A Vein of Deceit

The Fifteenth Chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew

Life is unsettled in Cambridge in the autumn of 1357, and both Michaelhouse and its physician, Matthew Bartholomew, seem to have more than their fair share of misfortune. The College is unexpectedly short of funds, its Master is attacked, its prized possession, a pair of beautiful silver chalices known as the Stanton Cups, have been stolen, and after a woman dies in premature labour Bartholomew discovers that some medicinal potions have disappeared from his store, including pennyroyal, a drug known for inducing miscarriage.

It is to the College finances that Bartholomew first turns his attention, and he discovers that the treasurer, Wynewyk, has been fiddling the books, particularly in regard to goods purchased from some tradesmen in Suffolk. Bartholomew, who looks upon Wynewyk as an honourable friend, is appalled, but before he can confront him with the evidence of fraud, Wynewyk dies in bizarre and unexplained circumstances.

Brother Michael and Bartholomew, instructed to reclaim the missing funds, discover that the money has become entangled in a legal wrangle over property rights, and that one of the merchants is the husband of the woman who died in labour, along with her unborn child whose birth would have substantially altered the outcome of the dispute. In horror, Bartholomew recognises her death was most likely murder and that his missing preparation of pennyroyal was to blame.

Who stole it? Who in the college has connections to the disputed land in Suffolk? And if Wynewyk proves to be a rogue, who can Bartholomew trust within what he had assumed was the security of Michaelhouse?