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It's June 13, 1886 in Bavaria, Germany.

A young police officer tramps through the grounds of Berg Castle on the shores of Lake Starmberg near Munich.

The officer holds a lantern aloft

as he picks his way through the dense undergrowth,

scanning the woods for any sign of the man he's looking for, Bavaria's recently deposed monarch,

King Ludwig II.

Just yesterday, Ludwig was declared insane by a royal commission and forcibly removed from power.

The king was institutionalized here at the castle,

despite his claims that there's nothing wrong with him. Earlier this afternoon, Ludwig went

for a walk in the grounds with his doctor. But the pair never came back, and the alarm was

sounded. A team of police officers was called out to scour the grounds with sniffer dogs.

But despite searching for hours,

nobody's been able to find the missing men. So now the young police officer wanders down a slope

toward the lake. Silver moonlight catches the waves, rippling the water's surface. The officer peers

into the gloom, his lantern swinging from his extended hand. He's about to turn away

and continue the search elsewhere when he spots two dark shapes bobbing around in the shallow water.

The officer squints, then gently steps into the water, his feet immediately sinking into the soft

mud. He starts waiting deeper until he's in up to his waist. The floating shapes are just

...