London smiled without bothering to correct his little idiomaticerror. She glanced at the crowd and saw that the “tall woman”—Audrey Bolton—waswatching the proceedings with wide-eyed amazement.
Bryce scratched his head and said to Detektiv Erlich, “So you’vesuspected Oberhauser for some time now?”
Erlich shook his head.
“Whenever there’s trouble, I’m inclined to suspect Willy,” hesaid. “He’s unpredictably moody. There’s no way to guess how he’s going tobehave in a given situation. He can be charming one moment, quite vicious thenext. He is—how again do you say in English?—a loose cannon, a ticking bomb.”
Erlich paused for a moment as he watched the flashing lights of thepolice vehicle that was taking Oberhauser away.
Then he added, “You see, Willy was a policeman here in Bamberguntil just last year—and good a policeman at that. Over the years he waspromoted to the rank of Polizeihaupmeister mit Amtszulage—a staffsergeant.”
Erlich sighed bitterly and added, “Sadly, his temper got worseand worse, and he had to be suspended over just the sort of behavior you’vejust experienced. Last year he finally got fired for good. I had hoped thatthis job as a lowly security guard who is not usually faced with serioussituations might work out for him. But as you can clearly see, it has not. Andunfortunately, he also had a particular hostility toward Sigmund Forstmann—moreeven than most of the people in Bamberg.”
London flashed back to yesterday, when Oberhauser had actuallybeen quite pleasant toward her.
Unpredictably moody, she thought. Yes, that describeshim perfectly.
She also remembered what he’d said about Sigmund Forstmann.
“I wish I could do something to teach him a lesson.”
Apparently he’d finally given in to that urge—with fatal results.
“For now,” Erlich said to London, “I still must insist that youstay in Bamberg until further notice.”
“But the Nachtmusik—” London began to protest.
Erlich interrupted her, “Your ship shouldn’t be detained for verylong. Meanwhile, you are under strict orders to enjoy the rest of our HoffmannFest.”
With a wave, he headed away through the crowd. The oompah bandbegan to tune again, and the costumed men and women gathered to resume theirdancing.
Meanwhile, Bob had gotten to his feet and brushed himself off. Hestooped down to pet Sir Reggie.
“We’ve done it again, haven’t we, boy?” he said. “We’ve takendown another bad guy. By the way, excellent work sniffing that stick, pal. Itreally tied the case into a nice little bow.”
Then he stood up and said to Mr. Tedrow, “What do you say we headback to the boat, get all this written down in a full report we can turn in toMr. Lapham?”
Mr. Tedrow replied with a courteous nod.
“I’m honored to serve as your amanuensis,” he said.
“My what?” Bob asked.
Mr. Tedrow said, “Uh, that means somebody who writes about your,uh adventures.”
“Oh. Good.”
Bob pointed to Mr. Tedrow and said to London and Bryce, “I don’tknow what I’d do without this guy.”
Bryce chuckled as the two men ambled away.
“Are you OK with letting him take all the credit?” he said toLondon.
“I’m getting used to it,” London said with a chuckle.
“Can we go to the festival now?” Bryce asked.
“I just have a phone call to make,” London told him.
She dialed Captain Hays’s number, and she could hear the reliefin his voice as she told him over the phone about Willy Oberhauser’s arrest.
“Oh, thank goodness it’s over!” the captain said. “How soon did DetektivErlich say we could set sail?”
“It shouldn’t be long,” London said. “He expects Oberhauser totell him the whole truth pretty quickly. Once that’s settled, we’ll be free togo.”
“Excellent! And a job well done, my dear! So you have some timeto spare. Go celebrate to your heart’s content. You’ve earned it.”
“I’ll try to do that,” London said, ending the call.
It’s over, London kept thinking as she and Bryce and SirReggie continued on their way across the crowded square. There’s nothingelse to worry about.
So why did she still feel … well, worried?
Some things that hadn’t made sense a little while ago made senseat last—for example, Willy Oberhauser’s hostility toward her, and even hisnot-so-veiled threats. Naturally, he didn’t want London to find out … what?
That he killed Forstmann, obviously, she told herself.
But something seemed wrong, and London couldn’t quite put herfinger on it.
Just put it out of your mind, she told herself.
Surely she deserved to enjoy her remaining hours here in Bamberg.
In fact, surely it was time to celebrate.
But she kept thinking about Oberhauser’s words as the policemenled him away.
“You don’t understand … You don’t understand … You don’tunderstand …”
She had a queasy feeling that the man might be right, that therewas still something she didn’t understand.
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
As she, Sir Reggie, and Bryce approached the Hoffmann Fest stage,London saw that it was undergoing a rapid transformation. As she, Bryce, andSir Reggie approached, London could see both police and civilian workersrushing about, dashing onto and off the stage and carrying things as they went.A man toting a huge bundle of wadded up police tape hurried past them.
Sir Reggie watched the activity with interest, occasionallywoofing at someone who dashed by.
“I guess the festival stage is no longer a crime scene,” Londonsaid to Bryce. She shuddered slightly at the memory of everything that hadhappened there.
“That’s all over now,” he replied, squeezing her hand. “Now wecan relax right out front, while they announce finalists in the beercompetition.”
A row of long picnic tables had been set up in front of thestage, apparently for the competition winners. The nearest part of the plazawas filled with smaller tables and chairs for the audience, and most of thosewere already occupied by an animated crowd of people.
Just as London was wondering whether she and Bryce actually hadany seats, a man dressed in lederhosen stood up and waved at them.
Bryce nudged London.
“You didn’t tell me we were getting together with Helmut Preiss,”he said with a grin.
“He’s the one who offered us ringside seats,” London said,smiling back at him. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“Oh, not at all.”
Helmut’s table was indeed quite near the stage, and he had savedchairs for them. As they approached,
