“So you did cause the transfer,” he says, his voice so low that I have to concentrate to make out the words. “And you planned your actions according to the kommandant’s whereabouts, didn’t you?” When I nod, he shakes his head in disapproval. “I gave you the chance to be useful, and you turned against me.”

“Don’t act as if you treated anyone with mercy,” I reply, though my voice is strained. “Not me, and not my family.”

“My job was to keep the prisoners under control, so that’s what I did,” Fritzsch says, calm once again as he moves a pawn. “It seems I should have focused on controlling the guards as well.”

In the midst of reaching for my own pawn, I retract my hand. “What do you mean?”

Fritzsch removes his cap to wipe the rainwater from the Totenkopf emblem, then he replaces it on his head. “The one who told you about your family. Did you not consider the possibility that he lied to you?”

Rainwater trickles down my back, and I combat the urge to shiver. I search Fritzsch’s face, looking for any indication of trickery, but he just waits, expectant, for my response. I clear my throat before attempting it.

“After speaking with me, Oskar reported the same story to the kommandant.”

“If he lied to you, why wouldn’t he have lied to the kommandant? I remember the man in question. He wasn’t cut out for this line of work, but he disapproved of me. I’m not surprised he took the opportunity to sabotage me. He’d been relieved of duty, and I was already gone, so he had nothing to lose. By speaking with you, he presented me as he wished, then delivered the same report to Höss, likely praising the kommandant for transferring me and seeking to regain the favor he had lost by being too weak for his camp assignment, all while I was not present to address the accusations against me.”

I shift in my seat, but the adjustment makes me even more uncomfortable. “He had no reason to lie.”

“Ah, that’s not true, is it? You were vulnerable, desperate for answers, and you went to this man begging for them. He told you the odds of him remembering your family weren’t good, but since you insisted, he seized the chance to undermine me, crafted a story to satisfy you, and expected you to show your gratitude.” Fritzsch leans closer, holding my gaze. “Did you make it worth his while?”

The lascivious murmur unleashes my fury. “No, I would never—”

“Didn’t you tell him you’d do anything? You shouldn’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.”

“He didn’t ask me to repay him in any way.”

“Certain rewards lose all value if you have to ask for them,” he says with a smirk. “Besides, the other female prisoner participated in race defilement—”