The guards standing watch on the Neckar River bridge were astounded; their jaws dropped as hordes of people crossed the bridge.
“What’s that?” the guard asked his colleagues as he shaded his eyes.
“I haven’t the slightest idea,” his colleague replied as they stared at the crowd.
The citizens of Worms marched decisively, waving at the men amiably as they crossed over the bridge.
“What is it that you want?”
“We are friendly people; our only desire is to take our seats at the trial,” Elsbeth called out.
“All of you?”
“Why not?” She gave him her most charming smile.
“You can go, but we don’t want any trouble.”
“We don’t want any trouble, either,” Elsbeth assured them.
“So many people for a trial?” The guard scratched his head.
A man from the crowd shouted, “We want to bring back our healer. You Heidelbergers haven’t been good to her. But we Worms citizens will take her off your hands.” With that he continued to walk, singing a happy tune, which his companions took up as well.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“Mother?” Johannes couldn’t believe his eyes.
Elsbeth hugged him and kissed his forehead. “I found out immediately where the archbishop’s legal counsel was staying.” She smiled at him.
“Were you able to find a witness?”
“One witness?” She beamed at him. “Go to the door, and you’ll see what people really think of your wife.”
Outside, Johannes immediately took a step back. “That’s . . . it can’t be . . .”
“At a loss for words?” she teased. “You?”
“How in the world did you do this?” His words poured out quickly.
“I didn’t do it. Madlen did. She helped many people.”
“But she could never have cured all these people.”
“No, of course not. But all of them want to speak on her behalf.”
“I’m overwhelmed.” Johannes caught sight of Roswitha in the crowd and nodded. She returned the gesture with a smile.
“You were able to convince Roswitha?”
“Truth be told, Otilia did.” Elsbeth moved aside, and Johannes and Otilia greeted each other. “We’re here to support Madlen. Now you must use your legal skills to save her life.”
“Indeed, I will.”
It proved quite difficult to accommodate so many out-of-towners in Heidelberg. Some well-to-do gentlemen stayed in taverns, and some stayed in private houses, for which they paid a pretty penny. Most of the people went to the meadow right below the castle, where they settled down in the evening, eating and drinking and trying to outdo each other with outrageous tales of adventure. Tomorrow morning, the trial would begin.
Earlier in the day, the man arrived whose presence Johannes hadn’t dared to hope for: Archbishop Werner III, the archbishop and prince-elector of Trier, who took over the office from his great-uncle Kuno II von Falkenstein. He was accompanied by an entourage of a dozen men riding into Heidelberg. He’d been consecrated a couple months prior, but Johannes had been introduced to him shortly before his duties as a Church lawyer had been conferred to him. Johannes didn’t know whether Werner shared his great-uncle’s determination to convict a supposed wonder healer. He sincerely hoped that he could steer this man away from such a desire, but he certainly didn’t want to tarnish the memory of the archbishop’s deceased relatives. Werner III von Falkenstein was famous for his many feuds. As far as Johannes knew, he’d successfully repelled the claims of other surviving Falkenstein relatives in line to inherit the family fortune. Only time would tell what he could get past him. At least for now, it seemed that the new archbishop was a firm believer in Johannes’s abilities. Whether he was clever would remain to be seen.
Johannes had done everything possible to accommodate the archbishop’s men in an appropriate manner. The archbishop himself felt at home in the church’s magnificent building, where six of his security guards stayed. In the meantime, Johannes had met with Andreas every day. When it came to Adelhaid’s murder, they were, as always, standing on shaky ground. Barbara had disappeared, and Matthias’s cook was a gray-haired, surly hag who had dismissed Andreas’s request to testify in court with a flick of her hand. Whatever kind of person Matthias was, Andreas didn’t believe for one moment that he’d done anything untoward to the cook. Even if Matthias tried to get close, Johannes guessed that she would sooner clobber him with a big fat wooden spoon than let him lay one hand on her.
Trying to get in touch with the guards in the Trauenstein household had been futile. There wasn’t a single guard or servant that had worked for him longer than a week. Evidently, Matthias had thought of everything; he’d replaced his entire domestic staff. Initially, Andreas thought that former employees might be angry at Matthias and would be only too willing to give information about what had played out between Adelhaid and her husband. But none of the former servants seemed to live in Heidelberg anymore. Andreas had been unable to track any of them down.