The Sand Pit

1891. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is ruled by the Emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph I. Its capital is Vienna.
Baron Julius T. Drashe is a wealthy brick factory and sand pit owner from the upper class with a villa in a hamlet at the gates of Vienna. He is of good family, well-educated, well-respected, hard-working and honourable. Also, he is being blackmailed – and pays.
Merlin (?) – no surname – is from no class at all, has grown up in the streets and like so many others at the time, is unemployed. He is a pickpocket, burglar, confidence trickster, (excellent) street painter and (dreadful) street musician, magician, and everything else that is dubious. So, he never stays in any place long and changes his name about every two weeks. On the run from the police, he has just stranded in baron Drashe’s village when, on the way to hide some stolen goods, he falls over the dead blackmailer. Since there seems a lot of money to be had at baron Drashe’s, he decides to take over the dead man’s job. Unfortunately, that does not turn out to have been the very best idea...

Source cover picture: District museum of Hernals / Bezirksmuseum Hernals
Hernalser Hauptstraße 72-74, 1170 Vienna