In the chaos of the battle, and despite Containment’s best efforts, Skorzeny managed to evade capture. He was never the sort of person to enter a situation without an exit plan, so had one of his men standing by with a jeep, in case he needed to flee. By the time the dust had settled and the Department realised he wasn’t among the dead or captured, he was already on his way to a private airfield. He took off without a flight-plan and landed in Brittany a short time later. He never returned to Ireland and his farm was eventually sold. The Magistrate took over ownership of the other estate when it became apparent that no survivors among the existing residents wanted to remain. He held the third conference there nine years later, and nobody has died there since, so it seemed like the chain of cursed events that befell the estate was finally broken. “It has to be Hamilton!” said de Silva. “Why?” asked the Magistrate, who had not risen from his chair. “Why violate the most sacred laws among