Dancing in the Palm of His Hand (35 page)

Your loving husband, Franz.

Lutz blotted the ink, then folded the single page and placed it under a candleholder – a place where Maria would be sure to find it when she cleaned. Would she continue to dust his things after he was gone?

He felt as if the executioner had already placed a crushing weight upon his chest.

Lutz sat quietly while the other commissioners filed in and took their places at the table, exchanging no greetings or pleasantries. Their faces were sombre, all but Hampelmann's. He looked badly in need of sleep, but oddly calm, almost bemused, with the hint of a smile on his lips.

Chancellor Brandt swept in, banging the door behind him. He didn't even pretend to defer to Judge Steinbach. “All of you have heard by now. All of Würzburg has heard!” He gave Lutz a penetrating glare. “The Prince-Bishop's bailiff and his men are searching for them now. I do hope you have an explanation for us, Herr Lutz. Go get the jailer, Herr Freude.”

No accusation? No arrest? Lutz put a hand to his forehead to cover his face. What did the chancellor know?

Father Streng started to stand. “Not this morning,” Chancellor Brandt said irritably. “I haven't the energy.”

Lips pursed, the priest sat back down and crossed himself. “
In nomine patris, et filii, et spiritus sancti
.”

Chancellor Brandt turned to Lutz. “What happened last night?”

Lutz opened his ledger and flipped through the pages, delaying. What should he say? The truth? That would only implicate Father Herzeim. No, he'd claim that he acted alone, that he attacked the priest, the guard, and the jailer's wife, then freed Frau Rosen and Katharina. That would fit with whatever Frau Brugler had reported.

“Father Herzeim and I went to visit Frau Rosen.” Lutz could hear his voice quavering. “To inform her of the Prince-Bishop's decision–”

“In the middle of the night?”

“I-I had delayed because I could not think how to explain it to her. So after the meeting yesterday, I went to Father Herzeim. He thought it would be terribly difficult for her and wanted to offer solace and, if she wanted, sacramental confession.”

“In the middle of the night? On
Walpurgisnacht
?”

Lutz shrugged gamely, keeping his hands under the table to hide their trembling. “Father Herzeim and I discussed the situation long into the night, and I persuaded him that it would be cruel to leave Frau Rosen waiting–” Lutz was interrupted by the appearance of Freude in the doorway, the jailer at his side.

“What happened last night, Herr Brugler?” demanded Chancellor Brandt.

The scrawny man shuffled into the chamber, clutching his gnarled hands protectively in front of his groin. His milky eye stared off to the side. His other eye fixed on Chancellor Brandt. “Well...um...”

Father Streng stood and picked up the cross.

“What happened!” The chancellor's face was bright red.

The priest raised a hand in protest. “The man has not yet been sworn.”

Chancellor Brandt turned his glower upon Father Streng, who quickly sat down and picked up his quill.

Brugler licked his thin lips. “All I know is what the wife told me. The Rosen girl is possessed.”

“Just as I've said all along,” said Freude, looking vindicated. “Now you know.”

“I don't believe it,” said Hampelmann. “Katharina is not possessed.”

Grabbing the gavel from Judge Steinbach, Chancellor Brandt banged it sharply to silence them. “How did the girl and her mother escape?”

The jailer gulped. “
Walpurgisnacht
it was.”

“I know what damn night it was. How did they escape?” “Well...um...what the wife said was that sometime in the night, towards morning, there was a terrible commotion in the tower. She and a guard went to see about it. And both of them got knocked out. By the girl. When they came to, Frau Rosen and the girl were gone.”

Knocked out by the girl
? Lutz nervously twisted a tuft of beard. Had Frau Brugler said nothing about Father Herzeim or him?

“What did the guard report?” said Chancellor Brandt.

“He was knocked silly. Doesn't remember much at all.”

“What about the guard outside Frau Lamm's cell?”

“Herr Klingen heard the commotion, sir, but he had orders not to leave his post except to prevent Frau Lamm from escaping. And he reported that she never moved at all, sir.”

“And where were you?”

Brugler looked down at his feet. “Sleeping, sir. I didn't hear a thing.” He hunched one shoulder and pointed to the left side of his head. “I'm deaf in this ear.”

The chancellor's face had turned nearly purple. “Herr Freude, go get Frau Brugler. We need to hear an explanation directly from her.”

The jailer scrambled to follow Freude from the chamber. “Herr Brugler,” said Chancellor Brandt, “you will remain here.”

Lutz bowed his head. This was it. Frau Brugler would tell them what had happened, and then he would be arrested.

The jailer's wife soon appeared at the door, as if she'd been waiting on the stairs. There was a large dark bruise on her forehead. She stepped into the chamber, her hand covering the mole on her cheek.

“What happened last night, Frau Brugler?” said Chancellor Brandt.

Her lower lip quivered. “W-well, it was
Walpurgisnacht
.”

“What happened!”

Her whole body shaking, the woman glanced toward Lutz. “H-herr Lutz and F-father Herzeim came to see Frau Rosen. To offer sacramental confession, the priest said.”

Lutz closed his eyes. Dear God, don't let her blame Father Herzeim.

“What happened then?”

“Sometime later, I heard screaming and shrieking – in tongues. And thumping, too. It being
Walpurgisnacht
and all, I was scared out of my wits. All kinds of strange things happen on
Walpurgisnacht
. Demons and ghosts about. Witches, too.”

“Get on with it!”

“Well, like I was saying, there was this horrible commotion. The guard and I rushed up the stairs to see what was happening. He looked in the cell and saw Father Herzeim knocked against the wall. When the guard opened the door, the poor girl's demons got him right away, then I felt a blow to my head so powerful I knew that only a demon could've done it.” She looked directly at Lutz and rubbed the bruise on her forehead.

“And where was Herr Lutz?”

“Oh, he'd been knocked out, too.”

Lutz felt faint. God bless her. He didn't know why she'd lied, but God bless her for it.

“Could it be,” Hampelmann said thoughtfully, “that it was an angel rather than a demon who assaulted all of you and then freed Frau Rosen and her daughter? God has, after all, given us a sign that the woman is innocent.”

Frau Brugler pulled at her apron. “I-I've never seen an angel, sir. It seemed like demons to me, what with the voices and all.”

“What happened then?” persisted Chancellor Brandt.

“When I came to, Father Herzeim and Herr Lutz were bending over me, but the guard was still knocked flat. He took such a knock on the head, he doesn't remember a thing.” Her eyes flashed back to Lutz.

“And where were Frau Rosen and her daughter?”

Frau Brugler raised her hands, palms up. “Gone! Just gone. The three of us searched everywhere, sir. When we didn't find them, I told Father Herzeim and Herr Lutz to go on home, being that the morning bells had started to ring.” She dipped her head toward Brugler. “I told them I'd send the husband to tell the bailiff that Frau Rosen had escaped. Then I went to tend to the poor knocked-out guard.”

Chancellor Brandt gripped the gavel. “And what do you know of all this, Herr Lutz?”

“Well...the Rosen girl seemed all right when Father Herzeim and I first got there, but then she began acting strangely. Suddenly, I saw the priest knocked against the wall, then I felt a terrific blow to the back of my head.” He rubbed his head. “I don't remember a thing until after I woke up, then it was just as Frau Brugler has said. We searched, but Frau Rosen and her daughter were gone.”

The chancellor's dark eyebrows came together in an expression that was clearly sceptical. “Once in a great while, prisoners do escape. But demons and angels aside, never before has a prisoner escaped by herself, without the assistance of a guard – or of someone else who had access to her cell. You and Father Herzeim are the only ones who visited Frau Rosen.”

“There was someone else,” Frau Brugler said softly.

“Oh?”

She jerked her bony chin toward Hampelmann. “That one there. He visited.”

Chancellor Brandt tilted his head toward her. “Go on.”

The woman's mouth worked. “Herr Hampelmann came to Frau Rosen at least three times,” she said finally. “Late at night. And he always ordered me or the guard to leave them alone. He came again last night.”

Lutz saw Hampelmann's hands clench. Could that be true?
Why had Frau Rosen never told him about Hampelmann's visits?

“Herr Hampelmann, why did you visit Frau Rosen last night?” asked Chancellor Brandt.

“To inform her of the Prince-Bishop's decision.”

“That's Herr Lutz's responsibility, not yours. Were you alone with her?”

“
Ja
,” said Frau Brugler. “Like I'm running a brothel.”

“A serious breach of procedure,” said Father Streng, his grey eyes wide behind his spectacles.

“And why, Frau Brugler,” said Chancellor Brandt, purpling yet again, “against all orders, did you leave Herr Hampelmann alone with Frau Rosen?”

“He ordered me to. I couldn't very well disobey the head of the
Malefizamt
, could I?”

“Why were you there, Herr Hampelmann? The truth this time.”

There was a prolonged silence. Hampelmann twisted the gold ring around his finger. “Because–”

“Cause he lusts after her,” blurted Frau Brugler.

“That's not true!” yelled Hampelmann.

As one, the commissioners turned toward him.

Emboldened by the effect of her words, Frau Brugler continued, “And by the looks of the girl, I'd say he's been lusting after Frau Rosen for quite some time.”

Father Streng's forehead wrinkled in puzzlement.

She flicked a hand toward Hampelmann. “Any fool can see that the Rosen girl looks just like him.”

In the shocked silence, Lutz studied Hampelmann's face. Why had he never seen it before? The same pale skin and colourless lashes, the same white-gold hair, the same chin and nose.

“She's lying,” shouted Hampelmann. “Question her under torture and you'll get the truth.”

“Torture?” said Lindner. “Frau Brugler hasn't even been accused of anything. Not yet anyway.”

“I swear by Almighty God, Katharina Rosen is not my daughter.” Hampelmann set his jaw, defiant. “And if I have any love at all for Eva Rosen, it is a chaste love, the same kind of love one has for a saint who is pure and holy.”

The jailer's wife snorted. “Chaste love don't make for bastard children.”

“I wonder, gentlemen,” said Father Streng, “if we have here before us evidence of an unholy – and lascivious – alliance among the Devil, Frau Rosen and her daughter, and Herr Hampelmann and his wife? The midwife did, after all, name Frau Hampelmann as an accomplice.”

“That's outrageous!” said Hampelmann.

“Is it?” Father Streng regarded him with contempt. “And it would appear to be an alliance of quite long standing. Isn't it true, Herr Hampelmann, that Eva Rosen worked as a maidservant in your father's household for several years before either she or you were married?”

“
Ja
, but Katharina is not–”

The priest cut him off. “Moreover, Herr Hampelmann has argued adamantly for Frau Rosen's innocence, even claiming to have seen a sign from God – a sign no one else saw. Even now he would argue that it was an angel, not demons, who freed Frau Rosen and her daughter.” His mouth twisted into a sneer. “Could it be that Herr Hampelmann freed them so they could all go together to Fraw Rengberg for the
Walpurgisnacht
festival?”

“How can you possibly believe such idiocy? I am head of the
Malefizamt
.”

“The perfect place for a protector and defender of witches,” said Chancellor Brandt. He brought his pomander to his nose as if he smelled something foul. “Herr Freude, escort Herr Hampelmann to a cell. If he is in league with the Devil, he must not be here to intimidate the other witnesses when we question them.”

“But I am innocent.”

Freude smirked. “That's what they all say.”

Mouth gaping in disbelief, Hampelmann did not resist as Freude bound his wrists. “Freed Eva?” he murmured to himself. “Both of us, we are innocent.”

Lutz's throat burned, and his chest ached. He could not remain silent and let another man die for what he had done. “Chancellor Brandt,” he gasped.

“Herr Lutz, I haven't the patience for your objections. Not this morning.”

“But–”

“Silence!”

“Gentlemen,” Lutz persisted. “There is no alliance among Frau Rosen, the Devil, and Herr Hampelmann. She is innocent, and he is innocent.”

“What? You've seen a sign from God?” Father Streng's words dripped with sarcasm.

Lutz took a deep breath. “I know he did not help Frau Rosen to escape. It is I who helped her, not him.”

“
Nein
,” shouted Frau Brugler. “The blow to his head has addled him.”

Hampelmann's head jerked up, his icy blue eyes furious. “You freed Eva?”

Lutz shrank from the intensity of his anger. “I cannot let an innocent man die for what I have done.”

Chancellor Brandt spread his hands, his face weary and strained. “First, it was demons that freed her. Then it was Herr Hampelmann. Now it's Herr Lutz.” His shoulders slumped, as if his duties were too much to bear. “Herr Freude, find a cell for Herr Lutz.” He glanced at the judge's watch. “We will adjourn, then return to this chamber in two hours to determine how to proceed. There are the guards yet to be questioned. And Father Herzeim, who is already in custody on other charges. We will find out who is responsible.”