Page 43 of The Last Kingdom

Fenn shook his head and pointed a finger. “This is not a matter for the United States or the Chinese. I told Koger that. This is a Bavarian issue.”

That’s a new one. The Chinese? He decided to shift gears, making a mental note to circle back to that one. “Why is the envelope I found so important?”

Fenn reached beneath his jacket and produced it. “I had a man inside the palace waiting for the right time to open the other compartment. If there’s one there in that desk, surely there were two. And I was right. Prince Stefan apparently only had information relative to the book. Not this. My man watched as you found the other compartment. Quite a clever one, you are. That’s what facilitated this little chat. I assume you read what was inside?”

“What kind of an agent would I be, if I hadn’t?”

Fenn chuckled. “So true. Any thoughts?”

His eidetic memory recalled the lines.

Where Matthias Strokes the Strings

Edelweiss Over Black Forest

No Water Cold

Pulpit, Cross, and Garland

Northeast the Crown

Ends of the Dance

“I’ve been a bit indisposed to think on it,” he said.

“And I again apologize for the inconvenience. Thankfully, I have many thoughts on the matter. Most formed while I waited for you to rouse from your forced sleep. You still seemed a bit irritated by what happened. Does it help to know that the man you took down in the wine cellar is the same one who rendered you unconscious?”

Actually, it did.

Fenn rose from the chair and stepped over to a striking antique desk topped with an intricate wooden inlay. Atop it was an unfolded Michelin map of Germany. “Please, come closer.”

Cotton stood and walked over.

“We have a great mystery here. The prince regent, Luitpold, was faced with some difficult decisions. One nephew, Otto, had been declared insane and institutionalized. The other had been deposed and suddenly died. Both were kings. Ludwig died in 1886. Otto lived until 1913, and Luitpold ruled in his place. To his credit Luitpold never declared himself, nor asked to be declared, king. He simply did his duty as regent. Many say that Ludwig II’s opportune death is explainable. He and his doctor drowned after a violent encounter with each other. Of course, my brothers and I believe otherwise. For us, murder is the only possible explanation.”

“A bit single-minded, wouldn’t you say?”

“Perhaps. But if we are wrong, why was Ludwig’s body hidden?”

More news. But keep faking it. “I wasn’t aware that it was.”

“Oh, yes. It’s been gone a long time, and there are several possible explanations. Luitpold, in 1886, could have never placed the king in his tomb beneath St. Michael’s. But I don’t think that’s correct. Too many eyes were on what was happening. And surely someone involved with such a covert sequestration would have talked. Another explanation is that it happened between 1886 and 1913, when Luitpold served as regent. That could have been a more controllable move, utilizing a few trusted people.” Fenn shook his head. “But, for me, there’s a better explanation.”

He waited.

“I’ve always believed that it was Ludwig III, before he was deposed in 1918, who moved the body.”

A new player in the game.

Another Ludwig.

Seemed a popular name.

Fenn explained that the prince regent, Luitpold, died in 1912, after having lived a long life. His nephew Otto, still king since his brother’s death in 1886, remained alive but institutionalized. Luitpold’s son, also named Ludwig, became regent. But, in November 1913, the Bavarian legislature amended the national constitution to include a clause specifying that if a regency, for reasons of incapacity, had lasted for ten years with no prospect of the king ever being able to reign, the regent could assume the crown himself.

“In essence,” Fenn said, “a ‘let us have a new king’ law. The day after this measure was approved, Luitpold’s heir proclaimed the end of the regency, deposed his cousin Otto, and declared himself King Ludwig III. But he did not reign long. World War I changed everything, and by November 1918 Ludwig III was forced to relinquish the throne. He and his family thereafter were welcomed in Bavaria as private citizens, but only so long as they did not act against the people’s state. Nearly eight hundred years of Wittelsbach rule ended.”

Which had to be tough.