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the corridors, down the walls, from the ceiling – and the smell of unevacuated waste was overpowering. As Hartelius and his wife waited for the shelling to diminish, the emergency lights began to flicker. Smoke and dust drifted underneath the doors and through the ventilation shafts as if strobe lit.
    Inge von Hartelius could no longer control her outrage. ‘That whore Reitsch didn’t steal my plane, did she, Johannes?You understand why I am asking you this?’ She glanced up at the ceiling in an echo of her husband’s acknowledgment that there might be listening devices. ‘As one of the few women left in this house of fools, everybody treats me as if I am invisible. Even the secretaries refuse to acknowledge me. I would like to crack their simpering heads together.’
    â€˜I understand very well why you are asking me this.’ Hartelius begged her with his eyes to be discreet. ‘Von Loringhoven informed me that the lovebirds flew out in an Arado Trainer, not a Fieseler Storch. And from the far side of the Tiergarten. Also that they landed safely at Rechlin Airport. So it is still possible to get out of here if one is allowed to purchase a suitable lottery ticket.’ Hartelius pointed up at the light brackets and then to his ear. ‘Your plane is still on the Charlottenburger Chaussee. The Führer has ordered his men to keep it on standby.’
    â€˜For him and Eva Braun?’
    â€˜Absolutely not. The Führer has made it very clear that he means to die here with his wife.’
    â€˜His wife?’
    â€˜He and Frau Hitler were married last night. Things move fast here in Berlin.’ Hartelius lowered his voice again. ‘Though not as fast as the Ivans, apparently. They are within two hundred metres of the bunker as we speak. Only the two thousand men of the SS Mohnke Brigade stand between us and Götterdämmerung . Normally, I wouldn’t trust the SS further than I can spit. But for once we must be grateful for their crass stupidity.’
    Inge von Hartelius took her husband’s hand. ‘Why don’t we make a break for it, Joni? If we can somehow reach the plane I could still fly us out.’
    â€˜What? You mean bluster our way through?’
    â€˜Yes. You’ve always been particularly good at that.’
    Hartelius gave another of his barking laughs. He loved it when his wife made fun of him. He lowered his voice to match his wife’s. ‘Impossible. These fanatisch glaübig SS diehards who stand between us and Armageddon also stand between us and freedom. And all officers have been disarmed on the Führer’s direct order. If he doesn’t want us to leave, we don’t leave. It’s as simple as that.’ He squeezed his wife’s hand. ‘We have been allocated a bedroom in which to rest after our flight, Schatzi . May I suggest that we withdraw there, barricade the door and go to bed? When we hear the first grenades going off in the corridors, we can say our farewells to each other and crack down on our pills. In the interim, I know exactly what I would like to do with my remaining time on this earth. If you are agreeable, that is?’
    â€˜But how can we…’
    Hartelius lowered his voice to a hoarse whisper. ‘ Schatzi . No. He is safe for the time being. I promise you this. We cannot think about him. We cannot even talk about him. Saving a miracle, we are both going to die in this place. It is a certainty. I beg you, please, to believe what I am telling you. And to make your peace.’

EIGHT
    The fourteen-year-old boy had been watching the gap between the two buildings for twelve hours now. His stomach felt as if rats were gnawing at his entrails. Each hour, the hunger pains got worse. But he had been told by the SS sergeant to wait until the first Russian tank rounded the corner, fire his Panzerfaust, and only then retreat. Failing that, he would be shot. If he knocked out the Russian tank,