Publisher's Synopsis
It is April 1945, and the small provincial town of Lohenfelde is about to be overrun by the Allied Third Army. Huddled in the vaults of the Museum are Heinrich Hoffer and three colleagues. Petty rivalries and resentments surface quickly in this confinement, and the vaults become a stage for an intense drama of secret histories and shared terror. Above ground, an American soldier is picking through the rubble, wishing he was studying art rather than dodging snipers. He discovers a small 18th century oil painting, which becomes a poignant link between him and the four charred corpses he finds at the same time. As the narratives interweave, the story of the painting reveals the hidden story of Herr Hoffer and his three associates - and in doing so uncovers other, darker mysteries.
