Apothecary Melchior and the Mystery of St Olaf's Church Read Online Free PDF

that Knight of Gotland – and now, in the market, they are saying it was he who was chopped into bits.’
    â€˜Into
pieces
?’ the Goldsmith mumbled, then asked with growing seriousness, ‘You didn’t say anything to anyone about how I sold a collar to that knight, now, did you, Hedwig?’
    â€˜No, Father, I didn’t say a thing,’ the girl asserted.
    Casendorpe pushed aside the guild’s book of accounts into which he had been making notes while standing the table. ‘We could go for a short stroll about the town, Hedwig,’ he said, ‘perhaps around the market and the pharmacy.’
    â€˜Ah, so you want to hear the news as well. But, Father, I am telling you, he was chopped up into pieces and –’
    â€˜Hush now, please,’ the Goldsmith rebuked his daughter. ‘This is not a thing of which young maidens should speak. Wait for me at the doorstep. I shall get myself ready.’
    Rumours, market tittle-tattle – these things were so dangerous that it was better to hear them straight away. Especially when they concern a man who wore a golden collar made by your own hands around his neck. A man who was now dead.
    Thank heavens, he is dead.

5
TALLINN MARKET SQUARE
16 MAY, MORNING
    M ERCHANT C LAWES F REISINGER , Alderman of the Brotherhood of Blackheads, had also heard of Commander Clingenstain’s murder in the market while he and two attendants were purchasing the finest foods to offer at that evening’s beer-sampling festivity. The Toompea milkman’s uncle told the fish trader’s daughter … someone had seen, someone had heard … a head was chopped off … what a dreadful thing … oh, those Knights of the Order can’t even manage to keep sober … that very same Clingenstain, yes, the one who had made merry for several days and who the Town Council had fed and plied with drink … a terrible shame on the entire town of Tallinn …
    Freisinger pricked up his ears; rumours are only rumours. One thing was clear, though; there had apparently been a great deal of blood.
    Unlike Master Goldsmith Casendorpe, Freisinger the Blackhead was a man of great curiosity. No rumour was too insignificant in the merchant’s profession – knowledge of the town’s affairs, troubles and misfortunes, joys and festivities are always of some use to a trader. A merchant – and especially one who hailed from a foreign land – must know more about town affairs than even the town’s Chief Councilman. Freisinger listened out carefully, but the rumours and counter-rumours were overwhelming. One thing they all agreed on, however, was that there had been a great deal of blood
    He needed to find out more. Freisinger started to make his way towards the pharmacy but then, in the distance, spotted Casendorpe approaching arm-in-arm with his daughter Hedwig. Freisinger’s heart leaped with joy. His future father-in-law and his fiancée drew nearer, andstories of dreadful bloodshed on Toompea were briefly pushed aside in his mind.
    Hedwig was Clawes Freisinger’s ticket into the circle of Tallinn’s wealthy and respected citizens. She was the finest maiden in the town, not just because she was as beautiful as St Ursula but she was as rich as … as Master Goldsmith Casendorpe himself. Hedwig was Freisinger’s passport into the Great Guild and his farewell to the status as a Blackhead. There were, of course, many in Tallinn who regarded the Master Blackhead as very best groom available. No one could say that he was poor – Clawes Freisinger always saw to that. His coats and cloaks were tailored from the most expensive cloth and his caps were as grand and feathered as those of any baron. Freisinger had not been shy about acquiring chains and rings: a silver clasp always adorned his collar, and even in winter he hung gold-encrusted ornaments from his fur cloak, which was cut from the highest-priced