‘I do.’ The last decade had been a time of shifting faiths, men moving from Catholicism to Lutheranism to radicalism and back again. But it was obvious that Greening and his friends were at least exploring the radical fringes. I wondered where those other three men were now: McKendrick, Vandersteyn and Curdy. Had they gone to ground?

Okedene said, ‘I often used to wonder how Armistead made ends meet. I know some of the books he printed did not sell well, and sometimes he seemed to have no work at all. At other times he was busy. I wondered if he was involved in the trade in illegal books and pamphlets. I know a few years ago a large pile of books was delivered to him.’

‘Books already printed?’

‘Yes. Brought in from the Continent, illegally perhaps, for distribution. I saw them in his shed, in boxes, when I visited him to ask if he wanted to buy some surplus type I had. One box was open and he closed it quickly.’

‘I wonder what those books were.’

‘Who knows; works by Luther, perhaps, or this Calvin, who they say is making a new stir in Europe; or John Bale.’ He bit his lip. ‘He asked me not to tell anyone about these books, and I swore I would not. But he is dead now, it cannot hurt him.’

I said quietly, ‘Thank you for trusting me, Master Okedene.’

He looked at me seriously. ‘If I had reported what I heard to the wrong people, Armistead Greening and his friends could have ended up burning with Anne Askew yesterday.’ His mouth twisted with sudden revulsion. ‘That was a wicked, disgusting thing.’

‘It was. I was made to go and watch, to represent my Inn. It was a horrible, evil act.’

‘It is hard for me, Master Shardlake. My sympathies are with the reformers. I am no sacramentarian, still less an Anabaptist, but I would not throw my neighbours into Gardiner’s fires.’

‘Was Elias part of this radical group?’ I asked quietly.

‘Yes, I think he was. I heard his voice from Master Greening’s shed this summer, more than once.’

‘I must question him, but I will be careful.’

‘Loutish as he is, he was devoted to his master. He wants the killers caught.’

‘And he has one important piece of information for us. I understand he interrupted an earlier attack on the shop a few days before.’

‘Yes. He is the only one who saw it, but he certainly raised the alarm and brought other apprentices running.’ He paused. ‘One strange thing I will tell you, for I doubt Elias will. A few days before the first attack, Master Greening and his friends – Elias, too – were holding one of their evening meetings. They were having a particularly loud argument. His windows were open and so were mine, a passing watchman could have heard them from the street – though even the watchmen are reformers round here.’