The Subtle Serpent by Peter Tremayne Page A

perverted passion.’
    Sister Fidelma sat back and regarded Adnár curiously.
    ‘And is this what you have invited me here to tell me?’
    Adnár inclined his head in a brief gesture of affirmation.
    ‘Originally, I invited you here to register my protest that the Church has sent one of its own to deal with the matter at the request of the chief suspect. I thought you had come here to help exonerate the abbess.’
    ‘And now you have changed your mind?’ Fidelma caught the careful phraseology of the bó-aire.
    Adnár cast an uncomfortable look at Olcán.
    ‘Olcán assures me that he knows of your reputation; that you have been trusted by the High King himself as well as kings and princes in other lands. I am therefore content to leave this matter in your hands, sister, knowing that you will not exonerate where blame is due.’
    Fidelma was studying the man, trying to keep her surprise to herself. That an accusation of this kind should be brought against the leader of a religious community was a matter of gravity.
    ‘Let me get this clear, Adnár,’ she said slowly. ‘You are openly claiming that the Abbess Draigen was responsible for the death of this young girl and the motive was to hide her own sexual partiality?’

    Adnár was about to reply when Olcán interrupted.
    ‘No, I do not think that Adnár is making an official charge. He is pointing out an obvious course of inquiry. It appears common knowledge in these parts that the Abbess Draigen has a predilection for attractive young religieuses and encourages them to her abbey. That is no more than common gossip. Now we have a young female corpse found at the abbey. I think Adnár is advising you that it would be well to examine whether anything amiss has happened within the abbey walls.’
    Fidelma was examining the young man while he was speaking. He appeared to speak with straightforward conviction and honesty but was intelligent enough to lead Adnár out of a dangerous path whereby he could stand answerable before the law for spreading dangerous stories about the abbess. Brother Febal did not appear to concern himself with the matter, continuing to pick at the food on the table. Olcán seemed merely anxious that she should know the full extent of the situation.
    She sighed deeply.
    ‘Very well. This conversation will not go beyond these walls,’ she agreed at last. ‘In return, I will undertake to investigate closely any information that may lead to the culprit, however unpalatable it is for anyone of position and rank.’
    Olcan sat back in relief.
    ‘That is all Adnár is concerned with, is that not so?’
    The chieftain gestured affirmatively.
    ‘I am sure that you will find many people hereabouts to support our views of the Abbess Draigen. Brother Febal speaks as a churchman. He is extremely concerned at the stories which he hears about the abbess and is jealous for the good reputation of the Faith.’
    Fidelma looked sharply at the religieux.
    ‘There are many stories?’
    ‘Several,’ agreed Brother Febal.

    ‘And have any of them been proved?’
    Brother Febal shrugged indifferently.
    ‘There are several stories,’ he repeated. ‘Valeat quatum valere potest.’
    He added the standard phrase when a person passes on information which has not been proved, meaning ‘take it for what it’s worth’.
    Fidelma sniffed suspiciously.
    ‘Very well. But, if your accusation is correct, you would have to accept that many people in the abbey are in collusion with the abbess. To take this to a logical conclusion, someone else would have known if the abbess was having an affair with the murdered girl. If the corpse was a member of the abbey community, surely someone would know and, if so, there is the collusion. If not, the girl would either have been a local, in which case why has her disappearance not been reported to you, Adnár, as bó-aire? Or, she must have been a stranger, presumably staying at the abbey. Again, the community at the abbey would