Free The Defeated Aristocrat by Katherine John Page A

bridle.’
    ‘You’ve seen one before?’
    ‘All doctors have to complete three months training in a psychiatric clinic. I was sent to Alte Pillauer. It used to be a workhouse. There was a pile of these bridles in a disused padded cell in the cellar. The caretaker told me they stopped using them about a century ago but the authorities never got around to throwing them out.’
    ‘So a mask like this wouldn’t be difficult to find?’
    ‘Not for someone with access to an old hospital, workhouse, or even a church. They were used as a punishment by all three institutions and called scolds’ bridles because they silenced as well as humiliated the wearer. They fit tightly on the head, preventing movement of the facial muscles. Some, but not all, have a built-in tongue depressor that makes it impossible for anyone strapped into one to speak. I’ll check this model when I remove it. As Lilli arrived after me I take it she didn’t discover this victim?’
    ‘The maid did. She cleans the rooms and changes the bedding between clients. A room here costs one mark an hour.’
    ‘Expensive.’
    ‘Not when you take laundry into account. Were those injuries inflicted before death?’ Georg was finding it difficult to control his emotions. He couldn’t stop imagining the pain the man must have suffered – if he’d been alive when mutilated.
    Martin referred to his notes. ‘Would you like me to outline what I think happened bearing in mind that some findings will be down to guesswork, not scientific conclusion?’
    ‘At this stage I’ll accept any help I can get.’
    ‘The police doctor gave you a report on the other victim?’ Martin asked.
    ‘You know Dr Feiner?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘You’re fortunate. He wouldn’t be the police doctor if his wife wasn’t the Burgomaster’s aunt. The man’s senile.’ Georg concentrated on a spot on the carpet so he could ignore the odorous lump of mutilated flesh that had been a living, breathing man. ‘After examining the victim, Feiner came to three conclusions. First he was dead. Second his genitals had been removed. Third, they’d been stuffed into his mouth or rather the gap in the mask that gave access to his mouth.’
    ‘I can tell you a little more than that about this victim, sir. His hands were secured to the headboard and his ankles to the footboard while he was alive. The evidence is in the rope residue on the metal and the bruises on his wrists and ankles.’
    ‘He struggled?’
    ‘The bruising suggests he did, but only after he was tied. There are no bruises higher up his arms or legs. Look around. The chair’s upright. The mats are straight. The room’s neat. There’s no evidence of a fight. Either he allowed himself to be tied to the bed …’
    ‘Or whoever did this straightened the room after they killed him,’ Georg suggested.
    ‘Not the killer. Not after the murder. He would have left bloody handprints. But if more than one person was involved, the ‘clean’ one could have restored the room to order after the victim had been trussed to the bed.’
    ‘Officers were here within minutes of the maid sounding the alarm. They locked down the building and checked everyone inside. No one was blood-stained and no one admitted to hearing a fight, raised voices, or anything out of the ordinary. But, given the nature of this house a few moans or screams might go unnoticed.’
    ‘I doubt the victim was able to make much noise once that mask was locked on.’ Martin approached the corpse. ‘You asked about the mutilation. His genitals were removed when he was alive.’
    ‘You’re certain?’
    Martin pointed at the bloody mass of raw flesh between the man’s legs. ‘For that much blood to flow, he must have been. I can’t be certain of the sequence but I think after the mask was locked on his head effectively silencing him, it’s likely his buttocks were lifted and supported by the low stool you see beneath him and his penis and scrotum removed. I’ll make a