The Ludwig Conspiracy(85)

It was noticeably cooler now in the evening twilight. Steven buttoned up his coat, shouldered the rucksack, and walked back to the castle, where he was to meet Sara and Uncle Lu in half an hour’s time.

As he walked along beside the lake under the shade of the beech trees, Steven several times felt as if he were being observed. Something creaked, a twig cracked somewhere, but whenever he turned around, all he saw was the red and yellow of the autumn leaves and the gray trunks of the beech trees forming a labyrinth behind him. He was reminded of the Cowled Men whom Sara thought she had seen on the island. Had they followed him? Steven quickened his step when a large black crow suddenly flew up in front of him and moved away through the air, cawing loudly. The bird sounded as if it were laughing at him.

At last he reached the canal that ran in a straight line from the lake to the castle. It led past hedges, flower beds where the flowers had faded, the empty basin of a fountain, green with algae, and ended at the forecourt of the princely building. There were only a few tourists about at this late hour. The little café in the side wing had closed, and the manager was just bringing in the tables and sun umbrellas. A gardener was wearily loading rakes and spades on a small truck before going off to enjoy his well-earned relaxation after the day’s work.

Steven admired the basins of the two great fountains, with the mythological figures raising their arms to the twilight sky, where the air was breathless as if before a storm. He remembered the passage in Marot’s diary when Ludwig II had stood exactly here, overcome by one of his famous fits of rage. For a split second Steven felt he had been catapulted back to those days, but he shook himself, and the moment was over.

If I’m not careful, I’ll end up as crazy as Ludwig . . .

Steven was looking at his watch, to see if it was time to find Sara and Uncle Lu, when he suddenly heard a click to his left. A man in a voluminous green coat stood behind one of the hedges with a camera in his hands, and he seemed to be taking random pictures of the castle. But then Steven noticed that the lens was trained on him; the soft click sounded like the safety catch of a gun being taken off. Was this character photographing him?

Another man in a similar hunter’s coat appeared behind one of the fountains. The stranger slowly raised a pair of field glasses to his face and examined the castle.

Is he looking at the castle or at me? Maybe I’m more paranoid than I thought.

The man in the hunter’s coat came toward him, walking with long strides. He took something from under his sleeve; it had a silvery glint in the evening light. The sun was so low over the canal that it dazzled Steven, and he could not see the man properly. But he seemed about to speak to him; he was coming closer and closer; he . . .

“Hey, Steven! Here we are!”

Startled, Steven turned away and looked at the castle. Sara and Albert were standing at the entrance. The art detective waved cheerfully to him.

“Where were you?” she called to him. “We thought the woods must have swallowed you up.”

“They almost did,” Steven muttered. When he turned again, the man in the hunter’s coat had disappeared. So had the man with the camera.

“I have good news and bad news for you,” Uncle Lu said when Steven reached the castle. “The bad news is that so far we haven’t found a single clue to any possible keyword. The good news is this.” Grinning, he held up and jingled a bunch of keys. “All Herrenchiemsee, including the glass cases and the alarms, is open to us with these keys. The head of the security firm is a real Ludwig fan. In my time as a double, I once gave him my autograph and put a couple of my books at his disposal. Ever since then, he’s thought as highly of me as if I were the king himself. Come along.” He strode toward the entrance. “The night watchmen are leaving the emergency lighting on for us, and if it seems a little eerie, I have a couple of flashlights here as well.”

“Good to see you again,” Sara said quietly as they entered the dimly lit first floor. “I was beginning to miss you.”

Steven felt a warm surge of emotion flood through him. “I . . . I missed you, too,” he replied hesitantly. “Sorry if I unloaded my family history on you and . . .”

“Forget it.” Sara cut him off with a smile. “One of these days I’ll tell you about my own picture-perfect childhood.” Suddenly her expression turned serious again. “Did you manage to find anything out?” she whispered, looking cautiously around. A few cleaning ladies were still busy with the toilets. Otherwise there was no one in sight. High-ceilinged white corridors stretched out to the right and left.