1635: Music and Murder (72 page)

"Herr Lutterodt, did you kill Master Paulus Bünemann?" Byron asked in the stillness.

"Yes, I killed him."

"Will you tell us why?"

The accountant's mouth twisted. "It is what you think, and it isn't." He straightened in his chair.

"I married late. I had Johan's position then, under Master Marcus, Master Paulus' father. I had a cousin, younger than me, who was a maid for Frau Esther, Master Marcus' wife. Nineteen years ago, it was, when Master Paulus forced himself on her and she wound up carrying his baby. When she told him, he laughed, and told her that she should be proud to be the mother of his child."

Frau Diebsin' face twisted as Lutterodt continued his story.

"Ursula was not from an important family and had only a few pfennigs to her name. She had no hope of help from the law, where it would be her word against the word of the son of one of the wealthier families of the city."

Master Köppe's mouth pursed, as if he tasted something sour.

"Ursula came to me for help and advice. I was always fond of her, and it didn't take long for me to convince her to marry me. Three months later, Anna was born." Everyone reacted to that bit of information. Lutterodt's smile was most bitter. "Indeed, she is a legitimate child, born in wedlock. Ursula and I raised her until Ursula died five years ago, then I carried on alone. She is my daughter," Lutterodt leaned forward, eyes blazing and a drop of blood trailing from the corner of his mouth, "but she is of his blood and bone. I can be some protection while alive, but I am failing fast, and I could see what would occur after I am gone."

Gotthilf nodded. Much now became clearer.

Lutterodt's head turned toward him. "Yes, Herr Hoch, now you see. It is what you think, and it isn't. If Master Paulus were to succeed in his advances, not only would he be ravishing my daughter, but he would be committing incest as well. God knows his heart must have been black with the sins he had committed, but I would not let him drag my daughter down with him. I would not let him taint her with the sin of the daughters of Lot." He slumped back in the chair, and his voice dwindled to a hoarse murmur. "And so I killed him."

"Anna is Paulus' child?" Frau Diebsin was bewildered. "I don't believe it. This was happening in my own house? With my maid?"

"Have her stand under your wedding portrait and compare her face to your husband's," Byron said. "The likeness is strong."

"And what will become of my daughter?" Lutterodt murmured

Frau Diebsin lowered her hand. "She will be safe with me, Gerhard. Have no fears of that."

The accountant straightened enough to make a seated bow to her.

"Two questions," Byron said. "How did you get into this office, and how did you find out about the secret door?"

"I knew that Frau Sarah had a copy of the key," Lutterodt responded, "so I had Anna make an impression of it in wax and had another key made. And the master would sometimes have women to his office. I saw one of them leaving by that side door one day, and knew that meant there had to be another way into his office. I poked and pulled and pushed on things until I found it."

Lutterodt looked over to Frau Diebsin again. "Johan knows everything there is to know about the business. I have been preparing him. I do not have much time left." He shifted his gaze to the magistrate. "Indeed, the hangman's noose might be a mercy."

Master Gericke's mouth tightened. "Thank you, Lieutenant Chieske, Herr Hoch. You have done what I asked for. Now I must discuss this with Frau Diebsin and Master Köppe to determine what should be done. Please take Herr Lutterodt to the police house." He transferred his gaze to Johan. "Herr Dauth, please resume your place in the outer office. And you, Master Schardius, may go or stay as you please."

"With your leave, I will stay," the merchant replied. "I may have words for Master Köppe when you are done."

Byron and Gotthilf stepped to Lutterodt's chair, each took an arm and lifted him to his feet. "Let's go, you." Johan led the way out of the inner office, and Gotthilf closed the door behind them.

Lutterodt pulled back as they passed the desks. "Wait," he said in a hoarse voice. They stopped for a moment. He pulled a set of keys from his pocket and gave them to Johan. "You must open and lock up now." That prompted Gotthilf's memory. He dug in his own pockets and produced a set of keys. Byron produced yet another set of keys and tossed them to Gotthilf. Lutterodt gave no resistance as Byron led him from the office.

Gotthilf returned to the inner office. All four faces turned to him when he entered. "Frau Diebsin, your keys," and Gotthilf returned them to her. Then he turned to the attorney. "And Herr Köppe, the keys of Master Bünemann." He handed him the keys Byron had passed him, then bowed to Magistrate Gericke and closed the door behind him.

"Come along, Georg," Gotthilf said as he stepped outside. "Back to the police house. We're done here."

"It's about time," Georg replied as he followed. "A fellow could get flat feet from all this standing around."

Gotthilf looked around for what he was beginning to think of as "the cab," but it wasn't in sight. They handcuffed Lutterodt's hands in front of him so he could cover his mouth when he coughed. It was a long walk back to the police house at Lutterodt's slow pace, but at last they arrived. Georg took the prisoner over at that point while they went to report to the captain.

"So the butler didn't do it this time," Reilly said after they finished the report. Gotthilf rolled his eyes. Some other crazy Americanism he had to figure out.

"Nope. It was the accountant all the way. We could see evidence the strangler had a malformed left hand, and he's missing the last joint of his left ring finger. He did a good job of hiding it with his kerchief, though. So that was the first thing. The second was when Gotthilf found the fibers on the door frame that turned out to match the color and consistency of one of the ribbons they were using to tie together documents and folders. He'd used it to loop over the hook and hang out in the hallway. All he had to do was pull on it and it would open the door. But the last was when I noticed how much Anna looked like a younger Paulus Bünemann. If it hadn't been for the wedding portrait, we might still be scratching our heads."

"Well, good job, both of you. And speaking of that," Bill tugged open a drawer and pulled out a couple of wallets, which he tossed to the other men. "These are the new badges for the City of Magdeburg Police department. Cool, huh?" Gotthilf opened the wallet to see a lion's face cast in brass staring at him, with
Magdeburg Polizei
and the word
Sergeant
and a number embossed at the bottom.

Byron's hand came in to view and pulled the folder around where he could see it. "Sergeant, hey? That's great!" Gotthilf was staggered by the slap on his back that Byron delivered.

"Now, since you two are my best detectives, go out there and detect something for me." Bill waved his hands in dismissal.

Outside the building, they turned in unison in the direction of The Green Horse.

"Need a ride?" It was "their" cabbie. They looked at each other, then climbed in.

A few minutes later they climbed out again. This time Byron paid the cabbie. "Are you by some chance trying to become our personal driver?" The cabbie grinned and nodded. "Okay, that's cool. Come by the station first thing tomorrow, and let's talk to the captain about it."

The cabbie grinned again, threw something like a salute to them, then clucked to his horse and drove off. The lieutenant and his newly-minted sergeant walked into the tavern, collected their ales and moved to their favorite table.

"Well, that's one crime solved and one bad guy caught," Byron said after he sampled the ale.

"And we didn't have to shoot anyone," Gotthilf replied.

"Amen to that."

Gotthilf turned to his partner with an expectant glance.

Byron sighed. "Okay, now what?"

"What's a Cheshire cat?"