I don’t know much, Mr. Burgomaster. I was in the nursery-garden where you told me to go this morning; I was trimming the rose-trees. They needed it, Mr. Burgomaster, I can tell you, especially the Paul Nerons, which had suckers as high as that. And the Malmaisons and Marshal Neils are getting the blight, Mr. Burgomaster. THE BURGOMASTER The blight? I’m surprised at that; I didn’t notice any two days ago. How much of the insecticide have we left? CLAUS Only a gallon or so, Mr. Burgomaster. THE BURGOMASTER That’s not enough. I’ll order some more to-morrow.... And then what happened? CLAUS Then, Mr. Burgomaster, I heard a shot. THE BURGOMASTER From which side? At what distance? CLAUS Not very far, Mr. Burgomaster. Perhaps forty or fifty yards from where I was working. THE BURGOMASTER And then? CLAUS I went on with my work, Mr. Burgomaster, saying to myself that a shot more or less in war-time was no reason to make me desert my rose-trees. Then I heard shouts; I came out of the nursery, to see what was happening; some German soldiers saw me, fell upon me, shook me, struck me and kept shouting, “Kaput! Kaput!” Then they dragged me to the house; and Mr. Otto rescued me from them and locked me up in the seed-house. THE BURGOMASTER After the shot was fired, did you see no one near you, no one running away under the trees? Did you hear nothing, notice nothing? CLAUS As you know, Mr. Burgomaster, there’s a thick hedge all the way round the nursery and you can’t see what happens in the woods. THE BURGOMASTER Now is there any one whom you suspect among the workmen and gardeners? Is there any one who has let himself go at all and who has said things that may put us on the right track? Once more, I give you my word that all this will remain strictly between ourselves. CLAUS The young men, Mr. Burgomaster, the hot-headed ones, are gone: they have all joined the army. There’s none left here but old men like you and me, who know that you can’t fight against God’s will and that any show of violence only makes things worse for us. THE BURGOMASTER Well, in the town or outside, don’t you know of some reckless fellow who might have committed the murder? CLAUS That’s not so easy to answer, Mr. Burgomaster. But I’ve thought and thought; and, since the young men are gone, there’s no one I can think of. THE BURGOMASTER