Normally these Cadfael episodes are rather predictable: rich man does something which upsets a lot of people, then dies, some poor soul is pointed at as being the culprit, then the monk fished some plant from the body which only grows in this specific spot, and therefor proofs it was someone else who did it.
This episode is far from that: a long flashback at the beginning showing a climax, the death only occurs halfway through, no really obnoxious characters offending others, and the victim more or less pointed at the real killer, instead of Cadfael doing that.
Contrary to the comment above, I see no loose ends, just a red herring-sidetrack (confusion over the body's identity):
This episode is far from that: a long flashback at the beginning showing a climax, the death only occurs halfway through, no really obnoxious characters offending others, and the victim more or less pointed at the real killer, instead of Cadfael doing that.
Contrary to the comment above, I see no loose ends, just a red herring-sidetrack (confusion over the body's identity):
- Young Sulien claimed he saw Generys alive, simply because he wanted to save Ruald's life - it fits into his soldier-protector character. - He lied about the origins of the ring to offer proof for that lie (alas, thereby attracting suspicion upon himself). - And in the end he certainly confessed in order to protect his father's reputation. - It is clearly shown how the cross ended up in the grave, and even explained why. It wasn't meant to point at its maker, but served as a cross. - The valuables ('savings', they're called in the episode) were hidden at that spot well before the drama, and were there already - only the 'weapon' was added by Generys when dying. Why? Either to point at what had happened (no-one would be able to erase that pointer) or to hide what had happened.