The Detective's Damsel

xxvii.

CORINNA WAS RIGHT. As she slipped between the glass doors, it was clear the computer lab was empty. The sun was setting and cast rays of fading daylight onto the carpeted floor. Her eye caught a rainbow reflected onto the wall in the corner and smiled despite her growing apprehension. She hadn't come there to chase rainbows.

Sliding into the nearest chair, Corinna booted up the computer, squinting into the bright white light of the home screen. It had been a long time since she had last used the databases, but her muscles remembered the movements easily. This time she wasn't spying on other people. This time, the person she was spying on was herself.

Her eyes tracked across the screen to the search bar. Corinna Báthory, she typed, before hesitating and deleting the surname. Then, she limited the results to 1565, the year she was born, and the region: Hungary. Her finger hovered over the search button, her sister's admonition coming back to haunt her.

What if you do not like what you see?

She was far beyond seeing what she wanted to see. Now she just wanted the truth, no matter how awful. Her finger came down. The page went blank for a moment as it loaded and Corinna held her breath, heart thundering in her chest.

The screen changed: No results.

Frantically, Corinna updated the settings to remove the date.

No results.

This time she did the opposite, leaving the date and changing the region to Europe. The idea that she hadn't even been born in Hungary was one she couldn't brush off easily, but her finger came down on the search button nonetheless.

A list of five names appeared and Corinna was surprised to find herself sighing in relief. She had to be one of them.

GAZDA, CORINNA ALIZ

Born: 1565

Died: 1597, scarlet fever

Corinna clicked away. This woman couldn't be her. She had disappeared and cheated death right alongside Elizabeth, making her death unknown. She followed the same process of elimination for every name until she reached the fourth one and her heart dropped into her stomach.

ROSZA, CORINNA MARGITA

Born: 1565, Slovakia

Died: unknown

Spouse: Niklos Mészáros (m. 1578)

Children: unknown

Notes: Stories of the past indicate that this woman was the product of an extramarital affair between Baron George Báthory VI (click here for details) and a woman in the servant class. Based on several accounts, it is believed this woman was taken in to be a member of the royal Hungarian family alongside Elizabeth Báthory (click here for details) and Stephan Báthory (click here for details) to hide the Baron's mistake from the court. Information on this woman vanished after 1585 when she seemingly vanished with her half-sister, Elizabeth. No other information is known at this time.

Corinna sat stone-still, reading the words again and then a third time for good measure. Certain words popped out of the screen like rusty blades, cutting away at Corinna's skin. Rosza, Slovakia, extramarital affair, Baron's mistake, vanished...