Althaus walked towards the center of the road. By the time he stopped Althaus was in the center of the road and roughly in front of the entrance to the butcher’s shop.
“This is roughly where the killer was when my father and the village militia surrounded him,” Althaus explained, “Now, I don’t know what you guys have over where you’re from, but out here we don’t have much to work with. The militiamen that were here that day were just farmers, lumberjacks, and hunters. There were three or four men in their forties and fifties who had combat experience fighting for the Count back in the bad times, but most of them had never seen real combat before. Most of them didn’t even have real weapons; just axes, knives, and pitchforks. I guess it must have looked more like an angry mob than a militia. Anyways, with the killer surrounded, my father approached him and demanded that he surrender. The killer responded by pulling Metzger’s boning knife out of his body and telling my father that he wasn’t going to do that. My father then said that, as the village elder, he wasn’t going to let someone murder two of his people and just walk away,”
Althaus then inhaled deeply before continuing his story, “Immediately after my father said that, the killer threw Metzger’s knife at him. The knife shot through the air like an arrow or a javelin. It flew in a straight line without tumbling like how a knife or a hatchet normally would before landing in my father’s neck. He fell backwards and died shortly afterwards,” Althaus explained without making eye contact with either Alexandra or Ekkehardt. Althaus then walked towards a narrow space between the butcher shop and a house that was to the south of it.
“Now, I can’t recall if this was something that Metzger or his neighbor did, but, for some reason, at the time there was a large pile of wooden crates stacked up in this space. After murdering my father, the killer tried to make a break for it and ran in the direction of this alley-like space. All of the militiamen blindly charged at him, but only two of them, Hase and another man, were fast and close enough to even try to stop him. The killer was able to knock out one of the militiamen in his way by hitting him over the head with Becker’s rolling pin and knocking him out cold, but Hase was able to lay hands on him,” Althaus explained.
“When the killer ran into this area between the butcher’s shop and that house, Hase was able to grab him. I suspect that the killer was unaware of the crates when he ran in here and I know for a fact that Hase wanted to restrain him so that his friends could finish him off. Regardless, of what was going on in their heads, a struggle ensued. Hase tried to grab the killer, but the killer was able to shake him off before getting on top of the crates. When the killer had shambled his way up to the top of the stack, Hase made one last attempt to restrain him by grabbing at his left foot. The killer kicked Hase in the face with his right foot. The kick was strong enough to break Hase’s nose and floor him, but he never let go of the killer’s boot. When Hase regained his composure and opened his eyes, he saw the killer's left boot in his hand and a stack of wooden crates,” Althaus explained. He then walked out of the alley-like space and back onto the road.
“The remainder of the village militia ran after the killer,” Althaus said as he pointed to a field behind the bakery, “They chased him through that wheatfield over there, but our men lost track of him in the forest behind it. That was the last anyone here has ever seen of him and frankly, I think it’s for the best if it stays that way,” Althaus remarked.
“I agree with you. If I swear that if we go into that forest and see him alive then we’re going to be the last people to see him alive,” Alexandra promised.
“Well, I don’t know if you’re going to find him, but I hope that, if you do, you will be able to keep that promise,” Althaus replied.There was a brief silence before Alexandra spoke.
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“Alright, if there is nothing else to talk about here, then I think I would like to speak with Elsa next,” She said.
“Actually, there is one more part of this story that I need to tell you,” Althaus responded.
“What would that be?”
“When the militiamen lost track of the killer, they started backtracking; retracing their steps in case they lost something. That’s when they noticed something odd about the prints the killer left in the mud,” Althaus explained.
“What was odd about them?” Ekkehardt asked.
“Remember how Hase was able to steal the killer’s left boot? Well, when the militiamen examined the killer’s prints, they found an ordinary right boot print on the right and something strange on the left. I never got all of the details and I feel like it’s one of those things you have to see to really understand, but it was described as being smaller than an ordinary foot and having four large toes; three in the front and one on the back…” Althaus attempted to explain.
“What do you mean by ‘one on the back’?” Alexandra asked with a genuinely confused look on her face.
“You ever see the talons of an eagle or some other bird of prey? I was told that it was kind of like that,” Althaus answered. Alexandra scratched her chin.
“I see…” She replied. Althaus sighed and scratched the back of his head.
“So, with that out of the way, what would you like to do next? I could take you to see Elsa or Father Taggart next. I don’t think either of them will do you much good, but it can’t hurt.” Althaus offered.
“What about Taube? Is he still around?” Alexandra asked. Althaus shook his head.
“I’m afraid not. By some miracle he was able to get that crossbow bolt removed from his eye without any complications and he was able to keep on being sheriff, but he was never the same after that. He became more jumpy and short-tempered. He also never picked up a crossbow ever again. He said that he couldn’t hit anything anymore with the missing eye and all, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that wasn’t the whole story… Anyways, he died about five or six years ago,” Althaus explained.
“Oh…” Alexandra replied, “...In that case, I guess I would like to talk to Elsa. Could you lead us to her?”
“No problem, sir.” Althaus answered. The group then began to walk down the road, only to be interrupted when Alexandra suddenly spoke up.
“Wait, I actually have one more question about the killer,” She said. Althaus looked at her and nodded his head.
“Yes?”
“Did the killer ever say what his name was?” Alexandra asked. Althaus shook his head.
“No, I don’t believe so. Why do you ask?” Althaus replied.
“We were told that the killer used the name ‘Cedric’ while he was in Weisshart. Did that ever happen?” Alexandra inquired. Althaus looked confused and maybe even a little offended.
“Now that is something that people here would definitely remember. The only ‘Cedric’ anyone around her ever heard of is that one guy who was friends with the Count and his family. Even if he wasn’t dead when this happened, I don’t think that he would have ever done anything like this. Where did you hear that?” Althaus asked.
“A scribe said he pulled it from the imperial records. It was in a crime report. The report said that two people heard the killer use the name ‘Cedric’,” Alexandra answered.
“Well, I don’t know who wrote that, but it’s not true and I don’t think it would be a good idea to go around conflating a man like Cedric with something like what happened here.”
“Oh. My apologies. Sir Lowe and I will make sure that the record is corrected when we get back,” Alexandra said.
“Oh… thank you…” Althaus said, appearing genuinely surprised and even a little grateful.
“No problem.” Alexandra replied, “Now, with that cleared up, do you think you could take us to see Elsa?”
“Yes, sir.” Althaus said while nodding his head. The group then continued to walk down the road as Alexandra’s mind returned to that night at Rasmussen’s house; that night when the name ‘Cedric’ first entered her mind.