Together Napp, his nephew, Bother Timothy and Heinrich Darmstaedter, who had decided to return with the Oberstleutnant, walked, as quickly as Napp's limp would let them, across the garden, past the potting shed, and up the stairs to the guest room. For the first time, Napp saw soldiers inside the monastery grounds, and two determined looking Gefreite, lance-corporals, were guarding the door to the far wing.

Upstairs the top corridor was similarly guarded, and outside Reishach's room a full Feldwebel stood by the door, which was ajar. As they got closer they could all smell the acrid fumes of a recently extinguished fire.

"What's going on, Sergeant-major?" barked Reishach as he neared the Feldwebel. The NCO came to attention and facing the wall opposite gave his report. "A fire, sir, started in your room, sir. Appears to have been set deliberately. Not much damage, sir. I had it out in seconds, as soon as it was brought to my attention, sir." His heel crashed down on the floor and he stiffened.

Long experience had taught him that no matter what happened, or why it happened, it was always the Sergeants that somehow got into trouble. He kept his face blank and stared past the flushed face of his officer.

"Explain, Sergeant-Major," Reishach shouted, and Napp winced in pain at the volume of his nephew's request.

"Mid-afternoon, sir, I was on duty on the north wall when I hear the porter shouting. I went to investigate, sir, being the senior sergeant on duty, and found smoke coming from your room. The room being locked, sir, I applied force and entered. A small fire was burning on your desk, sir, but it was only a few papers. I crossed the room, sir, put out the fire with my hands, sir, made sure nothing else was burning then exited the room and placed a guard on the door, sir." He stiffened under the expected attack, but Reishach just snarled and pushed past him into the room.

Napp followed, but the rest of his guests stayed in the doorway, where Darmstaedter examined the door lock. There was no key, but clearly from the damage caused by the Feldwebel's entry, the door had been locked.

Reishach strode to the desk and let out a sharp yell. Following a few choice explicatives, he became coherent again and pointed to the desk. Napp looked. The broad desk was covered with charred paper flakes many of which were now blowing around the room.

"My Abstimmungreservelists," he yelled, "someone has burned my lists of conscripts!" Napp looked closer. The leather folder was open on Reishach's desk and still appeared to hold a stack of papers; the lists of names. But some of the pages had been crumpled and set of fire on the desk top. This had charred the desk surface and also the wooden stem and stand of the antique reading glass that Mendel had rescued days before.

"Sabotage!" shouted the Oberstleutnant, "someone has deliberately broken into my room and set fire to the Abstimmungreservelists in an attempt to sabotage the conscription. This is treason!" At which words Darmstaedter also came across the room and looked at the damage.

"Hussites," he said calmly, pointing a long, bony finger at the burnt pages, "they have been busy in this area lately. This looks like their work. But don't worry Herr Oberst, we know who they are and we will have them under lock and key within hours. You have my word."

But his promise was interrupted by a second yell that made everyone jump. Reishach was pointing across the room in the direction of the fire place. At first Napp did not understand what had caused his nephew to shout out. There was no fire, and the mantel looked exactly the way it always did. But the soldier jumped across the room and almost danced in rage as he looked down at the grate and surrounding tiles.

His guests saw immediately what had happened. Lying in a thousand tiny pieces were all that remained of Oberstleutnant Ludwig Reishach's family heirloom. The ugly Krautstrunk Beaker had been dashed to the tiles and smashed into unrecognizable shards of glass, totally beyond repair!