It took almost an hour to get those who wished to continue with the trial to settle. The captain made a few more speeches and begged for understanding. Some villagers had stormed out while others fled in fear.
Elizabeth sat quietly throughout the commotion. She watched David. Every time he looked at her, she smiled. Not the kind of smile to warm a cold heart on a winter's evening, but the type of smile a sadist might offer in mockery to their victim.
Terrence had reloaded all the pistols and his rifle. Samuel and The captain now held a flintlock each. All three were vigilant.
***
Jimethy had the unpleasant task of carting the two fresh corpses up to the morticians. He cursed under his breath at The Captain and himself. This failure was his own. He allowed Daniel to hide from him, take his weapon and shoot Jarrod.
Sylvester helped him bring the bodies into the mortuary when he arrived. He was taken aback to see two fresh corpses and thought the trial had been incredibly brief.
Jimethy explained what happened to the fascinated mortician.
“You made quite a fool of yourself, Jim.” Sylvester chortled.
Jim sneered. “I doubt you would fair any better.”
Sylvester grinned and nodded slowly, “The difference between you and I, Jim, is that I don’t nose the backside of the man in power. You put yourself in that position.”
“I helped him out. That was it.”
Sylvester lifted the covering placed over Jarrod to inspect the body. “You did the same with Alius.”
“What are you talking about?” Jimethy moved around the slab.
Sylvester glanced at him and shuffled a little. “You were always chatting with him.”
“So?”
“Trying to get in his ear.”
“I wasn’t.”
Sylvester raised his brow as Jimethy got closer. “Shouldn’t you be back off to that trial?”
Jimethy stopped. “Aren’t you coming?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“It’s no business of yours, Jim.”
Jimethy tutted and walked out. “I hate that man.” He whispered to himself. He rejoined the folks in the town hall where the trial had begun, now with Alius on the stand, alone. Jim noted how happy Alius seemed about the trial and thought it odd.
“I’d like to call my first witness,” boomed the Captain's voice through the hall. “Mrs Elizabeth Van der Haus.”
Elizabeth stood daintily and gingerly ascended the steps onto the stage to stand across from Alius.
The villagers looked on in silence, now gripped by the entire affair.
“Now Mrs Vander Hause,” said The Captain.
“Call me Elizabeth, please,” she said sweetly.
David bowed his head. “Of course. Elizabeth, is it true this man, your husband, Alius Van der Haus, imprisoned you?” he pointed at Alius as he spoke.
“Yes.” she nodded.
“Why did he do such a thing?”
“To punish me.”
David paused. He hadn’t heard the answer to this question he needed to ask. “Punish you for what?”
“My affair. With you.” She tilted her head.
The entire room gasped. A lady watching from the window fainted. The crowd began to rumble, and Judge Graveson called for order. “Silence with you all!”
Alius laughed and rocked on the chair he was bound to.
Captain Potter hadn’t expected this revelation to come from Elizabeth’s mouth. David was sweating. His skin flushed a deep crimson. “How long ago was this affair…of ours?”
“Thirteen years.”
“How long has Mr Van der Haus been aware?”
“Twelve years,” Elizabeth spoke coldly, unphased by how she might appear to the spectators.
The captain nodded and bit his bottom lip. He tried to think of a line of questioning that might put him in some gracious light. The cat was out of the bag now, and he may find himself on trial at this rate. “Why did you have an affair?”
Elizabeth smiled at David. “You were handsome, Mr Potter…I mean, Captain Potter.”
The crowd gasped in unison again and began to chatter.
The captain pinched the bridge of his nose. Elizabeth was tossing him beneath the carriage to be crushed and trampled and could do nothing for it but continue. He considered retiring his witness but knew her testimony was pivotal.
“When did he begin your imprisonment, Elizabeth?”
“About two months ago.”
“So, the time he addressed the village to announce your death.”
Elizabeth shrugged, “So the story goes. I was not around to see what happened in my absence.”
“Certainly. If Mr Van der Haus was punishing you for our affair, why did it take so long for him to begin the punishment? Why not punish you when he was aware?”
“He didn’t want to spoil your marriage with Esmeralda.”
“Mrs Potter, a member of the deceased.” Added the captain. “My wife.”
Elizabeth nodded happily.
“So Alius changed his mind?”
“He must have.”
“He must have? Are you not sure?”
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Elizabeth paused. “I am sure he was punishing me for our affair.”
“How?”
“Well–”
David cut her short, “Did he say outright that he was punishing you for our affair?”
“No…”
The captain turned to the jury, “So, as we can see, Alius’ motives are not yet clear.”
Elizabeth wiggled in her seat.
“He tortured you, correct?”
“It’s difficult to talk about.”
“You’re good at talking about difficult things, Mrs Van Der Haus,” David spoke through gritted teeth. “I’d like for the jury to hear what Mr Alius Van Der Haus did to you.”
“Well. He called me a vampire. He locked me in an old tunnel under the manor.”
Judge Graveson was leaning forward at this point. The elder seemed pleased to have taken up the role of judge. He was getting far more than he had bargained for.
Elizabeth continued: “He force-fed me garlic. Made me count wheat grain.” She looked over at Alius, who had been quiet for her. “He beat me.”
“Lies!” Spat Alius.
The crowd brewed into murmurs and whispers once more.
“Order, order!”
“He pulled my teeth out,” Elizabeth said and sobbed into her hands.
The captain frowned. He had only noticed her perfect smile. Missing teeth would have been quite obvious, he thought. “Would you mind showing the jury and myself your missing teeth?”
“Certainly.” Elizabeth rose. She approached the jury first, and with her back to the Captain, she cocked her head. A couple of the jury members covered their mouths in disgust. She turned to David and smiled wide. Her canines were missing.
The captain could not believe what he was seeing. Something so overt couldn’t have gotten passed him. He held his head and took a moment of pause. Tiredness was the only reason he could consider for not noticing, or that Elizabeth had been careful with her smile. “Thank you, Elizabeth.”
She bowed her head and returned to her seat carefully.
“Will there be any more questions for the witness?” Said judge Graveson.
“None from the prosecution, judge.”
“I’d like to ask some questions.” Alius nodded.
“As you’re acting as your own defence, you are permitted.”
Alius smiled. “I don’t know your name, but I’ll call you Elizabeth for this sham.” He narrowed his eyes. “Tell me, did you enjoy sleeping with Mr Potter?”
“He was a wonderful lover.” Elizabeth smiled and narrowed her eyes back at him.
“Better than me?”
“Certainly.”
David covered his face with his hands. The crowd chattered, but the judge was too engrossed to silence them.
“How long have you been a vampire, Elizabeth?”
David peeked from between his fingers. The question wouldn’t help the madman's case, lest Elizabeth admits to being such a creature.
“Never, it’s all in your mind, Alius. You’re mad.”
“Do you hate me?”
“I feel sorry for you, Alius.”
“Do you believe I killed those women?”
Elizabeth paused. “Yes.”
Alius smiled. “That is all.”
Sylvester was next to be called to the stand. Jimethy explained he was at the mortician's. Terrence was ordered to collect Sylvester, so Jimethy was brought onto the stand instead.
Jimethy answered the Captain's questions roundly about discovering the bodies and strengthed Elizabeth’s story nicely.
Alius had a turn to ask Jimethy questions now. Both Jimethy and The Captain were quite confident Jimethy would have no troubles though.
“Jimethy, Jimmy, Jim. How are you?”
Jimethy shrugged at Alius.
“Is it true that you used to play with young Tom Boden?”
Jim frowned. “Yes.”
“What happened to Tom, Jim?”
“There was an accident, he was attacked by the Jenkins dogs.”
“Accident. So you didn’t lock him in there with them?”
“Certainly not.”
The Captain leapt to his feet, “Judge, this has nothing to do with the case!”
“I’ll allow it to continue.”
The Captain shook his head and slunk back down with his arms folded over his chest.”
“How did he get in the barn with the dogs?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know how he got in the barn with the dogs?”
“No.” Jim shook his head.
“Whose padlock was found on the exterior of the barn?”
“Mine. But—”
“No further questions!” Alius laughed and licked his lips.
Jimethy tried to explain again but was interrupted by the judge and the crowd which had become rowdy again. Judge Graveson struggled to quell them this time. After a few minutes, they finally sat down.
David rubbed his head. He was being taunted by Alius at this point.
Terrence hadn’t made it back with Sylvester just yet, so Greg was brought on as the next witness. He spoke about the things Alius said and did in the cell. The story of his bitten hand was helpful to the case against, Alius. It didn’t seem like he cared much.
Alius had his turn next. “Greg, my young friend.”
Greg nodded. “Hello, Alius.”
“You see I am rather beaten, bruised.”
“I do.”
“How did that happen?”
Greg looked at David. “Captain Potter beat you, sir.”
“How did that make you feel, to see a prisoner in your care throttled as I was?”
“Not good.”
“How long was I beaten?”
“Perhaps half an hour.”
More murmurs from the crowd, though they quelled after Alius finished his questions.
Sylvester arrived. He wasn’t pleased to be in such a busy public place. Terrence had been effective when it came to convincing people to behave, or stop.
“Sylvester Lanshire. You accepted the bodies of Esmeralda and Angela into your mortuary, correct?”
“Correct.”
“Could you describe for the jury, how those bodies were delivered to you?”
“Dead.”
Some of the spectators chuckled.
“Very good. Anything out of place.”
“Ah, they had a stake driven through their hearts. Angela had gloves of garlic pushed into her mouth.”
“Is this normal?”
“No.”
“Do you know who did this?”
“Alius.”
“How do you know he did this?”
“He told me. He also asked me if any of the bodies drew breath once more and attempted to bite me.”
“Did they?”
Sylvester scoffed, “Of course not.”
“Alius asked you to keep a secret from the village, didn’t he?”
“Yes.” Sylvester nodded and lowered his eyes.
“What was it?”
“Alius had not produced Elizabeth’s corpse. I had asked for it several times. He told me to tell the village I had it.”
The Captain nodded. “Who did you tell about this?”
“You, Captain.”
“Why?”
“I could not keep it in any longer. I felt it suspicious. It was clear Alius was going mad.”
“Do you believe Alius killed Angela Yeoman and Esmeralda Potter?”
Sylvester pursed his lips and hesitated. “I do. What he did to those women's corpses is, well it’s insane.”
The captain wrapped up his questions with a thanks. As usual, Alius had his turn to ask. The entire room now leaned forward and went dead silent. Sylvester noticed this change but wasn’t aware of the reason why, if he had seen Alius’ previous questioning sessions he might have fled.
“Sylvester, how long have you been this village's faithful mortician?”
“Six years.”
“What’s your favourite food?”
“Excuse me?” He looked at the judge who waved him to answer. “I don’t know. I like porridge.”
“Do you remember a fateful day three years ago, when I caught you eating?”
“I don’t recall.”
“You were indulging yourself in a particular meat.”
Sylvester shook his head. “I shan’t answer this nonsense.”
“Your head was between the legs of a recently deceased Emily Crane, was it not?”
“No!”
“You begged for me to keep your secret, I did, by the way.”
“Nonsense.”
“You enjoy the taste of dead flesh from between the legs of women. If you don’t believe me, dig up Angela or go see Esmeralda. I bet he’s made a mess of them.”
The onlookers rose to their feet and began shouting. It was hard to tell at whom.
“No more questions!” Yelled Alius over the noise.