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"I'll begin making arrangements today. But you need the Crown's records, and you need Osbert Crane alive and willing to testify."
"I'll do what I can."
"Do more than that."
He handed back the documents.
"Without independent evidence, I'll be putting my reputation before the council for nothing. With it, we may actually have a chance of bringing Fitzwalter to justice."
A messenger caught us near the priory gate as we prepared to leave.
He'd come from Robin's camp with a message from Hugh.
I recognized the handwriting immediately.
Hugh had written it on the paper normally wrapped around tally sticks, using the same careful lettering he employed for duty rosters.
He still held his position at Nottingham Castle, although Fitzwalter had assigned two men to follow him everywhere.
Peverel had successfully copied portions of the Locksley ledger and the chapel inventory into the archive book.
Better still, he'd managed to send a transcript out of the castle beneath the seal of a visiting archdeacon.
That was the first genuinely encouraging news I'd received in days.
Then I read the rest.
Fitzwalter had ordered a complete audit of the muniment room, beginning Thursday.
He also knew the hiding place at Locksley had been emptied before his soldiers reached it.
At the bottom of the message, Hugh had added one final note. He believed he could enter my former chambers while the audit occupied the guards.
He intended to retrieve the half letter.
If I gave permission, he'd do it.
If I refused, he'd do it anyway.
I read that part twice.
Then I handed the message to Robin.
She looked up when she finished.
"He's offering to risk his life for you."
"For the truth."
"That doesn't make it any less dangerous."
"No," I admitted. "It doesn't."
There'd been a time when I could've ordered a document retrieved from my chambers without giving the matter another thought.
I could've sealed the archives, reassigned the guards, and ordered the search completed before supper.
All it would've taken was my signature.
