Three vessels for the three sacred hosts.
“Blessed are thou, Jesus Christ. The holy monstrance, the holy monstrance. It is here among us.” The monks prostrated themselves on the ground, murmuring prayers, and the patients-at least those who were conscious-joined in the jubilation. Only now did Simon realize that the simple Brothers and pilgrims didn’t know that the monastery’s most valuable relic had been stolen a few days ago. For them finding the monstrance in a linen sack alongside a critically injured man was simply a sign from God, though they couldn’t say whether it augured good or evil.
“Get the abbot and the prior,” one of them shouted. “They must see the miracle with their own eyes.”
The youngest monk opened the door and ran out toward the crowd, which was still waiting. “The monstrance. It’s inside, a miracle. It flew all by itself from the holy chapel into the forest. A miracle!” he kept shouting.
Simon sighed and closed the entrance with the heavy beam again. Before the hour was up, all the faithful from here to the Hoher Pei?enberg would hear about the strange finding. Well, at least the precious piece had appeared again, though it wasn’t completely clear what role the novitiate master played in this.
Simon hastened again to the bedside of the critically injured patient, who was now in a state of semiconsciousness. When Simon bent over him, Laurentius suddenly opened his eyes and began to mumble. Simon leaned far down over the monk’s lips, trying to understand what he was saying.
“The… the automaton…” he gasped. “It’s down below. Fire… Fire…”
Simon could feel his heart pounding as he thought back on the white monogrammed handkerchief at the cemetery. Was it possible a living golem was haunting Andechs? Trembling, he placed his hand on Laurentius’s forehead. It was burning. Perhaps the monk was just delirious.
“Are you speaking of Virgilius’s automaton? What do you mean by ‘down below’?” Simon asked impatiently. “Did you find the monstrance down there? Say something.”
“The… the automaton… He had it… It belches white-hot fire… flames shoot out toward me, hellish flames, the fires of purgatory rage through the darkness…”
The voice of the novitiate master became weaker and weaker. Finally he fell completely silent and his head rolled to one side. Simon felt for a pulse, but it was barely perceptible. The medicus doubted Laurentius would survive the hour. The burns were simply too severe.
“In the name of the church, open this door!”
Simon spun around at the sound of impatient pounding at the door. One of the monks had already pushed the beam aside. The door swung open, and in stepped the prior and the old librarian. To Simon’s great surprise, there was no sign of the abbot.
The two church officials hurried toward the monstrance, which two concerned monks had already placed atop a chest. Brother Jeremias fell to his knees in front of the simple wooden chest as if it were an altar and raised his hands toward heaven.
“Holy Mary, Mother of God, let us give thanks for this miracle,” the prior began in a droning chant. “Nefarious thieves have tried to steal the holy monstrance, but they have been punished by the fires of purgatory.” He pointed at the unconscious Brother Laurentius, then made the sign of the cross.
“Finally their evil plans have come to light,” he continued, his voice cracking. “Brother Johannes and this wretched novitiate master have brought calamity down upon the monastery, but God himself has judged them, and all has turned out for the best. Let us give thanks for that. Amen.”
“Amen.” A chorus of monks and patients joined in the prayer of thanks as Simon, confused, looked back and forth between the monstrance and the severely injured Brother Laurentius. Was the novitiate master really the thief they’d been looking for? Had he stolen the hosts and abducted the abbot’s brother? And where was Maurus Rambeck, for that matter?
When the voices of the faithful had finally fallen silent, Simon turned to the prior and said in a soft voice, “Actually, I expected to see the abbot here. It must be of interest to him, after all, that the monstrance was found in the forest with the novitiate master, whom you consider the principal suspect.”
“The abbot is resting,” the prior replied coolly. “He hasn’t been well recently, as you surely know. I considered it best not to awaken him.”
And make yourself look like the great savior of the three holy hosts, Simon thought to himself. You scheming bastard, you’ll really do anything to become the next abbot as soon as possible.
“Why are you so sure that Brother Laurentius was trying to steal the hosts?” Simon replied.
The old librarian, who had stood silently alongside the prior till that point, cleared his throat. “Well, that’s obvious,” he said so loudly that everyone standing around could hear. “The sack with the monstrance was found beside him, and he has wounds that could be inflicted only by some unearthly force.”
“Incidentally, the same wounds suffered by the young novitiate Vitalis,” Simon interrupted. “Did the Good Lord also strike him down in his anger?”
Brother Benedikt glared at him. “Don’t jest,” he threatened. “But think of the Revelation of Saint John. What does it say?” He paused dramatically to let his booming voice reverberate through the room. “And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.”
The librarian fell silent for a while to let his words take effect on the monks and patients. Not until a reverent silence had come over the room did he continue in a stern voice. “I actually wanted to keep this a secret, but circumstances no doubt compel me to bring it to light now. The monastery council has suspected for a long time that the ill-fated Vitalis had… an unnatural relationship with his novitiate master.”
Shocked voices resounded, but Brother Benedikt raised his hand to demand silence. “Yes,” he continued, “the two were accursed sodomites, so it’s quite possible the Lord or one of his angels punished the two heretics with holy fire.”
“Ah, and the Lord no doubt drowned the novitiate Coelestin, just for good measure?” Simon interrupted, furious.
“Oh God, no. What are you thinking?” Brother Benedikt remained calm, letting a hint of a smile pass over his lips. He evidently enjoyed humiliating the impious bathhouse surgeon in public. “Poor Coelestin was no doubt simply killed by his master, Brother Johannes, after discovering Johannes’s plan to murder the watchmaker. The two, as we all know, argued often. Johannes simply couldn’t bear the fact that Virgilius was the better scientist, so he killed Virgilius and drowned Coelestin, who had gotten wind of his scheme.” Benedikt raised his hand like a lecturer at his podium, while the other monks hung spellbound to his every word. “And thus the case is solved,” he concluded in a loud voice. “It turns out there were two crimes. Vitalis and Laurentius were engaged in sodomy and were punished by God himself. The novitiate Coelestin, as well as Virgilius, didn’t die by magic but at the hand of a nefarious murderer.”
“A murder you can’t prove,” Simon interrupted. “The body of the watchmaker was never found, after all. Is he perhaps still alive?”
Now it was the prior who smiled. Brother Jeremias passed his tongue over his lips, obviously enjoying the moment before dealing his final blow. “I’m afraid I must disappoint you, my dear bathhouse surgeon,” he replied smugly. “Virgilius’s pathetic remains have reappeared. Brother Johannes had thrown them into the well at the cemetery, where they were just discovered this morning. You may go and have a look for yourself, Master Fronwieser,” he said, gesturing toward the door. “Brother Benedikt will be glad to accompany you. We can thank God that this case has finally been solved and this miserable snooping around can stop.”
The prior walked reverently over to the monstrance, bowed deeply, and finally, holding it high, strode out the door where the relics were greeted with great jubilation.