"A proposition?"

Klaus nodded and made his way to the cupboards.

"Yes. A sort of business proposition. You help me, with an alibi or shelter for example, and I will give you something in return." He stated, pulling out a jar filled with sugar cubes. He pulled out a few of them and placed them in his pockets, saving one of them to gently place on his tongue.

Franz furrowed his brow. The man had no plan. He was a killer who was soon to be caught, and he knew it. Despite that, he decided to play along with his fantasy. He straightened himself up.

"And what exactly would I need to do? Hide you and then what?" He asked.

Klaus sighed and paced around the room. "This principality is...confusing to say the least. I have only read about the way it is run, I never actually set foot on its chaotic soil. But you see, I have a mission."

"What exactly does this mission have to do with Auchtermuchty?"

Klaus had a glimmer in his eye as if he had been wanting to tell someone this secret for so long. Holding it in like a ticking bomb. Franz shuddered as his stare lingered on. 

"I need to break into the Royal Palace, of course." He explained.

Franz tried to contain his laughter, "The Royal Palace? Break into the Royal Palace? Are you mad? And how exactly would you do this?"

The thing about his statement that made it so impossible, so utterly ridiculous, was that the Royal Palace was the last place anyone would ever think to break in. They couldn't even find it. Some said that perhaps it was hidden behind the mountains near the North coast, others proclaimed that it wasn't even in Auchtermuchty, but was actually on a ship circling the island. It was unfindable. The only way one could even fathom entering it's rumored gold halls was by invitation, and no one would be inviting Klaus to the Palace anytime soon.

"That's my issue," Klaus responded after some thought, "I can't get in. So I need someone who knows the way this place functions, someone who has lived here long enough. Someone respectable."

Franz raised a brow, "Well then, I am of no help. I'm the least respectable man in Auchtermuchty. I'm a lowly tax collector, a recluse. So I suggest you better get going, before sunrise."

"If that's the case, why would anyone come looking for you if you're so forgettable?"

Franz gulped. He had been caught. Clara shot him a nervous look; she too realized his mistake. Klaus rubbed his chin, observing the sweating man silently. Franz knew that confidence was a slippery road, and he blindly danced upon it. He made peace with his inviolable death and closed his eyes.

"Did I? I said that I did. I remember now."

"Hmm?" Klaus sang.

He moved closer. Franz silently reconverted to catholicism and Clara clung to her rosary as they both nervously awaited their doom. Klaus slid a hand into his coat. Franz imagined the many instruments of death he could pull out. A gun? A knife? Perhaps rope to strangle him. He wished it to be a gun, something quick and painless. 

To both Clara and Franz's surprise, Klaus pulled out not a weapon, but two slips of paper. Upon further examination, Franz could make them out to be two tickets. 

"Tickets?" 

Klaus waved them around playfully, "You may not be respectable, but you sure are clever. Not more clever than me, of course, but you are sharp. I need someone like that."

Franz pulled on a button on his vest, "But I'm not in high standing, isn't that what you require?"

"That is..." he waved his hands, "secondary. Most of all I need someone I can work with and you are the only person in this town who hasn't tried to get rid of me with a rifle"

Franz thought for a moment, "And the tickets?"

"Two tickets to London. On the SS Great Eastern. You can take whoever you would like."

He passed the tickets to Franz's shaking hands. He inspected the printed text. It was a legitimate ticket, the stamp was a few days old. His mind drifted to Jack Marner. His kind smile. He would love London, he was sure of it. But soon a familiar smell of peppermint invaded his thoughts. Clara. He couldn't leave her in Auchtermuchty. He ran a thumb over the ticket and passed it back to Klaus.

"I don't think I can help." He decided.

It wasn't about the people he couldn't take, he figured. It was about the people he was afraid he might never see again. The man was dangerous and impulsive. He would get Franz killed if he didn't kill Franz himself first. 

Klaus stared at him like he was speaking a different language, "What? You're not going to do it?"

Franz shook his head. Klaus's expression struck Franz as odd. He didn't seem surprised so much as offended. He wrinkled his brow and tucked the tickets back into his coat pocket, mumbling to himself. 

"Well that's...unexpected. It shouldn't...it never..." He swallowed and suddenly all worry was gone from his face.

"No matter, " he smiled, "you will want to help me. In time, I'm sure. And when that time comes, I'll find you."

He grabbed a spoon from the kitchen table and made his way to the door, leaving Clara and Franz in a cold and metallic smelling room. Franz peeked into the hall and Klaus brushed his hair back, the moonlight casting his shadow across the marble floors. He turned sharply.

"See you soon, Franz Schwarz." 

And as quickly as he had arrived into Franz's life, he was gone. And quite frankly, Franz was relieved.