The Stone Wife

He stopped himself asking for a second time where she would start. She was right. He had to act like her boss rather than her father. ‘Inge, I can’t put into words how much I appreciate what you’re doing. If you need back-up, call me any time, day or night.’

In the CID room, John Leaman had been busy on the computer. The prospect of the Bridgwater trip had got him going. He gave an uncharacteristic cry of triumph when Diamond came in.

‘Guv, I’ve found something.’

‘Yes?’

‘Stradling’s book.’

‘Stradling?’ Diamond said without taking it in, still troubled by the risks he was asking Ingeborg to take.

‘William Stradling of Chilton Polden, the antiquarian who owned the Wife of Bath before she was acquired by the museum. He wrote this book, A Description of the Priory of Chilton-super-Polden, about his weird collection of objects and how he built Chilton Priory to house them, and it’s here online.’

‘Does it tell us anything?’

‘The collection included the head of a Maori chieftain, an ancient canoe-paddle, a bishop’s mitre, a German executioner’s sword, an oak chest from Glastonbury Abbey, a stone cannonball from the Civil War, stained glass, a Roman handbasin, a tomahawk, a scarab from the breast of an Egyptian mummy, a brass drum from the Battle of Copenhagen and numerous chunks of masonry rescued when local houses and churches were being knocked down in the name of restoration.’

‘How do you remember that lot?’

‘It’s a knack I’ve always had. I’m unbeatable at that party game with objects on a tray.’

Diamond believed him. ‘But you left out the Wife of Bath.’

Leaman cleared his throat. ‘She doesn’t actually get a mention.’

‘Because he didn’t know what the carving was?’

‘Nothing in the book sounds much like it, to tell you the truth. There are plenty of carvings — busts, gargoyles, bits of buildings scavenged from stonemasons’ yards — and he describes them. I’ve checked the whole thing more than once.’

‘It isn’t listed? So why are you telling me this?’

‘Hang on a minute, guv. This isn’t the whole story. I found another website with the history of the Stradling family. They go back a long way. They were Welsh, originally, from Glamorgan. William traced them back.’

‘Cut to the chase, John. I haven’t got all day.’

‘It’s this. Edward Stradling, a direct ancestor, born about 1398, married Jane Beaufort, who was the granddaughter of John of Gaunt, who was married to Catherine de Roet, and — this is the interesting bit — Catherine’s sister Philippa was Chaucer’s wife. The families were linked by marriage.’

‘My head is spinning.’

‘You said you wanted it fast. Listen, I’ll say it again more slowly.’

‘No, you won’t. I get the point — a family link we didn’t know about.’

‘But old William Stradling, being an antiquarian, would certainly have known about it, and been proud of being related to the father of English poetry. So it’s not surprising he took a special interest in Chaucer.’

‘If he did.’ Diamond needed more persuading. ‘You just told me the Wife of Bath doesn’t get a mention in his bloody book.’

A superior look surfaced on Leaman’s face, as if his overweight boss had just dropped into a tiger trap. ‘The book appeared in 1839. He lived another twenty years. Obviously he found the carving after publication.’

It was a fair point. ‘That’s possible, I suppose.’

‘We know for certain that Stradling once owned the thing. It’s part of the provenance set out in the auction catalogue. That sort of claim has to be accurate, with money involved. And because of his family’s link with Chaucer, I’m suggesting he recognised it for what it was, but never published the fact.’

‘Where’s Chilton Priory?’

‘We’ll pass it on the road tomorrow. It’s on the A Thrty-Nine, about five miles this side of Bridgwater.’

‘As close as that?’

‘But there’s nothing to see any more. It’s privately owned.’

‘So it can’t be far from the place where the Chaucer house once stood?’

‘Eight or nine miles. The altar rails from North Petherton church were part of Stradling’s collection, so he certainly scoured the area for relics.’

Diamond was finally persuaded. He said with more enthusiasm, ‘I’d still like to know exactly how he came across the carving. I’m getting hooked on this myself. Do you think the professor found out the Chaucer connection when the thing came up for sale?’

Leaman shrugged. ‘It didn’t take me long on the internet.’

‘We’re not all computer geeks.’

‘He will surely have heard that a carving of the Wife of Bath was going to be auctioned. He must have done his research, or he wouldn’t have bid so much.’