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"Enough to convict him?"

"Enough to justify a serious inquiry. And if the accounts are authenticated, Fitzwalter will have a great deal to answer for."

The second document contained copies of correspondence written in my father's hand. Three letters he'd sent to members of the royal council during the eight weeks before his arrest.

There were also two replies.

Both were polite.

Both told him, in slightly different ways, that the matter should be left to men better qualified to handle it.

I read them twice. My father had tried to do everything properly.

He'd followed the law, reported what he'd discovered, and trusted that the men responsible for overseeing the Crown's affairs would listen.

Instead, someone had warned Fitzwalter.

The third document made Guy go quiet.

"Osbert Crane," he said.

I looked up. "Who?"

"The royal secretary involved in your family's confiscation."

He studied the signature.

"He retired at forty-one, eleven weeks after your father's arrest. No pension was recorded, and his position remained vacant for seven months."

"You found his name in the archives?"

"Yes. I also sent a rider north to look for him."

Guy handed me the document.

"Robin, he signed this three weeks before your father was arrested. It's a statement explaining how the levy records were altered and identifying the men who ordered it."

I examined the page.

There was a signature at the bottom. Another name appeared beneath it as a witness.

"He was my father's source," I said.

"It appears so."

Guy's expression hardened.

"He gave your father a signed confession, then watched him get arrested and executed for exposing the very crime he'd admitted to."

"Why didn't he come forward?"

"Fear, I imagine. And I don't believe he retired voluntarily."

Guy looked toward the burial ground.

"My information suggests he's been living near Alnwick for the past six years. Whether he went there willingly is another matter."

"Is he still alive?"