'Andrzej Pialowicz is indeed the most wanted man in Cracow. In compiling a dossier on his activities prior to the fall of Poland, we discovered that among his many other female conquests was a Jewish woman living right here in Cracow. Rather than arrest this woman, we placed her under surveillance in the hope that she would eventually lead us to Pialowicz which she did. She was observed leading him out of the Wawel Cathedral reportedly where he had been hiding and then driving him away in her car. Since it was our belief that Pialowicz was being taken to rejoin the other members of his resistance group, and since the over-zealous oberleutnant in charge of the squad of SS troops took this as his opportunity to catch the whole gang, he did not arrest Pialowicz or his mistress, but instead followed them at a discreet distance with two other SS men, in an ordinary Polish car with Cracow number plates. The drive ended at a warehouse in an industrial area south of the city. Pialowicz entered the warehouse alone and his girlfriend turned her car around and headed back to the city. Deliberately letting the woman go, since he knew where she lived, the over-zealous young oberleutnant called up for support, then led an inept a.s.sault on the warehouse. In the ensuing fracas, some resistance men and SS troops were killed, but Pialowicz managed to elude us again and has not been seen since.'

'I'm sorry, sir,' Ernst began, 'but I'm not sure '

'Why we called you here?'

'Yes, sir.'

Major Riedel smiled bleakly, then sighed as if in despair. Naturally, Captain Stoll, as we were keeping a watch on Pialowicz's girlfriend, we saw everyone entering or leaving the building in which she resided

and to our surprise, Captain, one of the most frequent visitors was you. Pialowicz's girlfriend, as you will have gathered by now, is also your mistress, Kryzystina Kosilewski.'

Ernst turned cold with shock, then felt himself burning. He glanced at the floor, but felt nauseated, so looked up again.

'Do you wish to deny it, Captain Stoll?'

'No, sir.'

'Good,' Major Riedel said, 'since although we were aware that you are in charge of that building and therefore have good reason for going there, we were intrigued by both the frequency and lateness of your visits. We therefore took the liberty of checking with the other, now mostly German, residents. Lieutenant Ritter, here, was in charge of that particular task and can confirm that according to her neighbours, Frau Kosilewski was opening her door to you on a regular basis and that when you visited, you stayed there for a long time, indeed often all night. You were also observed taking her parcels of groceries and other contraband items. Do you wish to deny this?'

'No, sir,' Ernst said, wanting to die, but rescued by a hot wave of hatred when he saw Ritter's thin smile.

'I'm glad to hear it,' Major Riedel said, unclasping his hands and sitting back in his chair, looking more weary than outraged. 'You do know, of course, that it's an offence for a German soldier, much less an SS officer, to knowingly fraternize with a Jew.'

'I didn't know she was Jewish, sir. In fact, she categorically denied it the first time I met her.'

'But you knew she was Polish.'

'Yes, sir, I did.'

'Lucky for you, Captain, you're an exceptional officer with particularly close ties to our beloved Reichsfhrer. Otherwise I would have you shot for this.'

'Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.'

'Lucky for you, also, that stripping you of your rank would necessitate a lengthy and potentially embarra.s.sing report to our beloved Reichsfhrer, which could rebound unpleasantly on me personally.'

Unable to break the ensuing silence, Ernst heard his own heartbeat, resounding like a gong in his head, tolling his doom. He glanced sideways at Ritter and again saw his triumphant smirk.

'As you will have guessed,' Riedel said wearily, 'we will now be arresting your mistress, the Jew b.i.t.c.h Kosilewski.'

'Yes, sir,' Ernst said, feeling as if his face had been slapped, his stomach kicked by a heavy boot.

'I would like to punish you by having you personally make the arrest, Captain, but since that could make matters more complicated than they are, I will instead insist that you accompany Lieutenant Ritter to your wh.o.r.e's house and stay by the van while the lieutenant and his men drag her out. If nothing else, I want you to see that, Captain Stoll. Do you understand why?'

'Yes, sir,' Ernst said, already feeling the awful humiliation that the major wanted him to suffer.

'Good. Now get out.'

Shocked and shaking, feeling alternatively hot and cold, Ernst, after saluting, followed the gloating Ritter out of the office, then along the gloomy corridor of the building, down a flight of stairs, then out into the freezing, windblown courtyard, where a small, black, windowless van, used for collecting suspects, was parked. While two armed SS soldiers climbed into the rear, Ernst sat up front beside Ritter and the driver, shaking even more with humiliation and dread as the van started off and headed through the narrow streets of Cracow in the afternoon's darkening light.

'What will happen to her?' he asked of Ritter.

'She's all mine,' Ritter replied with a leer. 'I've been given twentyfour hours to make her talk, but I won't need that long.' His leer widened lasciviously over blackened teeth. 'She'll give me everything I want soon enough.'

Ernst closed his eyes, knowing exactly what Ritter meant. He shivered with revulsion and the shame he had thought was long dead in him, then protected himself from it with a rage at what Kryzystina had done to him. The wh.o.r.e. The Jewish wh.o.r.e. He opened his eyes again, saw the charcoal light of late afternoon, and sat up straight when the van braked to a halt in front of her house.

'Can't I watch from in here?' he asked pathetically.

'No,' Ritter said, grinning again. 'You have to come out and formally identify her.'

'You already know who she is.'

'That's not the point,' Ritter said. 'The point is that you formally identify her. That's your punishment, sir.'

Ernst nodded and climbed out, determined to hide any weakness from Ritter; also determined to let his rage against Kryzystina protect him from sentiment as the lieutenant and the two soldiers entered the building with theatrical urgency. They came back out soon enough, this time with Kryzystina, who was sobbing and protesting in vain as the two soldiers dragged her across the pavement and Ritter, bawling something that included 'Jew b.i.t.c.h wh.o.r.e!' slapped repeatedly at the back of her head. Then he grabbed her by the hair and jerked her head back to let Ernst get a look at her. Already her face was bruised and her dark eyes tearful. She saw Ernst and gasped.