Dancing in the Palm of His Hand by Annamarie Beckel

centre.”
    â€œBut aren’t the plants and powders, the odd concoctions, just part of a midwife’s trade?” said Lutz.
    Lindner cleared his throat. “Precisely,” said the physician, “and those who use herbs for cures do so only through a pact with the Devil, either explicit or implicit.”
    â€œSurely, Herr Lutz,” snapped Father Streng, “you are familiar with what
Der Hexenhammer
has to say about midwives:
No one does more harm to the Catholic faith than midwives. For when they do not kill children, they take them out of the room and, raising them up in the air, offer them to devils
. And this particular midwife delivered Fraulein Spatz’s stillborn child.”
    The priest stroked the plume of the pen against his smooth chin. “I should correct myself. While both Frau Lamm and Fraulein Spatz claim the bastard child was stillborn, others claim they heard a child’s cries in the night.”
    â€œFraulein Spatz has been in custody for several weeks now, awaiting trial on charges of infanticide,” said Hampelmann. “She was discovered trying to bury the unbaptized infant in consecrated ground.”
    Judge Steinbach sucked in his breath.
    â€œIndeed, gentlemen,” said Hampelmann, “though the bailiff found few suspicious items in Fraulein Spatz’s quarters – just several odd pebbles – I think we can agree that there is quite enough evidence against both Frau Lamm and Fraulein Spatz to proceed with the initial inquiry into the charges of witchcraft.”
    He leafed through the pages. “Now, with regard to Frau Bettler. As a beggar, she had no quarters to search, but when the bailiff questioned townspeople who live near to where she was known to ply her trade – Saint Kilian’s Cathedral and the town hall – four men and two women, of
good
reputation, Herr Lutz, testified that they’d heard the old woman muttering curses.Two of them claim that they became violently ill after refusing to give Frau Bettler more than a
pfennig
, and one woman reported that a child the beggar had touched on the shoulder became ill and died within three days. It’s possible that these reports are groundless – merely malicious gossip. But again, gentlemen, I believe there is sufficient evidence to proceed. Any objections?”
    â€œ
Nein
,” squeaked Judge Steinbach, his voice barely audible.
    The men waited silently while Father Streng sharpened his quill. Hampelmann pulled his fur-lined cape more tightly around him. The pine torches gave off little heat, and he wished that Freude or the jailer had built a fire in the wire mesh basket used to heat the chamber for the guards who were there when the commissioners weren’t meeting.
    â€œThe evidence against Herr Silberhans is more problematic,” said Hampelmann when Father Streng had finished. “He is accused of being a sceptic, even a defender of witches. Yet the bailiff found nothing suspicious in his quarters. They were, in fact, remarkably ascetic. A point in his favour, I think. And given the nature of the accusations against him, it is somewhat surprising that Herr Silberhans possessed neither books nor pamphlets of a questionable nature. Nothing, for example, on the
Index of Prohibited Books
.”
    Hampelmann pulled at his starched white ruff. “Albeit, I believe we would be remiss to release the young man. I propose that we bring him in and question him gently. He’s a law student at the university. His crime may be one of a dangerous foolishness in repeating aloud some nonsense he’s heard from one of his professors.”
    Freude paused mid-pinch, a wriggling louse trapped between his horny fingernails. “The boy must be shaved and examined for
stigma diaboli
. If he has a Devil’s mark –”
    â€œOf course,” said Father Streng. “That must be done.”
    â€œWe are agreed then in how to proceed with Herr