When I was young (not long ago) my father used to tell me bedtime stories. These stories were always about fairies, giants, witches and dwarfs. My father was a very good narrator and I always thought his stories very exciting. Once he told the story of the criss-cross dwarf, a very special dwarf (he was the only one of his kind) of about six inches tall.

We return to the deepest part of the St. Helena trough, where the best bridge playing sea animals in King Neptune's realm show their skills at 'the Mahmodians' bridge club.

After her effort the Electric Ray felt somewhat hungry. Since she had heard some delightful mussels had arrived, she decided head for a recharge at the buffet table. Fortunately, Fred the Flounder was willing to cut in. The Sea Slug sat South, while the Flounder took the North seat.

This was the first deal:

Perhaps you are familiar with the stories about the Griffins, the bridge club that is the scene for those brilliant stories by Victor Mollo about renowned players like the Hideous Hog and the Rueful Rabbit.
Less known is the existence of an equally strong bridge club in the deepest part of the St. Helena trough. The club is called the Mahmodians and its members are the best bridge playing sea animals in King Neptune's realm.
Since it is common practice in stories like these, the author begins by introducing the most important characters.

In part one of  'A wash' you witnessed how Karl Schneider as south brilliantly made 6♥.
Now we watch the events on the other table.

		♠	Q 9 8 7 2
		♥	K J 2
		♦	A K 9 7 3
		♣	-
♠	A 6			♠	K 5 3
♥	6 5			♥	10 9
♦	6 4 2			♦	Q J 8 5
♣	K 9 8 7 6 3			♣	Q J 10 2
		♠	J 10 4
		♥	A Q 8 7 4 3
		♦	10
		♣	A 5 4

Let me take you back in time. Not the time I still listened captivated to my father's stories but further back. We're going to the time that my father still folded paper aeroplanes and played tag on the schoolyard while screaming loudly.
In those days bridge was unspoilt and adventurous, not yet polluted with HUMs ('highly unusual methods') or 'brown sticker conventions'. These were the times when doubles meant business, not negative, competitive, responsive, optional, support or Lightner. There was no obligation to 'stop' or 'alert' and the number of aces in the game was four, whereas nowadays five is usual.
The year is 1954. This somewhat dramatised story is about one board from the Austria vs. (then) West-Germany match in the European Championship.