The Hangman's Daughter

Schreevogl laughed. “Half the council was against building it: Holzhofer, Püchner, Augustin, and, leading them all in opposition, the presiding burgomaster Karl Semer.” He quickly became serious again. “Which doesn’t mean that I would suspect any one of them of such a thing.”

The young patrician rose and started to pace back and forth across the room. “I don’t understand you, Fronwieser,” he said. “My Clara has disappeared, two children are dead, the Zimmerstadel has been destroyed, and you are questioning me here about a burned-out building site? What is that supposed to mean?”

“We saw someone at the leper house this morning,” Simon interjected.

“Who?”

“The devil.”

The patrician caught his breath as Simon continued.

“In any case, the one they call the devil now,” he said. “It may be a soldier with a limp. The one who abducted your Clara and who was hanging out with other soldiers at Semer’s inn a few days ago. And who met an apparently important person from the town upstairs in the inn’s conference room.”

Jakob Schreevogl sat down again.

“How do you know that he met someone at Semer’s inn?” he asked.

“A servant girl told me,” Simon replied sharply. “Burgomaster Semer himself claimed to know nothing about it.”

Schreevogl nodded. “And what makes you think that this person was someone important?”

Simon shrugged. “Soldiers are hired for money; that’s their profession. And in order to be able to pay four men, much money is needed. The question is, what were they hired to do?”

He leaned forward.

“Where were you on Friday of last week?” he asked softly.

Jakob Schreevogl remained calm and returned the physician’s gaze.

“You’re barking up the wrong tree if you think I had anything to do with this,” he said sharply. “Don’t forget that it was my daughter who was abducted.”

“Where were you?”

The patrician leaned back and appeared to be reflecting. “I had gone down to the kiln,” he said finally. “The chimney was clogged up, and we worked late into the night cleaning it. You’re welcome to ask my workers.”

“And in the evening, when the Stadel was burning? Where were you then?”

Jakob Schreevogl slammed his hand down on the table so that the gingerbread bowl jumped. “I’ve had enough of your suspicions! My daughter has disappeared, and that’s all that counts for me. I don’t give a damn about your ruined building site. And now get out of my home. Right now!”

Simon tried to calm him. “I’m only following every lead I can find. I have no idea either how all this fits together. But somehow it does, and the devil is the link.”

There was a knock at the door.

Jakob Schreevogl walked the few steps to the door and opened it abruptly.

“What is it?” he asked angrily.

A small boy, about eight years old, was standing outside. Simon had seen him before. He was one of the children of Ganghofer, the baker in the Hennengasse. He stared up fearfully at the patrician.

“Are you the alderman Jakob Schreevogl?” he asked timidly.

“That’s who I am. What’s the matter? Speak quickly!” Schreevogl was about to close the door again.

“The father of Clara Schreevogl?” the boy asked.

The patrician paused. “Yes,” he whispered.

“I’m supposed to tell you that your daughter is all right.”

Schreevogl tore the door open and pulled the boy toward him.

“How do you know that?”

“I…I…am not supposed to tell you. I promised!”

The patrician grabbed the little boy by his soiled shirt collar and pulled him up to look right in his eyes.

“Did you see her? Where is she?” he screamed into his face. The boy struggled and tried to free himself from the man’s grasp.

Simon stepped closer. He held up a shining coin and rolled it back and forth between his fingers. The boy stiffened, and his eyes followed the coin as if he were hypnotized.

“Your promise should not bind you. After all, it was not a Christian oath, was it?” he asked the child in a soothing voice.

The boy shook his head. Jakob Schreevogl carefully set him down and looked expectantly between Simon and the boy.

“Well,” continued Simon. “Who told you that Clara was well?”

“It…it was Sophie,” the boy whispered without taking his eyes off the coin. “The red-haired girl. She told me down by the raft landing, just before I came. I got an apple for bringing you the message.”

Simon brushed his hand across the boy’s head trying to calm him down. “You did very well. And did Sophie also tell you where Clara is now?”

The boy shook his head fearfully. “That’s all she told me. I swear by the Holy Mother of God!”

“And Sophie? Where is she now?” Jakob Schreevogl interrupted.

“She…she left again right away, over the bridge and into the woods. When I looked at her she threw a stone at me. Then I came here right away.”

Simon looked at Jakob Schreevogl from the side. “I believe he’s telling the truth,” he said. Schreevogl nodded.

When Simon tried to give the child his coin, the patrician intervened and reached into his own purse. He pulled out a shiny silver penny and gave it to the boy.