Franengeld

Previously in Frankengeld. Damion and Helena met Elodie and her friends Freida and Poppy at the Summer Fair, and Helena is accepted into their group. Damion has had a very intimate encounter with Esmeralda when he confused an act involving a Dancing Bear, with a girl who dances bare! The next day Damion had his first customers and found a fortune in gold, hidden by the Old Doctor. And, in reporting this find to the authorities, is now sat in the office of the Chief of Police. Is the mysterious disappearance of the Old Doctor and the convenient vacancy at the Doctor's House part of a plot by his Father? A plot that includes murder?

Now read on...

9th June, in the year 1784, in the afternoon.

The Chief of Police fixed his steely gaze on me, took a deep draw on his cigar, and continued, "We found a tuft of what looks like wolf hair caught on a splinter on the cart, and there was spilt blood."

I thought of my father's satyr hair.

"So it seems likely they were the victims of a wolf pack," continued the Chief. "Though wolves rarely approach this close to town in summer. However wolves usually eat their prey close to the kill site... your pardon miss, for my rough words."

Helena gestured for him to continue.

He nodded, "As I was saying, wolves usually consume their victims where they die, or a very short distance away, but we found nothing. We searched a wide area around the cart for signs of them but no bodies were to be found."

"How sad," said Helena, and I felt she really meant it. True compassion for two people she had never met. Two people whose fate was very uncertain.

"We left a few days for the pair to return, then sought next of kin," he continued. "But it seems there was nobody to inherit. So the property was placed for sale, as the rules of the Town demand. Your father, I believe, made a fair offer and the town council dislike a property being vacant when it could house a useful member of society, so the sale went through rapidly. The proceeds from a sale are always held by the town for seven years in case next of kin come forward, or the owners turn up alive and well. Though in this case if Dr Karsten and his daughter do turn up I would be very surprised and would probably arrest them for faking their own deaths, or being undead, or something."

The Chief called in his clerk.

"Johan, what is the legal status for a hidden cache in a purchased property?"

His clerk took my bill of purchase and studied it, then spoke.

"If the item or items found are the fruits of honest labour, and located within the boundaries of the property, then they are considered to belong to the purchaser of the property. Items known to be stolen, discovered within a property, can be claimed by the authorities for return to the legitimate owner."

"And how would you judge this situation?" mused the Chief.

"I would suggest that this hoard of coins belonged to the previous owner, was honestly earned by him, and pass through this deed to the ownership of Herr Doctor here."

The Chief handed me the bag of coins.

"We will deal with any counter-claim, if it is made. I believe these are yours to spend as you wish."

Back outside Helena and I looked at each other. I was no longer able to fool myself into thinking that my father had paid the doctor and his daughter to take retirement. There was some deeper, and probably bloodier, mystery here.

"Shall we go visit Freida?" I asked.

"Yes Damion," Helena nodded. She looked very pleased at the prospect and added, "I think that is a good idea. What shall we say about the poor doctor and his daughter?"

"We tell her the truth," I said. "As much as we know it, for her desire to solve crimes will cause her to pursue this case and we should not hide the potential danger from her with half-truths. I wish I could be sure that my father wasn't involved."

Helena sought to reassure me, "He might have been at your home when it happened."

"But he is more often away on his business trips," I replied, determined to be gloomy it seemed.

"Ah, here is Freida's home," said my companion. "Let us not mention your father' possible role in this Damion, until we have made our own enquiries."

Freida's family were silversmiths, owning a small business in the industrial quarter of Carlsbruck. The workshop manufactured everything from simple cutlery to grand display items to show off your wealth at the dining table. Freida lived here with her mother, her father having died a year back. The business thrived and the house was a beautiful four storey residence painted a duck egg blue, with carved black beams.

As we approached a servant, a young girl in housemaid attire, opened the door. Freida must have given instructions for her to keep an eye out for us, which was another sign of wealth, having enough servants that you could assign one to look out for visitors. We were ushered into a ground floor withdrawing room where Freida lay on a chaise-longe, her ankle supported by a cushion. Nearby there was a large pottery mixing bowl so it seemed clear she had taken my advice.

"Helena! Damion!" Freida seemed as happy to see us as Helena was to see her. "How lovely to see you. Tea?"

We nodded and the servant girl was sent away to bring a tray. I took up position by the fireplace with my legs spread wide, in a manly manner.

"What happened about the treasure?" asked the sleuth.

"It seems that it belongs to me,' I replied. "The old doctor had no kin, other than his daughter, and she went missing at the same time as he did."

"We learned something about what happened. It is truly a mystery," added Helena. "But we think mysteries are your speciality. Will you help us?"

The girl returned with the tea and Freida poured, the servant girl helping by delivering the cups. I was last.

"Tea, Damion?" Freida asked.

"Please Freida," I replied. "That would be most welcome."

"Sugar, Damion?" our host asked.

"Just a single lump, please." I replied.

The tea was poured and a lump of sugar was added. The servant girl brought me the cup and I placed it to one side to cool.

"Gratification, Damion?" asked Freida.

"Oh," I was taken by surprise at her kindness. "Thank you Freida... yes please."

Freida gestured to the servant girl who gave a little sigh, then knelt before me and opened my trousers. They dropped until the wide spread of my legs prevented further movement.

'Now Damion... tell me about the mystery of the missing doctor.'

'We knew," I started, as the serving girl gently took hold of my phallus and then ran her hands up and down its length, rubbed it firmly. "That the house was... oh my... purchased by my father and that... ah yes... the doctor had gone missing."

The serving girl was now running her tongue up and down my member with predictable results. Then, having got a rise from me, she proceeded to stimulate me more energetically. She looked up into my eyes from time to time. She had big blue expressive eyes and her lips, currently wrapped around my member, were the red of youth without the need for make-up. I could see down her uniform. Her breasts were small, and very firm for they moved only slightly despite the way her head was dipping towards my pubic hair. Then she was touching my abdomen with her lips, my member was completely encased in her throat.

"The... argh... Chi... eeef of Police said that their bodies were... oh Lord!... nowhere to be found." I was struggling. "Oooh... Helena... cannot you tell this... urgh... bit?"

The girls smiled up at me from the chaise-longe. They were very close to each other now and Freida had her hand on Helena's knee.

"You're doing a perfectly wonderful job, Damion," Helena giggled.

"Oh," I soldiered on. "Oooh... righto then... they... oh my!... found a tuft of grey animal hair on their... bloodied cart... ah, ah,... and the soldiers searched... good lord girl, your lips!... the soldiers searched a wide area and found...'

The serving girl had now placed her hands on my buttocks and was repeatedly taking me deep into her mouth, the sensation was most stimulating. When she pulled back for air she rolled her tongue over the tip of my phallus most expertly, then drove her head back onto me. Despite her youth she had done this many times, I guessed.

"... nothing," I continued. I was near to climax now and words were harder and harder but I stuttered, "The... doctor... and his daughter... had vanished... ah, young lady... if you carry on like that... oh... oh... I'm going to... too late!"

The predictable happened, my seed spurted, but the serving girl swallowed it all down. Of course, I thought, if it had spilled on the carpet she would have had to clean it up, so she probably saved herself a job by receiving all my semen into her gloriously warm throat. The girl pulled my trousers back up, retied my belt, stood up, wiped off a little of my seed that had spilled onto her chin, and curtsied to me.

"Thank you Mary," said Freida. "That will be all for the moment."

The young servant left and when my mind cleared I found Helena and Freida were talking about the wolf hair. I had a disturbing thought.

"Oh my!" I ejaculated. By which I mean I spoke loudly and forcibly. I had already ejaculated - the other sense of the word - into delightful Mary. "I had forgotten about that. How could I have forgotten?"

The ladies looked at me in puzzlement. I had remembered about the wolf intruder. Strange how the incident had faded, like a dream only half-remembered on waking that loses detail hour by hour. Luckily I had written it in this journal so I could remind myself, and the act of writing seemed to render it more real.

"We had a wolf in the house the other night!" I said.

"Did we Damion," said Helena with a vague expression on her face. "I cannot remember such a thing."

I looked at Helena thinking this was some joke, that for some reason she did not wish to share our nocturnal adventure, only to realise by her expression that she genuinely had forgotten the incident. I told the tale, reminding Helena of her role since she clearly couldn't remember the events.

As I described the events I could recall, the story just sounded silly but the girls listened carefully. I left out completely the part where I breathed in drugs and witnessed the wolf leaving via the keyhole, just saying that it fled after I hit it with the crossbow bolt.

Freida spoke up, "So you think there are two argumentative women out there, with a tame wolf?"

'Well yes," I replied. "Perhaps they were circus folk and had trained the beast. Would that not explain why the wolf did not behave as a wild creature would?"

"Could they have abducted the old doctor and his daughter, using the threat of the wolf to force them to obey?" suggested Helena.

"But for what purpose? To obtain a key?" Freida was getting into her stride, looking for motive having established possible means and opportunity. I was just pleased that the direction of this amateur investigation had swung away from my own family. Freida continued, "Did you not say, Damion, that these women were looking for a female companion?"

"I think," I said, though to be honest I was actually struggling to think. Try as I may, without my journal to hand, I could not recall the actual words the women said, only their general tone and meaning. The more I pushed, the more the memories slipped away. "I think that was their purpose, to take Helena away, or perhaps to persuade her to run away to the circus with them."

Helena looked alarmed and clutched at Freida. By accident, or design, one hand ended up on Freida's breast and gave it a brief squeeze.

"But," continued Freida, without removing Helena's hand. In fact she seemed to push her chest forward a little to press her breast harder into my assistant's hand. "Your incident happened after the old doctor and his daughter went missing. Do we assume that the abduction went wrong, and the girl died, forcing them to try again with a new lady."

Helena sighed, "We are just guessing here."

True," said Freida. "We need more facts, more evidence. Otherwise we are just speculating."

Helena snuggled in closer to her new friend. I was very pleased that she was making new friends so soon after coming to Carlsbruck, I had feared she would be lonely.

"Let us write things down," said Freida. "Clues; and things we can reasonably infer from them. That way we can try to eliminate pure speculation. Helena, if you would, please get that writing slope from the desk, and pen and ink."

Helena reluctantly removed her hand from Freida's breast and and went and brought the items. For a moment, it looked as if Freida would ask her to do the writing. The alarm on Helena's face prompted me to take the writing slope and be scribe.

"I can write the quickest," I said. "Being practised at recording symptoms as the patient speaks."

I think Freida had noticed Helena's alarm at the prospect of writing, but if she did she said nothing about it, simply starting her list of facts. She held up her fingers and ticked off the 'clues' as she mentioned them.

"The doctor and his daughter were lured away from their house by a letter asking them to visit a patient in a village nearby. We can, I think, discount the possibility that a pack of wolves wrote the letter. Unless it was Poppy's charming werewolf, of course."

We all laughed and she continued.

"Both the doctor and his daughter were in the habit of making house calls together, since he was old, frail, and needed help carrying things and such like. If only he had made the journey, then the daughter would not have gone missing, and presumably would have inherited the house and we would not be having this conversation. Does this mean that our suspect, or suspects, knew their habits and knew what to do to catch them both together well away from help?"

"The doctor has gone missing, but there has been, so far, no ransom message. We know he was rich," she gestured at the coin purse I had put on the side table. "So, he might fall victim to kidnapping, but no ransom suggests that the motive was not money."

"And," she continued, "If the intent was to rob the doctor then anyone would know that he would most likely carry only a small amount of cash with him on a house call. The best way to steal his money would be to lure the doctor and his daughter away, far enough for their to be enough time to break into the house, find the money, and be well away. There would be little advantage in killing them."

Helena looked with awe at Freida as she ticked off on her fingers her evidence and logical assumptions. Freida continued, too involved in her 'clues' to notice her admirer, "The doctor has gone missing. His principle skill was in medicine. If someone wanted to consult with him privately then surely he would have accommodated them. Unless they could not afford his fee. However it seems extreme to suggest that you would abduct a doctor for his skills and then not release him afterwards."

She turned to me, "Damion, you need to think about any conditions that might be so shaming that it is worth the risk of abducting a doctor to treat them."

"There are poxes," I admitted, "Including syphilis which can be caught from a dirty whore. A person might be inclined to want the treatment to be discreet, but that is easy. Pretend the doctor is attending for some other, more acceptable reason, like gout. I really cannot imaging needing to abduct a doctor."

Freida nodded sagely as she listened, then continued, "The daughter has gone missing. If the motive was kidnapping her father for ransom, then it would be logical for the daughter to be allowed to go free, so she could return with the money."

Another digit was ticked off.

"The daughter has gone missing, and we have evidence of two women - possibly with a tame wolf," she looked at me when she said this. "These women are looking for a female companion for some purpose unknown. This might infer that it is an abduction, aimed at taking the daughter. How old was the daughter?"

Helena spoke up, "I think the Chief of Police said the doctor was about seventy, and his daughter about fifty."

"So," Freida looked pleased at Helena's powers of recall. "We mark her age. And agree that it was probably not an abduction to sell her as a slave to a Turk's harem. Not unless the potentate had a liking for the more mature woman. I have heard they prefer the more rounded body shape, but not that they like women beyond their fertile years. Damion, what did the two women outside your cellar say about the sort of companion they wanted?"

"I can not remember exactly," I admitted. "I had a vague feeling that they wanted new conversation, had perhaps grown bored of each other's company."

Freida continued, "Finally we consider the house itself. If someone wanted the building and lived nearby then they would know that if the owners vanished, with no next-of-kin, that the building would be sold on their behalf by the town. But how would they know this? And what is special about this building that would make it important that it becomes available for sale?"

I wriggled uncomfortably, it seemed to me that Freida, with her remorseless logic, might be getting close to the truth. If you wanted to establish a new doctor in a town, then buying a property that people were used to visiting for that purpose, with all the contents, would be a quick way of achieving this. And if you were ruthless you might simply arrange for the current occupants to disappear.

We agreed to part and pursue the investigation in our own ways. Helena and I would make enquiries amongst the old doctors patients. Freida would chat with her friends from the town. Then, when her ankle allowed her to ride, we would try to follow the route the missing couple made to see if any clues could be found. While we were discussing these plans I made an examination of Freida's foot. The swelling had gone down since the morning and now bruising was starting to show, but all looked well. As we rose to depart Freida invited Helena to give her a hug, and whispered something in her ear.

We wandered slowly back through the market, glancing at the stalls, and enjoying the warm weather while it lasted. In another month the leaves will start to turn golden and we can expect rain and chill weather.

We paused by a silversmith who had a substantial display of cups, plates, platters, chargers and cutlery for sale. All beautifully polished and, most significantly, none with a price on them.

"Do you think, Helena, that we should invest in some of these magnificent items of tableware. In case we entertain someone who needs to be impressed," I asked my companion.

"I think," she replied. "That the gold coins are burning a hole in your pocket, dear Damion."

I continued to examine the items, though Helena was probably right, I was only thinking about these items now because we could afford them, not because we actually needed them. I looked around for another stall where I could lust after something else we probably didn't need. The market was busy with the usual merchants and townsfolk, and today, an unusual figure.

A Turk, dressed in voluminous traditional robes, followed by his two wives, was walking towards the silversmith's stall. The two wives were veiled in long dark swathes of cloth and you could see no flesh. Though their clinging robes suggested tall, elegantly voluptuous, women were concealed under the drapes. Occasionally you could catch a glimpse of fierce, flashing, eyes behind the sumptuous headdresses.

The Turk was also dressed in exotic robes but was denied the traditional knife and scimitar. Turks were permitted to travel our lands, and trade, but not allowed to carry weapons. Under his turban and hood his face was dark, but strangely blotchy, as if a substance had been smeared on his skin to darken his visage. It was, possibly, a medical condition common to his kind but, if so, not one I was familiar with. But then I had treated very few dark-skinned patients.