Thomas replied "I will take such part as you do". Richard Walsh, Sheriff of Worcester, arrived with a vigilante force of about 200 men early on 8 November. Thomas was the first to be hit, in the shoulder, while crossing the courtyard. The Wright brothers were next, followed by Rookwood, still injured from the explosion the night before. Catesby and Percy were dropped by a single lucky shot. The sheriff's men then proceeded to strip the defenders of their valuables, but Thomas was saved by the sheriff's assistant. His fine sword, ordered and paid for four months previously, apparently proved too great a temptation for the Sheriff's men, as it was never seen again. He and the others were taken first to Worcester, and then to the Tower of London. Despite a proclamation of 18 November naming them as wanted men, Robert Wintour and Stephen Litteton managed to evade capture until 9 January 1606. They spent about two months hiding out in barns and houses; at one point they were forced to restrain a drunken poacher who happened upon their hiding place. They were eventually discovered at the house of Humphrey Littleton in Hagley, after a cook, John Finwood, informed on them. Humphrey managed to escape, but was captured at Prestwood, in Staffordshire. Thomas's confession Historically, much of what is written about the Gunpowder Plot is derived from Thomas's confession, signed on 23 November 1605; details of the so-called Spanish Treason were added three days later. One of only two confessions printed in the King's Book (a highly partial contemporary account of the affair), Thomas Wintour's was the only account the government had of a plotter who had been involved from the beginning; Guy Fawkes, weakened by days of torture, may have been at the heart of the group, but he was not at its first meetings. However, Antonia Fraser views the document with suspicion, not least because Thomas's signature, 'Thomas Winter', differs from his normal signature, 'Thomas Wintour' (it was the former that was invariably used by the government). The signature, possibly forged by lieutenant of the Tower of London William Waad, was made only weeks after Thomas had been shot in the shoulder during the siege at Holbeche House. Biographer Mark Nicholls views the difference in signatures as a significant and puzzling lapse, if a "master forger" is presumed to be responsible for the document. He views the