" I see..." " You'll understand that a death of a child is most upsetting to a person" " It appears that the unfortunate man's son was killed in action 2 weeks ago on the front only this morning." "They were checking military records did the Gestapo discover the reason for the Corporals depression?" "that is all and the Gestapo could easily return by officers under their command" " That he suffered from depression that lead to suicide" " The Gestapo are satisfied that Hindenberg died by his own hand" " Will the body be sent to his relatives?" " Dispose of it as you wish" "Sir?" "Marshall!" "Sir?" "we'll be watching you like hawks" " And you'll never get the chance to do anything like that again." " By your action you could well have given Colditz over to the Gestapo" " You've done something our captors wouldn't have the stupidity to do" " You bet your life it will never happen again" "Sir" " If your idea of tackling the enemy is a personal vendetta." "You are wrong!" " And I'm not going to let you or any lunetic to deprive me on a particle of that responsibility." "Do you understand?" " I have the direct responsibility for the lives of 50 officers" " Is quite simple." "I am in command" " You're not getting it." "The basis for excistance in this place" " When was your child killed?" " I don't want sympathy and I paid off a debt" "Marshall?" " I've done it!" "Sir?" "and admit that I killed the enemy" "Sir because you're trapped" " I feel very good!" "and how I feel about it?" "Good!" "thought and planned and the time arrived and I killed him as an enemy spouting religion while stealing and thieving" " Why didn't you tell me about that?" " Because it's my business and killed them" " My little girl was with her aunt in Canterbury" " I had a letter from England" " He must have thrown it away and 4 year old daughter sold it two days later to a French captain" " That was just one of his activities He was also a thief" " You remember he used to distribute German bibles to the prisoners" "I'll tell you about him now tell us about Hindenberg" " I realised I could slip a wire bridge into the holes" " La Banque was always hanging around you" " Found the tiny holes on the right hand side of the office" " What about the alarm circuit?" " Traced the wiring made an impression made my own key" " How did you get in to the parcels office?" " There was no lace found in the parcels office" " That was just a trick to get you here" " How did you get in to the parcels office?" " You've got to give me back those plimsolls did you kill Hindenberg?" " Quiet!" " Get him!" " Are you ok?" " Hey Phil!" "whoever did it came up with the idea that it might be one of the British" " Which only works if Brent was wrong" "Sir" " Have you become a foot fetischist?" " That will show them that none of us is involved" " The Colonel will give them all our plimsolls first thing tomorrow morning" " What for?" " The Germans have found some plimsoll lace in the parcels office has asked me to collect all British plimsolls and put them in his room what are you doing?" " Collecting plimsolls" " Dismissed!" " Then our killer automatically will assume that 10 cm is missing from his laces" " 10 cm of broken plimsoll lace at the scene of the crime because they found...say... we collect all British plimsolls" " How about laces?" " Laces?" " If he was wearing plimsolls he wouldn't have lost one without noticing it he wouldn't have been crawling along rooftops with boots on" " Sneakers" " Sneakers?" " Tennis shoes" " Everybody's got shirt buttons" " A vanished shirt button?" "shirt?" "go on.." " What would he'd been wearing?" "whoever did it drops..." "and the Germans have just discovered it.." " Something that the Germans pretend that they've found in the place..." " What did you see in it?" "You were the only one who were there?" "something about the parcels office.." " but it's indecipherable and the Germans think it's one of three names... to write something on the floor in pencil that Hindenberg didn't die immediatly" " Rattle him so much that he'll panic again we'll just have to think about something that will rattle him a bit more" " It's easier said than done." " Put yourself in his place or I'll think of something to trick him out in the open there are 8 British officers that have nocturnal eating habits" "I could've dozed for 2 or 3 minutes for anyone to nip out and back to bed?" " We have to find out who killed Hindenberg" "I want you to think about this carefully." "Is it possible that you could have dozed off for a few minutes?" " No" " He's still have to get back without me seeing him." "I was awake all night is it possible that any British officer could have left the quarters?" " And nipped down here for about 5 or 10 mins and then lit your candle" " You didn't sleep?" " I don't sleep" " I usually lie and rest for an hour before I light my candle" " I got into bed just before light's out" " What part of the night?" " All night" " How did you spend the night before last?" "not enough to blow his brains out with his own gun" " What did you think about that?" "and stealing the stuff from French parcels" " And then I found out that he was taking orders from me and the other blokes..." "I thought he got the supplies from town" " Used to buy?" " Yes" " Why did you stop?" "aeroplanes..." " Like what?" " I used to buy some things from him" " No one said that you killed him." " Did you know him?" "would I draw attention to myself by saying that no one left the quarters that night?" "did you know Hindenberg?" "Colonel Preston has asked me to make inquieries" " Has he?" "not really my kind of thing do I have any vague recollections of killing him?" " Did you know Hindenberg?" " Right you said that no British officer could have left quarters that night." "Right?" " Killed?" " Yes" " There's some doubt whether a Pole or a Frenchman killed Hindenberg" " What are you doing here?" "and half by night" " One of the problems being awake all night is that you get screaming hungry at dawn" " What are you doing?" " Eating" " He's not in his bunk" "I want to talk to Brent" " But Brent said there was no officer that left the British quarters that night that it could have been one of us in the parcels office so could we" " Right.." "supposing it was done in hate" " I was convinced that none of us could have been stupid enough to kill Hindenberg" " The gun" " Yes" " Was left in the parcels office" " What is it?" " The most valuable thing to posess in this camp" "I think I've got it" "I find something wrong" " And they wouldn't have left that bit of wood laying at the floor" " The French would have been more elaborate" "Polish by taking each nationality in turn" " I'll go back to the beginning in the parcels office" "I think we've been approaching this all wrong just asking questions." "wake up!" " What is it?" " I still don't buy it." "What do you think?" "how to get into the parcels office" " What do you think?" " And I will discuss this no further" " I will not kill again it is finished a small token to repay what they did to my family" "I must keep in confidence" " But I would tell no one" " You'll tell me if I command you." " NO!" " And I found out everything they're able to neutralise the alarm system" " Because 2 French officers are planning to escape through the parcels office" " Why not?" "but I cannot tell you" "Major?" "yes I did that..." "I connected the circuit" " Unless you connect the circuit" " You can't get in to the parcel's office without setting off the alarm" " I don't know what you mean did you bridge it?" " Did you connect the circuit?" "what about the circuit?" " And you went straight from the Polish quarters to the parcels office?" " Maybe go into the parcels office at 9 return the key" " What time did you go down to the parcels office?" "can I ask you a question?" " I think one is enough for the moment" " Are you going to any others?" "but I still have some use" " Are you pleased with yourself?" " And I took his gun and shot him once" "I hit him" " That is why I shot him" " How did you get into the office?" "everyone knows" "I made them" " And breaks them..." " He calls me names and takes my needles" " The German pick came up to me and told me to move on." "I said no and..." "I was sitting in the sun knitting my caps" " There was some sun..." "I was in the courtyard two weeks ago and..." " Why did you do it?" "Hindenberg" " Correct" " Very good" " Sit down." "Be seated yourself?" " How is your knitting coming on?" " I'll get him you know." "the a fantastically brave escape from Pilsen be patient with him..." " We have a confession." "Be seated" " Where's Phil?" " Zibnicz ..." " Colonel Cybulski want a word with you" " One of the Poles has confessed." "A Major Zibnek" " His God was a lousy God as a matter of fact" " It's his move." "Thank you!" "do you take over?" " Simon!" " But because he was a thief" " Maybe just because he was German ...but not because he was a stupid ill-tempered German guard well somebody killed him" " Yes..." " He was not intrinsically a person one could get worked up enough about" " I didn't kill him" " Did he ever steal anything from you?" " It's the cause and the definition of madness" " There is no problem with paradox when a person is mad" " He was a sick man" " How did he?" " I was interested in the paradox and how he reconciled it as well as a religious zelot" " A couple" " I saw you having rows with him" " They say the prayers while they steal your eyes all Hamburgers are the same making their money from the port the other rich merchants you know Hamburg?" "many things" " So you talked to him quite a bit" " A certain amount he made some attempts to convince me that his God was better than mine" " He was some kind of confused Lutheran" "I took one" " No" " How come you got so close to him?" " Was there anything likeable about him?" "but on occasion companiable" " It's like..." "like living on some remote hillside and making some relationship with a wild cat" " How well did you know Hindenberg?" " How well can you know a guard?" " They could no more do that than kill eachother they're all solid" " So you don't think it was a Dutchman?" " No" " Or the British..." " You'll have to look elsewhere..." "The Poles or the Dutch until we're out and then killed him... thinks it was" " De Labanque is wrong!" "Phil." "It wasn't a Frenchman that killed him." " I had plenty of time to make it not the outer door?" "It's a simpler lock" " I was planning to make one" " When was the last time you had the key?" " The first time I looked for it in a weeks time was today at 10 o´clock" " You can ask... where's the key?" " We couldn't compromise out escape for a fat little German!" " Wouldn't it for this affair we would be out to freedom by that routine 2 weeks from now" " My comrades fixed the security alarm" "I made the key" " What do you think?" " We planned to escape through the parcels office" " What do you think?" " I think that one of you could have killed him" "I don't think so he made the key which was probably used by the assassin do you think one of your men killed him?" " One of us is perhaps more pleased than the others." "So far he's got away with it" " And you're pleased that Hindenberg was killed?" " We're all pleased" " In this slum!" "And of course the link with outside no it's a chance to keep our identity our civilization" " What do you think?" " The parcels are very important to us" " You think we executed the big... that let's you out right?" " Oh yes." " You...." " Voila!" "and completes the circuit wheter the door is open or not" " And down here they are along the wall they switch it off in the Guard house opening the door breaks the circuit." "the alarm will ring before the Captain made the key" " And you think that's sufficient motive for killing a man?" "when and where get their parcels by ordinary mail" " The contents and the numbers of them can be checked" " Who do you think could have done it?" " Not very Polish an unimportant German dies.." " That's not really dramatic enough..." "Sir?" " Death is an inevitable part of it" " War is like that and start shooting hostages" " I have to find out who did this" " I would like to shake his hand not read about it replaced by certain new kinds of blood sports" "Warsaw." "you play cricket in England your culture ridiculed" " Tranported like cattle to a slaughter house destroyed..." " One day London might be occupied by the Germans" " You learn that it isn't" " Murder is murder" " to realise that one German less is a little gift from God" " I am" " You sound very positive..." " I don't like the idea of someone knocking somebody unconcious and then putting a bullet in their head" " What do you think?" " That will be useful as well as entertaining" " Then we'll kill some Gestapo" " And if the Gestapo takes over Colditz?" " Fuss over nothing." " What do you think?" " No doubt that you've been told by the senior officer that it is.." " Murder?" "Sir" " I'm going to talk to the Poles just for informing" " But the Poles are the type that carry out this kind of killing and it was a French parcel that Hindenberg was stealing" " The French has got a key to the parcel's office" " Rather leaves the Poles and the French no British officers left quarters" " How about the British?" "I'd take them to the bottom of the list" " I agree" " Not the type that would premeditate to create this kind of murder" " Most of them are quiet" " Let's start with the Dutch" " There's a lot of ppl who'd wanted to get Hindenberg" " Alright" " It is also contra productive..." " It is a tragedy when a soldier dies this way" " You'll make your men available for questioning and so we'll probably question the prisoners" " We will look into it" " We heard he fell downstairs yesterday" " There are laxity in the regularities of this camp of course... a sick man can not be on duty..." "Hauptmann Ulmann would it be possible to keep this news from the boy?" " He waited 2 years to kill himself?" " Iti seems so" " It seems so?" "he got bouts of depression about that otherwise he'd been relieved of his duties how could a serving soldier in the Fuhrer's army be drunk in the afternoon?" " At what time did he fall downstairs?" " Mid-afternoon I believe" " That happened when he fell downstairs yesterday." "He was drunk" " We'll have to check it anyway kept him awake all night" "Captain Brent said that no Britiish officer left the quarters between midnight and 7 am this morning." "Sir and he's good with the Poles and the French" "Sir who would you like?" " for everybody's sake that we find who did this." "It seems appropriate that you lead the inquiery" " I've had a meeting with the other senior officers and it's been agreed... he didn't believe me but..." "I know" " He wanted to know how much I knew" " What did he want?" " He said that they're going to give to suicide" " Come in!" " And that you instruct your officers to give their fullest cooperation." " I also propose that Lt. Carter will be put in charge of the inquiry." "He was the officer that saw the situation" " What you suggest is that we investigate" " Exactly we are responsible for the lives of all our officers if we can find out who it was" "I'll say in order to save lives we must be prepared" " Take some of our officers they're quite likely to take hostages" " And if they find out that Wehrmacht are wrong and it is murder" "I think that Gestapo will investigate this" " Why not?" "I don't think it's going to be as simple as that" " The first thing we should do is to find the man and congratulate him..." " I assure you that there's evidence." "But the most urgent thing is to discuss what we'd do about it." " I would like more evidence that the guard was killed" " The Wehrmacht and the Gestapo as well but is that likely that it would happen here in Colditz?" "A death wouldn't just involve the police yes?" "the Gestapo certainly go" " If it gets out that one of the guards was killed." "That will give Gestapo the excuse to take over Colditz and the Wehrmacht have to make a suicide out of it why do the Germans say that he killed himself?" " But he'd also been hit around the face with a lump of wood" "Hindenberg was shot alright" " Murder?" " How?" "it's murder let's us hope it's a fashion that catches on..." "Hindenberg" "Good morning!" " Colonel Preston why did you want to see us?" " I'd rather leave that until Gen. Reitz is here sit down will you..." " Good morning!" "Colonel" "Herr Kommendant" " Thank you!" "Colonel?" " As it's only too clear that Hindenberg committed suicide" " But obviously this does not apply in this case let me finish please... not Gestapo" "10 lives for one" " But if the Gestapo came to the conclusion that Hindenberg was killed by a prisoner" " It reflects the inability of the Wehrmacht" " Now this is a situation that should never arise for whatever reason" "I don't quite see..." " One of our men dies in this place..." " Not least with the Gestapo" " But most serious is the fact that a guard has been found dead here in Colditz" " And had he been discovered he'd been severly punished" " That's a grave breech of military discipline" " that Hindenburg apparently had been stealing from the prisoner's parcels" " I have just now found out" "Sir" " Has he talked to you about it?" "Lt. Carter was there when the body was discovered" "Herr Kommendant" " Has been found dead in the parcel's office" " that one of the guards you are possibly aware please you report to the Kommendant immediately" " Come in!" " And the Germans know I saw him" " And you were the only prisoner to see into that room?" " I was the only one to see Underberg" "I said the French ones" " And there was a lump of wood on the floor but he had a great bash on the side of his face but I got another look from the outside window" " You managed to see into that office?" " I jumped up at the counter" " then he goes behind the desk and opens the door to the inner room goes inside and call the guards opens up as usual and about 15 of us go in" "Sir At 0800 Corporal Ehrlight" "Sir" " We know there are guards who talk to the Gestapo" " Allow no one else into this room" " Check every security device in the castle" " Double all the patrols" " Put it all back and get rid of that piece of wood" "Sir" " You don't steal chocolate and then kill yourself" " What evidence is there that it was murder?" "foot-steps"