‘What would you do if you saw this come charging down at you?’ Laura said, looking up at the massive horse with its glittering head armour and chest plate.
‘Get out of the way, I suppose.’
‘And beyond the reach of the mace or sword too, I bet. You know, something like this would work a treat on flat, dry ground but if that horse hit a bog or had to jump over a wall or something, all that armour would be worse than useless. No wonder so many knights were captured or died horrific deaths on the battlefield.’
Finishing their tour at the north-east corner, they proceeded up to the second floor, taking care on the narrow, tapered steps.
‘This spiral stair or vice is the biggest and goes from the very top to the very bottom of the tower complex,’ Laura said halfway up. ‘For security reasons it was placed on the other side of the entrance way to prevent the bad guys from getting upstairs easily. This is also the only tower that’s round.’
Arriving on the second floor level, Laura was at great pains to remind Gail that originally there was no floor above. The ceiling of the royal apartments rose through two levels in a grand Romanesque style, with a mural gallery encircling the outer walls at the level of the present third floor. The vice brought them into what was called the Great Chamber. Turning to her left Laura guided Gail a few steps along the eastern wall and then halted before a small closet cut into the wall in an 'L' shape. ‘We’re in the private royal apartments and this is a garderobe.’
‘What’s that?’ Gail asked peering in.
‘The toilet - the loo,’ Laura started to laugh. ‘Just like we learned in school, out and down the side of the tower; but at least you had some privacy. It was somebody's job to keep the system flushed with fresh water regularly. Or, here they may have used chamber pots which would be emptied by servants. I didn't research medieval plumbing, I'm afraid. Anyhow, the only fireplace on this floor is here, midway along the eastern wall, so this must have been the living area which makes sense since the Chapel is there, on the other side. This chamber would have been divided and sub-divided into smaller, private areas by wooden partitions and screens. This is where I think the Princes were kept, for some of the time anyhow. Their sister, Elizabeth - Henry the Seventh’s queen - died here in 1503, on her birthday which is kind of sad.’ Laura sighed. It was hard to imagine with all the military hardware on display.
Laura was eager to pass through the archway into the Chapel of St. John the Evangelist. Gail was immediately captivated by its simple beauty. They stood for a while admiring one of the oldest and finest specimens of early Norman architecture still in existence. Unlike the rest of the White Tower, the Chapel escaped the addition of the upper floor, so they were able to imagine the concept of the lofty ceiling and mural gallery which once graced the other chambers. Although small by any standard, the Chapel conveyed a sense of strength and grace. Its twelve massive, circular stone pillars separated the space into two side aisles with the body of the fane rising to a vaulted ceiling.
‘This place has so much history,’ Laura whispered. ‘Throughout the Middle Ages it was the chapel used by the sovereign when at the Tower and it was here too that those chosen to be Knights of the Bath kept their all night vigil before being knighted by the king prior to his coronation. Now, I have something really interesting to show you.’
Leaving the Chapel through another doorway in the south-west corner, Laura positioned herself at the top of a spiral staircase. ‘The external tower I mentioned stood just outside here. This vice spiralled down to the first floor but didn’t open onto that floor like it does now, but either continued down to ground level through the external tower or, more likely, there was a set of regular stairs within that tower which took you the rest of the way to the ground.
‘It was under those stairs at a depth of ten feet that the chest, containing the two skeletons was found.’
‘Okay,’ Gail said, trying to understand what Laura was getting at.
‘You know how far we are from the Bloody Tower. If the two skeletons were indeed the remains of the two Princes, then it would be quite a trick to get those bodies from way over on the outside of the Palace Ward, through Coldharbour, to their final resting place. What I’m suggesting is that the Princes were killed on this floor, probably in the royal apartments next to the Chapel. Their bodies were then taken along the same route we came, out the door here and down. The chances of being seen would be virtually nil if the entrances into this external tower were watched and the view from the Great Hall obscured by a screen or something. If it was done late at night, there wouldn't have been a problem.’
‘Unless,’ Gail said, turning to face Laura, ‘the Princes were confined in the Bloody - I mean the Garden Tower - then escorted across the Green and, as you said through the Gate late at night and murdered on the ground floor of this external tower.’
‘Possible I suppose, but surely someone would have seen them, and their escort. Over three hundred people lived here at that time.’
‘That depends,’ Gail said, warming to the idea. ‘Suppose the boys were told that they were going to see their mother secretly in the Tower Chapel. They would have to be very quiet, perhaps wear cloaks to disguise themselves and then, once inside the external tower, before they had a chance to climb the stairs, they were murdered. Everything would be prepared in advance; even the wardrobe chest would be there, waiting for them, the grave under the stairway dug. That way, no bodies needed to be carried anywhere. They walked to their deaths.’
‘And the hair at the back of my neck is standing up. Gail, you just might have hit on a very distinct possibility.’
‘Now tell me. Did Richard order the murders?’
Laura turned away and walked slowly back towards the Chapel. Gail watched her every movement but stayed where she was, waiting. Time seemed to stand still as Laura stood with her back to Gail, deep in thought.
‘Richard ordered the executions of five men to gain the throne. He was tired, sick to death with the struggle, and the need. He had something in mind for those boys, but I can't believe it was murder.’
‘Sorry, you're not convincing me,’ Gail said, turning her head to the side, biting at her lower lip.
‘That's probably because I haven't convinced myself. Let's see the rest of the Tower. We can discuss the Princes later, if you don't mind, when we can focus our complete attention. We’re running short of time if we want to see the basement here and the Beauchamp Tower.’
Gail thought for a moment then agreed, but as Laura moved past her towards the Great Hall, Gail took her arm and whispered. ‘I want to know, tonight, over dinner, who killed them or else I’ll jump all over your bed until you do.’
‘But, I thought you were going to tell me,’ Laura said laughing. ‘As I said, I’ll give you all the information possible, but you’re going to solve the case. This is the Great Hall by the way,’ she said, as she moved along, looking both to the left and right. Gail let go of her in exasperation. ‘There’s no fireplace here so there must have been a central hearth or a series of braziers perhaps but, the loos are up here at the end; two of them - no waiting. And there’s another half-way up the vice in the north-west tower. This Hall was where all the entertainment took place and was probably the site of the council meeting which ended so abruptly with Hastings' departure. Richard may have watched the execution from here.’
Laura
