The Spider's Web by Peter Tremayne Page B

of the watch. We took Móen to the stables and shackled him and I went to inform Crón.’
    ‘Ah yes, Crón. Why did you not inform Eber’s wife first? Would that not have been the correct procedure?’
    ‘Crón is tanist, the heir-elect. With Eber dead, she was now chieftainess-elect of Araglin. It is correct that she should be informed first of all.’
    Fidelma silently agreed with Durbán’s interpretation of the protocol.
    ‘And then?’
    ‘When we started putting the shackles on Móen, he began to struggle and cry out. I told Crón so and she instructed me to fetch Teafa. I went to her chambers.’
    ‘And found her dead?’
    ‘I did.’
    ‘I am told, Teafa was the only person in the rath of Araglin who could calm Móen, if “calm” is the right word.’
    ‘She was. She had looked after him since he was a baby.’
    ‘And she was Eber’s sister?’
    ‘She was.’
    ‘So Móen was not her own child?’ Fidelma was puzzled about the relationship.
    Dubán was firm.
    ‘No one knows where the child came from. But it was not Teafa’s because she would have been seen to be pregnant in the weeks before his birth and she was not. This is a small community. He was a foundling.’
    ‘As it is a small community, it must be known who gave birth to the child?’
    ‘It is not. He was not the child of anyone in the valley. That much is certain.’
    ‘Can you tell me any more? How and why did Teafa come to adopt the child? Who found him?’

    Dubán rubbed a finger along the side of his nose.
    ‘All I know is that Teafa went out hunting by herself and she returned some days later with the child. She simply went to the mountains and came back with the new-born babe.’
    ‘Did she explain to anyone how she found it?’
    ‘Of course. She said that she had found it abandoned in the woods. She announced that she would adopt it. I left Araglin only a short while after that event and I was away fighting the wars of the Cashel kings until three years ago. I am told that as the child grew older, the debilities became known. But Teafa refused to give it up. Teafa never married nor had child of her own. She was a warm-hearted person and maybe needed a surrogate child. It seemed that the child and Teafa grew to be able to communicate in some curious fashion. I am not sure how.’
    ‘How long were you away from Araglin then?’
    ‘Nearly seventeen years passed until I returned to serve Eber. That was, as I have said, three years ago.’
    ‘I see. Is there anyone else here in the rath who might know more about Móen?’
    Duban shrugged.
    ‘I suppose Father Gormán might know something else which can be revealed now that Teafa is dead. But Father Gormán will not be back for a day or two.’
    ‘What of Eber’s widow?’
    ‘The lady Cranat?’ Dubán pulled a sour face. ‘I am not sure. She did not marry Eber until a year or so after Teafa brought Móen to dwell among us. On my return I observed that Cranat and Teafa did not share the intimacy one might expect between sister and sister-in-law.’
    Eadulf leant forward eagerly.
    ‘Are you saying that Cranat did not like Teafa?’
    Dubán looked pained.
    ‘I know you Saxons pride yourselves on plain speaking. I thought I had made my view clear.’

    ‘Clear enough,’ conceded Fidelma quickly. ‘You are telling us that Cranat and Teafa did not get along well?’
    ‘Not well,’ agreed Dubán.
    ‘Do you know how long this state of affairs had existed?’
    ‘I am told that they fell out when Crón was about thirteen years old. There was some sort of argument between them and they barely spoke to one another. Certainly about two or three weeks ago I was witness to a fierce argument between them.’
    ‘What was this about?’
    ‘It is not really for me to comment on.’ It was clear that Duban felt that he was resorting to gossip. Fidelma immediately seized on his awkwardness.
    ‘But having said as much, I feel that you should explain yourself.’
    ‘I really don’t