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"Mayer, have you ever heard the saying about messengers who bring bad news?"
    "Please sir." Mayer held up his shaking hands.
    "You're a member of the Army of the New Order, man! For Heaven's sake act like it!"
    Mayer attempted to show a little backbone, but there was still a quiver in his voice when he said, "It wasn't my fault. I was not even there, sir. Please don't-"
    "Don't what?"
    Mayer looked at Schaefer, then back again at Loewe. "Don't kill me."
    Loewe laughed; it was all part of the act. "Oh, I'm not going to kill you. Why would I do that when I wish you to deliver a message to the Widow?"
    Mayer let out a relieved breath.
    "However, I would like the message to be of a very specific nature. Do you think you can manage that?"
    Mayer nodded, almost smiling.
    "Good." He clicked his fingers. The Alsatians bared their teeth, and Mayer's eyes widened.
    "But you said-"
    "I said I'm not going to kill you. And I'm not," replied Loewe. He snapped his fingers a second time and the dogs were across the room in seconds, leaping at Mayer. The first jumped up on its back legs, slamming Mayer in the chest with its paws and causing him to stumble backwards. The second took hold of his arm, clamping its teeth around the wrist and shaking it violently. Mayer's scream was loud and piercing.
    Loewe watched Schaefer's reaction; it was largely for his benefit that he was doing this. There was no real reason to set the dogs on Mayer. The man was right, it wasn't his fault. If anything, it was Schaefer's, but Loewe needed him. Sadly, for Mayer, if Loewe was to play the part of their General without drawing any kind of suspicion, he had to make it look convincing. Failure should not be tolerated by someone in his position. His men expected this kind of behaviour, so that's what he gave them. Schaefer would be his witness and word would travel fast through the ranks.
    The tearing sounds drew Loewe's attention back to Mayer, who had managed to turn but was on his knees. To his credit, and quite the opposite of what Loewe had expected, he was showing signs of being a true fighter. This soldier was someone who actually deserved to be in the New Order. Loewe couldn't believe what he was thinking; he didn't even believe in the fucking New Order himself! But this was starting to be quite entertaining, and would relieve some of the boredom for a little while.
    Schaefer, pulling a face, stepped out of the way as Mayer - now with both dogs attached to him - crawled towards the door. His hand was shaking for an entirely different reason now, as it reached for the handle, then managed to turn it. In a last ditch effort to be free, Mayer flung it open then collapsed in the doorway - both dogs biting and clawing at his body; one ripping off an ear and eating it as blood poured from the wound.
    This was good - now there would be more witnesses. As Mayer's screams faded, some of the soldiers from the room beyond came to see what was happening. They gaped at the Alsatians savaging the man's prone body, then up through the open doorway at Loewe.
    "I trust you will see that the Widow is sent the remains," he said to Schaefer, loud enough for those watching to hear as well.
    Schaefer nodded.
    "This Hood problem: I think we need to look into it further," he told his Second.
    Another nod.
    "I would hate for it to interfere with some of the other projects we're involved with over there," Loewe continued, and almost added 'projects you also initiated, Schaefer', but felt his point had been made. "Perhaps we need to find someone to deal with him." He knew Schaefer understood what he meant and would leave him to it, the example of Mayer spurring him on to succeed. But if he failed would Loewe be able to go through with the punishment, as he'd done when blackmailing his targets back in his 'terrorist' days? He needed Schaefer too much. Maybe another pawn could be sacrificed to keep up the pretence. After all, Schaefer was too damned clever to put himself directly in the