"The headsman is missing, and a corpse has been found dressed in his
clothes. We presume, therefore, that _he_ is the murderer, but if after
a time the Henker's corpse should also be found----"

"Oh, in that case," said Ludwig, "the aspect of the whole affair would
be changed. Well, we must wait for further evidence. To-morrow the case
will begin in court, and my services will be required. I doubt not
before long that sufficient light will be thrown on the subject to
enable us to discover the true murderer." Thus our two friends chatted by the way, till in due time they arrived
at the township, and having deposited the head of the murdered man at
the town hall, where the body had been exposed, they spread abroad the
result of their expedition, and clearly proved to the somewhat obtuse
inhabitants their error. On the following morning, then, the trial began. The court was crowded
to suffocation. Evidence of a very extraordinary nature had turned up,
so it was said, and Ludwig Engstein, attired in his professional robes,
was preparing to conduct the case. My ancestor was amongst the crowd, and had placed himself as near as he
possibly could to his friend. "Call in Gottlieb Kräger," cried the examiner. A hoary peasant entered the witness-box, and the examination proceeded
in this wise:

"You are a farmer from the village of ----, are you not?" "I am." "Just inform us, if you please, what you were doing on the night of the
murder." "I was returning home after selling some cattle at the ----dorf market,
and it was about midnight when I passed close to the Henker's cottage. I
heard cries and groans as of someone being murdered not far off. I
stopped and listened for a moment, then set off on tip-toe to the spot
whence the sounds proceeded. It was very dark, and the groans at length
ceased. "I placed myself behind some brushwood to watch who should issue from
the copse, when a friar passed me." "Stay, are you quite sure the friar came from the very spot from whence
you heard the groans?" "Well, as to swearing to it, I don't know, but I heard the sound as of
brushwood being trampled under foot, and the next instant the friar
passed close to me. He did not appear to observe me, but moved onward in
the direction of the village of Ahlden." "Did you follow him or take any further notice of him?" "To say the truth, I was too frightened to move, but I kept my eye on
him as far as I could see him." "But you tell me it was very dark." "Just at that moment the moon had burst from behind the clouds, and
enabled me to see distinctly." "Well, did you observe anything peculiar in the manner or gait of the
friar?" "Yes; after he had passed me some ten paces he halted, as if he were
counting money, after which he threw away something that glittered in
the moonlight and then walked on. I followed stealthily behind to
discover what it was that he had thrown away, when I picked up this." The witness held up a long silk purse knitted with silver beads. "Give it to me--so--can you recollect anything else about this friar? Could you manage to catch a glimpse of his face?" "No, I could not exactly distinguish the features, but----"

"But what?" "I observed a peculiar patch in his amice over the left shoulder." "Should you be able to swear to the amice?" "Aye, that I should, among a thousand." "Is this the amice of the friar you saw issue from the copse?" asked
Ludwig, holding up a patched amice such as is worn by the Capuchin
friars. "The very same, I'll swear to it." "Take care, you are on your oath." "Well, if it is not the same, it is one made after the same fashion,
patch and all complete. I'll swear to the shape of the patch, for I
observed the garment well." "Enough; you may retire. Call in Hans Schultz." A dapper little man with oiled hair and closely-shaven face entered the
court, and having taken his post at the witness-box, gave his evidence
as follows:--

"I am by profession a barber. The morning after the murder I was shaving
an elderly gentleman in my shop. I suggested that a little hair dye
would improve his personal appearance, and offered him a bottle. He
refused to buy it, so I placed it on a table behind me, and continued to
shave him. Whilst I was recommending the hair dye to my customer I
noticed a Capuchin friar pass several times in front of my shop. He
appeared to be listening to our conversation. "Shortly afterwards he entered the shop and begged for alms for the
convent. I gave him a kreuzer, and after he had chatted a little he left
the shop. I could not see his face well, as he kept it covered with his
hood, but I remember that he had a red beard. He had hardly left my shop
when on looking on the table behind me I found the bottle of hair dye
gone. No one else but the friar and my customer had entered the shop
since I laid the bottle down upon the table, yet I could not suspect my
customer of having stolen the bottle, and I was much at a loss to
conceive what a Capuchin friar should want with hair dye. "I concluded, therefore, that I must have been mistaken, and must have
laid the bottle down somewhere else without thinking, so I thought no
more of it. "On the same day I was called to cut the hair of a gentleman at the
other end of the village, when I passed a friar who appeared to be the
same as he who not long ago had entered my shop. I looked at him in the
face, but he had a black beard. I could have sworn it was the same, for
his amice was patched in a peculiar manner on the shoulder, as was that
of the first friar." "Is this the amice that the friar wore?" asked Engstein, holding up the
patched garment. "It is like it. I could all but swear to it." "Did you address him when you met him, as you thought, a second time?" "I was about to do so, but he pulled out his beads, and began counting
them. Not liking to disturb him in his devotions, I passed on, thinking
that after all I might have been deceived." "That is sufficient, you may go." The little barber left the court, and another witness was called for. "Your name?" "Max Offenbrunnen." "Profession?" "I am host of the Bear Inn in the village of M----." "Can you tell us anything that happened at your inn within this last
week?" "Yes; three days after the murder a Capuchin friar stopped at my inn and
called for a tankard of beer. He kept his hood down all the time, so
that I could not see his face, but I remember that he had a black beard,
and I also noticed that he had a patch in his amice over one shoulder of
rather an unusual form." The patched garment was held up again in court, and recognised also by
the third witness, after which he proceeded as follows:--

"He called for more beer, and I began to enter into conversation with
him and asked him where he came from. He told me from a Capuchin convent
at W----, about a mile off. Just at that moment another friar, an old
friend of mine, passed my inn, who belonged to the aforementioned
convent.