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uneven floorboards.  The mystery was solved when he looked up and spotted the water stains on the ceiling; the roof leaked badly, which would also explain the warped floorboards.  Must be very interesting in the wet winter months, he mused. 
    Schull’s room was distinctly below average; small and basic with just the bare essentials of a bed, a table scarred with cigarette burns, one hard wooden chair and a wardrobe that had a couple of drawers below the squeaking doors.  A tiny private bathroom held a stained enamel toilet plate of the type that one placed one’s feet on the raised sides and squatted over.  There was also a small bathtub with taps that were possibly non-functional based upon the amount of scale encrusted on them, although one of them had a drip that would keep anyone awake at night.  The small grime-streaked window looked out onto the roof of the hotel kitchen below at the back of the hotel. 
    Presumably Schull had not been prepared to spend the extra few francs out of his own pocket for an upgrade, or did not understand the system.  All senior German officers on assignment, either long term or short, were allotted their hotel accommodation.  The price rate was determined by the command HQ in overall charge of the garrison in the city or town, a rate that was inevitably well below that which the hotel would have charged in peacetime.  Hotel owners and management had no choice but to accept; the alternative was to find themselves without any custom at all from the German military, in the virtual absence of any civilian trade.  Complaints regarding the pittance that they were being paid were ineffectual, and at least it gave them some cash flow to remain open and operational. 
    All of the better class hotels in the city had been taken over by officers based there long-term.  Unlike many officers who used fear, bullying or a supplement from their salary on hotel managers to improve their standard, Marner had to admit that his permanent room at the Hotel Aurore in the 16 th arrondissement was comfortable.  Those officers new to the city or visiting on short term assignments were inevitably left with the remaining lower class hotels that had not been claimed, the Hotel Dauphin being a prime example. 
    The fact that Schull’s coat and spare shirts and clothes were scattered on the bed, the open suitcase on the floor and the wardrobe doors and drawers left open indicated one of two things: either Schull was chronically untidy, or someone had performed a quick search of the room with no care or concern that the search was noticeable.  But then, dead men do not complain that their room has been ransacked. 
    After telephoning the reception to summon the manager, Marner used the time spent waiting to effect his own search of the room.  There was no business case, just the empty suitcase and nothing of any relevance in the pockets of the clothes.  He checked the few places that Schull might have hidden anything of value but this also came up blank.  Marner was examining the lock on the door – no evidence of damage or tampering – when the wheezing manager arrived.  Forced to listen patiently whilst the man, between gasps for air, haltingly introduced himself as Monsieur Pichon and explained that he suffered from asthma and flailed his arm wanly back along the corridor, Marner guessed that Pichon was less happy with the out of service elevator than his guests were. 
    When Pichon was finally in a fit state to respond to his questions, Marner explained that the officer Schull who had taken this room was dead and that an investigation had been started.  Pichon was genuinely surprised to hear of the death, but could offer Marner no information in return.  Pichon stated that he had not personally seen or met Schull, that there had been no unusual activity or people in the hotel since Schull’s arrival.  The hotel had no security manager, the personnel numbering just Pichon and his wife, plus a