The Knowledge Stone (25 page)

The next morning started a significant day. Kati suspected that this might be a day of drama and so she rose early. After the family had attended the morning meal, her father ordered that they should remain at the table while he called for the Housekeeper and the Head Stableman to attend him.

These servants arrived together, entered the Great Hall and bowed low. ‘Master, how may we serve you?’

The Master addressed them both: ‘I am aware that all the servants have been searching for the stolen medallion and that all quarters have been searched. Is the search complete?’

The Head Stableman replied: ‘Yes. Master, we have searched all the quarters and the body of each servant has also been searched. Nothing has been found.’

The Housekeeper added: ‘The same has happened in the household, Master. Nothing has been found.’

The Master paused and sighed. Then he said: ‘You are both aware that I have received a number of accusations from the servants. Each of you have passed these to me yesterday. In fact I have received a total of nine accusations, four from the household and five from the outside servants. All nine identify the same person as the thief who has stolen the medallion.’ The Master was silent for a few moments as he looked through the accusations once more. Then he addressed them once more: ‘You know who the accused is. What is your opinion of that?’

The Housekeeper spoke first: ‘Master, I find it very difficult to believe. I have known this girl for more than six years and, during all that time, I have never seen any sign of dishonesty.’

The Head Stableman said: ‘Although I do not know this girl as well as the Housekeeper, I have always thought her to be a good and honest servant.’

‘Very well,’ the Master said heavily, ‘I will examine the girl and I wish you both to be present.’

Behind him, Kati wriggled in pure delight. ‘Everything is going to plan,’ she thought.

The Housekeeper went to fetch the girl and returned within five minutes. The Housekeeper and the Head Stablemen were given seats at the side of the Great Hall.

‘Stand there!’ The Master’s command to the girl was curt. She cut a totally pathetic figure, weeping silently, head hanging, hands clasped in front of her in an attitude of prayer. ‘Look at me!’ The Master’s voice was loud and angry. ‘Answer me truthfully.’

‘Master, I have never told a lie in this house,’ the girl whispered.

‘Where is it? What have you done with it?

‘Master, I don’t know. I have not taken it.’

Silence. The Master looked towards the Housekeeper: ‘Has this girl’s room been searched thoroughly?’

‘Yes, Master, I conducted the search myself.’

‘And nothing was found?’

‘Nothing at all, Master. The girl has few possessions and everything in her room belonged to her, apart from her servant’s clothes.’

‘Was the girl’s body searched?’

‘Yes Master, I searched her body myself. I made her remove all items of her clothing and I searched these as well. I found nothing.’

The Master now turned back to the cowering girl: ‘Where have you hidden it?’

‘Master, I have not hidden it anywhere. I have not taken it.’ The girl wept loudly.

‘Be quiet! You will tell me where you have hidden it. I can have you beaten.’

‘No, Master, please, no. I did not do this. I have stolen nothing.’

‘Husband,’ Kati’s mother spoke quietly, ‘I ask that you do not beat the girl.’

The Master paused. Then he addressed the Housekeeper: ‘Take her. Put her in the Ice House without her clothes. I will see her again in two hours.’ The girl was dragged away, protesting her innocence.

Hours later, the maidservant was brought back before the Master. White and shivering uncontrollably, she made no sound as she stood swaying in front of him, semi-conscious.

‘Are you now ready to tell me where you have hidden the medallion that you have stolen?’

‘Master. I have stolen nothing. You may kill me if you wish.’ The girl’s voice was a weak whisper and the Master had to crane forward to hear her words. He sat back in his chair, his face set in a mask of fury. ‘Send for the Court Jailer. Tell him I have business with him. Take her and lock her in her room.’

Later that day, the Court Jailer appeared once again at the Manor House.

‘Master,’ he said, ‘how may I serve you this time?’

The two men withdrew to a private area and were in deep discussion for a considerable time. Finally, the Court Jailer sat back and reviewed his copious notes: ‘Master, this case is slim, I am afraid. I see how the girl can easily be identified as the thief because she was one of only three people who had access to the key. Since the other two people are yourself and the Mistress then the Mistress’s maidservant is obviously the thief should anything be missing from the jewellery box. But unless the servant was extremely stupid (and you tell me she is not), she would never act to place such certainty of guilt upon herself. Furthermore, Master, since the medallion has not been found, there is, of course, no evidence. It is my opinion that the Court is very unlikely to convict the girl, given the complete lack of evidence. But even if it did, that would not achieve what you want – the return of the medallion.’

The Master held his head in his hands: ‘So what am I to do?’ A voice of despair.

‘Master, I have a proposal for you. First you need to know with certainty whether the girl is guilty or innocent. You have already tried to do this by your own rigorous examination and the girl still insists she is innocent. At the Town Jail, I have men who are experts at finding out the truth and I suggest that you send the girl to the Jail for just one day, after which you will know the truth. If she is guilty then my men will make her tell us where she has hidden the medallion. If she is innocent, then we will talk again about the thief, because then we would know this to be someone who secretly knows where to find the jewellery box key.’

After some thought, the Master spoke: ‘Sir, I must ask you one question. When I was examining the girl and threatened her with beating, my wife intervened to protect her. She is fond of the girl and does not think she is guilty. Will the girl be severely beaten during the examination at the Town Jail?’

The Court Jailer smiled.

‘Master, she will not be beaten at all. After all, she is not a prisoner. The techniques my men will use are much cleverer than beating. We have moved on from the techniques of the Dark Ages; as you would expect, we are much more sophisticated now.’

The Master was reassured.

‘Then I agree to your proposal and I thank you for your expert advice.’ Without any further words, the Master slid a bag of coins across the table which the Court Jailer slipped into his pocket with a grateful smile. ‘Thank you, Master, you can depend on me. I will arrange this for tomorrow if that is acceptable to you? My assistant will call at nine.’

Early the next morning, the maidservant was visited by the Housekeeper. ‘Get cleaned and dressed. Today you are going to the Town Jail.’

‘Am I to be a prisoner without a trial?’ the girl wailed. ‘Madam, I am innocent.’

The Housekeeper looked at the girl sympathetically: ‘I am sorry this is happening to you. I don’t know what it means. It is something arranged between the Master and the Town Jailer. Just go, be brave and tell the truth.’

‘Madam, you know I always tell the truth.’

The Housekeeper nodded. ‘I have certainly never found you to be dishonest. I have already told the Master that.’

‘Madam, how long will I be held at the Town Jail. I am frightened to go there. I have heard there are many violent criminals there who may do me harm.’ She burst into loud tears.

‘Hush,’ the Housekeeper said softly, ‘you must be brave and tell the truth. I will come for you when the Town Jailer’s man arrives.’

So the maidservant found herself in the darkness of the Town Jailer’s wagon, rumbling and jolting along the road to the Town Jail. She heard the terrible sound of the Jail gates closing and, shortly afterwards, was marched into the building and into a bright warm room occupied by two men sitting at a table. There was also a dirty, ragged little boy sitting on a low bench against the wall.

‘This is the maidservant from the Manor House,’ the Town Jailer’s assistant said as he pushed her rather roughly into the room. ‘I must leave you now, I have other work to do.’

‘Ah, yes.’ The two men looked at her, quite kindly, she thought. One then said: ‘Fetch yourself a stool and sit here at the table with us. I am in charge of this jail and this is my assistant. We want to speak to you about the trouble you are in. I suggest you tell us all that has happened.’

The girl poured out the whole story. She was the Mistress’s maidservant, a very important position in the household, especially for a young girl like herself – she was only sixteen. She was completely trusted in her position and had access to her Mistress’s jewellery box. She was the only servant who knew where the key was kept. Of course she had never divulged this to anyone – and she never would! Somedays ago, a valuable piece of jewellery had been stolen from the box, a large gold medallion with a gold chain. She had seen this item mixed up among the many other items in the jewellery box but had never examined it. It was not a piece that the Mistress ever wore. She understood it was a sort of family heirloom, something that was very old. Because of her position, she had been blamed for the theft but she was innocent; she would never have done such a dishonest thing or have been so disloyal to the Mistress. All the time the girl was speaking, the two men looked at her intently.

There was a short silence.

‘So if you didn’t steal it, who did?’

‘Sirs,’ the girl gasped, ‘I cannot know. It must be someone who knows where the key is hidden. They must have taken the key, opened the box and stole the medallion.’

The men looked at each other. Then the First Jailer said: ‘Miss, now listen to me very carefully. This man (he indicated the Second Jailer) and I are both experts in the truth. Experts, you understand? Hundreds of times each year prisoners are brought to us here and it is our duty to determine the truth about their crimes. And do you know what happens? These prisoners start off telling us lies but, by the end of our examination, they tell us the truth about their crimes. They tell us everything about them, down to the last detail and they are very glad to do it.’ Now looking even more intensely at the girl, the man repeated: ‘We are experts in the truth. You should believe it.’

Then the man continued: ‘This is why you are here. You are not a prisoner but you will spend the day with us here while we examine you to determine the truth about the crime at the Manor House. You, Miss, will tell us that truth before you return to the Manor House. We will, of course, communicate that truth to our master, the Court Jailer and he will inform your master. Do you understand all this?’

‘Yes, Sir, I understand, thank you. Your task is easy, for I have already told you the truth.’

The man looked at her kindly: ‘Well, these are early times yet and we will see what happens. Meanwhile, we must start our day’s work.’ Both men stood up and stepped away from the table.

‘Miss,’ the First Jailer spoke again, ‘do you see this little boy?’

‘Yes Sir.’ The girl looked more closely at the boy. ‘He seems ragged and dirty. He also seems to be very frightened.’

‘Yes, you are right, he is frightened; he is here because he is a thief. He stole an apple from the food shop. This apple.’ The man held up a small, wrinkled apple. ‘He was caught by the shopkeeper and had the apple in his pocket. So here he is with us now. Furthermore, we know him. He has been here before. He is a beggar boy from the town and we know that he is eight years old.’

The girl now looked at the frightened little boy with sympathy.

‘I want you to help us now, Miss,’ the man continued. ‘Please ask him if he stole this apple.’

Reluctantly, the girl took the apple in her hand and addressed the boy: ‘Boy, did you steal this apple?’

‘No, Miss. It wasn’t me, it was another boy who stole it and gave it to me.’ The boy’s voice was quavering and filled with terror.

The man sighed. ‘You see what I mean? Is this the truth he tells you? What would you do now?’

The girl was confused.

‘Maybe we should believe him. Maybe …’

The man interrupted: ‘You see, Miss, you are forgetting that we are experts in the truth.’ The two men now spoke briefly and the Second Jailer unhooked a thin springy branch from its hook on the wall.

‘Come with me, boy.’ He grasped the boy by a shoulder. ‘You come, too, Miss.’

A mere ten minutes passed before the Second Jailer and the girl returned to the room, the man smiling and relaxed, the girl white with shock. The First Jailer looked up: ‘What does he say now?’ This with a cheerful grin.

‘Oh, he admitted his guilt, of course. He said he stole the apple. In fact he told us every detail about how he did it; how he waited till the storekeeper’s back was turned – you know, every part of the truth.’

‘Have you dealt with him?’

‘Yes, I took him to the gate and pushed him out. I also told him that worse would happen to him next time if he committed another crime. I told him I would use a whip next time.’

‘Good!’ The First Jailer turned to the girl. ‘You see, Miss, you know what he told you when you asked him, don’t you? But, you see, my friend and I, we are experts in the truth.’

‘But if he is guilty, why does he not go to the Court?’ the girl said faintly.

The man smiled: ‘Miss, the Court might not convict an eight year old boy for stealing an apple. The Judge might be feeling kind-hearted on the day the boy was tried. It is part of our duty to apply the Law sensibly. That is what we have done this morning. That is what we do here all of the time.’

The man now gestured towards the table.

‘Now, Miss, we will sit here and you will tell us the truth about the theft of the medallion at the Manor House. This time we will ask you some questions. Here is the first question: ‘Did you steal the medallion from the jewellery box?’

‘No, Sir, I have told you already, I did not.’

‘The jewellery box was not damaged, was it? It had been opened using the key?’

‘That is what the Mistress said. It was she who opened the box and noticed the medallion missing.’

‘So, if you are the only servant in the whole house who has access to the key, it must be you who stole the medallion, mustn’t it? That is precisely why you have been accused, is it not?’

‘Yes, Sir, that is why I am accused but it is not true. It was not I who stole it.’

‘Miss, is that not what the little thief said to you when you asked him about the apple?’

The girl looked shaken: ‘Yes, Sir …’

‘And after he had been examined by my assistant in the next room, what did he say?’

‘He said he was guilty, that he was a thief.’

‘Is it not possible that you, too, are a thief? If we examined you rigorously, what would we find?’

The girl’s face was a mask of terror. She replied in a quavering voice: ‘Sir, you must not say that. It is not true. I did not steal the medallion.’

There was complete silence for several minutes. Then the man rose from the table and said: ‘Now we must continue to show you what we do here at the Jail. My friend here will now educate you about the techniques we use to change lies into truth.’ The man smiled pleasantly as he said this and patted the girl’s hand reassuringly. ‘Later, we will take you on a tour of the Jail. You must see everything before you leave us.’