‘My eyes were drawn at once to the fire. I had to put it out.’ He looked at me seriously. ‘With all the paper and printing materials in this street, fire is a constant worry. Fortunately the pile of paper had only just started to burn, and I was able to stamp it out. Then I saw poor Greening – ’ he took a long breath – ‘on the floor. I hope never to see such a thing again. And then I saw the torn sheet of paper in his hand – the best quality paper on the market. I read it, and knew this was more than a matter of murder. I heard Huffkyn coming and stuffed the page into my pocket.’

‘Do you think they killed him before they heard you trying to enter?’

He shook his head. ‘When I first put my shoulder to the door Greening was still shouting. But then the noise stopped, save for a horrible crash – I think one of them clubbed him then, and he went down.’

‘And they grabbed the book from his hands,’ I mused, ‘but left behind part of the title page. Probably failed to notice it in their hurry to get out; they set the fire and ran.’

‘I think that might be how it was.’ Okedene shook his head sadly. ‘I wonder whether, had I not broken in just then, they might not have panicked and killed him.’

‘I think they would have killed him in any case, in order to wrest that book from him.’ He nodded sadly. ‘How well did you know Armistead Greening?’ I asked.

‘He came to Paternoster Row five years ago. He said he had come from the Chilterns – he spoke with the accent of those parts – and wanted to set up as a printer. He had been married, he told me, but his wife died in childbirth and the baby, too, so he came to London to seek his fortune. Poor young man, he often had a sad cast of face. He leased that piece of land his shed stands on from the Court of Augmentations – it belonged to a little monastic house whose remains stand on the land behind the shed.’ He smiled sardonically. ‘Ironic, given his religious views. He built the shed himself with a couple of friends. I remember thinking I was glad he had found some friends in London. I did not know him well, he kept to himself, but – I heard and saw things, especially recently.’ He hesitated.

‘Nothing you tell me about him can harm him now. Goodman Huffkyn dropped some hints.’

‘It might harm Elias. If it reached the ears of Gardiner and his wolves.’

‘I report to no one but Lord Parr and the Queen.’

His eyes widened. ‘The Queen herself?’

‘Yes. I knew her when she was Lady Latimer,’ I added, a note of pride in my voice.

‘I think Greening was very radical.’ Okedene looked at me seriously. ‘A known man.’