‘Did the police find anything in his room?’

‘They haven’t asked to see it.’

Figured. ‘Has anyone been inside?’

The abbot looked at the door and pointed to a bit of wax running from above the lock onto the frame. ‘No, my seal is still on the door.’

‘Open it, please.’

Inside was not what Andreas expected, and from the abbot’s gasp, nor had he. The place was a mess. Books tossed everywhere in a way suggesting they’d been skimmed before discarded, a mattress sliced to pieces, every drawer emptied, contents scattered across the floor.

‘Jesus – sorry,’ said Andreas.

‘I was thinking the same thing.’ The abbot shook his head. ‘How could someone get in without disturbing my seal?’

Andreas didn’t answer right away. He stood studying the mess. ‘What’s missing?’

‘I have no way of knowing.’

‘Think hard. Think about the man, think about his life, think about what he valued, what he used. It might help you to remember something.’

The abbot stared at the floor, then at the bed, and finally at the desk. ‘No, I’m sorry, he treasured his cross, it belonged to his grandfather, but other than that I can’t – wait a minute. Why, of course! His computer! It’s gone.’ The abbot looked around again at the mess. ‘All his disks are gone, too. He loved his laptop. It was his pride and joy. We presented it to him last year as a gift in honor of his fortieth year with us.’

‘Are you sure no one else but you had access to your seal?’

‘Positive. It is from this ring.’ He thrust out his right hand. ‘And it never leaves my finger.’

Andreas nodded. ‘I was afraid you’d say that. Otherwise it would be all too simple.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘Since no one could have entered after you sealed the room, someone had to get in before you arrived. No way they got in through that window.’ Andreas pointed. ‘It’s still locked shut and must be forty feet from the ground. Unless this is one of the great coincidences of all time, where a man’s room is ransacked and his life taken in the same night in unrelated incidents, I’d say if we find who did this we find who murdered him.’ Andreas paused. ‘Unless, of course, you or one of his fellow monks did this after learning he was dead and before you sealed it.’