after the turn of the century in what is now southern Germany – Bavaria, and parts of Württemberg – there was a sudden return to more primitive attitudes, as if the peasantry were going back to the beliefs of their ancestors of centuries earlier, superficially Christian, but only a Christian patina over a deep, abiding pagan belief system. And doing it in droves. Tales of magic and sorcery ran rampant.’
Gloria said, ‘Great. Now you’re telling me Old Man Kessler’s father hung out with pagan priests?’
‘No,’ corrected Mark. ‘I’m telling you Old Man Kessler’s father was a mystery man, known beyond what his status as a minor merchant entitled him, at a time when all hell was breaking loose in southern Germany among the peasantry. There were a full half-dozen references to Fredrick Kessler and some other people whom he was known to associate with. But the maddening thing is … I’m looking at a black box. Something’s in there, I just don’t know what.’ He crossed his arms and obvious frustration showed on his face. ‘Something odd, and pretty mysterious, happened eighty, eighty-five years ago in southern Germany, and it was very important, but just exactly what it was is not yet clear. And Fredrick Kessler was involved. I wanted to talk to the son, but he was already in Europe when I got here, last year. I tried getting permission from his lawyer to poke around, but he wouldn’t allow it. So I snuck out here and checked out the grounds. I didn’t break into the house. But the lawyer got wind of it somehow and threatened to call the sheriff if I set foot on the property again. So I spent some time doing whatever research I could in the local newspaper morgue and the area libraries and even interviewed people who knew the elder Kessler – though there were only a few of them. When Herman died I was down in Washington, checking old banking records. By the time I got back, you and Phil had made an offer on the house.
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