"Satanic nose": Rudolf Diels -- "SA + me": Joseph Goebbels -- "What just went on here is an absolute outrage": rumors -- "Those who know nothing are better off": the investigation -- Rival narratives: the propaganda battle -- "Stand up, van der Lubbe!": the trial and what followed -- The fire at Nuremberg: the prosecutors' tale -- "Persil letters": the gestapists' tale -- "The feared one": Fritz Tobias and his "clients" -- "Snow from yesterday": blackmail and the Institute for Contemporary History -- Conclusion: evidence and self-evidence.