Rastenburg, East Prussia, Farm of Tadeauz Malewicz
July 21, 1944, 1605 hours

Vladimir and Tadeauz walked out of the farmhouse to find Major Reinhardt standing by the door. The Major had his pistol in his hand and was pointing it at them. They stopped dead in their tracks.

"I had to come back," Reinhardt said.

"You are going to arrest us?" Vladimir asked nervously.

Reinhardt smiled an evil smile. "No, I am going to kill you," he said. "Major Gerstein was a friend of mine."

"We told you what we know about your friend," Tadeauz insisted.

"Yes, I know what you told me," Reinhardt replied. "And since I was raised on a farm, let me tell you what I think of your story."

Vladimir and Tadeauz exchanged nervous glances.

"First, you claim to be butchering a pig," Reinhardt said. "Butchering is usually done when the weather is colder."

"We needed the meat," Tadeauz explained.

"So you have said," Reinhardt replied. "You claim that you did not check on the car parked on the road because you were in the middle of butchering."

"Once you start …" Tadeauz said.

"I know, you do not stop until you are finished," Reinhardt interrupted. "And you claim that the blood on the ground in your barn is from the pig."

"Of course, the pig will bleed," Tadeauz said.

"But if the killing is done correctly, the blood would be drained after the pig is dead, not during the killing," Reinhardt countered. "I do not believe your story."

"We can only tell you what happened," Vladimir said.

Reinhardt shook his head. "Let me tell you what I think happened," he said. "Stauffen came here to meet with you and Major Gerstein followed. Together with Stauffen, you killed Gerstein in the barn and took his body to the car. You killed a pig so that you could explain the blood in the barn and also supply blood to put on the ground near the car to make it look like Stauffen killed him there. Then Stauffen left to fly his plane to Berlin."

Vladimir was shocked. Reinhardt had guessed the entire scenario.

"You seem to be at a loss for words," Reinhardt said with a smile. "I must be correct."

Vladimir shook his head immediately. "It happened the way we told you," he said.

Reinhardt laughed. "You continue to lie even when confronted with the truth," he said. "Stauffen was arrested in Berlin last night. We shot him." Reinhardt stopped to let the fact sink in. "And now, I will shoot you." He slowly raised his weapon.

Out of the corner of his eye, Vladimir saw Grzegorz slowly sneaking up behind the Major with a long club in his hand. Vladimir remained motionless.

Suddenly, Reinhardt whiled around and aimed his weapon at Grzegorz. "I would not try it," he said.

Vladimir saw his chance and leapt at the Major, landing on his back. He wrapped both arms around Reinhardt's head and began twisting. He felt bones cracking and heard Reinhardt screaming in pain, being only vaguely aware of the man scratching and clawing at him and of Grzegorz and Tadeauz attempting to grab the pistol from his flailing arms. With all his strength, Vladimir gave one last twist. He felt the man's bones popping loudly and with one last horrendous scream, Reinhardt crumpled limply to the ground.

Vladimir rolled off and looked at the man. His head was grotesquely twisted sideways – almost turned completely around – and blood oozed from his nose and mouth. Blank eyes stared back at him. Vladimir stared at the man for a moment before scrambling up and running to the corner of the house. He bent over and vomited on the ground. As he stood there retching, he became aware of a hand on his shoulder. When he straightened, he saw Tadeauz standing beside him.

"Are you all right?" Tadeauz asked.

Vladimir looked back at Reinhardt's lifeless body. "None of us are," he replied. "We must leave immediately."

- - - - -

Vladimir signed off the radio and out of habit, began to tuck it back into its hiding place. He stopped and laughed. "No use hiding it anymore," he muttered. He had just informed The Center of what happened and they had ordered the entire team to proceed to a safe house in Konigsberg. Vladimir knew the journey would be difficult – once Reinhardt's body was found, they would be hunted down and killed.

He stood and looked around at the small room that had been his home. He felt sadness at leaving – not just for himself, but for Tadeauz and Jacinta, who had spent their lives on this farm. He turned to leave but stopped when an idea came to him suddenly. He quickly went back to the hiding niche and retrieved the SS uniform he had used when he was working with Major Freitag in Leipzig. "This may come in handy," he said. He quickly stripped off his farm clothes and put on the uniform. He checked the pocket to make sure his papers were still there. Satisfied everything was in order, he climbed down the ladder.

When he got to the kitchen, everyone stood there staring at him. He smiled at their surprise. "I am a Corporal in the SS and you are my prisoners," he said laughing.

"Wladimir, you look so …" Jacinta began.

"Evil," Tadeauz completed his wife's sentence with a smile. "Do you think this will help us?"

Vladimir nodded. "I still have the papers," he said. "We also have guns, so if we travel as if you are my prisoners and I am taking you to Konigsberg, we should have no trouble." He noticed that they had brought Reinhardt into the kitchen. "You are keeping him here?"

Tadeauz nodded. "His body will be burned when we set fire to the farmhouse," he said grimly.

Vladimir noticed a can of petrol in his hands. "You're going to burn the house?" he asked.

"It is the best way to destroy everything in the house," Grzegorz replied.

Vladimir looked at Jacinta and noticed tears welling in her eyes. He nodded. "I agree," he said. "Let us do it quickly … it will be less painful."