I introduced Klaus Mansfeld, aka the Leopard, in The Woman in Blue as a master art thief and mentor to Neal during his years in Europe. Initially I had no intention of Klaus hanging around. He was killed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art about a third of the way into the story, and I assumed I'd seen the last of him. But characters have a way of taking matters into their own hands and it wasn't long before I began to hear rumblings that Klaus was alive.
Warning for spoilers for the Caffrey Conversation series
It started gradually with Neal having PTSD issues because of guilt over the manner of Klaus's death. They mirrored my own qualms about killing Klaus off. Like Neal, I'd fallen under his spell. Yes, he was a villain, but he was truly attached to Neal, considering him to be the younger brother he wished he'd had. Klaus loved art and classical music. He was a gourmet, a bon vivant. And I've always had a soft spot in my heart for leopards. Penna can attest to the number of anguished emails I wrote her over Klaus's demise. Could he possibly be saved?
When the cybercriminal Azathoth showed up later in the same story, the thought crossed my mind that there could be a connection to Klaus, but I dismissed it. It wasn't until I was working on the first draft of An Evening with Genji that Azathoth whispered his identity to me. No longer was he an unknown cybercriminal—he was Klaus's older brother Rolf. At first, I assumed Rolf blamed Neal and Peter for Klaus's death, a view they shared in The Dreamer. They didn't know who Azathoth was, but they discovered he'd been stalking them. When he was linked to Marta and Jacek Kolar, two Czech experts who'd worked for Klaus, Peter and Neal first began to suspect a connection to Klaus.
Neal commented in Nocturne in Black and Gold he never felt like he was being haunted by Klaus, but I certainly did. When I figured out how Rolf faked his death, a ghostly voice mused what would happen if Klaus had made use of the same tool?
Once Klaus reemerged from the shadows, he was no longer content with a small crew. In addition to his brother Rolf and tech specialists Marta and Jacek Kolar, he's allied himself with the international criminal organization Ydrus, and not just in a professional way. Klaus is in an intimate relationship with the head of Ydrus, Anya Kaldy. All Klaus needs now to make his victory complete is Neal, and for that he's relying on Rolf for assistance.
Now an additional member is added to their crew: Dr. Erasmus Penfold, an unethical neuropsychologist. Caffrey Conversation needed a mad scientist, right? I cast Brent Spiner for the role, who excelled as one in the Independence Day movies. I have big plans for Erasmus. Mozzie has long urged me to introduce a character capable of creating Hitler clones. Could Erasmus be the one? There's a touch of the evil Nazi scientist about him. In him, Rolf has found the ideal facilitator for the mind games he loves to play.
What the future holds for the Leopard is unknown, but one thing is clear. This is one cat who still has many lives.
Nocturne in Black and Gold on Archive of Our Own
Nocturne in Black and Gold on FanFiction
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