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 waited for Gail to catch up before moving towards the vice. As Laura began to descend, Gail hesitated. ‘I guess you don't want to bother with the upper floor?’
‘Not today,’ Laura said, stopping on the stair to smile up at Gail before she turned abruptly and made her way down to the dungeon of the White Tower.
She stood back and watched as Gail issued from the vice. ‘Sorry I can't come up with skeletons hanging about or prisoners chained to the walls, moaning for water.’
‘Doesn't look much like a dungeon to me,’ Gail huffed as she regarded the freshly whitewashed walls and modern electric lighting.
‘From what I’ve been able to find out, the real nastiness was carried out in a subterranean crypt beneath the sub-crypt of the Chapel. Come on, I’ll show you.’ Laura led the way through the first compartment of the Tower on the eastern side, heading south towards an archway which led into the crypt, now largely featureless except for the massive barrel-vaulted ceiling. Laura stood on a wooden floor which strongly suggested a level below, since elsewhere the floor was flagstone. The infamous subterranean torture chamber lay, Laura reasoned, beneath her feet. She shivered.
‘This is how Father John Gerard described his experience when he was tortured in 1597. He was led down into the torture chamber through subterranean passages lit by candles.’
It was a place of immense extent and in it were arranged divers sorts of racks, and other instruments of torture. Some of these they displayed before me, and told me that I should have to taste them. They then led me to a great upright beam or pillar of wood, which was one of the supports of this vast crypt.
‘What happened to him?’
‘He was strung up for a while, suspended in iron gauntlets by his wrists. Apparently he was a fairly heavy man and tall too so they had to dig away the soil from beneath his feet to ensure that the full weight of his body was brought to bear. He must have suffered terribly but steadfastly refused to reveal any information. He managed to escape eventually.
‘Actually, the rack was the most commonly use instrument of torture although after the wreck of the Spanish Armada in 1588, the Tower acquired an almost inexhaustible supply of manacles, which became popular. Then there was the peine forte et dure, or pressing to death, although it wasn’t actually considered a torture device.’