Schloss Neuschwanstein
1906
The snow was falling harder now, and the chill in the air was no longer kept at bay by whatever magic Neuschwanstein had temporarily woven. The shot had chased it all away. My heart was pounding. I looked around for the shooter, but saw nothing, so I took Cécile’s arm and guided her through the slippery upper courtyard and down the steps that led to where Colin was hunched over Kaspar. Felix had disappeared. Kaspar stood up and pushed Colin away.
“No damage done,” he said.
“Someone shot at you,” Colin said. He walked methodically up and down the courtyard, then bent down, picked something up, and returned to us. “Here’s the bullet. Where’s Brinkmann?”
“I’m well aware that someone shot at me.” Kaspar took the bullet from Colin. “Felix went in search of whoever did it. This could’ve killed me. Or him.”
“It’s a much more pointed effort than tampering with a ski binding,” Colin said.
Kaspar swayed, and the color drained from his face, leaving his complexion a dingy gray. He pulled his shoulders back, shook his arms, and smoothed his face in what appeared to be a concerted effort at looking composed, but I could see he was nonplussed. His eyes crinkled and his forehead creased. We heard the clatter of footsteps and a man came running toward us from the gatehouse at the far end of the courtyard.
“What happened here? Where is the baroness?”
“You’re the caretaker, I presume?” Colin asked. The man nodded. “Is anyone on the premises other than you and our party?”
“No, sir. I locked the gate behind you all when you came in.”
We heard more footsteps, this time accompanied by shouting, coming from the direction of the Palas. Sigrid and Max descended upon us, Ursula, Liesel, and Birgit close behind. Soon thereafter, we heard Felix shouting.
“Ich habe kein Gewehr gefunden, keinen Einbrecher und nicht eine einzige vermaledeite Spur!” He was standing on a balcony, high above us. “There’s no one here but us. I’ve found no gun, no intruder, not a bloody thing.”
“Come down at once, sir!” the caretaker said. “You’re not meant to be rummaging through the place.”
“I hardly think rules matter right now,” Felix yelled, his voice gruff. “Someone’s shot at my best friend.”
“That someone must be one of the lot of you.” The caretaker’s tone was defiant. “Nothing out of line happened until you arrived.”
“Is there any way in and out of the castle other than through the main gate?” Colin asked.
“No, everything else is securely locked.”
“Would you object to my making a thorough search all the same?” He was employing the tone of voice he used when it was imperative he get what he wanted. Calm, competent, commanding.
“Of course, sir. Anything you need.”
“I’m most appreciative,” Colin said. “Perhaps you’d be willing to accompany me? You’re bound to know every nook and cranny, and that sort of expertise would be invaluable at a time like this.” We exchanged a look. He knew I’d take charge of the others.
“The rest of you, let’s go back inside so we don’t freeze,” I said. “I want to speak with each of you in turn, to find out if you noticed anything out of the ordinary while you were exploring the castle.”
Because the ground and first floors of the Palas were unfinished and empty, we climbed back up the stairs to the antechamber outside the king’s study. “Max, you come with me.”
“Are you interviewing as if we’re suspects?” Liesel asked. “Surely you don’t think one of us—”
“It’s simpler to recall details when a crowd isn’t talking all at once,” I said.
“Couldn’t we wait until we’re back at the villa?” Ursula asked. “It would be far more comfortable, and I know I could use a brandy.”
“Too much time would pass. I want your immediate thoughts.”
“I don’t see why any of us should tell you anything,” Kaspar said.
“Kallista has sent scores of murderers to the gallows.” Cécile’s voice was imperious and cold. “She’s something of an expert when it comes to investigation.”
“We’ve not had a murder,” Kaspar said. “I’m sure this is nothing more than another prank. I’m not hurt, so we may as well forget about it.”
“Given that you’ve been the object of so much violent attention, one would think you’d be loath to stand in the way of finding out who was behind it,” I said. “Or do you think if slain you’d be forever honored, forever mourned? You’re no Hector.”
“I can take care of myself.”
I ignored him. The trouble with men—one of the many troubles with men—is that they’re incorrigible and bullheaded, appalling qualities that do nothing save stand in the way of a multitude of things that need to be done. “Max, come with me now.”
He scurried over and I closed the door of the study behind us. I stood in front of the king’s desk. “Where were you when the shot was fired?”
“Here, in this room, funnily enough,” he said. “Sigrid and I were discussing Tannhäuser, scenes from which are depicted in the murals on the walls.”
“You’re certain? You arrived outside not long after the shot. That would’ve meant traveling quite a distance—and going down all those stairs—in a remarkably short period of time.”
“You’re right, of course.” He raised his shoulders, then dropped them. “I only meant that this is where we’d been around that time. Liesel had wandered into the grotto next door, but came back in to alert us to the fact that we were in imminent danger of being late to meet the others, so we left posthaste and proceeded to the courtyard as quickly as we could.”
“Did you see anyone else on your way out?”
“No. I heard Ursula’s voice as we reached the bottom of the steps inside the Palas, but she was some distance behind us.”
“So you had no idea something had happened?”
“None at all.”
I called for Sigrid next. She confirmed—unprompted—most of Max’s story, but insisted that she’d heard the shot.
“Why else would I have rushed down the stairs?”
“Did you say anything about it to Liesel or Max?”
“I can’t remember.…” She paused. “Yes, yes, I told Liesel.”
When I brought in Liesel, however, she did not remember this. “No, no, Lady Emily. I heard no shot, and I don’t see how Sigrid could’ve either. The study is an interior room. There are no windows.”
“You’re certain you didn’t hear it? The grotto has a window.” I’d looked out of it when we’d passed through the room. The view of the mountains was spectacular, so spectacular that I wondered why Ludwig had allowed for any rooms in the castle to have no windows.
“No, I don’t believe I did.” She chewed on the end of her thumb. “There was a noise—something—something unexpected, but it didn’t startle me. At least I don’t remember being startled, and a shot would do that, wouldn’t it? I’m not sure whether I remember it or am just imposing it on myself after finding out what happened. I’m afraid I’m no help at all.”
“When you came back into the study, where were Max and Sigrid standing?” I asked.
She bristled. “Is that important?”
“It might be.”
She hesitated. Her lip quivered. She blinked twice. “They were both near the fireplace.”
“You’re certain?”
She sighed. “I’m not. I do apologize. Let me see.… I was in the grotto. What an odd room; who’d want a fake cave in one’s house? Ludwig, yes, I know. Royalty aren’t like the rest of us, are they? I was thinking what a strange place it is and then I looked at my watch and realized we were going to be late to meet you all. I went into the study.…” She closed her eyes and crinkled her brow. “Yes, yes, they were near the fireplace, both of them.” Her eyes flew open and she smiled. It brightened her whole face.
The remainder of my interviews weren’t any more helpful. People are notoriously bad at paying attention to their surroundings, which is why eyewitness testimony must always be treated with a heavy dose of skepticism. Birgit insisted she nearly fainted at the sound of the shot, but Ursula, who’d been with her at the time, heard nothing unusual and said that Birgit was prattling on about some new style of gown and never showed the slightest sign of fainting.
“I confess I wasn’t paying her close attention,” she said. “She’s a beautiful girl, but there’s no one living in the attic, if you know what I mean. I’m amazed she can string a sentence together.”
“Is she a good match for Felix?”
“I don’t know the man well. He’s not an intellectual, but he has other beguiling qualities. Or so Cécile tells me.” Her smile was like a cat’s.
“Do you think they’ll get married?”
“Cécile will never marry again.”
“I meant Birgit.”
Ursula laughed. “I know, but I couldn’t resist. I don’t see a strong enough connection between them and I haven’t heard him sneaking along the corridor to her room after everyone’s gone to bed. That’s never a good sign, especially in the young.”
“Felix isn’t all that young,” I said.
“Birgit is. And men, they never really grow up, do they?”
Cécile came to me when Ursula left. She’d noticed nothing. As I’d been with her, I believed this. I hadn’t either.
I spoke to Kaspar next; he was singularly unhelpful. “I’ve already told you, there’s nothing to say. Felix and I were in the courtyard, discussing nothing in particular. A shot rang out. I turned on my heel to see where it came from and slipped on the ice. There’s no more to it.”
“You recognized the sound?”
“Of course. I’m an expert marksman.”
“And you could tell what direction it came from, despite the echo in the courtyard?”
“I’m an expert marksman,” he repeated.
Felix was more forthcoming than his friend. “I swear I heard something before the shot. Footsteps. Heavy footsteps. Like that from a hobnailed boot, coming from the direction of the connecting building between the tower and the gatehouse, but that didn’t make sense as there wasn’t anyone else in the lower courtyard and I’m sure the windows were all shut.”
“What happened after the shot?” I asked.
“Kaspar fell and I thought he’d been hit, but I quickly saw he’d only slipped on the ice and was unharmed. We both thought it had come from the connecting building, so I went into it.”
“The door was unlocked?”
“No. I ran up the outside stairs to it and broke a window. The caretaker won’t be pleased.”
“And you found nothing?”
“As I reported, nicht eine einzige vermaledeite Spur. I went through the connecting building, the tower, and the Palas.”
“Who do you think did it?”
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Kaspar can be something of a beast. He’d be the first to admit that. As a result, he lives in a world of extremes. People love him or hate him.”
“Which category does Sigrid fall into?”
“The former, of course. You can’t suspect her of wanting to hurt him?”
“At this juncture, I have to suspect everyone.”
“Come now, Lady Emily, I appreciate your concern, but surely this is all just a bizarre coincidence or a silly prank. I shouldn’t be surprised if it turns out the caretaker fired that shot. He might be unhappy at having visitors poking around when the place is supposed to be closed. On the other hand, it could have been an accident.”
“An accident?” I asked. “Are you suggesting the caretaker just happened to be pointing a gun into the courtyard and inadvertently fired? And what about the skis? And the people who hate Kaspar? Tell me more about them.”
“There are men he’s bested in sport, that’s all. That sort of gent isn’t going to come all the way out here and torment him.”
“Has he crossed anyone in love?”
“Now we’re back to Sigrid?” he asked.
“I was thinking more along the lines of jealous husbands.”
He laughed. “I can promise you he would never entangle himself with a married woman.”
That struck me as odd. From what I’d heard from my childhood friend Jeremy—the Duke of Bainbridge and a most reliable source when it came to inappropriate relationships—a gentleman in search of female companionship often preferred married women; they weren’t looking for commitment. “What about you, Felix? Do you love or hate him?”
“He’s the best friend I’ve ever had. I love him and hate him equally.”