Question

[Allison]

Can someone explain to me how Minka identifying Reiner as the man who killed Darija proves that Josef is Reiner?

[Allison]

Because they would both be telling the same story.

[Nea]

It would have helped to prove the case because of the corroboration with information in Reiner's file. Recalling that specific incident would be more reliable than Minka just saying, "He was one of the many men I saw in the concentration camp."

[Barbara]

It's really doubtful that authorities would do an autopsy on an aging, sick man. Those are almost never done on someone whose death isn't surprising. Unless there was something that seemed off, they'd contact the doctor, the doctor would say "yes, he had heart failure or whatever," and they'd rule it a natural death. Often the doc can sign the death certificate even if he/she wasn't there to witness the death.

[Barbara]

Josef WAS ordinary to the county authorities that would respond to a death at home. They would have no idea Leo was investigating him.
I suppose it's possible Leo could call the coroner if he suspected something, but Josef was old AND sick. Why would Leo think his death was suspicious rather than an old man dying of old age? Who would Leo think killed him? I doubt he'd suspect Sage.

[Barbara]

Thanks for your question, Gwen.
Here in the US is is the local authorities -- most often the county -- that handle death calls and decide whether an autopsy is needed. They're not done if the person was ill or old and death was expected and backed up by doctors.

[Barbara]

Yes. But still risky if she ever slipped up and said something.

[Coleen]

I think an autopsy would have been done. She posed Josef on the floor after he ate the bread. This would not have been a likely position if someone died of natural causes. She was a fool for killing him. He got off easy and relatively painlessly. An extradition and ruining his reputation would have been more just.

[Megan]

I thought it was a perfect ending to the story - it was not meant to be a love story. It was a story about Minka and moving forward in life after tragedy and how everyone survives and hides in different ways. It is about having compassion and keeping your own integrity, whatever that may be, in a world that is filled with so much darkness. Poetic justice