In the Mouth of the Wolf by Rose Zar

Author:Rose Zar [Zar, Rose]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-8276-1172-6
Publisher: JPS
Published: 2014-10-16T04:00:00+00:00

All the cleaning women and kitchen workers wore big, robelike aprons over their clothes. Each worker had to supply her own. I didn’t have an apron and couldn’t afford to buy one, but I did have a lovely dressing gown with black and paisley stripes that was just the right length. Since its sleeves were too wide to work in comfortably, I pinned them up and it was perfect. Every evening before I went home I hung my gown in the women’s dressing room in the basement. Then one morning I came to work and it was gone! What was I going to do? How could I replace it? Things like that were impossible to buy! I was determined not to make an issue of it no matter how upset I really was. I was certain one of the other girls had stolen it. I was even fairly sure which one: a dark, slender young woman named Kazia, very pretty and intelligent, who began working in the kitchen right after I left. Originally she came from a fine family and had even attended business college. She was the only one of the civilian workers other than myself who could speak fluent German. She was witty and vivacious. Everyone liked her. But she was a whore.

We were both the same size, so it would have fit her. And though now she owned nothing, she did have a taste for nice clothes. I was sure she took it, but what could I do? In my position I didn’t dare make trouble. And, anyway, what proof did I have?

So I said nothing and went about my job in my street clothes. I was working in Adrian’s office when he came in and noticed I wasn’t wearing my robe. “Did something happen to it?” he asked.

“I guess somebody stole it over the weekend,” I told him. “I hung it up in the dressing room when I went home, and this morning when I came to work it was gone.”

I really wanted to forget about it, but Adrian was furious. “Donnerwetter!” he began to shout. “I’ll find out who stole it! I’ll teach them a lesson they won’t forget!” I pleaded with him not to make a fuss, but he insisted. “We have all sorts of supplies lying around here. If they can get away with stealing your robe, soon they’ll be stealing other things!”

He began an investigation immediately, storming downstairs to the kitchen shouting, “Who stole Wanda’s robe? Just wait! I’ll find out!” All the workers were questioned. Of course, nothing came of it. The robe was gone without a trace. But when Adrian was interrogating Kazia, she told him something—something I didn’t find out about until much later.

There was a burglary at the battalion warehouse. Thieves broke in during the night and made off with a huge supply of bedsheets, pillowcases, and towels. Everybody was talking about it the next day. The investigators were certain it was an inside job. Nothing was forced or broken, so the culprits must have had access to a key and known when the guards went off duty.

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