“That could be,” said Alexander. “But it’s not an evil weakness.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. “These have been difficult years, margrave! Oh, those eyes, which always rested on me, those pleading, hungry eyes! If we were alone for one moment, he’d squeeze my hand. I had to use all my cunning to avoid being on my own with him – this was particularly difficult because he did everything he could to be alone with me. Last winter, he attacked me directly when he tried to kiss me, but Molly managed to prevent it. They had a violent row and Molly was sacked on the spot. I was distressed, of course, because she was my only friend and source of support. So we tried to escape once more without success. We didn’t want to say anything to the Countess because she didn’t deserve to hear what her husband was like. Stella wasn’t supposed to hear anything either.”
“Didn’t they suspect anything?”
“No, he was extremely careful when they were nearby. It was an absolute nightmare! Always to be on the look-out for him, remain calm and polite on the outside while being totally dismissive at the same time!”
“And now you wanted to run away once more?”
“Yes, because the Count got what he wanted from me.”
“What?” Tancred jumped up.
“Stella and her mother were calling on some neighbours,” sobbed Jessica, “and I didn’t know about it. I had gone to bed and there was no key to my door. It had been gone for some time. Then all of a sudden I woke up with him lying on top of me ... we fought ... oh, it was horrible! I screamed and screamed and he got frightened and left. But I’d become completely hysterical and ran over to Molly’s room. She tried to calm me down but all I wanted was to get away, so she got me dressed and we ran over to the stable to find a few horses. When I think back on it, I’m quite ashamed at myself for the way in which I behaved. I screamed the most horrendous things about that horrible beast. I was shaking all over so that Molly thought I was freezing and swapped her cape with mine.”
She fell silent, frightened by the memories of that evening.
“And then?” said the bailiff.
Jessica tried to focus again. “Then Molly said that we’d need money to make our way, but all I did was scream so she slapped my face. Not in order to be cruel but to pacify me. And it worked. I told her that I knew where the money was – it was my money all right – then I ran indoors, snuck in through the back door so that I wouldn’t meet that ... that ... beast. Then I had to search because the money wasn’t where I thought it was and I was so nervous that I couldn’t keep my hands from shaking. But when I got out and into the stable again ... I saw Molly laying there. She, who’d always been so sweet and kind towards me ...”
Jessica had to wait until she managed to quell her sobs. “I panicked, it was just too much for me, all at the same time, so I ran like mad into the forest. And afterwards, after I’d managed to calm down, I thought that if the Count was told that Jessica Cross was no longer alive, he’d never search for me. Of course, this was totally unrealistic, but I wasn’t myself. That was why I took Molly’s name. I refused to be known by my own name. It was soiled, disgusting and ruined. I’d thought of travelling far away, only I didn’t know where to, and Tancred had been so nice and I wanted ... to see him again. So I stayed.”
“So don’t you think that it was the Count who tried to kill you?” asked the bailiff. “Or that he killed Molly deliberately? He could have known that Molly was wearing your cape.”
“I don’t know anything about that,” she sniffled.
Jessica sent Tancred a shy and pleading glance. “Now you can perhaps understand why I’m not worthy of you? I’ve been dragged through the dirt, desecrated ...”
“Is that really the case?” said Cecilie quickly. “Did he succeed in carrying through the assault?”
The girl merely looked sad.
“You men, please leave the room,” said Cecilie.
They obeyed immediately.
Cecilie took her hand. “Come on now, Jessica. Tell me! It’s important for your own future. And for that of the Count. He’s behaved absolutely awfully and must be punished accordingly. But if he managed to actually rape you, then this is much, much worse ...”
“Do I have to?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know. I woke up ... He had nothing on ... It was so horrible, he’s so fat, and his searching fingers were ... where they weren’t supposed to be. And I felt something hard and warm that tried to find its way – and then I hit him and fought to get free and I screamed ...”
She cut a violent grimace of disgust.
“Did it hurt?” asked Cecilie gently.
“Hurt?”
“I mean when he tried to get into you.”
Jessica considered the question. “No, only the fact that his fingers tore at me and were brutal.”
“Then I don’t think he succeeded,” said Cecilie. “Because it can be quite painful for a young girl.”
Jessica lay quiet for a while. Then she breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, dear God,” she whispered.
“Yes, you have every reason to be grateful because he could have made you pregnant.”
It looked as if the girl was beginning to feel sick, so Cecilie patted her gently on the cheek. “That’s it! It’s over now. And you won’t have to see him any more.”
“Yes, thank goodness I’m out of it now!”
“We’ll see to that.”
“I just feel so terribly sullied!”
“You shouldn’t,” said Cecilie with warmth in her voice. “I think you’ve been extremely considerate. You should have thrown the Count and Countess out a long time ago.”
“That was what Molly said. But I just can’t do something like that. I’d rather flee myself.”
“I’ve found it slightly difficult to understand your friendship with Molly, whom everybody said was a tart. But now I understand everything much better. She must have been a good girl.”
“She was,” said Jessica.
The men came back. Tancred said nothing. He just sat down and looked sourly down at the floor. It was as if a lump of tears - of disappointment - was stuck in his chest.
“It’s not too bad,” said Cecilie calmly to the others. “Fortunately, the girl is still intact.”
“Thank goodness for that,” said Alexander. “But Jessica, we’ve talked a bit among ourselves here outside your bedroom. Who were the neighbours that the Countess and Stella visited?”
“They weren’t both at the same place. Stella was with Dieter, and the Countess was at the Wendels.”
“The Wendels? Don’t they live nearby?” asked the bailiff. “On the other side of the outbuildings?”
“Yes, - it’s about one kilometre away. Is that nearby?”
“In this instance it is,” said the bailiff. “Well, that was that night. Should we then begin on the next one, when Tancred roamed about in the forest? It’s quite clear that Molly was thrown in the lake then. And the dazed Tancred was taken by horse from Old Askinge past the bank by an unknown rider. There were two persons involved.”
“Yes,” said Tancred. “The man in the boat said to the rider, ‘Why was he brought here? He has no business here.’”
“There we have the connection between the two murders,” said Alexander. “But who was the Duchess expecting when Tancred appeared at the ruined castle? Holzenstern? Or Dieter? Cecilie, will you please take care of Jessica while we ride over to have a word with the young man? He has a lot to answer for!”
“But aren’t you going to have something to eat?”
“Eat? Who’s got time for that now?” asked Alexander.
And then all three of them were gone.
Chapter 7
The visit to Dieter’s place was short.
He had already heard the rumours and so, although it was late in the evening,
he had not yet gone to bed.
He locked the door to the inner apartments. “I don’t want my mother to hear this. Please take a seat!”
After each of them had sat down, somewhat awkwardly, he felt that the best way of defence would be an attack.
“As a matter of fact, I expected you. I suppose you’ve come because of the Duchess?”
“Not just because of the Duchess but also because of Molly,” said the bailiff.
“I’ve got nothing at all to do with Molly. However, as far as the Duchess is concerned, I’m prepared to lay all my cards on the table.”
“Splendid,” said the bailiff. “Please begin!”
“Well ... between us men you’ll probably understand that in such a small village like this, one can be a bit tedious. The Duchess was like a breath of fresh air in the middle of this pious, hypocritical village. The Count and I knew we were both the Duchess’ lovers.”
“One moment,” interrupted the bailiff. “Was there nobody else except the two of you?”
“To begin with yes, when half the town played tomcats. But there were too many scandals and so she had to leave the parish. That was when Count Holzenstern came to me and suggested that we move her to Old Askinge.”
“Why on earth would he go to a rival?”
Dieter bent his head and cleared his voice. “The Duchess was very ... demanding. One man alone couldn’t satisfy her. And I came from the same social stratum as them. He wouldn’t have to share her with the rest of the world.”
“I see. Who was it that furnished the room?”
“We did so jointly. Took a bit here and a bit there and carried all up to Old Askinge, a little at a time. Of course, the bed was there already. We just repaired it.”
“And so you took turns visiting her?”
“Yes, every other evening. Sometimes also in the daytime.”
“And the Duchess agreed to this setup?”
“She was thrilled! Otherwise she was undesired in practically the whole of Denmark. In parts of Germany as well.”
“But surely it didn’t work in the long run?”
“No, I became tired of it, and so did the Count. He said he felt exhausted. He also hinted at more serious interests. This business with the Duchess was merely a game. Just letting off steam, if I may use such a coarse expression.”
“And the night when Molly died? Who was with the Countess then?”
“That was Sunday night, wasn’t it? Then it was my turn.”
“But Stella visited you, didn’t she?”
He sighed. “Yes, I thought she’d never leave. My mother and she talked about lace the whole evening.”
“But you went to Old Askinge afterwards?”
“You could go to the Duchess at all times of the day and night.”
“And the following night was Count Holzenstern’s turn?
“Yes, I went for a horseback ride early the following day and found young Mr. Tancred lying in the edge of the forest. I was quite surprised when he began to talk about a ruined castle and Salina. But the Count, the Duchess and I had agreed to tell the old legend about the witch in case anybody should come there. Dealing with Tancred was more simple, though. He was only here on a short visit. So I made him believe that the ruined castle didn’t exist.”
“But so did Holzenstern!” said Alexander.
Dieter lost his composure for a fraction of a second. Then he breathed out.
“Oh, well. Then I’d better tell the truth. I was riding on my horse just as Holzenstern was putting Tancred down on the grass. He said that the boy had turned up at the ruined castle and that the Duchess had given him a drug because she was expecting a visit from the Count. She had thought of hiding Tancred to enjoy his company as soon as the Count had left, but the Count wanted none of that. There had to be limits as to how many he was to share her with. So he took the boy with him to a safe place here on Ursula Horn’s estate and then he and I agreed to lie to Tancred about Old Askinge. The Count rode home and I woke up the boy.”
The others were speechless. Dieter clearly did not understand what he had revealed.
So the rider was Count Holzenstern. That solved the mystery. What remained now was to find out who had been in the boat. Who had thrown Molly in the water?
Dieter’s words certainly linked the Count to the murder of the Duchess.
The bailiff asked treacherously: “I suppose you didn’t visit Old Askinge the following day then?”
“Yes, of course I did! Tancred didn’t frighten me. He swallowed the lie about the ghost castle and a witch who’d passed away a long time ago.”
The bailiff was incredulous. He leaned forward in his chair. “Did you say that you definitely went out to Old Askinge the following evening?”
“Yes.”
“But then you didn’t meet the Duchess?”
“Yes, indeed I did. Tancred’s visit the evening before amused us enormously.”
“You don’t say!” said Alexander after a long silence.
They had all made a mistake. The Duchess was not killed the night when Tancred was there. It was not the unknown visitor she was expecting who had killed her. Now they knew that the unknown person was the Count.
The Duchess had been alive the following evening then.
Dieter noticed their horror, looking from one to the other.
“When did you leave the Duchess that night?” asked Tancred.
“That’s a good question,” mumbled the bailiff.
Tancred was quite proud of himself.
Dieter said, “Well, let me see ... I arrived very early so it wasn’t so late. But it was getting dark. I think it was early in the evening because my mother hadn’t yet gone to bed when I returned.”
“And the Duchess was alive when you left her?”
“Yes.”
“And later?” asked Alexander. “Did you see the Duchess again?”
“No. The following evening was the Count’s turn. And yesterday evening I didn’t go there.”
“Why not?”
“Because my mother was having a ladies’ party and I had to drive them home, one by one. Afterwards it was so late that I didn’t have the energy for amorous adventures.”
“Is that the truth?”
“I can swear that everything I’ve said this evening is the truth.”
The bailiff got up. “Well, then we have no further questions to ask for now. It’s quite possible that we’ll be back.”
Alexander had also gotten up. “One moment, please! Young man, can you tell us whether you saw anybody as you left the Duchess’ room the last time you were there?”
Dieter tried to digest the question. “No,” he said slowly. “I didn’t. But ...”
“But what?”
“When I left Old Askinge ... I noticed that the horse was restless. And there was a rustling in the forest. I thought it was an animal which had frightened the horse. But it could also have been a human being that fled. I don’t know.”
The bailiff nodded. “If it was, it must have been the Duchess’ slayer. Because when we found her, she’d been dead for two or three days. She must have been stabbed that night you were there, Mr. Dieter.”
He shuddered. “What an absolutely horrible thought!”
When they were outside, the bailiff asked Tancred:
“The voice you heard in ‘the dream,’ ... the skipper’s ... Did it belong to a man or a woman?”
“I’m almost sure of what it was, but let me think it over very carefully once more.”
They were silent while they mounted their horses.
“It was a man’s voice,” said Tancred. “It was most definitely a man’s voice. Because I saw him, after all. Those penetrating eyes. The grotesque, distorted face. It was a man.”
“Distorted by the drugs you’d bee
n given, yes,” said Alexander. “So it could have been an ordinary, nice face. But the voice is important.”
“It was a man’s voice. It couldn’t have been anything else.”
“Right,” said the bailiff.
“Wait a moment,” said Alexander. “You’ve given us various explanations, Tancred.”
“Have I? I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes. Once you said that the voice said: ‘Why have you brought him here?’ And another time you said: ‘Why was he brought here?’ Which statement is the right one? This is vital.”
Tancred became confused.
“Just give yourself time to think,” said his father.
The night sky was a deep blue and there was a mist over the fields. Here and there faint lights glowed in some of the windows. But other than that most people had probably already gone to bed a long time ago. This was a farming district so people would have to get up early to milk the cows.
They were now alone outside.
Both the older men were silent while Tancred wracked his brain.
Then he took a deep breath. “The right answer is, ‘Why have you brought him here? He has no business here.’”
“Gosh!” said Alexander. “So he said ‘you’?”
The bailiff asked: “Were there more people there? With you or on the lake?”
Tancred closed his eyes and tried to visualise everything before his mind’s eye once more.
“It was only a vision,” he moaned. “It’s very difficult ...
He lifted his head. “But there was someone else sitting on the horse. I was half-leaning against somebody. That somebody must have have held me in front of him on the horse. It must have have been Count Holzenstern. And there wasn’t anybody else with us.”
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