Olga concludes that Hugo will be more useful alive than dead. However she also reveals that the policy that Hoederer proposed has been adopted after all. On Moscow's orders, the party has formed an alliance with the other groups. In fact Hugo realizes that the very setup that Hoederer was negotiating in his presence, and which he was supposed to prevent, has been carried out. The whole thing was over a matter of timing: Hoederer's initiative was too premature, so the party had to kill him. Later, after Hoederer's plan was adopted, the party rehabilitated his image and after the war he will be remembered as a great leader and hero.