The Castle Karlstadt – Excerpt 14 – Malcolm Marsh

The Castle Karlstadt – Excerpt 14

‘May I ask a personal question, Father?’ I asked, ‘Are you in some way, trying to prove her innocence in this affair.’ ‘I wonder, why do you ask that?’ he replied somewhat cautiously. ‘I may be a soldier , but I am also a man, you spoke of her fondly.’ I replied, ‘For a man of the cloth, it seemed a little out of character, if I may say so.

He looked around a little furtively, then once he was certain there was no one eavesdropping he said, ‘Can I trust you to keep a secret, a thing of importance.’ ‘You have my word of honour, as an Officer and a gentleman,’ I stated with some conviction, as I liked and trusted the Father.

The Countess Karlstadt was my sibling and I failed her, that is why I am here, I need to find out the truth of what happened here, who is the guilty and who is not, I owe that much to her memory.’ ‘ Is there something that you are aware of that I am not?’

‘My nephew Anders, who I never knew, was apparently a handsome young man who was very popular with the local girls. I get the impression that he was probably a bit of a libertine, but that do’s not make a reason for killing both him and his Mother, impaling them with stakes and then burning their bodies.’

‘I have no proof , but I believe there is something behind this, something evil, but I don’t understand what there is to gain, there must be something, I just don’t know what it is?’ ‘I believe you Michael, your secret is safe in my hands,’ I assured him, ‘But if you find anything that might explain things while we are here, please keep me informed, I am intrigued by it all!’