The Midwife's Tale(95)

“Because it’s not Richard’s child,” Martha said softly. “It’s Stephen Cooper’s. Ellen said he beat Mrs. Cooper, but never hit her. But what man strikes his wife but not his maidservant? She was hiding something, and now we know what. He raped her and left her pregnant. No doubt he threatened to have her whipped if she fathered the child on him. Richard and Ellen sent him the letter demanding the money, and after he paid, they took their revenge. And once Cooper was dead, they tried to get rid of the child as well.”

Martha retreated into her thoughts, and we sat in silence as I considered what she had said. “If you’re right, when we questioned Richard about the ratsbane we signed Penrose’s death warrant,” I said. “Penrose would have denied selling the poison, and we would have returned to Richard. They had to keep him from talking to us. Ellen was the whore who lured Penrose upstairs at the Black Swan, and Richard beat him to death.”

“With all he had suffered, Richard would have taken as much satisfaction in murdering Penrose as Ellen did in killing Cooper.”

“Esther isn’t guilty of treason. Ellen and Richard are.”

“You can’t be serious,” Martha cried. “Ellen and Richard might be murderers, but traitors?”

“That is what the law says,” I answered, taken aback by her tone. “It’s the order of things.”

“Why? Because they rose against their natural lords? Such shit! By that thinking, I’m a traitor, too, am I not? I had a hand in my master’s death; shouldn’t you charge me as well? Stephen Cooper and Thomas Penrose were tyrants. They deserved no better.”

I stared at Martha, recalling the abuse she had suffered before coming to my home. I wondered for a moment if she, rather than Tom, had murdered her master. I chased that thought away and tried to mollify her.

“Your situation is different, and you know it,” I said. “You did not intend to kill your master. And while I do not mourn Mr. Cooper and Mr. Penrose, justice must be done. Ellen and Richard are murderers, and it was probably Richard who tried to kill me and Will. We have to stop them before they kill anyone else.”

Martha nodded. “But what do we do?” she asked softly. “We’ve no evidence of their guilt, and Mrs. Cooper still stands convicted.”

“I will ask my brother to question Ellen. She will confess soon enough.”

“Perhaps,” Martha replied. “But I’m not so sure.”

“I’ve questioned murderesses before,” I reminded her. “Few women have the stomach to lie when pressed.”

“I don’t think Ellen will confess so easily.”

“Why do you say that? Even Rebecca Hooke confessed.”

“Yet she is free,” Martha replied archly. “I know Ellen seems like a harmless maidservant, but look at what she’s done. She planned her master’s murder carefully, and when threatened with discovery, she planted—and then discovered—the ratsbane in Mrs. Cooper’s cabinet. She intended for Mrs. Cooper, who had done her no wrong, to be burned in her place. Then, when we began to close in on her and Richard, she led Penrose into a trap and watched as Richard dashed out his brains. A woman who has done all this can endure a few hard words without bursting into tears and confessing her crimes.”

I considered her point, and my heart sank when I realized that she was right. The murderesses I’d questioned had killed on the spur of the moment and been racked by guilt. Ellen had murdered two men in cold blood and connived in the death of her mistress. How sure could I be that she would confess? And if she did not, what then?

“What do you think we should do?” I asked.

“They won’t try to leave the city until the siege is lifted. Richard is too careful for that.” I nodded. “We can search his quarters again. Perhaps there is something there. And then we find them and question them separately. We can lie, and turn each against the other. If we drive a wedge between them, one or the other will confess. The constables tried to do that with Tom and me once. If either of us had confessed, we’d both have hanged.”

“Let’s hope Ellen and Richard trust each other less than you two did.” I didn’t know if the plan would work, but I had no alternative to offer. “I’ll have one of the guards escort us to the shop.” Neither of us had forgotten that a killer still might be lurking in the city’s alleys, hoping for another chance to attack.

* * *

We arrived at Penrose’s shop and found it locked. I wasn’t sure that the guard would appreciate our plan to break in, so I posted him at the end of the block closest to the Black Swan. “Hurry,” I told Martha as she began to work on the lock. “Our guard thinks we have a key.” Luckily the lock proved more cooperative than on her first attempt, and a few seconds later we stepped in. “Secure it behind us,” I said. “If someone tries to enter the shop, I would like to have some kind of warning.” Martha nodded, and I heard the lock click.