thoughts about the coroner as
     the coroner was having about him. Admittedly, there were some coroners who were venal and unfaithful, but that was no reason
     to lump Coroner Robert into the same group. He was an honourable man.
    ‘What of you,