Page 42 of The Last Kingdom

He recalled Koger had said that he needed to talk to some people in the morning. “Are you working with the CIA?”

“Did Herr Koger mention me?”

“Hardly. He just said there’s some additional help coming my way.”

“Quite right. That was to happen tomorrow. But, after what you found at the palace, I decided that now would be better.”

“Your man could have simply asked.”

“Oh, now what fun would that have been. Far more interesting to bring you here surreptitiously, then watch you perform. It was marvelous. Quite a show. I was enthralled.”

Hard to peg this guy. Was he just weird or acting? “Any chance you might enlighten me as to what the hell’s going on?”

Fenn chuckled. “It can sometimes be quite confusing to enter the theater late in the second act.”

“You could say that.” He glanced around the room again. “Let’s start with those black-robed men I saw.”

“I was hoping you would find your way to the fire. They are part of the Guglmänner. I have many brothers at my disposal.”

“I can see you’re really proud about all that, but you’re going to have to tell me, what is the Guglmänner?”

“Five hundred years ago it was a German tradition for men in pointed hoods and black robes to accompany the dead to their graves as living symbols of death. It was regarded as a great honor if the black hoods chose to walk with your coffin. There are paintings and books with sketches that show them quite clearly. In 1886, a delegation of black-cowled figures marched in Ludwig II’s funeral procession, each holding crossed lances and carrying the royal coat of arms. It was they who adopted the name and look of the medieval version, and re-formed into a new brotherhood, devoting themselves to Ludwigto the last and beyond.” Fenn paused. “He was murdered, you know.”

“And you have evidence? That point has been debated for a long time.”

“I find that when someone dies at precisely the right moment they need to die, suspicions are in order. Interestingly, the cause of death was left blank on his autopsy. Why do you suppose that was? Nearly all of the documents related to what happened when Ludwig was deposed were destroyed. Even the king’s watch, found on his body, which noted the time it stopped in the water, disappeared, never to be seen again. One thing that has survived was what a Prussian envoy, who was there and helped with the search for the body, wrote. He noted clear marks of strangulation on von Gudden’s neck.” Fenn shrugged. “But, you are right, who knows? The fact is, Ludwig’s death suited all of the political powers around him. His disgruntled ministers. His family. His uncle, the prince regent. And above all, Bismarck, who had cause to doubt Ludwig’s loyalty to the German Empire.”

Granted, the problem of a forcibly deposed king, popular with the people, had resolved itself within one day with a timely death.

But murder?

“History tells us that everyone around Ludwig was Reich-friendly,” Henn said. “His ministers, and the government as a whole, wanted a close relationship with Bismarck. But Ludwig was always against Bavaria losing its identity to a unified Germany. That uncertainty became a real danger for Bismarck. He had no intention of losing the federation he had so painstakingly cobbled together. Shortly before he was deposed, Ludwig wrote that ‘this wretched German Empire is gradually but surely moving towards barbarism.’So his intent was clear. He wanted out. But Bismarck could not allow that to happen.”

Fenn seemed to believe every word he was uttering.

“Of course, it is difficult to turn back the wheel of history,” Fenn said. “Especially since there have been two world wars that altered Germany forever. But we still have to ask a hard question. Does Bavaria really belong within the Federal Republic of Germany?”

“You’re a secessionist organization?”

Fenn nodded. “That is one of our contemporary purposes. Periodically we stage publicity events to keep the message alive.”

“How is that working for you?”

“Not all that well,” Fenn said. “But those displays occupy the brothers. They so like being a part of them. I like them too. Protests have their place. But what I like even more are results.”

He’d dealt with his fair share of people like Fenn. The old saying was right.A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.

“I have a problem, Herr Malone. One I need America’s help with.”

“Seems this is my night for helping.”

“Ah, yes, Herr Koger told me about his recruitment of you. He called me when you left the convent. I was truly hoping that mine and America’s interests might align. And perhaps they now have.”

Since he had no idea what Koger was after, he did what had always served him best. Faked it. “That all depends on which interest of ours concerns you. We have several.”

“First and foremost, I want Ludwig’s body found.”

He shrugged, as if nothing about that statement surprised him, then he pivoted. “We might disagree on that.”