After breakfast the next morning, the four hobbits met in a little grove of trees on the slope of the hill outside Frodo's and Merry's windows. They had seen each other over breakfast, but couldn't talk with so many North-Tooks around as they naturally would among themselves. Here, they could smoke their pipes and be frank.
"I'd hoped to have a word with you last night, after Aunt Di and Aspid left, Merry," Frodo teased his cousin, "but I didn't see you again after you went to search for Pippin. I assume you found him?"
Merry laughed. "Oh, yes. I had to walk all the way down our tunnel and go around to the far side of the dining room and great hall to another tunnel where the family bedrooms are, but I found him. His room's not only next to Aspid's sons', but her daughter's room is just on the other side."
"You know who the daughter is, don't you?" asked Pippin. "Miss Diamond Took!"
"I haven't seen Diamond since we arrived," Frodo observed. "Where has she been?"
"Staying with her aunt, Lady Aspid told me," said Pippin. "She's expected home today."
"My guess is that they wanted her out of the way while you were investigating whatever the Thain sent you for," said Merry. "But now that you've brought Pip with you, they're hastening to bring the girl home as soon as possible." He chuckled. "What d'you imagine they're hoping will happen with Pippin sleeping next door to their innocent little chit? Aunt Di and Diamond's parents would be shocked to the bones if Pippin tried sneaking into her bedroom in the middle of the night--even more shocked than if he came to mine."
"And did you go sneaking anywheres last night, Master Merry?" Sam asked him.
"Not with all the North-Tooks' bedrooms so near, I didn't dare! No, it's better if Pip comes to me. It's more quiet and private up this way. It's a good, long hike--half a mile or more, I feel sure--but do they really think that will stop us if we want to be together? Of course, it'd be much easier if I had only to knock on the door next to mine. Or just step across the hall. Don't you agree, Sam?"
Sam blushed, but Frodo smiled. Sam had in fact returned to his room last night after Diamanta and Aspid had gone. Frodo had told his friend what the ladies had said before they'd cuddled up to sleep. He repeated the conversation to his cousins now.
"Auntie Di doesn't seem to dislike Isigo as much as Aspid does," said Pippin. "At least, she doesn't call him a murderer too. Do you believe what they said, Frodo?"
"I believe that they sincerely believe it. Whether it's true or not is another matter. Their dislike of Lady Iris is so great that they'll believe anything disgraceful about her. But just because they hate her, it doesn't mean they're wrong. They're as jealous as cats, but perhaps they understand her character better than her husband does. Thain Brabantius seems to think it's someone else, that his marriage to the lady has stirred up some deep resentment against not only his new wife, but himself. It might be anyone in the house." Frodo drew his knees to his chest and mused, "If the keys were taken when Tulipant left them lying around..."
All three of his friends were used to these pensive states, but at these last words, they looked puzzled. "What keys, Frodo?" asked Merry.
"To the wine cellar. I was going to tell you about it last night, when we were interrupted." Frodo did so now. "It seems least likely that the wine was poisoned while it was in the pantry. Tulipant doesn't look as if he'd let wine sit around unattended once it had been decanted. It's more probable that the poison was put in while it was still in a bottle in the wine cellar, or after it had been brought to the Thain's study while Brabantius was elsewhere. That might be easily done, although there was always a risk that the Thain might return, or Tulipant or someone else would walk in. The wine cellar would allow the poisoner to work without being seen. To get into the wine cellar, he'd have to get hold of the keys when Tulipant left them lying around in a moment of forgetfulness. The door to the wine cellar is kept locked, and Tulipant has the only key, which he wears with the other household keys on a waistcoat chain. He doesn't normally allow people to enter the wine cellar, not unless he's with them. He takes his duties very seriously."
"We haven't seen this Tulipant yet," said Sam. Two maids had served in the dining room last night, and the butler had been absent. No wine had been served at the table. "What's he like?"
Frodo shut his eyes, the better to picture the Thain's butler. "He's an ordinary-looking hobbit of middle years, with thick, dark curls on his head and toes, and a fine, round belly," he described. "He wears a black coat and a white waistcoat with brass buttons. He puts on a high style of speaking suitable to a senior servant in a Thain's house, but when his feelings are up, he slips and you can hear the voice of the country lad he once was. He's worked for Brabantius since he was a boy, and he's devoted to him. Even when he's been too frightened to know who to trust, the Thain has relied on Tulipant."
"How d'you know it isn't him, then?" Pippin asked, grinning.
"Of course, it might be," Frodo conceded. "A trusted servant in Tulipant's position could do whatever he liked to the Thain's wine, whenever he liked. He could be lying about the keys, to cast my suspicions away from him. But he seemed genuinely upset when I told him about the poison." He looked to Sam. "That's where you can help me most, Sam."
"Me? How?"
"The poison. I thought you might know what it was, and how it was come by." Frodo explained, "When I was in Minas Tirith last year, the Master Herbalist at the Houses of Healing showed me all sorts of plants that had medicinal virtues, but could also kill. You know as much about plants as he does."
"All kinds of common plants is poisonous," Sam answered. "Some you wouldn't guess to look at 'em, as they look harmless as the summer grass. Was there a bitter taste to the wine, did his Thainship say?"
"He didn't, but I can ask. Can you tell me what plants might cause someone to fall into fits and lay near death for a day or more? It did the same to a dog, but the dog died."
Sam considered these symptoms. "Now, it's hard to say, knowing so little, but I'm thinking it could be laburnum. There's plenty of it about." To prove his point, he nodded to indicate a cluster of small trees in the garden below the Thain's Hall. "It's pretty enough in spring, with all its golden flowers, but it's got to be fenced off proper."
"That's right," Frodo knew little about plants, but he did know this much. "Laburnum seeds are poisonous."
"Every bit of it is, begging your pardon," Sam corrected with gentle deference, "but it's the seeds that the little uns'll pick up, and cows and sheeps are most likely to eat if the trees grow near where they graze. I've seen a sheep or two die just the way the Thain's dog did--they go into fits, if they eat enough of it."
Frodo regarded the trees below thoughtfully. Anyone in the Thain's household could gather laburnum pods, or the leaves or flowers, without leaving the garden, then brew and distill them to extract the poison. It was a simple enough process; he had learned this from an expert. All that was needed was a pot of water and a strainer.
"The thing I don't understand is why go to so much trouble?" asked Pippin. "If somebody wants Thain Brabantius to die, they'd only have to wait a little while. He's very old--he'll be eleventy-one next year and couldn't go on much longer even if he was in the best of health. They wouldn't have to do anything. Why take the risk of finishing him off?"
"Lady Aspid said that Lady Iris wouldn't want to wait," Sam remembered what Frodo had told them.
"But she didn't say why, except to suggest that Iris was greedy enough to want to get her hands on the Thain's money as soon as possible," said Merry. "How much do you suppose she'd get? And if it wasn't her, who else will get something from the Thain's will? Maybe they couldn't wait."
"That could be anyone in the Thain's family," Frodo responded. "His sons, grandsons-" He stopped as a bedroom window farther up the slope swung open and a young hobbit's head popped out.
Isigo smiled at the sight of the four sitting on the hillside. "There you are! I was been looking all over for you, Mr. Baggins, and then I heard your voices. Mother wants to talk to you."
Site Info
We are the home of 1292 authors from among our 2552 members. There have been 2904 reviews written about our 3820 stories consisting of 10734 chapters and 29400445 words. A special welcome to our newest member, Rosamundeb.Categories
Skin Change
Donate
Help us keep one of the oldest running LotR archives available to all. Even the smallest donation helps!
Many thanks to our previous donors!
Many thanks to our previous donors!
