David glanced at his watch when the Kaserne gate was swung open for him, and as he drove through, he shuddered in relief. Sixteen twenty. Not enough time left to make it to the border before it closes. A hotel. He blew out a deep breath. But not here. Have to get away from Karlsruhe.

As he drove southward toward Rüppurr, he tried to focus on the passing scene to divert his mind from the interrogation room. But the horror of it continued to creep in, then thoughts of the two missing in February. Franz and Ernst. Three months now since. I wonder ... He paused his thoughts, trembling. No, Manfred said they've had no Swiss.

He forced himself to return his attention to the lush scenery, but his mind soon wandered back to Franz and Ernst. Pirmasens is too far from Karlsruhe. Likely an interrogation centre closer. Maybe Kaiserslautern or Zweibrucken. He shook his head. Back to the scenery, David. Then, thoughts of Greg filled his mind.

Half an hour later, after several more drifts to vivid images of torture, he arrived in Ettingen and stopped to take a room in the gasthaus where he had eaten on the way north. Then, upstairs and finally with privacy, he removed his trousers to examine the dressings. Blood had soaked through the upper one. Not much. Should I change it? He said twice a day. It's been only three hours.

He moved to his foreskin and pulled it back to see the gauze had lightly yellowed. No blood. Satisfied, he recovered his head. Check the other one, David. Damn the twice a day. Wouldn't want to lose this because of my own stupidity. Bad enough to deal with the results of Blaumann's. And the privileged bone-headedness of Manfred.

After he had removed the dressing and saw no fresh bleeding, he added more of the paste from the tube and wrapped the cut with fresh gauze. Then he took out his notebook and wrote the details he could remember, beginning with the flat tyres.

As he pondered the first thunk and scream, he thought, Must have been a smashed ball. Spray would be radial like that, rather than a more focused spurt from a severed ... He closed his eyes, cringing at the thought. When he had regained his calm, he continued writing, and in this stop-and-go fashion, he filled several pages, concluding with the comments Grünewald had made about standard procedures and progression.

He reviewed what he had written and added footnotes, amplifications and an overview. Then, after he had sketched the design of the thrones and the layouts of the two rooms, he checked his watch. Little wonder my stomach's been growling. Nearly twenty thirty.

Downstairs, a few minutes later, David entered the common room, and after reading the menu chalked on the slate, he selected one of the chairs at the empty end of a long table, nodding greetings to others as he sat. The room was about two-thirds full, a good number of old men, but mostly women from old to young. And as far as his quick survey could determine, he was one of only a few young men.

He smiled back at some of the stares, then he opened his novel to the bookmark and began reading. A short while later, a voice beside him interrupted, "What may I bring you?"

David looked up at the young blonde, remembrances of Maria's first approach flooding his mind. "A small carafe of white wine, please. And the weißwürste special." He pointed to the slate.

He had just returned to reading when another voice interrupted, "The way you speak. You're not from here."

"No, I'm Swiss." Looking up from his book, he watched three young women settle into chairs, one beside him and two across the table.

"And what brings you here?" The one beside him asked.

"I'm on my way back to Switzerland from business meetings."

The dark-haired woman across from him sighed. "You're so lucky in Switzerland not to be caught up in this horror."

"Oh, but we are caught up. The first many months of the war, most of our men were called up and sent to guard our frontiers, not knowing if or when our neutrality would be violated, as had happened in Luxembourg and Belgium." He shook his head. "Our women were left to fend for themselves and to fret. Those months were hell for many."

"But the hell continues for us. Almost two years now."

"True. It needs to be stopped." David moved the bookmark and closed his novel. "But we also continue to suffer. Before the war, the major part of the Swiss economy was from tourism. Now, with leisure travel brought to a standstill, there's little work. We're in a financial crisis, and it's ..." He paused to look up when the fräulein brought his carafe.

As she poured, David turned to the three women and asked, "May I offer you some wine?" Seeing their eager nods, he ordered another half litre.

The four resumed their conversation, and within a minute, three glasses and another carafe were brought to the table, and when the wine had been poured, David lifted his glass in a toast, "Let's drink to this chaos soon ending."

The conversation continued, the four exchanging first names, and David carefully probing to gather information on some of the hardships being faced by the women and on what they knew about the fighting.

He felt his leg being rubbed by another under the table, and Kristel, the blonde woman across from him, asked, "Do you need entertaining?" The other two giggled, and he felt two more legs against his.

David lifted his book. "I have an excellent bit of entertainment here. Die Verwandlung by Franz Kafka."

"We could transform you in other ways."

"And how would you propose to do that?"

Magdalena, the dark-haired one across from him, undid the top of her bodice and exposed her bosom.

David nodded, pursing his lips as he examined. "I've always admired finely-formed female breasts. Very pleasing to look at. "

Ursula, the brunette beside him, placed her hand on his thigh and moved it toward his crotch. "We're not expensive. Only ten Marks for all three, twenty for all three, all night."

Kristel opened her clutch, took out three packets and tossed them onto the table. "We're clean and free of disease, but if you have concerns, we have protection."

Ursula explored the bulge along his thigh, and he winced at the pain as she reached his head. He lifted her hand, shrugging at her wide-eyed, open-mouthed stare. "I thank you for the offer, ladies. You're all beautiful and enticing, and in earlier times, I would have been quick to jump at this adventure. But now, I have dinner coming, an excellent book for diversion, and above all, a gorgeous wife in Switzerland who is pregnant with my child."

As the women's legs moved away from his, he added, "The craving for companionship is very strong. It must be difficult for you with most of the young men gone."

Magdalena blushed as she rearranged her bodice to cover her breasts. "But to make it worse, now it is almost impossible to find work." Her blush deepened as she looked up from her clothes. "Even our attempts at prostitution have failed. You're fortunate not to be affected by the war."

"Oh, but I am affected. All of Europe is, as well as many countries around the world." He sighed. "Germany was once a prosperous, proud and powerful nation, but now, most revile it as an evil villain and have ceased support. It is now so weakened, it cannot properly care for its people."

"We will soon win the war, and life will be better for everyone. We are told we must endure a bit more, then –"

"Have you thought they tell you this to encourage continued support? To continue sending men to the trenches to be maimed or killed? How much has your existence declined since they began telling ...?"

David paused as the fräulein placed his dinner plate in front of him, and then he pointed. "Now, instead of a thick, succulent schnitzel, potatoes and fresh vegetables, you have little but sausages of fat and gristle served with sauerkraut." He looked into the eyes of each woman in turn, then he asked, "May I buy you something to eat?"

He watched all three nod.