When Korczak switched the light back on, all I saw in front of me was the white wall nearly pressed against my face. There were people beside me, but I couldn’t make them out.

“What is this shit?” one of the seniors cried out.

“You said you recognized Yanai from behind,” Korczak replied. “So let’s just make sure you’re right.” At that moment, with nothing to cling to but his voice, I realized the audacity of his tone, of his insistence not to grant even a shred of respect to those he deemed undeserving.

“I’m not going along with this shit,” someone yelled. “In any other company they’d have had their asses whooped by now.”

“Bejo, calm the fuck down,” Sakal said. “You know what? The guy has a point. Tell him who you saw and we’ll be done with this.”

The room went quiet. I tilted my head forward so that my nose touched the cold wall. I heard the quiet, strained breathing of one of the guys standing beside me. It was Yanai, I was sure of it.

“So I’m acquitting him,” Sakal announced.

“What did you say?”

“If you can’t point out the person who stole the grilled cheese, I’m acquitting him,” Sakal said, raising his voice.

“Fuck that,” Bejo hissed and took two noisy steps in our direction. The figures around me tensed. I heard buzzed whispers, but I didn’t know what they meant.

“That’s him,” Bejo finally said, and I froze.

“You’re sure?” Sakal asked.

Another round of whispers followed. “Absolutely,” Bejo replied. “It’s the left one, I know it.”

“Turn around,” Sakal ordered us, and we instantly obeyed. Once again Yanai let out a yelp that echoed throughout the room. Only this time it wasn’t a fearful whimper but a sigh of relief. He was standing in the middle of the row, next to the outpost’s cook. On his left was an ordnance soldier who had been sent to the outpost for a two-week detention. Their faces bore no resemblance to each other, but Yanai and the ordnance soldier were more or less the same height and had the same skin tone. That’s when I finally realized the whole stunt had been planned down to the last detail. Korczak had even managed to get the ordnance guy the same buzz cut.

Yanai and Korczak exchanged a brief glance, trying their best not to smile, but ultimately failing. The momentary solidarity made me a bit jealous. Stunned, the senior soldiers rose to their feet and stood in front of us, struggling to understand. Sounds of protest resumed, but Sakal soon silenced them with a shout.