BRANDT STOOD looking down at Neumann. The SS man’s body was lying on the floor behind the desk. One of the window panes behind the chair he’d fallen from was broken and blood had spattered the intact glass around the hole the bullet had left. Neumann’s dog lay across his master’s corpse, whimpering. Brandt picked up the open bottle of brandy and took a swig, the alcohol raw enough to scrape his mind clear for a moment. Another problem. Another corpse. The dead bodies were piling up at the hut and he wondered when it would end.
‘I heard a gunshot.’
The mayor, wearing a wrinkled collarless shirt – his trousers suspended from braces that accentuated his gut and cut into his shoulder fat, stood in the doorway. His unwashed, sleepy hair sloped to the right, turbulent and stiff. A pistol hung from one hand, while the other rubbed the hangover from his eyes.
‘Neumann shot himself.’
‘Neumann?’
Brandt offered him the bottle of brandy but the mayor shook his head. Brandt glanced out of the window. Soldiers and civilians were moving quickly across the dam now and, as he watched, a cart that had become stuck was heaved over the side onto the ice, horse and all – leaving only a ragged hole to mark where it had fallen.
‘The Russians are in the town. Which must mean they will be coming up this side of the valley soon. If they aren’t already. I’ve told the boys to be ready in five minutes.’
‘I give the orders here,’ the mayor said, his eyes still fixed on Neumann’s lifeless body.
‘The Ukrainian guards showed up an hour ago,’ Brandt said, deciding on a different tack.
‘They did? Where?’
‘Outside the front gate. Dead. Whoever killed them smashed their teeth then cut their throats.’
‘My God.’ The mayor’s mouth, Brandt was pleased to see, hung open. His teeth uneven and, so far, intact.
‘They were carrying gold fillings and teeth – from the camp. We found them scattered over the bodies.’
‘God in Heaven,’ the mayor whispered.
‘We have orders, Herr Zugführer. Retreat across the dam. Join Oberst Wenke’s force.’
The mayor said nothing in response.
‘Or stay here and have your teeth broken in and your throat slit. I’m taking the boys across in five minutes.’
Brandt pushed past the mayor, who offered him no resistance.