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''One Corpse Too Many'' is a medieval mystery novel set in the summer of 1138 by Ellis Peters. It is the second novel in the Cadfael Chronicles, first published in 1979 (1979 in literature). It was adapted for television in 1994 by Central for ITV. In the Anarchy, King Stephen takes Shrewsbury Castle, punishing the rebels. A murdered man is found among the dead rebels, a mystery for Brother Cadfael to solve, while two young men vie to be the Deputy Sheriff and vie for the lady's hand. ==Plot summary== In August 1138, King Stephen is besieging rebels loyal to Empress Matilda in Shrewsbury Castle. Brother Cadfael welcomes the assistance of young Godric, brought to the Abbey by his aunt. Cadfael recognises that Godric is a girl. She is Godith Adeney, daughter of Fulke Adeney, a rebel leader inside the castle. Cadfael agrees to keep her secret, thus beginning 10 adventurous days. Aline Siward and Hugh Beringar enter King Stephen's camp to pledge their loyalty. Aline Siward is welcomed even though her absent brother Giles has declared for the Empress. Hugh Beringar is treated with more reserve, as he was betrothed as a child to Godith, though he promises fealty once for all. To prove his loyalty, he is asked to find Godith and deliver her to the King. Two young men fall for Aline on first sight at the King's camp, Beringar and Adam Courcelle, designated Deputy Sheriff once the castle falls. The castle falls the next morning, but FitzAlan and Adeney escape. Infuriated, King Stephen orders the ninety-four survivors of the turncoat garrison executed that very afternoon. Abbot Heribert of Shrewsbury Abbey asks that the men be given Christian burial. King Stephen assents. Counting the bodies, Cadfael finds not ninety-four, but ninety-five – one corpse too many. The extra corpse did not die by hanging. Aline finds the body of her brother Giles among the ninety-four. Aline notes that a dagger has been stolen from Giles's body. Courcelle gave Aline her brother's cloak, found in the castle. Godric/Godith identifies the murdered man as Nicholas Faintree, a squire of FitzAlan. Cadfael visits her old nurse, Petronilla Flesher for news. FitzAlan ordered squires Faintree and Torold Blund to slip out of the castle to take his treasury from its hiding place in Frankwell to safety in Wales, then Normandy when defeat neared. They tell Cadfael that Beringar asked after Godith the day of the hangings. Cadfael realises that Beringar knows of the treasure. Working in the corn harvest, Godric encounters a wounded man. She and Cadfael return that evening, learning he is Torold Blund. He relates how he and Faintree tried to carry FitzAlan's treasure as planned. Faintree's horse was lamed by a caltrop, planted on the forested track not far from Frankwell. Faintree waited at a forest hut while Blund fetched a fresh horse. When Blund returned he found Faintree dead. Blund was attacked by a stranger, but fought him off. He was blocked by the King's men on every road to Wales. He jumped into the river Severn in a hail of arrows, letting the horses go free. He hid the treasure under the bridge near the castle, hoping the soldiers took him for drowned in the Severn. Cadfael retraces Blund's path. In the hut, he finds a yellow topaz meant as decoration to a dagger in the dirt floor. Cadfael sends Godric with food and medicine to Blund, who is much recovered. As they talk, Blund discovers that she is a girl named Godith. Cadfael joins them. He agrees to help them escape to Wales with the treasure. He and Blund hear footsteps, so stop their conversation. Cadfael and Godric walk to the Abbey, encountering Hugh Beringar. Godric goes to the herbarium. Beringar asks Cadfael where he can conceal his two most valuable mounts. They take the horses to a grange belonging to the Abbey, south of Shrewsbury. Cadfael sees that Hugh Beringar has a spirit like his own as to the cause of justice and a clever mind for pursuing it. He spends the day testing his theory that Hugh is following him, dispatching Godric to other tasks. Cadfael locates the treasure hidden in the river. He has a bundle matching it in appearance, which he carries to the grange. Sheriff Prestcote begins the raid of the Abbey before Cadfael wakes. King Stephen needs supplies and is searching for Godith. Godith woke early, ensuring her own safety and that of the treasure. Aline tells Cadfael that Godric is safe with her. Though she sides with Stephen, Aline's concern is for the girl. Blund spends the day on the run as the King's men seize supplies. He thinks, correctly, that Beringar saw him, yet did not seize him. That night, Cadfael, Torold and Godith walk to the grange with the treasure. They hide the treasure in a tree that will be on the road to Wales, then swing back to approach the grange on the usual path. At the grange, Beringar and his men stop them. Beringar means to aid Godith in her escape, as his duty to her from past connections. He wants the treasure for the King. Godith and Torold depart for Wales on Beringar's horses, pleased with Cadfael's success. At Cadfael's workshop in the Abbey, Beringar finds the saddlebags filled with stones not treasure. He is mystified that they also contain Faintree's old clothes and the jewel from the dagger. Cadfael is thus satisfied Beringar had no part in Faintree's murder. Beringar laughs that Cadfael won the game, keeping the treasure with Godith. The two co-operate now. A beggar tells Cadfael events seen the night before the castle fell. Giles Siward slipped into the siege camp. Giles betrayed FitzAlan's plan to the officer of the watch, Courcelle, in exchange for his life. Courcelle makes certain Giles will be hanged, breaking the bargain. Courcelle stole the dagger from Giles's corpse. Then Courcelle left the castle, to lay the trap for Faintree and Blund, wanting the treasure for himself. He fought with Blund in the hut, where the jewel broke off. Beringar recalls Aline's description of the family heirloom dagger lost when Giles was hanged. They conclude the murderer has the rest of the dagger. Hugh Beringar is eager that Aline never learns her brother's foul deed before he was hanged; Cadfael agrees. Cadfael attends the farewell banquet for the King as servant to the Abbot. He sees a kitchen boy eating his own meal with Giles' missing dagger, fished from the Severn. At this banquet, Beringar accuses Courcelle of the murder of Faintree and the theft of the dagger, staking his life. He tosses the yellow topaz on the table. Cadfael gives the dagger to the King, who fits the two together, completing the proof. Courcelle denies all. The King is eager for justice for this crime, but impatient to move on. Instead of a trial, this will be settled by trial by combat, à l'outrance. The combat between Beringar and Courcelle is watched by a large crowd. Aline arrives knowing she loves Hugh Beringar. The contest lasts for hours. In close fighting, Courcelle falls on his own dagger blade and dies. With Beringar vindicated by fate, King Stephen appoints him Deputy Sheriff of Shropshire in Courcelle's place. He and Aline are betrothed. Cadfael, now his firm friend, gives him Giles's dagger, which has been restored by craftsmen at the Abbey, for Aline. Cadfael resolves to pray both for Nicholas Faintree, "a clean young man of mind and life", and for Adam Courcelle, "dead in his guilt", because "every untimely death, every man cut down in his vigour and strength without time for repentance and reparation, is one corpse too many." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「One Corpse Too Many」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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