It was with a slight smile of surprise that Heinrich Darmstaedter nodded to the officer and agreed to see Alois Pech. Once his best informer, Pech and been silent and absent for some months, and the Untercommandant was not prepared for the changes he saw in the man who now entered his office.

Pech was a lot thinner, and his clothes, which had never smart had at least been clean and well kept, were now dirty and frayed. But it was his face that marked the more serious ravages since their last meeting. His cheeks had fallen inwards and his eyes protruded from deep, dark pockets under his wispy eyebrows. A large, angry bulge throbbed on his lower jaw, and the informer kept rubbing at it with evident pain.

"You have information for me Pech?" Darmstaedter asked, trying to keep the distaste from showing in his voice or face.

"Indeed," Pech said, bobbing slightly as he always did when standing before the Untercommandant's imposing desk. He had never been comfortable this deep in the Politikteil section of the Polizeiwache, even in those times when he had been a respected informer, but now that he had fallen on hard times, he felt even more nervous.

"So what is it?"

"I understand you are looking for the Hussite nationalist Katerina Novotna," Pech said, aware of the tone in Darmstaedter's voice and coming right to the point. "Well, I know where you can find her".

Any surprise that Darmstaedter felt at the fact Pech knew of his recent operations and attempts to catch the Czech agitator, were kept hidden as he carefully responded, "Her capture is one of our higher priorities, and any help you can give us will be most appreciated".

But Pech had his own priorities. "This information is valuable, is it not?" he asked, and rubbed at his painful tooth once more. He needed the money urgently. It would be costly to have this tooth removed or treated.

"There will be a substantial reward for the capture of Novotna," Darmstaedter said, "but don't try to blackmail me, you scum. Give me your information at once!" The escape of Katerina Novotna from their carefully prepared trap had been a source of considerable embarrassment to the Politikteil, and several of his underlings were still smarting from the hail of rebukes that had been flung around the office afterwards.

Pech cringed and the false courage he had been screwing into himself during his journey to the Polizeiwache now all evaporated. He was not a brave man and Darmstaedter had him totally intimidated. So Pech explained as quickly as possible how he had seen the Hussite Novotna escape from the warehouse and get away in a carriage belonging to Grunewald.

At the mention of the industrialist's name, Darmstaedter's eyebrows shot up, but Pech hurried on with his story. "No, no," he assured his audience, "Herr Grunewald was not involved, it was that monk Klacel. I watched him take the woman into the carriage and help her to escape from your soldiers. They returned to the monastery and later he took her to a cheap pivnice behind the brewery in Old Brno. She is still there and Klacel visits her regularly".

It was not often that Darmstaedter showed any emotion, other than anger, to his subordinates, but Pech's news was so unexpected he could not prevent a mild oath from escaping his lips. "Klacel ... Klacel!" he almost shouted, "I've been hoping that damm Hussite trouble maker would slip up sooner or later". He looked suspiciously at the informer. "You are sure of this. It is not just some fantasy that you have dreamed up to impress me?".

"No, no," Pech assured him, "Klacel has Novotna hidden in Old Brno. Of this I am sure. I would not lie to you, this is all the truth I tell you." His jaw and tooth were very painful and his hand hardly left his face.

"Well," Darmstaedter purred, sitting back in his chair and allowing his long, bony fingers to come together in a steeple formation, "that is most interesting, most interesting indeed. If this is true," and here he looked at the unfortunate informer with a scowl, "we finally have the evidence we need to arrest Klacel and have him put way for a long time. This is a good day, a good day for Austria and the Empire".

And for you, Pech could not help thinking. He knew that Darmstaedter had an almost personal vendetta against Brother Matthew and had been keeping a very thick dossier on the monk and his activities. Many times in the past the Untercommandant had tried to gather enough hard evidence against Klacel to convince a judge, or the Bishop, to turn him over to the secular authorities for punishment. But politics, the power of the church and particularly the cunning way in which Abbot Napp had kept Brother Matthew just far enough away from trouble, had always frustrated his plans.

Now, with Napp dead and Pech's hard evidence of Klacel's involvement with a notorious terrorist, Darmstaedter could almost feel the cold, hard steel of the shackles going about Brother Matthew's wrists. He could hear the 'click' as the chains were locked around ankles of his nemesis. But he must not move too soon. Novotna had slipped away from him once before. This time he must be patient and take both of them in a way that could not fail.

"Details!" he barked at the unhappy Pech, "give me all the details. If your information is accurate this could be the end of Klacel and the capture of two notorious Hussites at the same time. I need not tell you what will happen to you if your are wrong about this!"

"I assure you, I am certain of the information. I saw it all with my own eyes. But ... er ... I wonder if you could pay me for this information now. Times are hard and my family needs the money". He did not add that he needed it more so he could attend to his tooth.

For once Darmstaedter's mind was not focused on what his informer had just said. He was already thinking of what he would do to Klacel once the monk had been arrested, so he missed the pleading note in Pech's voice and did not see the pain or urgency in his face. "Of course not," he said automatically, without thinking, "you will get your money when I have the Hussites in my hands, and not before. This is the usual arrangement, and I see no reason to change it".

Pech knew better than to argue, but the pain in his face seemed to grow worse as the possibility of relief faded. "Just a few guilder," he pleaded once more, desperation giving him momentary courage.

"Get out!" Darmstaedter yelled, making his worst mistake of the day, "give me the details, then get out of here. You will receive your money when I have confirmed the value of your information, and not before".

It was with considerable misery that Pech found himself on the cold Brno streets about an hour later. He had no coat, and his tooth was an angry ball of constant pain throbbing in his head. What could he do? He could not wait for the arrest of Klacel and the release of his money, he needed it now.

Dimmly, though the blur of anguish and despair, Pech walked and walked, not knowing where he was going until he saw a metal shape swinging in the wind above him. It was a shop-sign consisting of a metal mortar and pestle that told the non-literate customers that they had come to a pharmacy. Although he had no money, he recognized that some relief might be found within these premises, so he pushed open the door and went inside.

Karl Theimer saw his latest customer with some disgust and was about to send one of his assistants to have Pech abruptly removed, when Pech spoke. What he had to say interested the pharmacist enough to have him reconsider his decision.

Some time later Pech was seen leaving the pharmacy with a large bottle of laudanum and Karl Theimer was seen calling for a carriage.