The white king

The white king is a piece from Hans Meyer’s chess set that Caspar Leinen first encounters among the papers in his office and later carries into court. Moving from the disorder of late-night preparation to the formal courtroom table, it becomes a recurring object that connects Leinen’s private work on the case with the trial itself.

In Leinen’s Office

During a late night of sorting witness statements, expert opinions, police reports, and forensic evidence, Leinen searches for a small overlooked detail that might explain the murder. Hans Meyer’s chessboard stands on a side table, while the old chessmen are scattered among the document piles and used as paperweights. The white king is thus present amid the very files Leinen hopes will yield a key to the case: an object from Hans Meyer’s belongings set among the materials through which Leinen is trying to understand the killing.

Carried into Court

Before leaving his office, Leinen puts the white king in his trouser pocket. He takes only the arraignment document in his briefcase, but the chess piece accompanies him. The next morning, as the trial is about to begin, he removes it from his pocket and places it on the table in front of him. Its movement is precise and visible: from the chess set among his working papers, into his pocket, and finally into the courtroom.

Narrative Function

The white king recurs at a transition between preparation and trial. In the office, it is one of several chessmen pressed into service as paperweights; in court, Leinen places it separately before himself. That change of position gives the object a quiet prominence without establishing a specific explanation for his choice. Its association with Hans Meyer remains literal, while its arrival at the defense table makes it part of the trial’s material setting and links the case file to the person whose murder is being tried.