The idea for the story arose when Dürrenmatt was in the Soviet Union. “During the grand opening of the Congress of Soviet Writers in the Grand Kremlin Palace, the entire Politburo - Brezhnev, Kosygin, Podgorny, Suslov, etc. - sat motionless, with stony, serious faces, a few meters from me. The entire ruling elite was located at a long table, in the background Lenin’s huge profile, indoor plants, bouquets of flowers, decorations of monumental philistinism everywhere.” On the way back to the hotel, a lively discussion arose between the Soviet colleagues in the car about “the arrangement of Politburo members at the table. They weren’t sitting as usual, someone was missing... When we got out of the car, I already had a plan.”