Chapter 3: Mr. Strange

London, 1786

"My husband did not commit suicide," Mrs. Blackwheel said, tapping her foot on the wooden floor. "He was murdered by an unknown man."

The Judge wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he told a man dressed in white to present his facts.

"On July, 1781, Mr. Blackwheel's dead body was found on top of a bridge with a knife in his hand. According to onlookers, they had seen a man leave the scene with a necklace he had taken from Mr. Blackwheel’s neck. There was no evidence of struggle between Mr. Blackwheel and the man who Mrs. Blackwheel claimed to be the murderer of her husband."

"Is that all?" The judge asked.

There was a short silence. The man dressed in white inspected the piece of paper he was holding.

"Anything else, Mr. Strange?" 

"Nothing of interest, sir."

"If you are withholding information that may lead to a better understanding of the case we are dealing with here, I advise you make a reasonable decision before putting yourself in a position you can't escape."

Mr. Strange slowly folded the papers and put them inside his pocket. Mrs. Blackwheel looked up at the Judge and then Mr. Strange, helplessly, wonderingly. Mr. Strange looked at the Judge and then smiled.

"I don't see myself as a man of honor, sir," Mr. Strange began. “I know how you feel about withholding information to the public. You are in a position to administer justice to the good people of London and you feel obliged to do it no matter the cost, don't you?" Mr. Strange voice came low and soft; and the Judge, listening, almost grew tired of telling him to go straight to the point. "I possess information that may affect Mr. Blackwheel's reputation badly," Mr. Strange continued. "I beseech everyone present in this court room to leave so I can speak to the Judge alone."

"That is not going to happen," Mrs. Blackwheel raised her voice. "If my husband was a murderer, I have every right to know who he has killed. Why are you keeping us in the dark when you can show us the light? If you say what he has done, will it affect him? My husband is buried in a famished road in Stockholm. If there is any sense of remorse you have for his legacy, you will tell everyone in this court room how he lived his life or you can keep your mouth shut forever and never open it in public."

Mr. Strange anger rose. He was trying to protect Mr. Blackwheel's image and he did not want Mrs. Blackwheel to condemn him for protecting her husband.

"I don't want to anger a dead man's soul," Mr. Strange said.

"If there is a way out of this case and you are the one stopping us from reaching that side, I won't hesitate to ensure that I use my power to send you to Mr. Blackwheel's resting place," the Judge threatened.

"There is more to Mr. Blackwheel than family and England. There is more to him than being a special adviser of the former king of England."

“Listen, Mr. Strange. It has been five years since Mr. Blackwheel left the earth. Since then, there have been rumors about the cause of his death until you showed up in my office and presented me with reasonable facts explaining his death. Mrs. Blackwheel has lived the past five years of her life looking at the mirror and wishing the death of whoever that was present during her husband's last moment here. Do you understand the position that I am in?”

Mr. Strange said nothing. He wanted to talk, but he did not like the tone of intense eagerness in the Judge's voice. He heard the door behind him open; he turned his head just in time to see two royal guards step inside the court room and shut the door. He knew if he didn't start talking, he wouldn't be sleeping in the same bed with his wife before the end of the day.

"Oskar," Mr. Strange said. "The man that was with Mr. Blackwheel during the night of his death was called Oskar."

"Tell the court more about Oskar," the Judge said, clutching his hands.

Mr. Strange wanted to explain the first meeting Mr. Blackwheel had with Oskar; how he had promised the young Swedish man that he was going to protect him; the tremendous excitement that took over him when they made a blood covenant.

"Oskar was like a brother to Mr. Blackwheel. They shared a lot of things in common. They ate on the same table, drank wine together and had sex with the same woman," Mr. Strange paused to take a quick look at Mrs. Blackwheel. Her countenance had changed. She was no longer full of excitement.

"You may continue, Mr. Strange," the Judge urged him.

"Mr. Blackwheel was part of a brotherhood in Sweden. They called themselves, 'Priory of Göteborg'. They committed crimes ranging from abduction to sexual abuse even as far as public rape. It is sad to say that Mr. Blackwheel wasn't always the good man that most of us knew him for before he left with his wife and family to Sweden," Mr. Strange stopped to watch the reaction of the people in the court room. Solid eyes gazed at him, surprisingly worried if he actually knew the punishment for misinformation.

"On one occasion," Mr. Strange continued. "Mrs. Blackwheel's husband was coerced to rape a virgin who was the sister of Oskar."

"Lies!" Mrs. Blackwheel screamed. "My husband was a decent man even in death. He was a good man. A moral man!"

"Sir," Mr. Strange said, facing the Judge. "Inside my pocket are evidences proving that her husband was a murderer and a rapist. He wasn't only a murderer and a rapist but an influential man in the brotherhood who gave orders and took orders. It seems quite unbelievable for me to say this, sir."

"You know the punishment, Mr. Strange," the judge looked at him sternly.

"Well," Mr. Strange turned to face the people inside the court room. "Mr. Blackwheel was not a human. He was a werewolf."