Saturday, 1st of April 1922...

...around noon, one day after the 5-fold murder, two coffee traders told the local voluntary town spokesman Lorenz Schlittenbauer that they had not encountered anyone in Hinterkaifeck. The two also mentioned that the dog in the stable had been howling loudly. When Schlittenbauer's son came home from school, he reported that Cilli from the farm in question had not appeared at school. Lorenz Schlittenbauer's ears perked up, because only one day earlier Andreas Gruber had complained about an obviously unsuccessful burglary. Schlittenbauer offered his unpopular neighbour his help, but he refused. For these reasons, and because his son was living on the farm, the local leader decided to check on Hinterkaifeck on the evening of April 1st, 1922.

When the local guide arrived at the farm, he actually found it deserted. Only the pitiful howling of the watchdog inside the barn could be heard. The guide suspected that something might have happened to the inhabitants and thus also to "his" son. He pulled open the double-winged gate in order to provide help if necessary. When the local leader entered the barn, he was attacked without warning....

What Lorenz Schlittenbauer had to experience on that night on April 1st 1922, and what was to change his life forever, can be read in the novel "The Lark's Call" or in the non-fiction book "Der Gruber war's", by Adolf J. Köppel.