Mahe stood by the bed contemplating two sets of uniforms, just as before breakfast every day—pondering which one to wear outside.
One was the police uniform, a brown shirt, black leather buttons, a black tie, black jodhpurs, black high-top leather shoes, a black armed belt, a black military cap, black leather gloves, and a black waistcoat with four silver buttons, four silver square patches on the left collar, and nothing but black on the right. On the left sleeve was a diamond-shaped silver "SD" emblem, above it a red, white, and black armband. The right sleeve featured a platinum cufflink, on which the letter "S"—for Sicherheitspolizei, Security Police—was meticulously spelled out with small diamonds.
The standard uniform of an Imperial Social Order Security Bureau senior detective, a symbol of power and authority, reeking of leather and shoe polish.