It had taken an hour for sanity to return to the monastery after the discovery of the fire and the sabotage. Untercommandant Darmstaedter had tried to claim jurisdiction over the crime in the name of the Moravian State Police, and Ludwig Reishach, when he had calmed down, forcefully made a case for the attack being a military matter and one for him to sort out and punish.

But Abbot Napp would have none of either claim. This was still church property and he would supervise any investigation. He was afraid of letting either the police or the military conduct a witch hunt that might run out of control and drag the church into disrepute. He was also well aware of how the Bishop would rant and rave if the secular authorities began to trample on any of the church's hard won rights and privileges.

But no one had known where to start until Brother Timothy made a suggestion. "Talk with your guards," he said to Reishach when the group had moved from the smelly guest room and into the Abbot's reception room several doors away. "They have been guarding the monastery continuously for several days. They would know if any strangers have been seen, and the gate porter would know if there were any visitors this afternoon."

This suggestion was acted on at once, but both the porter and the Feldwebel of the guards were adamant that there had not been any visitors, authorized or unauthorized. Knowing the habits of soldiers performing boring duties such as guarding, Reishach was particularly thorough in his questioning, but the Sergeant-major was equally emphatic that his men would have seen and prevented any strangers from entering the monastery in irregular ways, and the porter insisted that the first time he was aware of any problem was when the stranger at the gate told him about the fire.

"So it had to be someone already inside the monastery," purred Brother Timothy, taking the investigation in exactly the direction he wanted - and Abbot Napp feared. "There were so few people left here today, what with one thing and another, it should not take long to question them all and find out what they know."

Untercommandant Darmstaedter, the moment Brother Matthew appeared, threw out the first spoken accusation. "Klacel," he roared, "I should have known!"

"Known what?" asked Reishach, unaware of Brother Matthew's history. He was not kept in the dark long. "You mean you have been harboring a known Hussite right here in the monastery?" he turned accusingly to his uncle. "Without telling me!"

"There is no evidence that Brother Matthew has done anything wrong," replied Napp, trying to keep down his own growing fear. "I have known Brother Matthew for a very long time. He might be a foolish supporter of various Czech causes, but he has never committed crimes of passion or violence."

"But he was seen at the attack on the military carts, just a few days ago," Brother Timothy reminded them. "And who else could it be? No one entered or left the monastery all afternoon. The door to the guest room was locked, and only someone familiar with the fact that the Abbot kept spare keys could have got in or out of the guest room and re-locked the door."

"Also," hissed Darmstaedter, "Klacel has been in similar trouble before, and was only saved by you, Napp!" He pointed at the Abbot, who did not reply.

"The crime was discovered almost the instant it was committed," continued Brother Timothy. "The fire had hardly started when it was found and put out. Only a few pages had burned, so the arsonist could not have gone far - only as far as the library." It was known that Klacel spent most of his time in the 'secret' rooms behind the main library. In fact, that was where he had been located after the fire started.

"This evidence is incontrovertible," yelled Napp's nephew, "I want that monk."

"Well, you cannot have him," Abbot Napp told him quietly. "I admit the case against Brother Matthew looks bad, but it is all circumstantial. No one saw him come into this part of the monastery, and no one saw him leave after the fire was detected. Anyway, why would Brother Matthew want to burn the conscription lists?"

"Why would he want to attack military supply carts?" Darmstaedter responded. He had made up his mind that Klacel was at the bottom of this act of sabotage, and he knew, as did no one else in the room, that Pech had been watching and could confirm the fact that no strangers had violated the monastery and started the fire.

"There is still no evidence of that, either," snapped Napp. "Brother Matthew is being accused of these crimes on no greater basis than his beliefs. He had good reason for being in Brno when the carts were attacked; I sent him. He was also confined to the monastery during the time the military was here, as far as I know, he has not contacted anyone since that day."

"But who else could it be?" asked Brother Timothy, quietly pouring oil on the fire. "Perhaps it was a moment of impulse. He knew he could not contact his Hussite friends and plan more acts of sabotage, so he took the only opportunity he had and desecrated the conscription lists."

"And don't forget," Darmstaedter added, "that most of the names on that list are Czech. You have said yourself, Napp, that Klacel is upset that so many of his countrymen are being called to the colors. Perhaps he was trying to save some of them!"

"It looks bad, Onkel," Reishach said, putting out his arm and resting his hand on his uncle's shoulder. "Perhaps you are right, and all the evidence is circumstantial, but very damming, you have to admit." He turned to Darmstaedter. "But I can see how this case creates other problems. There is the matter of jurisdiction; is it a military, police or even church matter?" He paused and looked around the faces in the room. "I have a suggestion. Klacel will be placed under guard, here at the monastery. I will provide the soldiers and make sure that the monk does not leave.

"Then," he went on, "we will ask the Bishop to convene a council consisting of a police representative, a military representative and a church representative. They will form a joint tribunal that will, together, decide what is to be done. In the mean time Darmstaedter's men will question all the witnesses, collect statements, and prepare the documentary evidence to present to the tribunal. Abbot Napp can appoint someone to help in this process, and I will have Steefel, my aide, co-ordinate matters from the military perspective. How does that sound?"