The year is 1835. In the Kingdom of Württemberg, in the small town of Bönnigheim, a murder has just been committed. The town’s beloved mayor has been gunned down in cold blood- a senseless crime with no apparent motive- and the elusive murderer manages to slip away, seemingly without trace. Despite the best efforts of a remarkably ingenious investigator, the case would remain unsolved for decades.
On the other side of the Atlantic, a storm is brewing between the Mexican government and American settlers, eventually erupting into the Texas Revolution. As America is drawn into war with Mexico, troops are amassed to besiege Veracruz in what would become the first large-scale amphibious assault conducted by United States military forces, and the largest in history until D-Day. In writing of the battle, Robert E Lee makes a curiously poignant entry in his journal regarding the heroic death of a German-American soldier, remarking “I doubt whether all Mexico is worth to us the life of that man”. Little could he have known that the man to whom he ascribed such praise was actually an assassin.
Continue reading “Death Of An Assassin by Ann Marie Ackermann”
Whenever I fell asleep, it was sound. I worked from 0700 hours until midnight, six days a week. I had to—in a war zone. I remember when morning came too soon once. It was an hour too early. The thunderous boom jolted me awake instantly. My eyes opened and I stared at the metal ceiling above me. Based on the explosive impact, I assumed there would be casualties, and likely…death.
